Casascius Sweeping

[LoyceV]

My Ledgers are old now an will probably need to be updated. I probably need create a new Ledger wallet on an online machine, but there shouldn’t be much risk right? The Ledger is only receiving unless I missed something.

You may need to update the Ledger if it's old enough not to support Segwit yet. Other than that, if it works, it works.
Ledger used to be safe even connected to a compromised computer, but nowadays they lost a lot of credibility.

[1714558818]

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[1714558818]

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[Flein]

You can sweep directly to an address in your ledger wallet. You don't need to create a new wallet to do this.

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/sweeping-your-private-keys-into-electrum/

So all I need to do is change from the default Electrum address to the Ledger address?

[LoyceV]

So all I need to do is change from the default Electrum address to the Ledger address?

Yes. And check the address.

[Flein]

So all I need to do is change from the default Electrum address to the Ledger address?

Yes. And check the address.

I always do
Is sweeping in essence just en extra unnecessary step vs importing if I just want it directly on my ledger wallet?

[LoyceV]

Is sweeping in essence just en extra unnecessary step vs importing if I just want it directly on my ledger wallet?

Import: add the private key to your wallet. Funds don't move.
Sweep: move all funds from the private key to a new address. Funds move.
You can't import a private key on a hardware wallet.

[Flein]

Is sweeping in essence just en extra unnecessary step vs importing if I just want it directly on my ledger wallet?

Import: add the private key to your wallet. Funds don't move.
Sweep: move all funds from the private key to a new address. Funds move.
You can't import a private key on a hardware wallet.

Feels like I’m getting stupider and more confused every time I read the posts.
Do I first import the private key instead of making standard wallet then send it to the Ledger address.
Or do I make an standard wallet then import the private key the send to the Ledger address?
Are sweeping involved in any way in the procedure?

[LoyceV]

Do I first import instead of making standard wallet then send it to the address.

This works.

Or do I make an standard wallet then import them send to the Ledger address?

This also works (but takes 2 transactions, 2 transaction fees, and means your cold storage funds spend a bit more time in a hot wallet.

Are sweeping involved in any way in the procedure?

Any Electrum wallet can sweep a private key directly to the Ledger address you enter.

Basically, you have options What I would do, but that is my personal preference, is import the private key into Electrum, then make the transaction to the Ledger (and this is the easiest method to add offline signing to the mix).

[Flein]

Do I first import instead of making standard wallet then send it to the address.

This works.

Or do I make an standard wallet then import them send to the Ledger address?

This also works (but takes 2 transactions, 2 transaction fees, and means your cold storage funds spend a bit more time in a hot wallet.

Are sweeping involved in any way in the procedure?

Any Electrum wallet can sweep a private key directly to the Ledger address you enter.

Basically, you have options What I would do, but that is my personal preference, is import the private key into Electrum, then make the transaction to the Ledger (and this is the easiest method to add offline signing to the mix).

Thank you! xD

[Flein]

The video was very good, thanks. But how do I proceed in the start with the private key, do I use sweep on the offline wallet?

.

Then you can follow the same cold-storage setup procedure to create, sign and broadcast a transaction that'll send the entire funds to your Ledger.
I noticed that the video is old, in the new version, you can export/import PSBT transactions as file via "Share->Save to file".
Note: Confirm every character of the address before broadcasting the finalized transaction.

Will this change the steps so the video wont explain everything I need to know?

[hosseinimr93]

Or do I make an standard wallet then import the private key the send to the Ledger address?

As mentioned by LoyceV above, you have two options. You can either make a new wallet and then sweep your private key or create a new wallet by importing your private key.

Just note that there is no way to import a private key to an electrum standard wallet. Sweeping a private key is different from importing a private key.

Will this change the steps so the video wont explain everything I need to know?

To export the transaction, click on "Share". You will have the options to export your transaction as a QR code or a file.

The difference between your case and what explained in the video is that you have a private key and an address instead of a seed phrase and a master public key.
As mentioned by nc50lc, you should select "Import bitcoin address or private keys" when creating your wallets.

[Flein]

I ended up just importing them and sending them to a newly generated Ledger wallet, I skipped the offline signing. I had to keep it simple as a newbie.
Painless success!

Thank you so much to you all for your answers and your time, you really made it all feel safer to do this!
I hope your posts will help others in the future, I sure will come back and read over it next time if I’m unable to sell my other coins to collectors over the next couple of years.

<3<3<3

[satscraper]

Hi, can I sweep the private key directly to my Ledger address, or do I need to sweep it to Electrum standard wallet then send it to the Ledger address ?

Also a noob question. Do I need to download and update Bitcoin Core to use Electrum?

Sweeping involves transaction that moves your stash from address controlled by  Casascius  private key to new address controlled by private key generated by Electrum. thus this operation requires fee to pay.  It doesn't import Casascius  private key. On the other hand, importing Casascius  private key into Electrum   doesn't require such fee as it all stash remains on the address controlled by that key. I would  advocate sweeping rather than importing as the latter requires more stuff to backup. When you sweep, the only stuff to backup is you SEED phrase (or maybe plus a password if you choose to use it) while after importing there is one more thing to backup, namely your  Casascius  private key.

Also a noob question. Do I need to download and update Bitcoin Core to use Electrum?

There is no need if you use the  public nodes to connect to, rather that Electrum personal server.

[hosseinimr93]

When you sweep, the only stuff to backup is you SEED phrase (or maybe plus a password if you choose to use it) while after importing there is one more thing to backup, namely your  Casascius  private key.

I feel you are confusing password with passphrase.
What you need to backup is the seed phrase (+passphrase, if there's any.)
Take note that your password encrpyts the wallet file locally, but if you have a passphrase and you don't add that to your seed phrase when recovering the wallet, you will generate completely different addresses.

[satscraper]

When you sweep, the only stuff to backup is you SEED phrase (or maybe plus a password if you choose to use it) while after importing there is one more thing to backup, namely your  Casascius  private key.

I feel you are confusing password with passphrase.
What you need to backup is the seed phrase (+passphrase, if there's any.)
Take note that your password encrpyts the wallet file locally, but if you have a passphrase and you don't add that to your seed phrase when recovering the wallet, you will generate completely different addresses.

Then I must admit  that your feeling is wrong. I don't confuse those things and what which of them is used for.

Having in mind restoration, there is no sense  to backup password used to encrypt wallet. The latter can be restored without it.

Regarding  password ( you call it passphrase, other call it 25^th word) which  accompanies   SEED  at wallet creation  the lack of its backup represents a point of failure.

From the context of my previous message it is clear that I meant the password (call it passphrase if you want) used at wallet creation.

Cheese.

[BitMaxz]

My Ledgers are old now an will probably need to be updated. I probably need create a new Ledger wallet on an online machine, but there shouldn’t be much risk right? The Ledger is only receiving unless I missed something.

Creating a wallet or generating a new seed on the ledger doesn't require an online machine.

Please check how to set up your ledger below
- https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000613793-Set-up-your-Ledger-Nano-S?docs=true

About the risk I don't know how safe the ledger is, it does not have open-source code I do not know how this hardware wallet protects your keys online but creating a watch only with your ledger shouldn't have any risk.

[blue Snow]

My Ledgers are old now an will probably need to be updated. I probably need create a new Ledger wallet on an online machine, but there shouldn’t be much risk right? The Ledger is only receiving unless I missed something.

Creating a wallet or generating a new seed on the ledger doesn't require an online machine.

Yes, That's true, I just remembered creating new Nano S seed using a power bank. there is a step we can create the new wallet seed without connecting the internet.

but still, when we have to use the wallet, we must download the Bitcoin application on the ledger live online 1st to create a new address received or connect to electrum wallet.

it means it's still raw, we can't use it when don't have the application bitcoin on the ledger wallet.

[nc50lc]

I ended up just importing them and sending them to a newly generated Ledger wallet, I skipped the offline signing. I had to keep it simple as a newbie.
Painless success!

Thank you so much to you all for your answers and your time, you really made it all feel safer to do this!
I hope your posts will help others in the future, I sure will come back and read over it next time if I’m unable to sell my other coins to collectors over the next couple of years.

Okay that works too, but you should've just use sweep to your Electrum wallet created with your Ledger Nano,
That's much simpler than creating a new online imported wallet with the private key.

The whole reason why cold-storage setup is recommended by the majority is for the safety of your coins while sending the bitcoins in case your PC is compromised.
It's not simple but the "air-gap" offline machine where the private key will be exposed is impervious to most hacking attempts.
Considering the amount contained in a Casascius Coin, I'd still wont recommend sweeping the private key on an online machine.