Bitcoin Forum

Hey,

everytime I try to spend some coins a window pops up, telling me that my transaction is just partly signed. Who else has to sign?
I get the feeling my coins are somehow locked, because I didn't find any guide telling me how to restore a 2of3 signature wallet, and I'm not smart enough to handle Electrum in this case.

This is my problem:
https://files.catbox.moe/k9tdoh.tiff

It is german, but this type of message shouldn't be new.

I hope someone can help me in this case!

Kind regards,
Lokko7

You have a MultiSig wallet... so as the name suggests, it requires multiple signatures to be able to send transactions.

When you originally set up the wallet, it would have asked you to enter the keys for the "cosigners". So you need to sign it with your wallet (1 signature)... and then save the transaction and open it in one of the other 2 consigner wallets... and then sign it with one of them... and then you'll have the 2 signatures required and the transaction can be broadcast.

Do you have an icon like this on your main wallet window? If so, then you have a 2FA wallet... and you can restore it in such a way that 2 of the 3 keys will be on your computer so you can sign it automatically with 2 keys.
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zqndb.png

If you don't have that icon, it is just a normal MultiSig... and without the other private keys, you won't be able to sign. :-\


Also, it looks like you're using 2.6.4? That is a very OLD version of Electrum... you might want to consider updating at some point ;)

So it is that simple? Let's see if I got it:

I save the transaction ( get an unsigned.txn file ), let a friend of mine load it into Electrum via "Load transaction-> from text", and then he just sign it? Do I have to load anything signed again into my Electrum?

And yes, after that I'll update my Electrum.

Assuming that your friend has a key with is one of the co-signer keys for that wallet, then yes.. it is pretty much that simple.

Your friend should be able to send it after they sign it... or they can give it back to you and you can sign it. Again, this assumes that they actually have signing authority for this wallet.

You can't just give the transaction to anyone and get them to sign it... when the wallet was made, you gave it 3 keys which it combined in such a way that any combination of 2 of those 3 keys is enough to sign transactions.  So, to sign a transaction, you need to sign it with 2 of those original 3 keys... and only those 3 original keys.

But the money I have one this wallet comes from just one transaction, I have no contact to the anymore with the people I made the transaction with.
I suppose I misunderstand this thing at some point – because I can't depend on two guys I made transaction with some years ago, canÄ't I?

It's not the people who made the transaction, it's the people you set the wallet up with.

When you create a 2of3 wallet... You need to provide 2 additional keys (generally these are public keys, but can be private keys) that are the cosigners of the wallet.

These docs are a bit out of date and for a 2of2 wallet, but they show the general procedure of requiring the second public key: http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/multisig.html

OK, but I set up the wallet with the keys of the people I made the transaction with, because I just set up the wallet for receivinging money this one time. I never spent anything from this wallet, I just set it up for getting money. Am I still related to the people from this transaction if I want to spend this money?

I've no idea why you would create a wallet like that... ???

There is absolutely no reason to setup a MultiSig wallet that requires the keys of the people you're receiving money from... but at the end of the day, if you used their keys, then you need at least one of them to sign any transaction spending from that wallet

You should also be aware that if they hold 2 of the 3 keys, they can spend the money from the wallet without you.

Did they suggest that you create the wallet like this? If so, it could have been a possible scam attempt. Are you sure the coins are still in the address?

Hmmm, I know that this is no scam, but I think now I know the reason for this wallet. This wallet was part of a community that is now down – and well, the admin is now in jail for other reasons. The idea was that no one could scam, because at the end the admin would take care of every transcation. The admin was trustworthy, and the communitiy run for several years.
So I think this was a community-only wallet, and now I have to look for the other guy. I hope I can contact him.

So just to be sure – a summary:

Some years ago I set up a 2of3 signature-wallet for receiving money for a product I sold. I delivered, and because the buyer was as stupid as I with electrum, the admin signed it and I got my money.
Now I need the OK from the admin everytime I want to spend money. FUCK!

I still can't believe that this should be the way the admin used to intend it because he was a really smart guy, but you say so.

If you have no other idea, I will try to contact the 3rd guy.
Many thanks for your help as yet, and have a good weekend!