Is the .dat file + password everything you need to save?

[BlackstarCollective]

I was wondering whether a secure storage of a .DAT file along with the password it was encrypted with is enough to save in order to recover the control of a wallet/address at any given time in the future?

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[achow101]

If your wallet.dat file was created with a version of Bitcoin Core prior to Bitcoin Core 0.13.0, the wallet.dat will only be good for the 100 addresses that you use after the backup is made. That includes change addresses, so it typically means 100 transactions before you have to backup again.

With wallets created with Bitcoin Core 0.13.0 and later, the wallet.dat will have the necessary information to derive all of your future addresses since it is a deterministic wallet. However this is not enough as you won't know how many addresses it should generate and look transactions for when you restore. You still should make periodic backups.

[BlackstarCollective]

If your wallet.dat file was created with a version of Bitcoin Core prior to Bitcoin Core 0.13.0, the wallet.dat will only be good for the 100 addresses that you use after the backup is made. That includes change addresses, so it typically means 100 transactions before you have to backup again.

With wallets created with Bitcoin Core 0.13.0 and later, the wallet.dat will have the necessary information to derive all of your future addresses since it is a deterministic wallet. However this is not enough as you won't know how many addresses it should generate and look transactions for when you restore. You still should make periodic backups.

Thank you for the descriptive reply.

So if I create a backup for a wallet file that will only store a 1-5 "deposits" I'm gonna be fine without doing new backups or anything else?

PS: and this might not be for this thread but related: Do all other ALT-wallets work the same like this when it comes to backups?

[achow101]

Thank you for the descriptive reply.

So if I create a backup for a wallet file that will only store a 1-5 "deposits" I'm gonna be fine without doing new backups or anything else?

Yes. You won't need to make another backup until after you have made ~100 transactions, both receiving and sending.