I am fairly sure it has indeed been reported by people on threads here that they were able to get TrustedCoin to help... like this one: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5071869.0

and this one: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5127850.msg52959353#msg52959353


I'm fairly certain there have been others, but the forum search tools aren't the best and it's late I have no idea if TrustedCoin still do this, or what they actually require in the way of proof that you are legitimately the owner/creator of the wallet... but there appears to be anecdotal evidence that they might.

it isn't exactly like the address "gap limit" issue... but it is similar. It's supposed to keep looking for accounts until it finds one that hasn't been "used", as it only allows you to have one "unused" account. So, if AccountN is unused (ie. no history), then it shouldn't let you create AccountN+1.

It also doesn't automatically add an unused account when doing a restore. It will stop at the last used account.


Because of this logic, if, for some reason, it failed to find any history for Account 4 when restoring from the seed, then it would stop and wouldn't automatically add Account 4... It's essentially an "account gap limit" of 0.

Except that you can't actually get into the main dashboard of the suite (or the wallet.trezor.io website) without a Trezor connected. While there is an option, if you have a Trezor, to have the suite "remember device" etc which will allow you to open it up and work like a watching-only wallet without your device connected, you still need your device connected at least once. AFAIK.


With a pixel size of 8... I doubt anyone could reverse engineer it, good luck to anyone that wants to try... because even if they do, they're only going to get about 12-16 characters of the address anyway... the suite only shows the first half of the address and slowly fades it out from about the 3rd character onwards.

Any particular reason you didn't want to use "Windows Subsystem for Linux" (WSL)?

I was able to get both "electrs" running under WSL. electrs was reading Windows-based Bitcoin Core block data and I was able to connect to electrs from a Windows-based Electrum client. In my opinion it was certainly a lot easier than messing about with VirtualBox.

I vaguely recall I also managed to get ElectrumX working, but preferred electrs.


Was using VirtualBox, simply a way to keep everything segregated for "security" reasons?

That would be the preferred option... If he hadn't "misplaced" his Trezor   He can't reset something he doesn't have!

They're all safe... until they're not.

Mt. Gox was perfectly "safe"... until it wasn't and everyone lost their coins.
Cryptopia was perfectly "safe"... until it wasn't and everyone lost their coins (fingers crossed that the users recover something after the liquidators sort it out).

There are also countless tales of users who had their coins in exchanges (or other custodial services) and then suddenly received "oops, your account is blocked!" emails/notifications etc

If that's a risk you're willing to live with for the sake of convenience, then have at it... but you're basically just using a "traditional banking" service at that point, but likely with less regulation

Note that this procedure to import into Electrum will only show the "default" Mycelium account.

For any of the other accounts (ie. Account#s 2-4 or more), you would need to modify the derivation path. When you get the screen that asks you to set the "Script type and Derivation path":


You would need to modify the derivation path and change the last digit... somewhat confusingly, you're going to need to change it to (MyceliumAccount# - 1)', as it's indexed from 0... so the "main" account (ie. Account#1 is 0'... Account#2 is 1'... Account#3 is 2'... Account#n is n-1' etc etc)

So, in OPs situation... for Account #4... the derivation path would be one of the following (depending on script type):
Legacy:
Nested:
Native:

There is a very similar looking, and somewhat cheaper item listed on AliExpress here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003395494877.html

I have no idea if it is the same, or indeed compatible... but under the specs it lists the "Display Mode" as "Ledger":



Also, like Amazon, this looks like the only 12pin version that is available on AliExpress. Everything else is 14pins... (or 14pins soldered to a daughter board that has 4 pins )


Somewhat interestingly... I also found this 8pin model (same "brand" - "yunrichlcd") that lists the "Display Mode" as "Ledger Nano S Wallet": https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32857997004.html


Perhaps and earlier (or later) hardware revision?

There is a whole thread that dkbit has started regarding this option for Trezor Suite: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5365581.0

I've posted the results of my testing with Trezor Suite, Bitcoin Core, Electrum, Mycelium and BrainwalletX (web-based signed message verification) there.

Just had a chance to have a bit of a play with this functionality... It's pretty slick.

It will sign from Legacy, Nested or Native Segwit addresses (for Bitcoin)... and it even gives you the option of signing with one of your used addresses or the next "fresh" address (and displays the index number of the address being used).



Testing Notes:

- Bitcoin Core only supports verifying using Legacy.
- Electrum cannot verify signed messages from Trezor Suite using Nested or Native Segwit addresses, it will only verify Legacy.
- The same goes for Mycelium. Only Legacy works. Nested and Native Segwit fails.
- However Jochen Hoenicke's (the guy who runs the mempool stats site) BrainwalletX mod that supports P2SH here: https://jhoenicke.github.io/brainwallet.github.io/#verify is able to verify signed messages using a Nested Segwit address in addition to Legacy. (Native Segwit still fails).


And in "reverse":
- Bitcoin Core only supports signing using Legacy addresses
- Trezor Suite cannot verify messages from Electrum Nested or Native Segwit... only Legacy.
- Mycelium doesn't offer the ability to sign as far as I can tell, only verify.
- The JoHoe brainwalletX only allows to sign from Legacy (and this verifies OK in Trezor Suite as you would expect).


TLDR: If the party you need to verify your message doesn't own a Trezor... probably best to stick to signing messages using a Legacy address for now.

Theoretically... if you have a (trusted) "friend" that has a full unpruned node, one can simply copy the blocks/chainstate and drop them into a new node installation and "voilà", you have your full node without having to download anything, you just have to trust your "friend".

You can even set the new node to be pruned (after you have loaded and scanned your wallets) and it will discard all the unneeded blocks.

Of course, if storage space is the issue (and not bandwidth)... then this might not be an option either.


In any case, the OPs requirement to "be able to enter a random public key and view the balance" might preclude pruning anyway... as most (all?) blockexplorer apps require txindex, which is not compatible with pruning.

Alternatively, a bespoke software solution might be possible.

Any self-hosted solution will likely involve Bitcoin Core and downloading the whole blockchain. There isn't really any other way to be able to check "random" address balances without having the entire blockchain data to be able to scan/parse.

If you are unable to host this data locally, then you'll either need:

1. to rely on API's hosted elsewhere
or
2. host the data remotely (ie. on a rented server etc)


Given it appears that you're looking for a "free" solution, then option #1 is probably your best bet... unfortunately, as mentioned above, "free" API's are going to come with limitations. Usually on the number of requests able to be made in a specific time period. The only way around those limits will generally require having a paid account/subscription.


What sort of volume of requests are you looking at making?

This would be the approach I would take. A little raspberry pi home server (or similar) with TOR etc would be relatively cheap and easy to setup... you'd be able to store whatever you wanted on it... travel across a border with your "clean" devices and then access whatever you needed at your destination.

With the added benefit of not needing to "trust" any cloud based service.

Exactly. If all you have is an address that has never spent any UTXOs... then it is simply not possible.

As everyone knows, without the public key, OP won't be able to encode anything that the private key holder will be able to decode using their private key.

Public Key -> Address is possible
Address -> Public Key is not

So, the private key holder needs to make that public key available to you in some way (either by explicitly sending it to you or by way of that public key already being "available" on the blockchain in a pre-existing transaction).

Theoretically, it should be as simple as deleting the "/opt/bitcoin-v0.16.1" folder and everything in it... (this assumes that your block data and wallets are being stored in "/home/.bitcoin" and are not also in the "/opt/bitcoin-v0.16.1" folder tree.)

Good to know... At least now I know not to waste any more time bashing my head against a brick wall.

Guess I'll just leave it for a bit then. Thanks for the prompt reply.

If you preview the transaction in Electrum... what is the size in bytes that it is displaying? Also how many inputs are listed?

In Armory: Wallets -> Import or Restore wallet



Select the first option from the dialog labelled: "Single-Sheet Backup (printed)"



Then select the first option under Backup type: "Version 1.35 (4 lines)"



This will allow you to enter the "root key" and "chaincode".


Note that after you restore the wallet, for Armory to show any balance, you will require Bitcoin Core installed and fully synced (and NOT prunted!). You will still be able to view addresses/private keys if you want... you just won't see any transaction history or balance.

For Electrum "2fa" wallets you need:

1. Wallet + Wallet password (if any) and 2FA code from Authenticator

or

2. 12 word seed recovery phrase


Without one of these, you're screwed. As mentioned, there is a possibility that if you contact TrustedCoin (https://api.trustedcoin.com/#/contact-us) from the email address you originally used when you setup the 2FA wallet, you might be able to get them to reset the authenticator for you.

So you put your 12 word seed phrase into Mycelium?

If so, this is precisely what I was talking about... there are so many ways for a wallet to get compromised. Using your seed on multiple devices/wallets is one way to unintentionally expose your seed and therefore lose all your coins.