Bitcoin Forum

Hi All -
 
Can Electrum 4.1.4 be used to redeem Casascius tokens? If someone has done this, please tell me how? I want to redeem and transfer the BTC to my Coinbase account.

I am using macOS Big Sur, if anyone knows other methods I can use, please advise.

Thanks.

Yes. Casascius coins uses mini private key as their format which is supported by Electrum. Download electrum from electrum.org, verify the authenticity and open it. Create a new wallet > Import Private Keys or Bitcoin addresses.

Put it in this format: p2pkh:PRIVATE KEY.

Using the Electrum version 4.1.4 wallet? I have seen examples using prior editions of the Electrum wallet, I want to make sure they can be redeemed using version 4.1.4. I have only used bitcoin on one occasion in 2013 and now these tokens are worth a lot of money. If possible could you break it down for me a bit....I open the Electrum wallet--> send tab -->enter my coinbase bitcoin address in the "pay to" section, then enter  p2pkh:PRIVET KEY UNDER THE STICKER in the "description" section, type in 1,000 mBTC  (because 1000mBTC = 1 BTC) and click pay. And doing this will transfer the 1 BTC off of the Casascius token and into my Coinbase account?

I can do everything, In the send tab of the Electrum wallet....transfer the 1 etc value off the token and into my coinbase account?

I am not an expert and want to make sure I am doing this right the first time.

Just did a test transfer of .0001 btc from coinbase to the Electrum 4.1.4 wallet and it went through.

Please advise if I am correct in my logic for how to redeem Casascius tokens. Please advise and please correct anything I might be missing. This is a lot of money. I appreciate people sharing who have the knowledge / experience using Electrum 4.1.4.

You don't need to enter the private key when sending the fund to coinbase. The private key must be entered when you create the wallet.

Create a new wallet.
Select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and click on "Next". Enter your private key and click on "Next". After that, you should see your balance.

Go "Send" tab. Enter your coinbase address in "Pay to" field and the amount of bitcoin you want to send in "Amount" field.
You can click on "Max" button if you want to send the entire balance.
Leave "Description" field empty.

A new window where you should select the fee will pop-up.
Select the fee and click on "Next".

The higher fee you pay, the sooner your transaction will be confirmed.
If you don't have much information about transaction fee, I recommend you to select "ETA" as estimation method and move the slider to set a target.
Note that blocks are mined at the rate of 1 per 10 minutes on average and that's just an estimation.
For example, if you set the target to "within 5 blocks", your transaction is estimated to be confirmed in 50 minutes.  

Thank you. My anxiety is getting better :) If I try this process using a private key of a Casascius token that has already been redeemed / spent, I should see the transaction attempt to occur in the wallet but not get confirmed (obviously because its already been redeemed). I think that will be my final "test" before going at redeeming my tokens.

This is a learning experience for me. Please chime in, any guidance from people who know more about this than I do is welcome! Thank you everyone for the help!

I think you should be able to tell it from the balances though, no need to create a test transaction to see whether your coins are still there or not (unless I misunderstood you). Just like how you can see the balances from a wallet you imported with a private key/seed phrase.

If you enter a private key associated with a casascius coin that has already been redeemed, the balance of the wallet should be zero. You should also see an outgoing transaction (a transaction with negative amount) spending the fund in "History" tab.
The outgoing transaction has definitely been confirmed.

Additional info as fellow Casascius Redeeme. You can use coinomi wallet to redeem all the fork coins goodies out there. Just make sure you transfer all your Bitcoin first on safe wallet address before you do the step.  ;)

My primary objective is transferring the BTC value to my coinbase so I can redeem for USD. After I do that....what is the process for obtaining all the BTC forks. I am exploring this right now with the help of guidance on this chat......Ok so I redeem a cass coin and I got that BTC in my coinbase......how can I get access to the BTC forks.....

This is a side discussion. I might ask more questions regarding redeeming the BTC.

#learning by doing trying not to F* up 

By importing the private key into the fork wallets. You should always transfer the Bitcoins out before attempting to recover any forkcoins.


On a side note, are you sure you want to redeem your Casascius coins? Depending on the condition, the actual unredeemed coin can fetch up to a couple grand more than it's loaded value. Check the collectibles section to see if anyone is interested.

I have many more of them and a unique opportunity where opening three is ok for me. Ok….so I crack a few open and am successful redeeming the bitcoin what can I do to obtain the forked coins?

For claiming each of fork coins, you need to import your private key into a wallet supporting that fork coin.
The most popular fork coin is bitcoin cash.  The best wallet for accessing your bitcoin cash is electroncash. Download electroncash only from its official website (https://electroncash.org/).
Electroncash works same as electrum. You should create a new wallet, select  "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and enter your private key(s).

For more information on how to claim bitcoin cash and other fork coins, you can read the guide provided by LoyceV. (Visit the link below.)

LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (and service) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2836875.0)

Coinomi doesn't supports all of the Forks (that are worth it). But there's another thing to do after moving your Bitcoin and before moving your Forks: ensure replay protection! Without it, you may unintentially move (and lose) some of your Forkcoins while transfering another Forkcoin.

Pro tip: learn before doing ;)

My advice for Forkcoins: redeem/sell BCH/BSV/BCH-A/BCD/BTG. Forget about the rest (but keep the private key, just in case any of them ever gets hyped and pumped).

Be particularly careful about these 3 shitcoins, they don't have replay protection at least I know BSV (bitcoin scam version owned by Craig Scammer Wright) doesn't but not sure if the other bcash copy added replay protection or not, last time I checked it didn't have it. When you are claiming coins that existed from before 2017 that means your coins can be spent on all chains without replay protection at the same time with the same tx.

In my case when I transfer my BCH. It automatically split when I send it directly on exchange(Kucoin) and never encounter any issue. So far, I only claim BCH(both split coin), Bitcoin Gold and Clam. Besides that, Most of the shitty fork coins is still intact on all of my redeemed cas coins. Do you have list of website or wallet that can give the list of possible shitcoins that can be redeem(with value)?  Thank you in advance. :D

As far as I know all 3 of them don't have replay protection, but last time I tried to replay a transaction (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5305788.0), it wasn't valid on all chains (just 2 out of 3). I was hoping to create many small funds on all 3 chains for further testing. I wouldn't count on it though, so take precautions in the forum of some split Forkdust before moving Forkcoins.

It's not possible to "automatically split" on the blockchain. It could be Kucoin accepts both Forks on the same address and shows them separately in your account (after which Kucoin splits them on-chain). But most exchanges don't offer that.

So you've moved your BCH-A to Kucoin too, or did it not exist yet back then?
Isn't CLAM dead by now? It has zero trading volume (https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/clams/).

There's Find my Coins (https://findmycoins.ninja/), but although it usually works fine, I've seen it produce incorrect data in some cases. The only one worth it that's left for you is BCD (around $20 per Bitcoin at Forktime).

If you happen to have a Ballet wallet it does a great job of grabbing most forks. It's what I used and it even exchanged most of the forks into BTC for me at a very competitive rate. Highly recommend it for the forks. Coinomi is nearly just as good but it didn't have as seamless of a process for BCH and BSV forks so I just used Ballet. But both are great for all the relevant forks.

As for the sweeping the Cas itself part here's a guide I followed that's a bit more complex(for myself anyway) but if provided a great learning experience and assured me of a much higher level of security for sweeping those coins. The OP of this thread is a absolute gentleman and puts it all together nice and neatly. Here's that thread and the specific post I used if it's of help at all...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5303860.msg55967119#msg55967119

Good luck!

iBHK8

Thank you all. My primary goal was accomplished :). I will look into sweeping the forks. This is a great forum!

Rapids4me, how did this all work out for you? I too need to redeem Casascius version1 bitcoin that I've had for a long time. Any additional insight to steps taken, sweeping and cashing in for USD?
thanks

I have a reply to your thread. Basically, you just have to remove the "p2pkh:" in front of the private key.
AFAIK, Electrum both supports 22-character and 30-character mini private keys so your series 1 coin's key should work.

If it doesn't work, the other option is to manually convert it into WIF.

Please continue the discussion there.

thanks for the info and that worked. The transaction is sitting in the history showing amount and balance but only 1 confirmation has completed. Guessing this takes a while?

1 confirmation means that it's already included in a block, you can now spend it.
The consecutive confirmations are just for safety against double-spend attacks (not that it's usual), the higher the confirmation the safer your bitcoins are;
it'll take approximately 10minutes per confirmation.

But wait, you haven't read my other reply (don't you?),
figures because there's one confirmation, means that you've swept (sweep) it.
But there's no major issue as long as the recipient wallet isn't a "watching-only" wallet and you own the wallet where it was swept.
(the post also has some suggestions for the safety of your funds)

Thanks for your help with this.
All the confirmations are complete and the transaction displays in my history with green checkmark.
Are there more steps that I need to complete? I see some users are signing and broadcast? or can I now just send this to another wallet to cash out?
thank you

The transaction has done and you don't need to do anything else.


You are probably referring to offline transactions. For being more secure, you could sign the transaction on an offline device and then broadcast it using an online device.
You did both steps on your online computer.

 
Yes,
The first transaction moved your fund to your electrum wallet.
Now you can go to "Send" tab and send your bitcoin to any address you want.  

thanks a ton!

That's when "advanced preview" in the setting is enabled or you've clicked "advanced" when creating a transaction.
By default, you don't have to go through those steps.

The first thing you need to do is to back up your new wallet seed and store it in a safe place, at least till you cash out all your coins.

Now that you have successfully swept the private key and secured your new wallet, you can safely claim your forked coins. You'll need to download wallets that support those coins. Here is a detailed guide written by LoyceV on how to do that:
LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2836875.0)

I also would like to redeem Casascius 1 bitcoin that I've received a long time ago. Since this last post, I assume that maybe things have a bit changed.

1) I have downloaded the version Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1

In the previous mail, hosseinimir93 advised :

"Create a new wallet.
Select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and click on "Next". Enter your private key and click on "Next". After that, you should see your balance."

However, in my version, it seems that I have to go to "Wallet", then Select "Private Keys" and then Select "Sweep". After selecting "Sweep", I arrive to a new window where it is asked to "Enter private keys".

What also makes me hesitate is that there is an address button below where you can generate an address composed of about 40 characters. Then adter you can press the button Sweep.

Is that the correct process to redeem Casascius coin to Electrum or am I completely wrong ?

2) The second step seemed to be the following :

"Go "Send" tab. Enter your coinbase address in "Pay to" field and the amount of bitcoin you want to send in "Amount" field.
You can click on "Max" button if you want to send the entire balance.
Leave "Description" field empty."

Here the process seems clear to me. However I don't have coinbase account. I have checked on the internet and the 2 most advised platforms seemed to be "Binance" and "Kraken" (with a clear preference for Binance). Therefore, is the transfer from Electrum is also working to Binance ? I assume I will have to create an account on Binance and I will receive a Binance address. Or do you advice to proceed differently ? I am completely new with bitcoin stuff and it would be very nice to get some help/advice.

3) A last question : My goal is to transform this bitcoin in EUR. Is Binance the best plat-form to change this bitcoin into cash (EUR) ? I want to transfer it on my bank account.

Thanks for your answers.

Have you verified that your downloaded https://download.electrum.org/4.2.1/electrum-4.2.1.dmg is genuine and matches the developer's signature?
And because you will deal with an exposed Bitcoin Private Key worth a lot of money you need to be sure that your computer is free of malware. Using a Mac doesn't mean there's no malware for your platform...

---

Did you exactly do that and did you enter your Casascius (Small) Private Key into the dialog after choosing "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys"?
If yes, your Electrum wallet should show exactly 1.BTC as balance.
If your Electrum wallet still shows a balance of 0.BTC then you likely created a new standard wallet with bc1q... addresses or maybe some other address scheme.

I assume you might have created a new standard wallet in Electrum. In this type of wallet (derived from a 12-word mnemonic seed) you can't import "foreign" private keys, only sweep ie. empty the coins held by the "foreign" private key into an address of this new wallet (or some other destination address which must not be part of your new Electrum wallet). In this case the menue Wallet – Private keys shows only two entries: Sweep and Export
Could you clarify what you exactly did?

---

You're not wrong: the sweep action would transfer the funds of your Casascius Coin into your Electrum wallet (I hope for you that you have very carefully written down on paper (not on your computer!) the 12-word mnemonic seed in the correct order and best with the ordinal no. of each word; these mnemonic seed words have to be kept very secure and safe, they encode the main secret that "defines" your wallet).

@hosseinimir93's advise was not tailored for your case specifically. I would advise that you first decide on which exchange you want to sell your BTC and create an account on your chosen exchange. You will very likely need a fully verified (KYC/AML) account on your exchange first before you can sell and withdraw the EUR for your BTC.

Hi Cricktor,

To clarify what I did :
-I have downloaded Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1
-I have created a new standard wallet

However, if I understand well what I have to do is :
-Choose the option "Create New Wallet"
-When the dialog box asks "What kind of wallet do you want to create ? " --> I have to choose "Import bitcoin addresses or Private keys"
-Enter the private key of the "Cascasius" coin in the dialog box and click on "Next"
-After that, my Electrum wallet (the new one then) should show exactly 1.BTC as balance and I will have the possibility to send the amount on the exchange platform of my choice

Is that correct ?

For the moment, I haven't submitted the private key (I haven't unpeeled the coin yet) because I want to be sure of the process first.
Another reason is that I'm hesitating between peeled the coin and convert in bitcoin or selling the coin in the "Collectibles" part of the forum.
What do you think about it ? What's the best solution ? I have searched a little bit on the forum but the opinions are divided.

And finally, what's your advice for the exchange platform ? Binance, Kraken or somewhere else ?

Thanks

This doesn't answer if you downloaded your Electrum from the one and only site: https://electrum.org
To be sure that you downloaded the genuine Electrum you should verify its signature. There's a thread which describes in detail how to do that.

There's nothing wrong when you already have created a new standard wallet, but you add an extra step which also costs you transaction fee for an on-chain transaction.
Then you can only sweep the coin's private (mini)key into your wallet (the address button offers addresses which belong to your existing Electrum wallet) OR not really recommended for newbies because it's error prone, directly to a provided destination address of your choice (be careful to thoroughly check that the destination address is copied without error).

---

Yes, that is what was described by hosseinimir93 and this procedure doesn't require an on-chain transaction with transaction fee, at least not for the step to open the funds in Electrum. To transfer the funds to an exchange would require an on-chain transaction with transaction fee. But currently the transaction fees are not high, nothing to worry about.


I would assume that an unpeeled Casascius coin, still fully funded, is a collectible which is worth more than the sole 1BTC it holds. But how to sell it safely is a whole other story and I'm no expert on this to give any advise. I personally wouldn't dare to ship such an item somewhere and face-2-face transactions pose other risks which should not be underestimated. I have no idea how Casascius coins are traded safely nowadays. Likely there are some threads in this forum for this.
Not to say that currently is maybe not the best time to sell your BTC. You missed exchange rates of more than 50k EUR/BTC more than once... (sorry, that's easy said when looking at past exchange rates). I have faith we'll see >50k EUR rates again, just not sure when and how long it will take.

Selling it would be a hard part but buyers can verify if the Casascius coin is legit by going to https://casascius.uberbills.com/ and put the 8 characters that you can find on the back.
Check it there and also the address it should show a balance created funded years ago it should be the legit one.

And I think the safest one to trade them is to go face to face unless if you deal with someone here on the forum you will need a trusted escrow to handle the deal and payment from the buyer.

You can post this thread/questions in the Collectibles section (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=217.0) and many people will answer, including the sweeping vs selling options for you based on your location etc. There are also forks on the coin such as BCH etc etc...

User @Minerjones can probably help you out as well for selling/escrow/verification, he sells these all the time. ;)

You can still create another wallet while another instance is open,
use the menu "File->New/Restore" to go to the install wizard, that will enable you to create a new wallet.

Just make sure to remember the wallet's name so you wont mix them up with each other if you forgot about the first one.

Hi Cricktor,

Yes. My Electrum version comes from the original website.
I will verify the signature to be sure. Do you have the link of the thread that explains how to do it ?



Sorry but what are the forks ? I have already seen this word several times in the forum but I don't get it what it is.
Someone can explain it clearly ?

For info, I have created a thread for the selling :

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5396802.0

Apparently I need to upload the pictures on imgur. I will try to do it tonight.

Many thanks.

How much do you trust your macOS and all other software you've installed on it? Do you trust it with €35,000? If not, you should NOT enter your private key and go for a solution that includes offline signing.
As long as you haven't peeled the coin, you can take as long as you need to research how to do this.

I'm with Cricktor (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5345346.msg60016070#msg60016070) on this one: it's risky to sell, even though you might get more money for it.

Follow the link to Fork claiming service ;) But don't believe the values anymore, those days are long gone.
My advice: don't worry about them before moving your Bitcoin. People have lost their Bitcoins through scam wallets before. But don't forget about them either, you're currently looking at about $400 extra that can be taken from your private key.

Indeed I don't think that I will trust my macOS for this kind of amount. Is this so risky ?
You talk about a solution that includes offline signing. Do you have an explanation or a link for that ?
I have searched a little bit on internet and it seems a quite complicated process. Is it the process where you need to use 2 computers (one online and one offline).

Do you have more info on that ?

Many thanks already.

PS : Sorry for my stupid questions but I'm completely newbie with that universe and in addition to that English is not my mother tongue and not always easy to understand all the specific vocabulary.

It will probably be okay, but even if there's only a 2% chance of losing everything: I wouldn't risk it.

Correct. Although I wouldn't call it complicated, it's just a bit more work. I haven't done this on macOS.

I wrote this last year:

Offline signing seems quite complicated for me.

Is there an alternative to Electrum ? Is it possible by example to use a wallet that is validated by the appstore ? By example, I have seen Trust Wallet but maybe there are other best alternative ?

You can never be absolutely sure, being "validated" by a company doesn't mean there can't be bugs in it or malware on your system.
There are many alternatives, but Electrum is often recommended. It also comes preinstalled on Tails, which makes offline signing much easier.

1) It's interesting. I thought that Electrum and Ballet were the only wallet adapted for mini private keys.

Because as far as I have understood this is the "mini private key" that is a problem due to the lenght of the private key (under 30 character) ?
But by doing my research it is not clear which other wallet supports mini private keys.

2) Another question : Casascius Series 1 holograms use a 22-character variant of the minikey format, instead of 30 characters (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mini_private_key_format). Is it also the case for version 2 Cascasius coin ? Or is it possible to proceed with a classic wallet for version 2 (because version 2 should be not with mini private key but private key)


3) Is it possible to give me some of the alternative wallets supporting mini private keys ? I have time to do some research and decide which wallet is the most appropriate for my case

Thanks

Mycelium on android/iphone will do it as well. :)

You can use bitaddress.org (offline!) to convert a mini private key into a normal private key, which you can then use in any wallet you like. To be thorough: don't go online again with that machine without wiping it.

As far as I'm aware in order to obtain the private key associated with your Casascius coin you just need to calculate the SHA-256 hash of the string that's beneath the sticker. As demonstration purpose only, I'll use this example[1] where we'll obtain the private key and have access to the public address of where the 5 BTC came from (Since this coin was already redeemed, I'll just use online services to exemplify. Please do not follow my actions and instead download offline versions (if possible) and run all the process in an air-gaped device that was never connected to the internet):

• According to the pictures we are able to see that the mini private key - 22 characters - is the following:
  
  Quote
  Symc
  R374ukW
  S48XCfEN
  rDPGaYa
  gFpG
• If we use the command line in Linux we can extract the SHA-256 hash by just using the command - "$ echo -n "SymcR374ukWS48XCfENrDPGaYagFpG" | sha256sum". Another way would be to use an online service[2] - Again, only for demonstration purposes!
  In either case this would be the private key associated with the previous mini private key:
  
  Quote
  c8403200856b5ec4c650950a7b265c089068b20b2219d0f8fcc063d8d34d0474
• If we go to "TP's Go Bitcoin Tests - Address" page[3] and paste the previous result in the "0 - Private ECDSA Key" field and click Send, the last field in the website (9) will give us the corresponding Bitcoin address:
  
  Quote
  1CsBms7CvSciPeW64HWorVYcqwGVsFGoLP

If you check the transaction posted by the blogger you'll see that the previous address matches with the one that is involved in sending 5 BTC to another address of the blogger[4] (BTC value at the time was ~92 USD), thus confirming that you'll get a hold of the private key of your coin - and the coins within it - if you determine its SHA-256 string (in a safe environment) and proceed to import it to other wallets if you so desire.

---

[1]https://n2liquid.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/redeeming-of-a-casascius-coin-aka-physical-bitcoin/ (https://n2liquid.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/redeeming-of-a-casascius-coin-aka-physical-bitcoin/)
[2]https://emn178.github.io/online-tools/sha256.html (https://emn178.github.io/online-tools/sha256.html)
[3]https://gobittest.appspot.com/Address (https://gobittest.appspot.com/Address)
[4]https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/transaction/64d1f5e47428f29dc24e5776a47d6e80d12b7c70c3c11547b70c28c4d51fc891 (https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/transaction/64d1f5e47428f29dc24e5776a47d6e80d12b7c70c3c11547b70c28c4d51fc891)

One other question :

On the Electrum Wallet, when I open it there's the choice between opening the current standard wallet (let's call it "wallet_a") and a password is needed or "Alternatively" Create a new wallet.

-If I Choose the option "Create New Wallet" (let's call wallet_b)
-When the dialog box asks "What kind of wallet do you want to create ? " --> I have to choose "Import bitcoin addresses or Private keys"
-Enter the private key of the "Cascasius" coin in the dialog box and click on "Next"
-After that, my Electrum wallet (the new one then) should show exactly 1.BTC as balance and I will have the possibility to send the amount on the exchange platform of my choice

However, what I think strange is :
-For opening the standard wallet already created I need a password
-When I create a new wallet (for importing the key) they don't ask me for a password for the new wallet. Is it normal ?

Therefore :
-How do I find the wallet_b (the one created by "importing private key" in case I close Electrum. I ask that because they don't ask for password
-I want to be sure when I click on "Import private key" that there is access to a new wallet with the possibility to "Send" to an Exchange

Sorry if it seems stupid but the absence of password for the new wallet when import keys worries me a bit.

Thanks for your answers.

To the best of my knowledge, Electrum always asks you for a password whenever you create a new wallet or import private keys. You can, however, skip that section (just click Next) and the wallet will be left with no protection.
I've just tried with Electrum (importing a private key from a fresh seed) and I was also asked to choose a password to protect the wallet file.
As stated on the help docs[1], and assuming you didn't move the wallet elsewhere, all the wallets are created in the datadir folder by default. To reach there just follow these steps:
After importing your private key in Electrum you'll be prompted to choose a password for the wallet. After choosing a password (or skipping it) you'll be shown the usual window where Electrum will show you the balance on your wallet and all recorded transactions. Since it's a Casascius coin you'll see a single transaction that is the one responsible for funding the address (in this case with 1 BTC).

---

[1] https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html#datadir (https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html#datadir)

@NeoArkan
Electrum asks you to "set" a password when you are  creating the wallet for the first time and you have 2 choices there:
1. To ignore this option in which case you won't be asked to enter a password whenever you open that wallet.
2. To set a password here which means from now on whenever you open the wallet or want to spend from it you'll have to enter the password

If you are seeing a password box when opening wallet_a that means you did #2 when creating this wallet and you did #1 for wallet_b but in both cases the prompt was shown for the first time during creation.

That's normal if you're using the Android version;
That's not normal if you're using the Desktop version.

So it seems like you're using an Android device to claim your Casascius coin's bitcoins... that's concerning.

No. I will use macOS (a priori)

Then you either missed the last step where it prompts you to enter a password or you're using a fake Electrum
since the Desktop version doesn't have "password unification" like the Android version.

@nc50Ic --> It seems that Ricks said that "After importing your private key in Electrum you'll be prompted to choose a password for the wallet. "

So a priori what I have is good no ?
--> I mean. For the moment, I haven't import my private key. So (according to rick), it's normal that they haven't asked the password yet because it's the next step...

Ah, so what you meant in the previous reply is when you select "import bitcoin addresses or private keys"?
If that's the case, then it's normal.

If you can remember, the other standard wallet that you've created asked for a password in the last step of the install wizard.
Any wallet type is the same, the password will be prompted in the last step.

Ouf. Ok I feel better now :)
Anyway, I will check the procedure for verifying Electrum (a little challenge ^^)

Thanks for your help.

Hello guys,

I have done a transfer from Electrum to an Exchange.

However, it puts "Unconfirmed".
I guess it's because I haven't put enough but someone can explain what I have to do here ?

Thanks.

If you are not in hurry, just wait. There is no need to waste more money on transaction fee.
If you are in hurry, right click on your transaction and select "Increase fee". Currently, you need to pay around 15 sat/vbyte if you want your transaction to be confirmed in the next block. (A new block is mined every 10 minutes on average.)
Note that the fee rate required for a fast confirmation depends on network state and changes over time.

I have put my private key on the dialog box for "Import private ket" but it's impossible to push on the "Next" button.
Is there something missing ?

They speak on the info part about p2pkh:

Can you tell me exactly what I have to put ?

Thanks.

The "next" button in Electrum is only available if the private key is correct. Check for typos.

Last time I tried, only the private key was enough to import a legacy address.

In your previous post, you said that you made a transaction to an exchange and now you say you can't import your private key into electrum.
Am I missing something here?

Yes. My last post was about a test (I had first send from an exchange a small amount of bitcoin to Electrum AND send it after from Electrum to the exchange). It was only to be sure it was ok from end to end.

But it's ok for the private key. It was indeed a typo mistake. Sorry for this rookie's mistake.

Thanks.

An unconfirmed status means that the transaction has been successfully broadcasted and it will now find it's way to the different mempools where it will wait to be picked up by miners and included into a block. This is true both for transactions paying 1 sat/vByte and 1000 sat/vByte for mining fees. Bitcoin transactions are not instant (in terms of confirmations) and your transactions can't get its first confirmation at least until the next block is mined. So don't worry about the unconfirmed status.

The thing is... Electrum comes pre-installed with Tails, but it is not the latest version. So if you update Tails on a "Persistent Volume" to the latest version of Electrum, then you effectively void the benefit of having a clean boot every time you use that "Persistent Volume"? (Asking, because I do not know)

I have swept many coins from Paper wallets to Electrum without any problems..... but I guess I have just been lucky. I am still looking for a program that can encrypt a "Private Key" offline and then when it goes online.... that program decrypt it and sweep the keys.  ::)

After I sweep a key... I quickly transfer the coins to another Bitcoin address.... because I am just paranoid.  ::)

To keep the private keys offline, it doesn't matter if you update Electrum before entering your seed phrase. But you'll have to make absolutely sure the system stays offline until you turn it off. A physical network cable is obvious, Wifi needs more attention. Note that creating seed words on a system that has been online could mean the seed is compromised already.

You probably don't have to update Electrum each time: a slightly different version number is okay for signing transactions.

Think of it as seed seat belts: I've used them many times, but never needed them. But I keep using them, for the one time they'll save me.

How about BIP38 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1014202.0) encryption? Bitaddress encrypt and decrypt this (offline). No need to sweep the funds online, you can still sign offline.
If you use this, make sure to test recovering your private key before funding your address!

If there's malware, you'll be too late.