Should I NEVER discard private keys even after spent?

[dreamer81]

forget the old private keys if the address is empty. It makes no sense to keep it! I dont at least!

check out my link in profile by the way

[Arkann]

Since bitcoin split occurred on August 1, Bitcoin Cash appeared on that day only in those wallets that had bitcoins and only in view of the number of these bitcoins. Divided digital currency could not appear if the wallet was empty on August 1. As for private keys of empty purses, I would keep this information separately in a safe place.

[jorrit]

Good question. I see many good answers but they are both yes and no. Can you mark a response as the solution to your question?

Currently I see no point at keeping spent addresses, but now I am doubting...

[Ucy]

I try to save all mine, you never know. There may be a small amount of satoshis left in your addresses that could be worth $50 one day.

This should be the main reason to keep your private keys safe.

[DrBitcoin]

sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece

Sorry for your loss.  Nah, why bother keeping those keys?  I've deleted wallets & private keys before with no regrets and they wouldn't have helped with bcc anyway, as was pointed out.

No harm in doing it though, if it's convenient for you.

I wouldn't say it was a loss. I invested $2500 in Bitcoin and accumulated 5.05. I sold 2.5, removing the principal off the table. And I still own 2.55 which is pure profit.

Hey man, I saw Bitcoin go from 1200 --> 200 and stay that way for a long time. So when it hit $1000, I saw it as an opportunity to sell my principal and know that the remainder is pure profit.

I still have 2.55 BTC which is t bad.

[Niya]

About 6 months ago, I sent 2 Bitcoins from a paper wallet to Coinbase and sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece.  I believe I discarded the paper wallet with the private keys on it because the wallet was spent.

If I had access to those private keys, would I have access to those Bitcoin Cash and all future forks?

Also...is this an argument to NEVER discard private keys even if the wallet is empty?

Yes, it is better to not discard your private keys even after spend all the Bitcoins you have on such address. You may receive other payments there, so that the money could be then stolen...

[smyslov]

At some point in the future you may need to prove you had control over those coins at that point to please the tax man or whatever. The only way you can prove it is with those private keys.

Here's the correct answer. This data isn't important as of today, but someday if you have to comply with some AML or KYC regulation, it may be useful to prove the origin of your funds.

Yeah I believe yours is the correct answer if you are an investors and a traders you should know that you need a file of your past transactions, it is not that complicated to keep a private key and you can always store it in cloud storage or hardware wallet.

[gentlemand]

Yes, it is better to not discard your private keys even after spend all the Bitcoins you have on such address. You may receive other payments there, so that the money could be then stolen...

Hmm. That's a very good point too. I've seen quite a few people either copy and pasting an old address, or services sending to an old address. That would be an exceedingly stupid way to lose your money when it's so easily guarded against.

[anon4250158]

I always keep my old private keys.  I was very glad I did way back when CLAMs came out and I could get some free coins   However, I also keep a spreadsheet of all my old addresses (NOT including the private key) and make notes on what they were used for.  I encrypt my old wallets (I make new ones every once in a while and only import privkeys that I'm currently using) and back them up in multiple locations.

[Qartersa]

About 6 months ago, I sent 2 Bitcoins from a paper wallet to Coinbase and sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece.  I believe I discarded the paper wallet with the private keys on it because the wallet was spent.

If I had access to those private keys, would I have access to those Bitcoin Cash and all future forks?

Also...is this an argument to NEVER discard private keys even if the wallet is empty?

No you won't get bitcoin cash. You will only have bitcoin cash when on August 1, when the fork happened, you have bitcoins in your address that you'll get bitcoin cash. From what you said, you already spent the bitcoins six months ago, meaning your wallets were empty already and you did not have any bitcoins in it on August 1.

[pooya87]

sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece

Sorry for your loss.  Nah, why bother keeping those keys?  I've deleted wallets & private keys before with no regrets and they wouldn't have helped with bcc anyway, as was pointed out.

No harm in doing it though, if it's convenient for you.

I wouldn't say it was a loss. I invested $2500 in Bitcoin and accumulated 5.05. I sold 2.5, removing the principal off the table. And I still own 2.55 which is pure profit.

Hey man, I saw Bitcoin go from 1200 --> 200 and stay that way for a long time. So when it hit $1000, I saw it as an opportunity to sell my principal and know that the remainder is pure profit.

I still have 2.55 BTC which is t bad.

don't worry about it. everyone does the same when price goes up like that. i have also sold some coins above $1000. it is a healthy move to take some profit out, just in case.

but i have also taken an additional step which i think you did not. and that step was to buy back the same amount when price took a dip again. that way my total bitcoin never changed but i still got a nice profit (fiat) out.

[illinest]

I don't get this attitude. You might need to prove a chain of custody some day. It's no hassle to keep the private keys.

Pardon my ignorance, but in what situation would this be useful? In the tax example above, you either paid the appropriate taxes and filed as such or you didn't. How would showing control of a private key play into this scenario?

Here's the correct answer. This data isn't important as of today, but someday if you have to comply with some AML or KYC regulation, it may be useful to prove the origin of your funds.

How does exhibiting control over an address prove the origin of the funds, unless the funds were generated through mining? Multiple people can have access to a single private key, and control over said address doesn't prove anything about where the funds came from.

[Juggy777]

About 6 months ago, I sent 2 Bitcoins from a paper wallet to Coinbase and sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece.  I believe I discarded the paper wallet with the private keys on it because the wallet was spent.

If I had access to those private keys, would I have access to those Bitcoin Cash and all future forks?

Also...is this an argument to NEVER discard private keys even if the wallet is empty?

I don't think there will be any issue, but this is where I was stuck last time I took a paper wallet, I realized you need to spend it on a whole and then again make one, what I was uncomfortable was with the fees and every time I put my private key in the exchanges or other wallets I was scared to loose it, but since you don't have any money left then it won't really matter, unless you were expecting a payment. Bch was only if you had coins which is aperent you didn't have so no need to worry.

[TheCoinFinder]

Private keys are the most sensitive part of your wallet.If you leak it to any third person,you will surely loose all your coins.
Even after spending your coins,i still retard you to keep private keys as secret because you will ever need it again.

[Pettuh4]

Private keys are the most sensitive part of your wallet.If you leak it to any third person,you will surely loose all your coins.
Even after spending your coins,i still retard you to keep private keys as secret because you will ever need it again.

Your private keys are used as your signature to sign your transactions from your wallet and so whether your wallet is full or empty you have to keep your digital signature (private keys)  secret because if it gets into the wrong hands they can easily steal your funds.

[romani245]

If I had access to those private keys, would I have access to those Bitcoin Cash and all future forks?

Also...is this an argument to NEVER discard private keys even if the wallet is empty?

Bitcoin Cash didn't airdrop coins to every address that has ever held coins. They just copied the UTXO set. The one reason I can think of to hold onto private keys that have held coins in the past is in the case of an airdrop like CLAMS. It's possible that your addresses held coins at a time when a snapshot of the UTXO set took place, meaning you could claim some altcoins.

[Dudeperfect]

Actually, it is not necessary to keep private keys secure even after spent unless you are going to use that wallet again in the future. However, if you have used that wallet address to verify your identity then you are required to keep it secure forever.  For example, we use signed message from the Bitcoin wallet address to verify the account on Bitcointalk so if your private key is compromised and if you have quoted that wallet address anytime on this forum then it is likely to lose your account because anyone can gain control of your account by signing message from that wallet address and compromised private key.

On the second issue, we are eligible for Bitcoin cash only if we have the balance in our wallet before 1 Aug and not for the total received amount. That means if you hold 1 Bitcoin before 1 Aug in your wallet for which you have a private key, then you can claim the equal amount of Bitcoin cash and not the whole amount you have received or spent so far in that wallet.

[aso118]

About 6 months ago, I sent 2 Bitcoins from a paper wallet to Coinbase and sold the two Bitcoins for $1000 a piece.  I believe I discarded the paper wallet with the private keys on it because the wallet was spent.

If I had access to those private keys, would I have access to those Bitcoin Cash and all future forks?

Also...is this an argument to NEVER discard private keys even if the wallet is empty?

As people have said, you couldn't have got bitcoin cash for it because the addresses were empty at the time of the split. Only in case of  a coin like Clam, which rewards you for having an used address, will it help.
There is a danger of retaining the private key in an unsafe manner. In case of a wallet which is deterministic, people who have access to your private key might be able to get access to other addresses in certain cases.

[Kakmakr]

I also keep all my private keys for the wallets I sweep. You keep the receipts for tax purposes, so why not keep the private keys for your old paper wallets? It is not going to take up a lot of space and you might get some fool, who transfers bitcoin to a old address.

If I get audited, I want proof of all the transactions I made and the profits I made. The legislation might change in the future and if you cannot provide this evidence, you might be charged with some strange crime in the future. < tax evasion >

Disclaimer : I am a hoarder ^smile^

[bitcub]

Lols you cannot fool the blockchain by getting an old BTC Wallet  with private keys to get some BCH. Hehe. If you want BCH you should have a BTC balance from your wallet.