Online Question

[dazzle]

Hi,

Does your computer have to be "online" when receiving payments?

And does your wallet have to be running when receiving payments/donations?


I'd like to seek help from a bitcoin professional.


Many thanks!!!

[1714031287]

1714031287

[crzy4btc]

Not at all. Hence the ability to have a paper wallet or other offline addresses to use as a type of secure savings account.

[knight22]

You need to be online only for sending them, not for receiving.

[John (John K.)]

No.

[FlapMATTY]

Does your computer have to be "online" when receiving payments?

As far as I know, the computer only has to be online when sending payments.

[Gabi]

Does your computer have to be "online" when receiving payments?

No,

And does your wallet have to be running when receiving payments/donations?

No

I'd like to seek help from a bitcoin professional.

A bit exagerated 

[Seal]

Nope, transactions that have happened since will sync up again eventually.

[dazzle]

Thanks for all the replies; this really helped.

Oh, and does anyone know why it takes so long to sync? This is my 3rd day and syncing isnt over yet.. maybe there's something wrong with my pc?

[Gabi]

Oh, and does anyone know why it takes so long to sync? This is my 3rd day and syncing isnt over yet.. maybe there's something wrong with my pc?

That's because you don't know what "sync" means, it means it's downloading the whole blockchain, wich yes, takes days. The standard client isn't exactly meant to be used by normal people.

Please use a lightweight client like MultiBit https://multibit.org/ or Electrum, they don't need the blockchain.

[dazzle]

Ok im downloading the client now (n00b)


Well, after all these, i dont consider myself "normal" anymore

[DannyHamilton]

There are plenty of normal people who happily use the reference client (Bitcoin-QT), but certainly there have been more user friendly "light" clients created that can get you up and running faster.  Electrum and Multibit are both good choices.

[dazzle]

Thanks a lot for that danny; i appreciate the assistance

[Gabi]

The new qt-client with the new database will be much faster at getting the blockchain.

This said, a lightweight client is instantly ready, and also have a much much much better interface

[brooksby]

Hi,

Does your computer have to be "online" when receiving payments?

Payments are "received" when someone sends coins to your bitcoin address.  The transfer occurs in the blockchain, which continues to accumulate transfers whether you're computer is on or not.  The "miners" keep the blockchain alive so you don't need to.

[brooksby]

Your wallet stores the crypto keys used to unlock the bitcoins you have "stored" in the blockchain.  The wallet doesn't need to be running to receive bitcoins, but if you loose it you won't be able to use your bitcoins.