That's not what it means. It means the python interpreter he has does not think the code is correct. That's because he's using an older version of python as NeuroticFish pointed out above. He needs to update to python 3.6 or stick with electrum 3.2.3.

There would be no MPK then. What OP is saying doesn't add up. Perhaps the wallet was corrupted during the upgrade process.

@MrNitr0 What does it say in the window title up top? That is the part of the electrum window that contains the app name, wallet name and wallet type: https://i.imgur.com/OqFKxH8.png

Alternatively what does it say for wallet type and script type under wallet > information ? This option may not be available in older versions though.

Have you tried spending this money? Do you remember your wallet password ?

When his company gets infected with ransomware he'll need bitcoin in hand to pay the ransom in a timely manner. So he should start creating a bitcoin reserve now.

In the meantime it'll also prove useful to pay pentesters as part of bug bounties. I'm sure he'll attract more talent if btc is one form of payment on offer.

What shopping cart software are you planning on using?

Yes apparently the forum software has included a space in there. Remove it and you're good to go.

Can you provide a source for this? Old versions are insecure and buggy as you've found out yourself. The current version does let you import private keys. So overall this source needs to be corrected because they are encouraging people to do the wrong thing.

Regarding what you should do with your coins if you like you can delete the electrum wallet files or leave them be on your PC. It won't make a difference to your security since you did create the wallet on an online system. If you want greater security then try cold storage or multisig setups.

I think the most important question here is whether Alice is a trans person since the OP keeps referring to her as 'he'?

Bob's transaction could confirm first or Alice's. It's not just about the fees.  Either transaction could be incorporated in a block first and if that block gets built on by other miners then that becomes the consensus. If both transactions were made at the same time then the chances of Bob's being incorporated are higher because he's paying a higher fee.

Only one transaction spending an input can be incorporated in the blockchain. Both Alice and Bob can't spend the same coins!

Electrum is free and open source software so support is also community based. The company doesn't take responsibility for providing you with support nor for any money you might lose.

What version of electrum are you using and what operating system?

There are many ways to deal with this scenario:

- Create a standard wallet in electrum and memorize the 12 word seed it generates. This is computer generated so it is secure unlike human generated phrases.

- Instead of memorizing it write it down with a pen in a notebook. They aren't going to confiscate your notebooks are they? If you need a second factor you can extend the seed with custom characters/words which you only keep in your head. To do this in the seed re-entry step of the wallet creation process click on options and choose to extend the seed. You will get the option to enter your custom passphrase in subsequent steps. To recover the wallet a person will need both the 12 words you wrote down and the seed extension that you memorized.

- If USB drives are also subject to confiscation save the wallet file via file > save copy onto a microsd card and sew the card into your clothing.

- Save the encrypted wallet file onto a cloud account and simply memorize the password for that account.

- Save the encrypted wallet file onto an RFID or NFC chip that you inject under your skin. This is apparently a thing now

BTW your post reminds me of this guy. When I first read this I was wondering why he was risking carrying cash when bitcoin is so much more convenient and impossible to detect.

You will have to repeat this process and then import the private key in wallet software of your choice. You can't restore directly using the 12 words since they are not the seed to an HD wallet.

Also note that there is no checksum in your 12 word phrase so if you make a mistake, such as with spelling, punctuation or order of the words, you will generate a different private key entirely. It's also possible someone will guess your brainwallet phrase and steal your funds from you. Omegastarscream has already warned you about using brainwallets.

Yep. That last seed is from this dictionary with 8954 words and 1-7430 numbers giving you 2^14 total.

That's not correct. Electrum doesn't depend on any dictionary. You can restore without having the dictionary on hand.

For example:

sensuous 4478 plentiful scribble schematic 6525 sloppy pesky 7002 bobble

Try restoring using the above seed.

Electrum supports watch only wallets for all deterministic wallet types so you can derive all addresses in the wallet with the xpub and if any private keys leak you can derive the xprv and get all the coins.

Maybe the mpk is in the unsigned tx so that offline wallets can sign the transaction? Electrum supports a cold storage setup. They are migrating to psbt which also incorporates the xpub in the unsigned tx.

yes

Are you on windows? CLI access isn't available on Windows. It may work over RPC.


It's 11 because the default dictionary is 2048 words (2^11). If you use a larger dictionary you can encode more bits. You can replace the default dictionaries with your own if you like. Here's one with nearly 9k words. It's a combination of the electrum dictionary and one I downloaded from the EFF's site. On linux you can replace the Electrum dictionary in /lib/python3/site-packages/electrum/wordlist directory.

Inputs and outputs in transactions are sorted according to lexicographic order in Electrum. You can see this happening in BIP_LI01_sort() in transaction.py which is called from make_unsigned_transaction in wallet.py. So it's not random but it doesn't leak any additional information either.

Yes this is possible. Basically it has to hash to a number with one of the allowed version prefixes. So sometimes you get short strings that do that. You can generate  a custom size seed with the make_seed command line option on *nix:


The above will give you a two word seed like "rival impact". If you replace 22 with 11 you'll get a one word seed ('best'). Interestingly all you get is 'best' if you ask it to generate a <= 11bit seed

post a screenshot of the software you are calling bitcoin core. core doesn't offer recovery phrases so either you installed some other software or you installed malware.

Like I said it is not illegal in Pakistan. FIA can only shake people down for bribes. Any such case won't hold up in a court of law because there is no law against it. Even the SBP's actions are limited to restricting banks from dealing with cryptocurrencies. You can still trade in cash and even use the banking system as long as the banks don't find out which is what most localbitcoin traders do.

Basically they can't create a law against bitcoin right now because it would be a disproportionate response:

1) It's too small for parliamentarians to care about. They are the ones that create laws in the country not SBP or FIA.

2) any such law will only attract attention to bitcoin which will widen its use in Pakistan especially since laws are generally not enforced in the country.

3) it's not illegal in foreign countries that are far richer than Pakistan so making it illegal in Pakistan will make it impossible to enforce the law even if you wanted to. You can simply buy from and sell to foreigners.

So instead of making it illegal they are just spreading FUD about it.