bitcoin wallet question

[bitminer2049er]

What happens if a transfer is made and my wallet is not running? Do the coins not move or do they get lost?

[Rex_Heston]

What happens if a transfer is made and my wallet is not running? Do the coins not move or do they get lost?

Since the transfer is logged on the blockchain, the client need not be open for the transfer to happen. Once your client syncs with the blockchain again, the transfer will take the coins from your wallet.

[Rodyland]

What happens if a transfer is made and my wallet is not running? Do the coins not move or do they get lost?

Since the transfer is logged on the blockchain, the client need not be open for the transfer to happen. Once your client syncs with the blockchain again, the transfer will take the coins from your wallet.

A more correct description would be "Once your client syncs, your client will be updated to reflect the fact that the coins you transferred are no longer yours".

Your coins don't "live" in your wallet.  If the coins "live" anywhere, they live in the blockchain.  The wallet is your way of proving to the world that you own your coins, and allows you to transfer that ownership to others.

[devilfish]

What happens if a transfer is made and my wallet is not running? Do the coins not move or do they get lost?

Since the transfer is logged on the blockchain, the client need not be open for the transfer to happen. Once your client syncs with the blockchain again, the transfer will take the coins from your wallet.

A more correct description would be "Once your client syncs, your client will be updated to reflect the fact that the coins you transferred are no longer yours".

Your coins don't "live" in your wallet.  If the coins "live" anywhere, they live in the blockchain.  The wallet is your way of proving to the world that you own your coins, and allows you to transfer that ownership to others.

Nice explanation, thanks.

[Rex_Heston]

What happens if a transfer is made and my wallet is not running? Do the coins not move or do they get lost?

Since the transfer is logged on the blockchain, the client need not be open for the transfer to happen. Once your client syncs with the blockchain again, the transfer will take the coins from your wallet.

A more correct description would be "Once your client syncs, your client will be updated to reflect the fact that the coins you transferred are no longer yours".

Your coins don't "live" in your wallet.  If the coins "live" anywhere, they live in the blockchain.  The wallet is your way of proving to the world that you own your coins, and allows you to transfer that ownership to others.

Thanks for the elucidation. That makes sense, actually.

[bitminer2049er]

you for those answers. So then what does securing your wallet do for you? I mean how does that stop someone from using the part of the block chain assigned to you?

[Rodyland]

you for those answers. So then what does securing your wallet do for you? I mean how does that stop someone from using the part of the block chain assigned to you?

The wallet contains your private key (amongst other things).  The private key is the key to claiming ownership and being able spend your coins.

[DannyHamilton]

you for those answers. So then what does securing your wallet do for you? I mean how does that stop someone from using the part of the block chain assigned to you?

The wallet contains private keys that are mathematically associated with the bitcoin addresses that you control.

The only way to re-assign value that is associated with a bitcoin address to some other bitcoin address is to provide a valid digital signature created with the private key that is associated with the address that currently has the value associated with it.

Therefore, anyone who has access to the private keys in the wallet can spend/steal the bitcoins by creating the digital signature and re-associating the value with some new address.

Securing the wallet prevents others from obtaining the private keys that are stored in the wallet.

The blockchain is a public ledger containing every transaction that has ever occurred in bitcoin that every full peer maintains a full copy of.  Every peer (and every miner/pool) will verify the digital signature on the transaction spending bitcoins before relaying the transaction to any other peers or updating their own copy of the blockchain with it.

[bitminer2049er]

Got it, thanks. Think I am finally getting the hang of this.