blockchain.info "Add Watch Only Address" - What to put in here?

[louong]

Hi all,

I started out with bitcoin by downloading the Mac Bitcoin-QT app and have my initial wallet as the wallet created upon launch.

Now checking out blockchain.info with it's 2-factor authentication have decided to create a second wallet there. There is a feature called "Add Watch Only Address" and I would like to be able to "watch" my initial Bitcoin-QT wallet.

So what address to I put in there? Do I create a new address in Bitcoin-QT to receive a payment and then paste that address as the "Watch Only" address? I don't think this will work.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[plexipay]

Hi all,

I started out with bitcoin by downloading the Mac Bitcoin-QT app and have my initial wallet as the wallet created upon launch.

Now checking out blockchain.info with it's 2-factor authentication have decided to create a second wallet there. There is a feature called "Add Watch Only Address" and I would like to be able to "watch" my initial Bitcoin-QT wallet.

So what address to I put in there? Do I create a new address in Bitcoin-QT to receive a payment and then paste that address as the "Watch Only" address? I don't think this will work.

Thanks in advance for any help!

In order to watch your entire Bitcoin-QT balance, you will need to copy every address in your Bitcoin-QT wallet into the "Add Watch Only Address" field individually. This is because wallets may not be watched, while addresses can be.

Hope that helps.

[bitManXD]

Basically you put a private key there and the address is like "read-only". You can withdraw from it but you need the private key. It's somehow more secure.

[odolvlobo]

In order to watch your entire Bitcoin-QT balance, you will need to copy every address in your Bitcoin-QT wallet into the "Add Watch Only Address" field individually. This is because wallets may not be watched, while addresses can be.

Hope that helps.

A little bit of explanation...

A wallet contains many addresses, some of which are hidden from you. The watch-only feature doesn't work well with active addresses because when you spend money sent to a specific address, some (or all) of the unspent money is moved to a hidden address. That's the how bitcoin works. The watch-only feature is generally used to maintain a list of your normally inactive addresses, such as "paper" wallets.

What bitManXD wrote is not accurate. For a watch-only address, you provide the public address, and you can't spend it or "withdraw from it" unless you import it as a normal address using its private key.

[louong]

In order to watch your entire Bitcoin-QT balance, you will need to copy every address in your Bitcoin-QT wallet into the "Add Watch Only Address" field individually. This is because wallets may not be watched, while addresses can be.

Hope that helps.

A little bit of explanation...

A wallet contains many addresses, some of which are hidden from you. The watch-only feature doesn't work well with active addresses because when you spend money sent to a specific address, some (or all) of the unspent money is moved to a hidden address. That's the how bitcoin works. The watch-only feature is generally used to maintain a list of your normally inactive addresses, such as "paper" wallets.

What bitManXD wrote is not accurate. For a watch-only address, you provide the public address, and you can't spend it or "withdraw from it" unless you import it as a normal address using its private key.

Thanks for the helpful responses. So how do I get the public address of my Mac Bitcoin-QT wallet? I can't seem to find it easy through the GUI? Do I have to open up a file where bitcoin stores its data or through the console?

[plexipay]

In order to watch your entire Bitcoin-QT balance, you will need to copy every address in your Bitcoin-QT wallet into the "Add Watch Only Address" field individually. This is because wallets may not be watched, while addresses can be.

Hope that helps.

A little bit of explanation...

A wallet contains many addresses, some of which are hidden from you. The watch-only feature doesn't work well with active addresses because when you spend money sent to a specific address, some (or all) of the unspent money is moved to a hidden address. That's the how bitcoin works. The watch-only feature is generally used to maintain a list of your normally inactive addresses, such as "paper" wallets.

What bitManXD wrote is not accurate. For a watch-only address, you provide the public address, and you can't spend it or "withdraw from it" unless you import it as a normal address using its private key.

Thanks for the helpful responses. So how do I get the public address of my Mac Bitcoin-QT wallet? I can't seem to find it easy through the GUI? Do I have to open up a file where bitcoin stores its data or through the console?

I've never used the mac version, but assuming it is similar to the PC version, you should be able to simply click the receive coins tab. The "address" column will contain the strings you will want to enter into the watch-only field on Blockchain.info.

[louong]

I've never used the mac version, but assuming it is similar to the PC version, you should be able to simply click the receive coins tab. The "address" column will contain the strings you will want to enter into the watch-only field on Blockchain.info.

OK, but these are the addresses that you can create for each incoming transaction to determine who the sender is. I can only enter one public key into the "Add Watch Only Address" field in blockchain.info. Are you saying that I can pick any address and I should be able to watch the account?

[plexipay]

I've never used the mac version, but assuming it is similar to the PC version, you should be able to simply click the receive coins tab. The "address" column will contain the strings you will want to enter into the watch-only field on Blockchain.info.

OK, but these are the addresses that you can create for each incoming transaction to determine who the sender is. I can only enter one public key into the "Add Watch Only Address" field in blockchain.info. Are you saying that I can pick any address and I should be able to watch the account?

No, I am saying you will need to copy each and every one of these addresses. If you want to watch your entire wallet, and your wallet has multiple addresses in it, you will need to watch multiple addresses. z

[odolvlobo]

I've never used the mac version, but assuming it is similar to the PC version, you should be able to simply click the receive coins tab. The "address" column will contain the strings you will want to enter into the watch-only field on Blockchain.info.

OK, but these are the addresses that you can create for each incoming transaction to determine who the sender is. I can only enter one public key into the "Add Watch Only Address" field in blockchain.info. Are you saying that I can pick any address and I should be able to watch the account?

Actually, I don't think the watch-only address feature is very useful because blockchain.info makes no distinction between the spendable amounts and the watch-only amounts. I added some paper wallets as watch-only and now it looks like my wallet has a lot more than it actually has. If I wanted to use the watch-only feature for keeping track of paper wallets, I would set up a separate wallet for that.

Anyway luong, I think you still don't quite understand. A wallet is a collection of addresses, some that you create and others that the wallet creates for you automatically.

Here's a example scenario:

1. You create an address in your Bitcoin-qt wallet for receiving payments, e.g. 1xyz....
2. You add 1xyz... as a watch-only address in the Blockchain.info wallet.
3. Someone sends 10 BTC to 1xyz... and your Blockchain.info wallet shows an value of 10 BTC.
4. You send 3 BTC from your Bitcoin-qt wallet to someone at 1abc... The wallet sends 3 BTC to 1abc... and 7 BTC to a new hidden address. Meanwhile, 1xyz... is left with 0 BTC.
5. Even though your Bitcoin-qt wallet still has 7 BTC, the Blockchain.info wallet says you have 0 BTC because it doesn't know about the hidden addresses.

Here is another scenario:

1. You have a wallet with 1 BTC and many addresses.
2. You create a new address in your Bitcoin-qt wallet for receiving payments, e.g. 1xyz....
3. You add 1xyz... as a watch-only address in the Blockchain.info wallet. The Blockchain.info wallet shows a balance of 0 because it doesn't know about the other addresses in the wallet

This is why the watch-only feature is useful only for addresses in wallets that are normally inactive, like a paper wallet or a brain wallet.

[louong]

No, I am saying you will need to copy each and every one of these addresses. If you want to watch your entire wallet, and your wallet has multiple addresses in it, you will need to watch multiple addresses. z

Hmm, that seems a bit unwieldy then, as I create new address for each new sender and I would have to login to blockchain.info and manually add the new address to watch.

[louong]

Actually, I don't think the watch-only address feature is very useful because blockchain.info makes no distinction between the spendable amounts and the watch-only amounts. I added some paper wallets as watch-only and now it looks like my wallet has a lot more than it actually has. If I wanted to use the watch-only feature for keeping track of paper wallets, I would set up a separate wallet for that.

Anyway luong, I think you still don't quite understand. A wallet is a collection of addresses, some that you create and others that the wallet creates for you automatically.

Here's a example scenario:

1. You create an address in your Bitcoin-qt wallet for receiving payments, e.g. 1xyz....
2. You add 1xyz... as a watch-only address in the Blockchain.info wallet.
3. Someone sends 10 BTC to 1xyz... and your Blockchain.info wallet shows an value of 10 BTC.
4. You send 3 BTC from your Bitcoin-qt wallet to someone at 1abc... The wallet sends 3 BTC to 1abc... and 7 BTC to a new hidden address. Meanwhile, 1xyz... is left with 0 BTC.
5. Even though your Bitcoin-qt wallet still has 7 BTC, the Blockchain.info wallet says you have 0 BTC because it doesn't know about the hidden addresses.

Here is another scenario:

1. You have a wallet with 1 BTC and many addresses.
2. You create a new address in your Bitcoin-qt wallet for receiving payments, e.g. 1xyz....
3. You add 1xyz... as a watch-only address in the Blockchain.info wallet. The Blockchain.info wallet shows a balance of 0 because it doesn't know about the other addresses in the wallet

This is why the watch-only feature is useful only for addresses in wallets that are normally inactive, like a paper wallet or a brain wallet.

Hi, thanks for explaining this in a very clear manner. I understand more this feature now. So probably what I will do is create a 2nd blockchain.info wallet (3rd wallet total) to serve as a paper wallet. Then I will have my Bitcoin-QT wallet as my send/receive wallet (i.e. checking account), my 1st blockchain.info wallet as a reserve/savings and 2nd wallet as a paper reserve/savings. Then add the 2nd blockchain wallet as a "watch only" wallet to the 1st blockchain wallet, as most likely the only transactions going to and from that paper wallet will be to/from the 1st blockchain wallet.