New to Electrum help

[jose78305]

I'm new to using Electrum I am planning to transfer all my Bitcoins from another wallet that I have to Electrum. I also plan to buy a small amount each month, my question is if I do this and buy Bitcoin each month and generating a new address each time I transfer them to Electrum would that have any negative impact? For example, if I send Bitcoin from Electrum to someone after buying for some months would I have any issues with high fees or something? Also, why are there many addresses created I understand that the change addresses are used when you send Bitcoin but why are there many receiving addresses? Thanks

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[jackg]

You can use different addresses to receive each time. The only problem with fees comes in the form of hsving to pay higher fees you you want to make a larger purchase than one of your inputs. It might be wise to consolidate your inputs (send all your funds to a single address in a single transaction in order to avoid this - when fees are low too).

There are many receive addresses to support airgapping, invoices and privacy. If you care about the latter you can also just use the "receive" screen.

[jose78305]

You can use different addresses to receive each time. The only problem with fees comes in the form of hsving to pay higher fees you you want to make a larger purchase than one of your inputs. It might be wise to consolidate your inputs (send all your funds to a single address in a single transaction in order to avoid this - when fees are low too).

There are many receive addresses to support airgapping, invoices and privacy. If you care about the latter you can also just use the "receive" screen.

Ok thank you, and in the preference options there is "Batch RBF transactions" what does it do?

[jackg]

Ok thank you, and in the preference options there is "Batch RBF transactions" what does it do?

Rbf is replace by fee. If a transaction has too low a few that the network can't confirm it quickly (or at all in some cases) or you need it confirming fast then you can use rbf on the tansaction(s) to speed them up.

It doesn't cost anything to enable rbf so you're better off leaving it enabled.

[jose78305]

Ok thank you, and in the preference options there is "Batch RBF transactions" what does it do?

Rbf is replace by fee. If a transaction has too low a few that the network can't confirm it quickly (or at all in some cases) or you need it confirming fast then you can use rbf on the tansaction(s) to speed them up.

It doesn't cost anything to enable rbf so you're better off leaving it enabled.

Oh ok thank you!

[nc50lc]

There shouldn't be much problem with the fee if it's just once a month, you'll only generate 12 unspent outputs per year;
but that depends on the amount of each monthly transactions and how you're planning to spend them.

If you're going to send all of the funds in one go, you should follow the reply above to consolidate your funds when the average fee is low.
But if your inputs (each 'deposit' or two) are large enough to fill your typical spends, then you don't have to consolidate.

Ok thank you, and in the preference options there is "Batch RBF transactions" what does it do?

If you have "unconfirmed transactions" in the history that are flagged as RBF (replaceable) and you're going to send another transaction, the one in the history will be combined to your new transaction.
That will enable you to save some fees by combining two transactions that's lower in size compared to two separate transactions.

[jose78305]

There shouldn't be much problem with the fee if it's just once a month, you'll only generate 12 unspent outputs per year;
but that depends on the amount of each monthly transactions and how you're planning to spend them.

If you're going to send all of the funds in one go, you should follow the reply above to consolidate your funds when the average fee is low.
But if your inputs (each 'deposit' or two) are large enough to fill your typical spends, then you don't have to consolidate.

Ok thank you, and in the preference options there is "Batch RBF transactions" what does it do?

If you have "unconfirmed transactions" in the history that are flagged as RBF (replaceable) and you're going to send another transaction, the one in the history will be combined to your new transaction.
That will enable you to save some fees by combining two transactions that's lower in size compared to two separate transactions.

Ok so if I transfer all my Bitcoins from my current wallet to Electrum there shouldn't be any issue later if I send a small amount of Bitcoins. What I mean is there shouldn't be any issue by having a large transaction and then small ones right?

[nc50lc]

Ok so if I transfer all my Bitcoins from my current wallet to Electrum there shouldn't be any issue later if I send a small amount of Bitcoins. What I mean is there shouldn't be any issue by having a large transaction and then small ones right?

The "fee problem" occurs when you have to use more inputs to create a transaction, that'll make the transaction's size very high.
That will happen when you received too many small transactions to your wallet because each transaction's outputs that belongs to your wallet will be counted as an input; that includes the change (info. change).
Your wallet will need to use a number of those inputs depending on the amount you want to send.

In your described scenario, the first transaction will be consolidated to a single input as you sent all of your funds to Electrum.
The "small amounts" being a problem however depends if you're going to use Electrum to send funds (eg. to merchants), if each or two of those amounts are good enough to fill your typical transaction, then you don't have to consolidate them to a single input.
But if you're not planning to use them like that, then consolidating them is necessary when you've lots of them (View->Show Coins) when the average fee rate is low.

Use this to see the current average fee rate, the lower the bars, the lower the fee: https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#0,2h
Info about consolidating inputs: Fees are low, use this opportunity to Consolidate your small inputs!

[DireWolfM14]

You many not have to transfer your bitcoin to Electrum.  If your current wallet is a web-wallet or a exchange wallet, then yes, you should transfer the money to your Electrum wallet.  But, if your currently using another desktop wallet you can just import your backup seed-phrase or the private keys into Electrum.  Doing so won't cost you anything in fees.

[Abdussamad]

using multiple addresses does not result in higher fees when spending bitcoin.


there are many addresses because it makes it easy to track who sent you how much when you use a unique address per transaction. it also helps privacy  wise.

[jose78305]

Ok so if I transfer all my Bitcoins from my current wallet to Electrum there shouldn't be any issue later if I send a small amount of Bitcoins. What I mean is there shouldn't be any issue by having a large transaction and then small ones right?

The "fee problem" occurs when you have to use more inputs to create a transaction, that'll make the transaction's size very high.
That will happen when you received too many small transactions to your wallet because each transaction's outputs that belongs to your wallet will be counted as an input; that includes the change (info. change).
Your wallet will need to use a number of those inputs depending on the amount you want to send.

In your described scenario, the first transaction will be consolidated to a single input as you sent all of your funds to Electrum.
The "small amounts" being a problem however depends if you're going to use Electrum to send funds (eg. to merchants), if each or two of those amounts are good enough to fill your typical transaction, then you don't have to consolidate them to a single input.
But if you're not planning to use them like that, then consolidating them is necessary when you've lots of them (View->Show Coins) when the average fee rate is low.

Use this to see the current average fee rate, the lower the bars, the lower the fee: https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#0,2h
Info about consolidating inputs: Fees are low, use this opportunity to Consolidate your small inputs!

Ok thank you!

[jose78305]

You many not have to transfer your bitcoin to Electrum.  If your current wallet is a web-wallet or a exchange wallet, then yes, you should transfer the money to your Electrum wallet.  But, if your currently using another desktop wallet you can just import your backup seed-phrase or the private keys into Electrum.  Doing so won't cost you anything in fees.

Ok so I'm using Exodus so yes it can show me the private key for my address and I could import it to Electrum. One question what will happen to the current Exodus address? Will it generate a new one? I also have Ethereum in Exodus I guess it would not happen anything to it right?

[plen]

You many not have to transfer your bitcoin to Electrum.  If your current wallet is a web-wallet or a exchange wallet, then yes, you should transfer the money to your Electrum wallet.  But, if your currently using another desktop wallet you can just import your backup seed-phrase or the private keys into Electrum.  Doing so won't cost you anything in fees.

Ok so I'm using Exodus so yes it can show me the private key for my address and I could import it to Electrum. One question what will happen to the current Exodus address? Will it generate a new one? I also have Ethereum in Exodus I guess it would not happen anything to it right?

You will share the same key/addresses with Electrum and Exodus. Just as though you had an Exodus/Electrum wallet on two separate machines. You will see transactions made from one appear in the other and vice versa. No, nothing will happen with your Ethereum.

[DireWolfM14]

Ok so I'm using Exodus so yes it can show me the private key for my address and I could import it to Electrum. One question what will happen to the current Exodus address? Will it generate a new one? I also have Ethereum in Exodus I guess it would not happen anything to it right?

It's been a long time since I've futzed with Exodus, but if I'm not mistaken it has a mnemonic seed back up.  You don't have to export individual private keys, you can use the Exodus seed phrase backup to import the entire wallet.  This will include your master private key, which is used to generate all associated addresses.

Once you've written down the seed phrase, in Electrum click on File>New/Restore, enter a name then click Next>standard wallet>I already have a seed.  Enter the seed phrase in the field provide, then click the Options button.  Select Bip39 seed.



Electrum and Exodus are only client software.  They just access the same information from the blockchain.  You can still make transactions in either, and they will both update once the information is sent to the blockchain.

Your ETH will continue to be accessible by Exodus.  You can import your ETH into other wallets the same way, with the same seed phrase...

Which brings me to something else:  Using a single seed phrase for multiple currencies isn't a very secure practice.  I recommend against it.  It provides more opportunities to have your seed compromised, which can jeopardies all your coins.

[jose78305]

Ok so I'm using Exodus so yes it can show me the private key for my address and I could import it to Electrum. One question what will happen to the current Exodus address? Will it generate a new one? I also have Ethereum in Exodus I guess it would not happen anything to it right?

It's been a long time since I've futzed with Exodus, but if I'm not mistaken it has a mnemonic seed back up.  You don't have to export individual private keys, you can use the Exodus seed phrase backup to import the entire wallet.  This will include your master private key, which is used to generate all associated addresses.

Once you've written down the seed phrase, in Electrum click on File>New/Restore, enter a name then click Next>standard wallet>I already have a seed.  Enter the seed phrase in the field provide, then click the Options button.  Select Bip39 seed.

https://i.ibb.co/BCnnDKr/Capture.png

Electrum and Exodus are only client software.  They just access the same information from the blockchain.  You can still make transactions in either, and they will both update once the information is sent to the blockchain.

Your ETH will continue to be accessible by Exodus.  You can import your ETH into other wallets the same way, with the same seed phrase...

Which brings me to something else:  Using a single seed phrase for multiple currencies isn't a very secure practice.  I recommend against it.  It provides more opportunities to have your seed compromised, which can jeopardies all your coins.

Ok so I already created an Electrum wallet so then I just type the private key into Electum right?

If I would like to make it more secure so that Exodus does not have the same private keys I guess I could first type the private key of my Bitcoin wallet into Electrum then, save the private key of my Ethereum address and reinstall Exodus or use an specific Ethereum only wallet and then import the private key.

[hosseinimr93]

Ok so I already created an Electrum wallet so then I just type the private key into Electum right?

Yes, just create a new wallet and select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys".

Note that, If the address you have in exodus is native segwit (an address starting with bc1), you must import your private key with the following format.

Code:

p2wpkh: Your private key

If your address is legacy (an address starting with 1) only enter your private key or use the following format.

Code:

p2pkh: Your private key

As stated by DireWolfM14, you can also export your seed phrase from exodus and import it into electrum.
For exporting your seed phrase from Exodus, click on "Backup" and then select "View Recovery Phrase".

If I would like to make it more secure so that Exodus does not have the same private keys I guess I could first type the private key of my Bitcoin wallet into Electrum then, save the private key of my Ethereum address and reinstall Exodus or use an specific Ethereum only wallet and then import the private key.

The best thing you can do (only for your bitcoin off course, electrum doesn't support ethereum) is to create a HD wallet and sweep your fund into that. Be aware that for sweeping the fund, you will have to pay fee to miners. Because you actually move your coins to a new address.

To do so, select "Standard Wallet" and then "Create a new seed" when creating the wallet.
After creating the new wallet, Click on "Wallet" at top of the window, select "Private keys" and then "Sweep".
If you enter your private keys in the new window, all the fund will be sent to your new wallet.


Note:
Keep the seed phrase (a series of words) electrum gives you very very secure. The seed phrase give you full access to your HD wallet (a wallet with numerous addresses).
You can see list of all your addresses in "Addresses" tab. (If you don't see this tab, click on "View" and make it available.)
Also, if you want to have your private keys, you can click on "Wallet", select "Private keys" and then "Export".  

[Abdussamad]

why are you using multiple wallet software and making life complicated for yourself? just use one and don't muck about with individual private keys