However, who was going to broadcast the transaction in case I died before the block height 786243 was reached? The person receiving the coins. This is why I said above that after you have created the timelocked transaction, you should give a copy to your heir for safe keeping. This is so they can broadcast it after the timelock has expired. You can also keep a copy yourself, such as in a safe at home or a safe deposit box at a bank or somewhere else your heir will gain access to after you die. If you are still alive, then before the timelock expires you move one of the inputs in the timelocked transaction to a new address, therefore rendering the timelocked transaction invalid and unable to be used. You then create a new timelocked transaction and give this to your heir. Rinse and repeat. So is there an automatic broadcast option? It doesn't really make sense to be able to set it up automatically, considering the technical aspects behind it. I will try to manually cancel a timelocked transaction following the process you mentioned. |
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If so, why not give someone (your daughter) your seed phrase instead? Because then they could clear out your accounts before you die, and you also have the added risk of them storing a copy of your seed phrase and it being vulnerable to theft. Timelocked transactions avoid all of that. Is this option available using timelock? Because if you can cancel it, then I understand that this is different from sharing your seed phrase. Yes. You simply spend any one of the inputs before the timelock expires and the timelocked transaction become invalid and therefore useless. I have heard many people in my life, claiming that Bitcoin inheritance is extremely difficult. Using this feature, however, it seems INCREDIBLY EASY. The only argument that I can accept from now on, regarding inheritance, is that the person who will inherit the money need to already have a wallet (and know some stuff already). -- EDIT --I really needed to test it, so: I am using Sparrow upon my bitcoin node. I have just signed a transaction using my signing device. I have set it to be able to be broadcasted after block height 786243. The current block height is 786238. So the transaction was not broadcasting until we reached block 786243. Then I broadcasted it successfully. However, who was going to broadcast the transaction in case I died before the block height 786243 was reached? |
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Hello! The purpose of this feature is to provide inheritance to someone? If so, why not give someone (your daughter) your seed phrase instead? And that I am able to cancel that transaction.
Is this option available using timelock? Because if you can cancel it, then I understand that this is different from sharing your seed phrase. |
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Hear me out guys.
Paper can be really fragile, and all it takes is a tear or water spill or defacing to deny you access to your BTC forever.
So, you should make a second copy of your seed phrase that is identical to the first, and store it on a different place from the first seed so that they both cannot go down together except in extreme circumstances like a natural disaster.
Personally, I have two backups in two different locations. In each location I maintain: 2x: { 1 piece of paper with my seed phrase written upon it, in black ink. I have put the paper in a plastic card sleeve. I have put the sleeve in a plastic zip bag. } So I have in total 4 backups actually, but placed in two different places. So, 2 places guard me against physical disaster on the specific place and 2 backups in each place guard me against physical damage on a specific piece of paper (which is highly unlikely). Thoughts: 1. I know my system is ultra redundant, but I sleep well at night. 2. I maintain paper backups, so putting 2 of the aforementioned packages in a single place, requires less space than using other possible backup media. |
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One more question! For signing transactions, which one is more easy and convenient?
Let's say I want to sign a transactions using 2 cosigners from my 2-of-3 multisig, which one is easier to use?
How easy is it to use a signing device to sign a transaction?
How easy is it to sign with one cosigner and then wait till I get to where the other cosigner is in order to sign too?
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Ahh, I see. I misunderstood your previous post - I thought you were saying you had already set up an Electrum server, when you were actually saying you already have Sparrow pointed at your own node. In that case, I would just use Sparrow for the use cases you described in your first post. It is more than capable of doing all of those, and you will maintain your privacy since it will only sync via your own node. Whirlpool is a coinjoin implementation, run by Samourai, which is accessible via Sparrow. You can read more about it here: https://sparrowwallet.com/docs/mixing-whirlpool.html. Essentially, you pay a small fee and then coordinate with other users to create transactions which send the same amount of bitcoin you put in back to you, but in a way which obfuscates which bitcoin actually belong to you. If you are interested in anonymizing your bitcoin so entities such as centralized exchanges and blockchain analysis companies cannot trace it, then you could look in to this. If you do plan to use Whirlpool, make sure you also connect to the coordinator via Tor (explained in the link I just shared). Τhanks! yeah I am in the middle of watching this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TcUY2yU41w&t=1101s&ab_channel=BTCSessions to make it work. |
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If you are already familiar with Electrum and already have a server set up, then I see no reason to change unless you wanted to use Whirlpool.
Ok, so now you got my attention with Whirlpool. I have Sparrow running over my Bitcoin Node. So I don't run an Electrum Server personally. |
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I would say the main benefit that Sparrow has over Electrum for your use case is how easy it so connect to your own node and not rely on a third party. Electrum requires that you set up an Electrum server on top of your node first; Sparrow can just be pointed directly at your node.
I have, actually! But I forgot to mention it. It was a 2-clicks process to do it. Provided that you already have a node of course. Can you elaborate though? Is it better (and for what reason), to run Electrum Server upon your node, instead of connecting Sparrow to your node? Although Sparrow excels in terms of UI and UX, in addition to the ease of connecting your nodes, in addition to Taproot addresses and better performance of the Lightning Network, Electrum provides you with basic and good features for all these requirements, so if you are familiar with Electrum or have not used any of these wallets before it is a good choice.
I also think that the way Electrum deals with individual HW plugins is better. so I will vote for it.
There are actually too many people that used to use Electrum since it was released and haven't switched to any other alternative. That's what made me curious. Electrum doesn't generate a BIP39 seed phrase and uses its own algorithm when generating a seed phrase.
Of course, you can import a BIP39 seed phrase in electrum. To do so, just click on "Options" when entering your seed phrase and check "BIP39 seed".
Thanks! I have tried it and I can verify that. |
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Hello people, I am interested in the significant differences that you have found between these two applications.
I have googled it, but the best audience to answer are the people in this forum.
1. I have a multisig vault, which I would like to be able to "monitor" using the cosigners xpubs.
2. I have a cold storage wallet, which I would also like to monitor as "watch-only"
3. I have a hot wallet, created using BlueWallet.
I know I can do all 3 in both of them. But are there differences in features etc, that you have spotted?
Example: I think, and I may be mistaken, that Electrum doesn't use BIP39 seed phrases, am I wrong?
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After joining this forum, I discovered that I wasn't knowledgeable about bitcoin and having been doing research for a while in understanding bitcoin, now am more interested in going into the Technical aspects of Bitcoin, please I need resources to learn about bitcoin Blockchain Hash algorithm and also learning about cryptography as a whole .
Hello! Congrats for your decision. Bitcoin is fascinating. https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook go here, slide towards the bottom and there you will find links to the chapters. Start reading. Btw, this guy is extremely knowledgeable. https://learnmeabitcoin.com/ this is another brilliant place. https://www.youtube.com/c/BTCSessions this channel will teach you how to use software (and hardware) regarding Bitcoin. Finally, this forum is incredible too, so feel free to ask. |
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Hello OP. I am sure you have established good knowledge here. But as a personal opinion, I want to tell you that I have done both:
1. 2-of-3 multisig. I mean actual multisig with 3 cosigners, where 2 are required.
2. cold storage (24 words seed phrase + passphrase).
In my humble opinion, for the average Bitcoiner, the option (2) is more than enough. It's good to understand how the option (1) works and give it a try, but option (2) is much much much simpler, both in terms of back-up and in terms of usage.
Yes but cold storage single sig I am afraid that someone finds my hidden location Let's say you hide the 24 words on a piece of paper in a super secret place. Let's say I find the piece of paper (because I am a super clever detective). What can I do then? I will try to restore the wallet and I will see that it is empy. Why? Because you will have added a passphrase that ONLY YOU know. So even if I stole your seed phrase, I would also need the passphrase. P.S. The passphrase is a part of your wallet. It is not a password that is related to the application that you use. It is attached to your seed phrase, in order to create the seed for your wallet. |
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Hello OP. I am sure you have established good knowledge here. But as a personal opinion, I want to tell you that I have done both:
1. 2-of-3 multisig. I mean actual multisig with 3 cosigners, where 2 are required.
2. cold storage (24 words seed phrase + passphrase).
In my humble opinion, for the average Bitcoiner, the option (2) is more than enough. It's good to understand how the option (1) works and give it a try, but option (2) is much much much simpler, both in terms of back-up and in terms of usage.
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Brilliant! I don't have this window, at least not in this path (perhaps because I don't run the latest Core version). I can see the network traffic under "window" -> "network traffic". Correct, my bad. It's under "Window". Regarding the first bullet, considering that I cannot receive inbound connections, will it make a difference if I allow tor? If you allow Tor, you'll probably connect with Tor nodes, so you'll upload to / download from both Tor and clearnet nodes. Also, you can allow incoming connections through Tor without messing up with firewalls. Could you provide me with a good tutorial on how to do that? I am on Windows unfortunately.
edit:
is this enough? https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tor |
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So, what does my node do now? I am only allowing outbound connections. Does this mean that my node "sends" the current blockchain (and mempool) situation to other nodes, to help them validate new transactions? Correct. Your node downloads and verifies blocks whenever you're notified there's a new chain tip, and uploads blocks to whoever requests them from you. In fact, you can open up and see yourself how much data you send and receive by clicking on "Help" -> "Debug Window" -> "Network". Brilliant! I don't have this window, at least not in this path (perhaps because I don't run the latest Core version). I can see the network traffic under "window" -> "network traffic". In fact there is column called "totals" where I can see a received attribute and a sent attribute. I guess Received: 398MB means I have received 398MB of information regarding new blocks and Sent: 82MB means I have sent 82MB of info. If you want to help even more: - Allow Tor, so that you can have mixed connections with both clearnet and anonymous nodes (and act as bridge between these two networks).
- Setup an anonymous SPV server, and let the rest of the peers find you.
- Run a reliable lightning node.
Regarding the first bullet, considering that I cannot receive inbound connections, will it make a difference if I allow tor? |
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Running bitcoin core with outbound connections only, is it ok? I mean, do I help the network? and if so, how is it different than a node that has inbound connections too? Yes, you do help it bandwidth-wise. Allowing incoming connections is just even more helpful, because in comparison with outbound-only (which lets you make up to 8 full-relays), with incoming you can establish up to 125 connections. If you want to help even more: - Allow Tor, so that you can have mixed connections with both clearnet and anonymous nodes (and act as bridge between these two networks).
- Setup an anonymous SPV server, and let the rest of the peers find you.
- Run a reliable lightning node.
Hello! Please consider I am totally new to this, so my questions may sound silly. But I am trying to learn. An I read as much as I can. So, what does my node do now? I am only allowing outbound connections. Does this mean that my node "sends" the current blockchain (and mempool) situation to other nodes, to help them validate new transactions? |
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You will have to open port 8333 in your firewall / router and point it back to the PC running bitcoin.
Also, if there is any software firewall on the PC you would have to allow inbound on port 8333
-Dave
So I have a router, in which I have set a rule to open tcp/udp connections on port 8333. I also checked my firewall on the pc where the Bitcoin Core is installed and I observed that there is also an inbound rule for the port 8333. I rebooted my router. Unfortunately, I still have 10 connections (In: 0 / Out: 10). Have you checked whether your node actually can be reached by other node? Using https://bitnodes.io/ usually is easiest way to do it. If https://bitnodes.io/ can't reach your node, it's possible your ISP use CGNAT. Yes, my ISP indeed use CGNAT. My node is unreachable through bitnodes... Running bitcoin core with outbound connections only, is it ok? I mean, do I help the network? and if so, how is it different than a node that has inbound connections too? |
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You will have to open port 8333 in your firewall / router and point it back to the PC running bitcoin.
Also, if there is any software firewall on the PC you would have to allow inbound on port 8333
-Dave
So I have a router, in which I have set a rule to open tcp/udp connections on port 8333. I also checked my firewall on the pc where the Bitcoin Core is installed and I observed that there is also an inbound rule for the port 8333. I rebooted my router. Unfortunately, I still have 10 connections (In: 0 / Out: 10). |
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Is there any way to be sure that I have done things correctly?
I have downloaded bitcoin core.
I have waited multiple hours to sync.
I have opened a bitcoin.conf file, in which I have set server=1.
I have Bitcoin Core open and I do nothing.
Can I check somehow if my node is reachable? I only want to make sure that I contribute to the network. What is the easiest way to do so?
EDIT
1. I have checked using netstat that my port 8333 is listening, but Bitnodes website shows my node is unreachable.
2. Running getpeerinfo, I get a json where all peers have the attribute "inbound": false. I guess this means that I have no incoming connections.
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"Core just sits there and talks to other nodes taking in and rebroadcasting valid transactions." -> Can I see this process somehow? Can I check which nodes I am connected with etc.?
If you are running the GUI you can see the peers under Window -> peers If you are running the cli then use bitcoin-cli getpeerinfo That will show you the connected nodes. I don't know if it's still current / 100% accurate but I used to point people here: https://medium.com/@peterjd42/basic-commands-to-interact-with-the-bitcoin-core-rpc-console-180da2c2dc45For a bit of command info. There are other guides but that one was good a couple of years ago. -Dave Thanks Dave, you ve been very helpful |
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1. Can I validate transactions? If so, how? Will it happen automatically while running the program? Which transactions will I be able to validate? Only mine?
Core just sits there and talks to other nodes taking in and rebroadcasting valid transactions. 2. Can I run a block explorer like mempool.space? I am interested in developing an app that needs access to address balances etc. However I can't use an online API because the websites use rate limits. Therefore, could I use my own full node to do this?
Yes you will need to install a few other things but: https://github.com/mempool/mempoolYou can also run this explorer https://github.com/janoside/btc-rpc-explorerIt's slower with less features, but needs a lot less on the back end to run it. Or you can just use calls direct to core using bitcoin-cli see here: https://developer.bitcoin.org/reference/3. What else can I possibly do? Give me ideas. I am totally new to this.
Take a look at the pre-configured nodes in a box like umbrel or raspiblitz. See what they can do and the features they have. -Dave Thanks! I will definetely check umbrel. "Core just sits there and talks to other nodes taking in and rebroadcasting valid transactions." -> Can I see this process somehow? Can I check which nodes I am connected with etc.? |
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