Bitcoin Forum

**First post - Please move this post to the correct section if I posted in the wrong place**

I'm confused by the wallets and feel like I've found mixed answers around the web so I figured I would try my luck here.

• Do I need to download a wallet for EACH currency I own/mine or is there an a downloadable wallet that holds multiple currencies?
• If I delete a wallet from my hard drive do I lose all my coins or can I just re-download the wallet and get access to my coins as long as I have the address/password saved for the previous wallet?
• Is there another good site/forum/place that would go into more details about wallets in general?

Thanks and sorry if there is a post here that already addresses the issues/questions...I just couldn't find it.

I understand that you use a wallet online. Then what does it mean to download a wallet on your computer. Your wallet is on the website and your hard disk does not have this wallet is irrelevant. Knowing the password you always will go into it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can download the wallet to your hard drive and synchronize it (which takes forever usually lol) This type of wallet is what I'm worried about losing the data on.

Reason being, I downloaded 5 different wallets for 5 different currencies, but I'm about to reformat the computer.  So does that mean:

A - I need to back up all the wallet data on a usb and then put it back on the computer once it's reformatted
B - I could just save the addresses/passwords for each wallet and clean reformat my computer then re-download the wallets and be good?

I know there online sites like that have wallet options, but I feel like it's mixed emotions when it comes to long term holding of coins in an online wallet.

Does that make sense or no?

Depends on wallet you are using. Best are wallets which gives you seed from which you can make full recovery  (deterministic wallets)... then the only need is to store this seed.
So if you are using deterministic wallet (most of them are) ... just keep the copy of seed. Other cases you have to locate and store the wallet file( do not forget pass or make unecrypted backup).

 

ahhh ok!  I'll start to look up deterministic wallets and compare the wallets I currently use to see what they are.  Thanks I appreciate the help!

You're welcome. Such wallets are also known as HD (hierarchical deterministic) wallets.
Can recommend you to check bitcoin.org as they have a great wallet overview https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

1. There are different kinds of wallets with different kinds of features. If you wanted a wallet that holds multiple currencies, try jaxx (not saying its the best though):
Android  (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kryptokit.jaxx&hl=en)| iOS  (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jaxx-bitcoin-ethereum-wallet/id1084514516?mt=8)| OSX  (http://OSX: https://jaxx.io/support.html#openModal5)| Windows  (https://jaxx.io/support.html#openModal6)| Linux (https://jaxx.io/support.html#openModal4)

2. You lose your coins if  you don't have a backup (using recovery phrases, private keys, etc). Make sure to back em up before storing your crypto.

3. This post (http://www.coindesk.com/information/how-to-store-your-bitcoins/) explained it decently.

is that ok if i used wallet of trading market such as poloniex , bitrex or bitfinex to save all my crypto balance ?

No. Anyone who does this is an idiot. Any funds held on an exchange are not your funds, they are an IOU (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOU). The least what you could do is use a light wallet such as Electrum (Desktop) / Mycelium (Mobile).

Gotcha!  Thanks for the help mjglqw!

Simple answer.

1. Yes each wallet must be downloaded unless it has an online wallet. Never use an exchange as a wallet.

2. You will lose your coins if wallet.dat is deleted. Find wallet.dat here :

First search %appdata% hit enter.
Look for the coins name and open folder. A wallet.dat file will be there. Back it up !!
To restore your wallet or to change to another one simply replace the wallet.dat file.

3. Use this forum.

Thanks Lizzie, this was helpful to me!

1. Generally yes, you need to download for each, there are sometimes multi wallets but not developed actively/reputable enough to use
2. You won't loose wallet because almost always wallet file (which contains your private keys) is keeped in user directory (not install directory). But its not advised, you need to make backup of wallet file or private keys at best to be sure you have access to your coins no matter what.
3. You could read about paper wallets, any wikipedia will do, cold storage and in general about wallets

Yes and no. There are wallets for individual currencies, and there are also wallets that hold multiple currencies, like Jaxx.io.

You lose all your coins unless you back them up.

No. Google is enough. Read like 3 topics or blog posts and you're all good.

This is all spot on.

It's a pleasure dude. :) Please remember to keep back ups and do not store them long term on a flash drive as their memory eventually clears. Use a CD or DVD or even better an external HDD or even internal. You do not want to lose your coins .


Nah my post was better. ^^

Wow thanks Lizzie...had no idea that happened with flash drives!  Also, thanks to everyone else for all the help!  It definitely is starting to make more sense now.

Do I need to download a wallet for EACH currency I own/mine or is there an a downloadable wallet that holds multiple currencies?

* There are few projects from Komodo and the like, but for now, it's one PC wallet per currency.

If I delete a wallet from my hard drive do I lose all my coins or can I just re-download the wallet and get access to my coins as long as I have the address/password saved for the previous wallet?

*Not address but private key, or the recovery phrase/seed, but just the password and public address aren't enough. Make backups and it will be saved.

Is there another good site/forum/place that would go into more details about wallets in general?

* There is a wiki which is better than a forum, Google bitcoin wiki, all wallets are discussed in detail there.

So I decided to take the dive and start backing up my wallets, but wanted to double check on a few things which tie specifically into the post above:

1.  Do I just need to backup the "wallet.dat" file or the whole folder that contains the wallet.dat file in my - %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\"coin name here"

2.  If I change the name of my wallet.dat will it corrupt the file.  For example, say I have like 5 different coins and 5 different wallet.dat files I wouldn't know what is what. (unless of course I make different folders that labeled the coin...yes I know it's a simple solution, but just wondering)  So if I changed them to say bitcoinwallet.bat & ethwallet.bat etc. etc. would those files still work?  OR could I do that, but have to just eventually change it to wallet.dat when I want to use it again?

3.  If I delete a wallet, then reinstall a wallet, do I just need to go into this folder %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\"coin name here" and just replace/overwrite the "wallet.dat" file once the new wallet is done syncing with the network?

I figured I'd start with a wallet that has a small amount in it so in case I screwed something up I wouldn't lose much.

If you just want to recover your wallet, then wallet.dat file is enough. But you would have to download entire blockchain again to spend it from your client.


AFAIK, renaming wallet.dat won't corrupt your file. You will have to change extension to .dat to recover your wallet.


You can replace wallet.dat (default) file with your wallet file anytime. Don't forget to close your client when doing it. Though you can do it anytime,, I suggest you to do it before syncing, so you don't need to rescan to check transactions.


You can use testnet instead. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Testnet

I discovered Exodus wallet the other day, it supports several coins. It's also a kind of exchange. Interesting stuff.

Thanks for clearing those questions up for me Muhammed!  And I'll definitely check out testnet!

So I made backup's of all my wallets this weekend.  ;D 

But some wallets I couldn't find a "wallet.dat" file, for example the bytecoin wallet was, "bytecoinwallet.wallet"....so I'm assuming that's the same as the "wallet.dat" file correct?

Also, maybe a really dumb question, but I'm assuming the moment at which you backup your wallet.dat file isn't stuck in time at that moment with that exact amount of coins correct? 

Say I backup my wallet today and then put in another 10 coins into the wallet and don't back up the wallet.dat file again and my computer crashes, when I reinstall the new wallet on my computer and overwrite the wallet.dat file with the backed up one, does it show the new 10 coins or just the previous balance at the moment I backed up the file?

Hope that made sense!

This is not the section to ask about shitcoin wallets. This section is for Bitcoin related questions. Some Bitcoin wallets do not store theirs as a "wallet.dat" file.

This is where many people are deeply confused. A Bitcoin wallet does not hold coins. A Bitcoin wallet is a collection of keypairs, thus it does not matter when you've backed the keys up.

After you synchronize and rescan the wallet (both of which should be automatic with Bitcoin Core) all funds will show up. It is recommended to occasionally make newer backups though.

Sorry...I started the thread (my fist post/thread ever on the site) and said to move the thread if it wasn't started in the proper place.  Figured "other" would fit these types of questions.

Other than that, thanks for the clarification on the .dat file question.

The most easiest one is just try online web wallet blockchain.info.

Its not mandatory to download a wallet but if the coin you want to use has a provision for a web wallet you could use that.. and great news for you there are a handful of multicurrency wallets but you can take a look at https://jaxx.io and  https://bit.ac

If you have the private key to the wallet stored separately your coins are safe and address/password are not good enough to secure your coins

Look no further, BITCOINTALK is your answer... you will be amazed at how much information is available to you right here on the forum
good luck with our journey

How do you download wallet from the site? Oo
It is an online method

Is it possible to open the same wallet.dat file from different clients?