I don't think it is because the value is <= 0.
According to OP, there is a value > 0 (at least thats what it looks like according to the output to the screen):




I assume it is a type error. Thats what status code -3 should be for:


from: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/v0.15.0.1/src/rpc/protocol.h#L50

As achow101 already mentioned, it most probably is a bug in your code.
Mind sharing the relevant parts? We can't spot your bug without anything to look at.




Could you explain this ?
Why does the bitcoin rate (BTC/USD price ?) influence your ability to create transactions ?

And what libary are you using? python-bitcoinrpc (https://github.com/jgarzik/python-bitcoinrpc) ?

Ledger released an article in february, stating the release would be july:

Source: https://www.ledger.fr/2018/02/23/announcing-new-ledger-wallet-desktop-mobile-applications/


But who knows whether their software will be completely done by then.. I wouldn't be suprised by a delay of 1 or 2 months.

What exactly did not work?
Weren't you able to dump the private keys of your addresses?

Because each command itself is correct. Mind explaining where it didn't work or what exactly didn't work?

Unfortunately, you got scammed 

Not only that you were never in possession of 'your' bitcoins (You do only own bitcoins if you own the correct private key), but he also has the gall to try to scam you again.

I guess you don't know him personally? Because if you do, you might contact the local law enforcement agency. You are a victim of a (sordid) crime.

Your client has to be fully synced to show your recent transactions.
Currently you are at block 143450. The latest block is 530552.

You won't see any transactions which were included in a block after the latest block of your local blockchain/chainstate (in your case: each block after 143450).

To see your coins/transaction you have to wait until core if fully synced (which can take quite some time), or you can export your private keys and import them into a lightweigt wallet if you don't want to wait.




You are talking about the in-built restoring functionality in windows, aren't you?
It might work, but unfortunately it doesn't in most of the cases.

In case you have overwritten your wallet file, a better approach would be to not touch your computer anymore and make an image of your hard drive (e.g. with linux dd).
And then run a recovery software on this image to find any *.dat files (e.g. with recuva).

What do you mean with 'refresh' ?
Windows shouldn't delete any files/programs (programs are composed of files).




Did you ever backup your wallet file ?




Where did you generate this seed?
If you have generated it in another wallet it most probably is a BIP39 seed (Check the BIP39-button when entering the seed).




Try to use the newest version of electrum and move the wallet file of your external drive into the electrum directory.
But make sure to rename the wallet file inside the directory (default name: default_wallet) so it won't get overwritten (just in case).

Yes. You will be able to create a new one.
You can create as much wallet files as you wish.

And if you have just created a wallet for testing purpose and didn't use any address, you can safely delete it without running any risks (even though just renaming it wouldn't hurt).

Did you redownload electron cash?
Or did you download the real electrum (from https://electrum.org/#home) ?

You can simply download electrum and move your wallet file (from electron cash) to the electrum folder (make a backup before doing this).
But you should create a new wallet and transfer the funds out of this wallet. I would not trust a seed which has been created by electron cash.

Another option would be to export the private keys from electron and importing them into electrum.

You might also want to include these hardware wallets into your list:

• Secalot (https://www.secalot.com/)
  
  
• Bitvault (https://swissbankinyourpocket.com/)
  
  
• Bitlox (https://www.bitlox.com/)
  
  
• Coolwallet (https://coolwallet.io/)
  
  

Note that some are open source while others are not.
I would also not trust those wallets without making some researches, checking whether source code is open source, look at reputations, etc. ..

Did it finally show up?

Since the transaction as been included into a block properly there are bascially 3 options in this scenario:

1) The recipient has an outdated version / no connection to the network
2) The address does not belong to the recipient (maybe he sent you the wrong address or you copied it wrong; maybe clipping malware?)
3) The person you are dealing with just scammed you.

Thats true. At least for the mnemonic seed phrase.

But since electrum does follow the BIP44 specification, the xpriv can be entered into the Account Extended Private Key field on https://iancoleman.io/bip39/ to restore the private keys.

So a backup of the mnemonic seed phrase AND the xpriv would be the best choice regarding safety.

IMO this depends.

On the one hand creating a structure with people you actually can trust to handle your payment will indeed increase adoption.
People are already trusting on 3rd parties to hold their coins (e.g. holding coins on an exchange, web wallets, .. ).
And i can very well imagine that institutions are going to create a server structure to provide such a service (for a small fee).

But in the end the system has been created to work without any trust. The key point is the ability to verify the integrity of all information / transactions yourself.

Everyone is free to give this control away. It basically depends on the reasons why you are using crypto currencies.

pooya87 basically answered your questions. But to add a small information regarding the second point:


The word seed you are prompted to backup can regenerate all of your private keys.
You can either reimport it into electrum or use any other tool to derive the private keys (e.g. https://iancoleman.io/bip39/).

You might download the site and store it offline. Once electrum should not be available somehow, you still can regenerate all of your private keys and import them into any other wallet.
This way you are completely independent from any software-/server- provider.

A better option would be to use a hardware wallet (nano s) with electrum.
This way you will be using a BIP39 compatible seed (which does work in any other BIP39 compatible wallet (almost everyone)).
And your private keys will stay in a secured environment, which does negate most attack vectors.

Thats not fully correct.

While you can't actually use the hardware device once it is broken, you still CAN access your private keys (and therefore all of your bitcoins stored on the hardware wallet).
Each hardware wallet (or software wallet) does prompt you to backup a 12/18/24 word seed.
This seed can always be used to generate your private keys (using a specific 'function', which is described in BIP32/BIP38 (can be found here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips)). Even without the physical device.

This is definitely scam.

Mining in a pool basically works like this:
1) You buy/build/get an ASIC
2) You give the mining pool your address you want to receive payments to (can be an empty adress)
3) You receive a share to work on (where you will be tryint to solve a challenge from the mining pool operator)
4) You submit your calculated share
5) Whenever someone from this mining pool finds a block, the rewards gets distributed in relation to the % of hashrate you have contributed

Never (under no circumstances) let someone else create a wallet for you.
Always create your wallet yourself. And preferably do not use a online wallet (like blockchain.info).
Visit https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet and read through the differend kind of wallets.

@OP

Did you manage to access your bitcoin / private keys ?

If not and if you have the assumption your old wallet has been overwritten, you might stop using your computer and try to restore the overwritten file (but back your current wallet.dat up on a different storage device).
There are quite a few user friendly recovery tools available on the internet.

Did you let core sync before looking at the transaction history ?
Or did you check the addresses for transactions in a block explorer?

Ideally, you connect with your mobile phone to your own node at home.
The only one you can trust for sure are you.

If you are choosing someone else to handle your channel, you are trusting that 3rd person.

This leads to the question how you can find someone who is trustful enough to handle this for you.
Either you know the person, or they have a very good reputation, or they can somehow ensure you won't lose money.


But also note that the LN currently isn't even in 'open beta'.
It is still a very early version (which does steadily increase in channel capacity / usage).

Importing an old wallet into a new version should work since afaik the devs always worked on backwards compatibility.
First, backup your wallet (And move them somewhere safe).

Then you can try to import the wallet file into the new core version (install core -> move the wallet file inside the directory).

If this somehow doesn't work you might try to use pywallet(https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet).
This tool allows you to dump all private keys found on your drive.

Even though this tool hasn't been updated for a pretty long time, it still works for .dat's from older versions.

Did you try step 3) ?


You can always export your private keys from armory and import them into another wallet.
Coinomi is a mobile wallet which support 154 different cryptocurrencies (including ZCash): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coinomi.wallet