How to redeem Casascius using Electrum

[nc50lc]

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Rapids4me, how did this all work out for you? I too need to redeem Casascius version1 bitcoin that I've had for a long time. Any additional insight to steps taken, sweeping and cashing in for USD?
thanks

I have a reply to your thread. Basically, you just have to remove the "p2pkh:" in front of the private key.
AFAIK, Electrum both supports 22-character and 30-character mini private keys so your series 1 coin's key should work.

If it doesn't work, the other option is to manually convert it into WIF.

Please continue the discussion there.

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[JVGoody]

thanks for the info and that worked. The transaction is sitting in the history showing amount and balance but only 1 confirmation has completed. Guessing this takes a while?

[nc50lc]

thanks for the info and that worked. The transaction is sitting in the history showing amount and balance but only 1 confirmation has completed. Guessing this takes a while?

1 confirmation means that it's already included in a block, you can now spend it.
The consecutive confirmations are just for safety against double-spend attacks (not that it's usual), the higher the confirmation the safer your bitcoins are;
it'll take approximately 10minutes per confirmation.

But wait, you haven't read my other reply (don't you?),
figures because there's one confirmation, means that you've swept (sweep) it.
But there's no major issue as long as the recipient wallet isn't a "watching-only" wallet and you own the wallet where it was swept.
(the post also has some suggestions for the safety of your funds)

[JVGoody]

Thanks for your help with this.
All the confirmations are complete and the transaction displays in my history with green checkmark.
Are there more steps that I need to complete? I see some users are signing and broadcast? or can I now just send this to another wallet to cash out?
thank you

[hosseinimr93]

Are there more steps that I need to complete?

The transaction has done and you don't need to do anything else.

I see some users are signing and broadcast?

You are probably referring to offline transactions. For being more secure, you could sign the transaction on an offline device and then broadcast it using an online device.
You did both steps on your online computer.

 

or can I now just send this to another wallet to cash out?

Yes,
The first transaction moved your fund to your electrum wallet.
Now you can go to "Send" tab and send your bitcoin to any address you want.  

[JVGoody]

thanks a ton!

[nc50lc]

-snip-
Are there more steps that I need to complete? I see some users are signing and broadcast? or can I now just send this to another wallet to cash out?
thank you

That's when "advanced preview" in the setting is enabled or you've clicked "advanced" when creating a transaction.
By default, you don't have to go through those steps.

[khaled0111]

Are there more steps that I need to complete? I see some users are signing and broadcast? or can I now just send this to another wallet to cash out?

The first thing you need to do is to back up your new wallet seed and store it in a safe place, at least till you cash out all your coins.

Now that you have successfully swept the private key and secured your new wallet, you can safely claim your forked coins. You'll need to download wallets that support those coins. Here is a detailed guide written by LoyceV on how to do that:
LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide

[NeoArkan]

I also would like to redeem Casascius 1 bitcoin that I've received a long time ago. Since this last post, I assume that maybe things have a bit changed.

1) I have downloaded the version Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1

In the previous mail, hosseinimir93 advised :

"Create a new wallet.
Select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and click on "Next". Enter your private key and click on "Next". After that, you should see your balance."

However, in my version, it seems that I have to go to "Wallet", then Select "Private Keys" and then Select "Sweep". After selecting "Sweep", I arrive to a new window where it is asked to "Enter private keys".

What also makes me hesitate is that there is an address button below where you can generate an address composed of about 40 characters. Then adter you can press the button Sweep.

Is that the correct process to redeem Casascius coin to Electrum or am I completely wrong ?

2) The second step seemed to be the following :

"Go "Send" tab. Enter your coinbase address in "Pay to" field and the amount of bitcoin you want to send in "Amount" field.
You can click on "Max" button if you want to send the entire balance.
Leave "Description" field empty."

Here the process seems clear to me. However I don't have coinbase account. I have checked on the internet and the 2 most advised platforms seemed to be "Binance" and "Kraken" (with a clear preference for Binance). Therefore, is the transfer from Electrum is also working to Binance ? I assume I will have to create an account on Binance and I will receive a Binance address. Or do you advice to proceed differently ? I am completely new with bitcoin stuff and it would be very nice to get some help/advice.

3) A last question : My goal is to transform this bitcoin in EUR. Is Binance the best plat-form to change this bitcoin into cash (EUR) ? I want to transfer it on my bank account.

Thanks for your answers.

[Cricktor]

1) I have downloaded the version Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1

Have you verified that your downloaded https://download.electrum.org/4.2.1/electrum-4.2.1.dmg is genuine and matches the developer's signature?
And because you will deal with an exposed Bitcoin Private Key worth a lot of money you need to be sure that your computer is free of malware. Using a Mac doesn't mean there's no malware for your platform...

In the previous mail, hosseinimir93 advised :

"Create a new wallet.
Select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and click on "Next". Enter your private key and click on "Next". After that, you should see your balance."

Did you exactly do that and did you enter your Casascius (Small) Private Key into the dialog after choosing "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys"?
If yes, your Electrum wallet should show exactly 1.BTC as balance.
If your Electrum wallet still shows a balance of 0.BTC then you likely created a new standard wallet with bc1q... addresses or maybe some other address scheme.

I assume you might have created a new standard wallet in Electrum. In this type of wallet (derived from a 12-word mnemonic seed) you can't import "foreign" private keys, only sweep ie. empty the coins held by the "foreign" private key into an address of this new wallet (or some other destination address which must not be part of your new Electrum wallet). In this case the menue Wallet – Private keys shows only two entries: Sweep and Export
Could you clarify what you exactly did?

What also makes me hesitate is that there is an address button below where you can generate an address composed of about 40 characters. Then adter you can press the button Sweep.

Is that the correct process to redeem Casascius coin to Electrum or am I completely wrong ?

You're not wrong: the sweep action would transfer the funds of your Casascius Coin into your Electrum wallet (I hope for you that you have very carefully written down on paper (not on your computer!) the 12-word mnemonic seed in the correct order and best with the ordinal no. of each word; these mnemonic seed words have to be kept very secure and safe, they encode the main secret that "defines" your wallet).

@hosseinimir93's advise was not tailored for your case specifically. I would advise that you first decide on which exchange you want to sell your BTC and create an account on your chosen exchange. You will very likely need a fully verified (KYC/AML) account on your exchange first before you can sell and withdraw the EUR for your BTC.

[NeoArkan]

Hi Cricktor,

To clarify what I did :
-I have downloaded Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1
-I have created a new standard wallet

However, if I understand well what I have to do is :
-Choose the option "Create New Wallet"
-When the dialog box asks "What kind of wallet do you want to create ? " --> I have to choose "Import bitcoin addresses or Private keys"
-Enter the private key of the "Cascasius" coin in the dialog box and click on "Next"
-After that, my Electrum wallet (the new one then) should show exactly 1.BTC as balance and I will have the possibility to send the amount on the exchange platform of my choice

Is that correct ?

For the moment, I haven't submitted the private key (I haven't unpeeled the coin yet) because I want to be sure of the process first.
Another reason is that I'm hesitating between peeled the coin and convert in bitcoin or selling the coin in the "Collectibles" part of the forum.
What do you think about it ? What's the best solution ? I have searched a little bit on the forum but the opinions are divided.

And finally, what's your advice for the exchange platform ? Binance, Kraken or somewhere else ?

Thanks

[Cricktor]

To clarify what I did :
-I have downloaded Electrum 4.2.1 using macOS Monterey Version 12.3.1
-I have created a new standard wallet

This doesn't answer if you downloaded your Electrum from the one and only site: https://electrum.org
To be sure that you downloaded the genuine Electrum you should verify its signature. There's a thread which describes in detail how to do that.

There's nothing wrong when you already have created a new standard wallet, but you add an extra step which also costs you transaction fee for an on-chain transaction.
Then you can only sweep the coin's private (mini)key into your wallet (the address button offers addresses which belong to your existing Electrum wallet) OR not really recommended for newbies because it's error prone, directly to a provided destination address of your choice (be careful to thoroughly check that the destination address is copied without error).

However, if I understand well what I have to do is :
-Choose the option "Create New Wallet"
-When the dialog box asks "What kind of wallet do you want to create ? " --> I have to choose "Import bitcoin addresses or Private keys"
-Enter the private key of the "Cascasius" coin in the dialog box and click on "Next"
-After that, my Electrum wallet (the new one then) should show exactly 1.BTC as balance and I will have the possibility to send the amount on the exchange platform of my choice

Is that correct ?

Yes, that is what was described by hosseinimir93 and this procedure doesn't require an on-chain transaction with transaction fee, at least not for the step to open the funds in Electrum. To transfer the funds to an exchange would require an on-chain transaction with transaction fee. But currently the transaction fees are not high, nothing to worry about.


I would assume that an unpeeled Casascius coin, still fully funded, is a collectible which is worth more than the sole 1BTC it holds. But how to sell it safely is a whole other story and I'm no expert on this to give any advise. I personally wouldn't dare to ship such an item somewhere and face-2-face transactions pose other risks which should not be underestimated. I have no idea how Casascius coins are traded safely nowadays. Likely there are some threads in this forum for this.
Not to say that currently is maybe not the best time to sell your BTC. You missed exchange rates of more than 50k EUR/BTC more than once... (sorry, that's easy said when looking at past exchange rates). I have faith we'll see >50k EUR rates again, just not sure when and how long it will take.

[BitMaxz]

Selling it would be a hard part but buyers can verify if the Casascius coin is legit by going to https://casascius.uberbills.com/ and put the 8 characters that you can find on the back.
Check it there and also the address it should show a balance created funded years ago it should be the legit one.

And I think the safest one to trade them is to go face to face unless if you deal with someone here on the forum you will need a trusted escrow to handle the deal and payment from the buyer.

[owlcatz]

You can post this thread/questions in the Collectibles section and many people will answer, including the sweeping vs selling options for you based on your location etc. There are also forks on the coin such as BCH etc etc...

User @Minerjones can probably help you out as well for selling/escrow/verification, he sells these all the time.

[nc50lc]

-snip-
However, if I understand well what I have to do is :
-Choose the option "Create New Wallet"
-When the dialog box asks "What kind of wallet do you want to create ? " --> I have to choose "Import bitcoin addresses or Private keys"
-Enter the private key of the "Cascasius" coin in the dialog box and click on "Next"
-After that, my Electrum wallet (the new one then) should show exactly 1.BTC as balance and I will have the possibility to send the amount on the exchange platform of my choice

You can still create another wallet while another instance is open,
use the menu "File->New/Restore" to go to the install wizard, that will enable you to create a new wallet.

Just make sure to remember the wallet's name so you wont mix them up with each other if you forgot about the first one.

[NeoArkan]

Hi Cricktor,

Yes. My Electrum version comes from the original website.
I will verify the signature to be sure. Do you have the link of the thread that explains how to do it ?

You can post this thread/questions in the Collectibles section and many people will answer, including the sweeping vs selling options for you based on your location etc. There are also forks on the coin such as BCH etc etc...

Sorry but what are the forks ? I have already seen this word several times in the forum but I don't get it what it is.
Someone can explain it clearly ?

For info, I have created a thread for the selling :

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5396802.0

Apparently I need to upload the pictures on imgur. I will try to do it tonight.

Many thanks.

[LoyceV]

For the moment, I haven't submitted the private key (I haven't unpeeled the coin yet) because I want to be sure of the process first.

How much do you trust your macOS and all other software you've installed on it? Do you trust it with €35,000? If not, you should NOT enter your private key and go for a solution that includes offline signing.
As long as you haven't peeled the coin, you can take as long as you need to research how to do this.

Another reason is that I'm hesitating between peeled the coin and convert in bitcoin or selling the coin in the "Collectibles" part of the forum.
What do you think about it ? What's the best solution ? I have searched a little bit on the forum but the opinions are divided.

I'm with Cricktor on this one: it's risky to sell, even though you might get more money for it.

Sorry but what are the forks ?

Follow the link to Fork claiming service But don't believe the values anymore, those days are long gone.
My advice: don't worry about them before moving your Bitcoin. People have lost their Bitcoins through scam wallets before. But don't forget about them either, you're currently looking at about $400 extra that can be taken from your private key.

[NeoArkan]

How much do you trust your macOS and all other software you've installed on it? Do you trust it with €35,000? If not, you should NOT enter your private key and go for a solution that includes offline signing.
As long as you haven't peeled the coin, you can take as long as you need to research how to do this.

Indeed I don't think that I will trust my macOS for this kind of amount. Is this so risky ?
You talk about a solution that includes offline signing. Do you have an explanation or a link for that ?
I have searched a little bit on internet and it seems a quite complicated process. Is it the process where you need to use 2 computers (one online and one offline).

Do you have more info on that ?

Many thanks already.

PS : Sorry for my stupid questions but I'm completely newbie with that universe and in addition to that English is not my mother tongue and not always easy to understand all the specific vocabulary.

[LoyceV]

You talk about a solution that includes offline signing. Do you have an explanation or a link for that ?

It will probably be okay, but even if there's only a 2% chance of losing everything: I wouldn't risk it.

I have searched a little bit on internet and it seems a quite complicated process. Is it the process where you need to use 2 computers (one online and one offline).

Correct. Although I wouldn't call it complicated, it's just a bit more work. I haven't done this on macOS.

Do you have more info on that ?

I wrote this last year:

I was considering Electrum, only downside is that when creating a wallet, seed creation is exposed

Online:
Install Electrum on your PC.
Import your address to create a watch-only wallet.
Preview the transaction, Copy the unsigned transaction. Put it on a USB stick.

Offline and running without hard drive storage:
Get a Linux LIVE DVD. Use Knoppix or Tails for instance, or any other distribution that comes with Electrum pre-installed.
Unplug your internet cable. Close the curtains. Reboot your computer and start up from that DVD. Don't enter any wireless connection password. Keep it offline.
Start Electrum. Import your private key.
Copy your unsigned transaction from the USB stick, load it into Electrum.
CHECK the transaction in Electrum. Check the fees, check the amount, check all destination addresses (character by character).
If all is okay, sign the transaction. Copy it back to your USB stick.
Turn off the computer. That wipes the Live LINUX from memory and all traces are gone.

Online:
Use your normal online Electrum to (check again and) broadcast the transaction.

Bonus:
After moving all your Bitcoin, and once the transaction confirmed, check if you own Forkcoins.

[NeoArkan]

Offline signing seems quite complicated for me.

Is there an alternative to Electrum ? Is it possible by example to use a wallet that is validated by the appstore ? By example, I have seen Trust Wallet but maybe there are other best alternative ?