From Multibit 0.5.18 to Electrum

[Frank717]

Hi,

I'm new here. With the recent prices of BTC i'm trying to get my old bitcoin stuff optimized for a possible sell.

But only now i learned that Multibit is obsolete and possibly even dangerous to use.
I have however my bitcoin in Multibit 0.5.18. Now i want to transfer them somehow to Electrum.

I've been trying to get familiar with the processes of exporting and sweeping.
I read that sweeping might be the easiest way. But i read that Multibit's fees are far too low for nowadays transactions, and unadjustable inside the program.
I read that trying to sweep them from Multibit might get them stuck in the chain because of lack of enough fees and even that there's a chance of loosing them.

So i think i try to export them to Electrum.
But what is an absolute safe way to do this for an absolute beginner?

Any response to this would be highly appreciated as i'm pretty clueless and extremely carefull.

Frank

[ranochigo]

So i think i try to export them to Electrum.
But what is an absolute safe way to do this for an absolute beginner?

Do you have the private keys? (5..., K... or L...)?

If you do, download and verify[1] Electrum from Electrum.org. Install it and start the Electrum. You should be greeted with this:


Press Next> Create A New Seed> Segwit and you should see a 12 word sentence. Copy that down and keep it safe, it's your only way to retrieve your funds if something happens to your Electrum Client. After you verify, enter a password (or not), you should be greeted with an empty wallet. Next, go to Wallet>Private Keys>Sweep and enter it this way:



Press Sweep, adjust the fees accordingly, Press Finalize, Sign and finally Broadcast.


[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5240594.0

[Frank717]

Thanks you for your great clear and concise answer.

Luckily i have the private keys so i can follow your directions.

As i'm extremely carefull though i want to make sure i understand correctly:

"Press Sweep, adjust the fees accordingly, Press Finalize, Sign and finally Broadcast."

So i understand in Electrum by pressing sweep and adjusting the fees i can avoid the too-low-fee danger of Multibit alltogether?
In other words; i don't need Multibit at all for sweeping the coins? That would be fantastic.

And after it is done and i checked and doublechecked that the coins are indeed safe and sound in Electrum can i just uninstall Multibit and free up the tons of space?

Also, what do you mean with Sign and Broadcast? Or is that self-explanatory in Electrum?

I've been worrying for weeks about this and it all sounds very simple now by your answer, but before i try i just want to make very sure i understand correctly.

Thanks again, Frank.

[ranochigo]

So i understand in Electrum by pressing sweep and adjusting the fees i can avoid the too-low-fee danger of Multibit alltogether?
In other words; i don't need Multibit at all for sweeping the coins? That would be fantastic.

Correct. Be sure to keep Replace by Fee checked.

And after it is done and i checked and doublechecked that the coins are indeed safe and sound in Electrum can i just uninstall Multibit and free up the tons of space?

Yes. Keep a backup of the wallet file from MultiBit just in case. There could also be coins from the other Bitcoin forks as well, Bitcoin Cash, etc. The value of those is quite small and might not be worth your time and effort.

Also, what do you mean with Sign and Broadcast? Or is that self-explanatory in Electrum?

Finalize there:

Sign and Broadcast. You'll only be able to broadcast after clicking sign.

[Frank717]

Thanks a lot again.

As soon as i have enough time i will make the sweep.
Will let you know if it succeeded.

Frank

[Frank717]

Hi,

I finally had time to try your instructions.

I've followed the steps from your first reply and it worked excellent.
However, now i try your second reply and i'm stuck, probably because i'm still a newbie, but maybe also because i saw i have a different version of Electrum than you have so things might work slightly different now.

So i'm stuck at your second post where you explain with a picture how to Finalize, Sign and Broadcast.

I see in the picture you are in a window called "Create Transaction".
After the first steps i took i saw my amount of btc appear in Electrum and a message saying "waiting for confirmation". I doubleclicked that line and it opens in a window called "Transaction", but that's not the same as your "Create Transaction" window.

I hope you can forgive me my stupidness in this matter, but can you explain how to get the window "Create Transaction"??
It seems to me i have to click Send in order to get the window "Create Transaction", but i'm a little anxious to click anything with Send on it now that my BTC actually appeared in Electrum.

So, to be clear, i still haven't done the steps Finalize, Sign and Broadcast and i hope you can help me through those last steps.

BTW i'm on the newest version of Electrum, it's 4.0.9.


Frank.

[HCP]

After the first steps i took i saw my amount of btc appear in Electrum and a message saying "waiting for confirmation". I doubleclicked that line and it opens in a window called "Transaction", but that's not the same as your "Create Transaction" window.

It sounds like you may already have created and broadcast the transaction if it says "waiting for confirmation".

in the "Transaction" window that you see... it should have a "TransactionID" and a "status" at the top left... what are both of those values?

[Mayhys31]

Hello guys,

I  am joining this post because I think I am facing the same issue as Frank 717. I had some old btc stuck in a multibit classic or hd, I can't remember exactly. I had lost access during a multlbit update. I managed to get my hands on them again using my seeds password on BRD. I can see them in BRD wallet but I can't do anything with them (no transfer, no exchange => transaction failed or error). I guess it's a fee problem.

If I use electrum, bip39, etc... the amount of my btc is divided by 100 after being swept. How can I lower the fees?
I could verify the initial amount of btc by analyzing all transactions between 2016 and 2017.

I don't have private keys, I'm trying to find them with easeus recovery but I don't know if the datas are still there.
Any advice is welcome.

Mat

[Mayhys31]

@ranochigo, 
I have the aes file from multibit HD + password seeds. I imagine I have to decrypt aes file (Mac os) to access the private keys ?
In BRD they have also "assert a private key"  but they ask for a QR code ...
Crazy world !

[vanupied]

@ranochigo, 
I have the aes file from multibit HD + password seeds. I imagine I have to decrypt aes file (Mac os) to access the private keys ?
In BRD they have also "assert a private key"  but they ask for a QR code ...
Crazy world !

Did you manage to make it work?