How can I get BTC out of my old Multibit wallet?

[kodiak1120]

Multibit is no longer supported.  I cannot change the tx fees, and the standard fees are way too low, given the current state of the network.  Is there another software or online wallet I can use to import my private key and send from that wallet?   I tried to send a few days ago, but it's not showing up on either blockchain.info or blockexplorer.com.  It is only showing up in my Multibit wallet.

Also, since there is a pending, unconfirmed transaction from my Multibit wallet, will that screw anything up if I import my key to another wallet while that is still pending? 

[Reynaldo]

Multibit is no longer supported.  I cannot change the tx fees, and the standard fees are way too low, given the current state of the network.  Is there another software or online wallet I can use to import my private key and send from that wallet?   I tried to send a few days ago, but it's not showing up on either blockchain.info or blockexplorer.com.  It is only showing up in my Multibit wallet.

Also, since there is a pending, unconfirmed transaction from my Multibit wallet, will that screw anything up if I import my key to another wallet while that is still pending? 

probably electrum. the transaction will be dropped from the network if its not confirmed and you'll be able to use your money.

[HCP]

The MultiBit Devs released videos showing how to convert from MultiBit Classic and MultiBit HD to Electrum: https://multibit.org/blog/2017/07/26/multibit-shutdown.html

The MBC video is slightly outdated... so if you have MBC, you need to know that the correct option in Electrum when creating a new wallet is "Import Bitcoin Addresses or Private Keys"... (DO NOT use "standard wallet -> use public or private keys", it won't work with the individual keys you export from MBC)

[kodiak1120]

Thanks for that.  Should I wait until my transaction gets dropped by the network before importing my private keys and trying to resend the transaction?

Also, how will I know when the transaction gets dropped?

[HCP]

Theoretically, it shouldn't matter if you wait until it drops or you do it now... however, there is a possibility that Electrum might try rebroadcasting your transaction if you import your old wallet now. Which brings up to your second question... that is not an easily answered quesiton.

Not all nodes use the same mempool "expiry" criteria... so some nodes may drop it after 3 days, some after 7, some after 14 days... and some may never drop it. It is also quite possible that your MultiBit (or Electrum) wallet will continue to rebroadcast that transaction... it is also possible that ANYONE else with the raw transaction could continue to rebroadcast the transaction.

However, if you keep an eye on several block explorers like blockchain.info, blockcypher.com, blockexplorer.com, btc.com, blocktrail.com etc... when they no longer show your transaction, it is quite likely that the majority of nodes have dropped your transaction and you should be able to respend the coins.

[DarkStar_]

However, if you keep an eye on several block explorers like blockchain.info, blockcypher.com, blockexplorer.com, btc.com, blocktrail.com etc... when they no longer show your transaction, it is quite likely that the majority of nodes have dropped your transaction and you should be able to respend the coins.

I'd like to add that it's fine to try to resend before it doesn't show on block explorers. I made transaction in December which remained unconfirmed for over 21 days. It still showed on blocktrail, blockchain.info and a few others that I checked, but Trezor let me create a new transaction where I used a proper fee. Despite the transactions showing, it got broadcast successfully and confirmed in the next block.

I don't believe Electrum tries to rebroadcast automatically - you have to click a button for that.