This is annoying. I can't find videos for all of the uses of the Electrum.

[Cheddy]

I'm seeing options on this thing, and explanations on the website are not thorough at all.  Does anyone have any links to videos that describe them all in a down to earth kind of life hack expert way?  

Thanks

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[mocacinno]

What Are the Differences of the 4 Electrum Wallets Types? 

I guess there is some modality difference that I can use for security and utility purposes?  Sound great, but I can't find the cliff notes so to speak on youtube. 

With 4 types, do you mean "standard wallet", "wallet with two-factor authentication", "multi-signature wallet" and "watch bitcoin addresses"?

If so:
Standard wallet = normal, standard wallet... Optional encryption, can be HD (either using a seed phrase or a hardware wallet), or it can be non-hd by importing private keys

wallet with two-factor authentication = wallet with two-factor authentication, it uses a thirth party to perform the 2FA, the thirth party charges a service fee

multi-signature wallet = multi-signature wallet, you can pick how many signatures (optional/required)

watch bitcoin addresses = watch addresses for new unspent outputs.. You don't need the private key, you won't be able to spent.

[Cheddy]

Yes, that's what I wanted to know.  So how do people normally use those different options.  I'm just looking for ideas for inspirations.  I know it's a noobs question.  Hopefully no problems. 

[HCP]

So how do people normally use those different options.

Standard HD Wallet = 90-95% of "normal" use cases... ie. people who want to send and receive bitcoin.

Standard nonHD Wallet = people who need to import private keys from paper wallets (or 'broken' software wallets *cough*MultiBit HD*cough*) and don't want to pay transaction fees to "sweep" the coins.

2FA Wallets = Paranoid people

Multi Sig = Groups of Paranoid People who don't trust each other

Watch addresses = People who use air-gapped offline computers to hold their private keys and sign transactions but need a way to see all the coins in certain addresses... (and/or nosey people who want to watch addresses for transaction activity)

[Cheddy]

Standard nonHD Wallet = people who need to import private keys from paper wallets (or 'broken' software wallets *cough*MultiBit HD*cough*) and don't want to pay transaction fees to "sweep" the coins.

What is the coin sweep thing? 


Watch addresses = People who use air-gapped offline computers to hold their private keys and sign transactions but need a way to see all the coins in certain addresses... (and/or nosey people who want to watch addresses for transaction activity)

I'm clueless.  lol  How does that work? 

[HCP]

What is the coin sweep thing? 

Importing basically inserts your private key into a wallet (NOTE: this isn't possible with HD wallets, you can't insert foreign private keys)... so the coins stay under the control of the existing private key.

Sweeping, creates an "on-chain" transaction and sends the coins from the address of the existing private key to a brand new address (and matching private key). Usually this is done when you're wanting to either "burn" the private key and never use it again and/or to get the coins into an HD wallet when they're coming from a "random private keys" type wallet (ie. older non HD wallets, paper wallets, brain wallets etc)

Watch addresses = People who use air-gapped offline computers to hold their private keys and sign transactions but need a way to see all the coins in certain addresses... (and/or nosey people who want to watch addresses for transaction activity)
I'm clueless.  lol  How does that work? 

For added security, you create an "offline" wallet. This is done on a computer that never has (and never will) be on a network... hence the term "air gapped". It has no network connections. You create your wallet and private keys...

Then on a separate, internet connected computer... you create a "watching only" wallet that has the same addresses, but no private keys (without private keys, you can only view the contents of addresses, you cannot spend any coins)...

When you want to send coins, you create an "unsigned" transaction on the online PC... transfer it (usually via USB) to the offline PC... "sign" the transaction with the private keys... transfer the "signed" transaction back to the online PC and broadcast it to the network.

In theory, this should prevent your private keys ever being compromised unless someone has direct physical access to the offline PC.

http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html

[Abdussamad]

So how do people normally use those different options.

Standard HD Wallet = 90-95% of "normal" use cases... ie. people who want to send and receive bitcoin.

Standard nonHD Wallet = people who need to import private keys from paper wallets (or 'broken' software wallets *cough*MultiBit HD*cough*) and don't want to pay transaction fees to "sweep" the coins.

2FA Wallets = Paranoid people

Multi Sig = Groups of Paranoid People who don't trust each other

Watch addresses = People who use air-gapped offline computers to hold their private keys and sign transactions but need a way to see all the coins in certain addresses... (and/or nosey people who want to watch addresses for transaction activity)

LOL thanks for making us laugh!

multisig and 2fa are good for ordinary users too. It makes it much harder for malware to steal from you if you need to authenticate transactions via more than one device.

[HCP]

You're welcome

Yeah, to be honest MultiSig and 2FA are good options from a security standpoint... but you have to be very careful with how you go about implementing them. You can get yourself into a bit of difficulty if things go wrong and you dont know what you're doing and/or the limitations that these wallets have (ie. all the people with MultiSig wallets who get stuck with ICO stuff because they cant sign messages )

Or people who dont read and then wonder their 2FA transactions are charging extra fees