bitcoind - Watch Only Address

[Miitch]

For an upcoming project I am wanting to use pre-generated keys. The idea being that I can generate 10,000~ pre-generated keys on an offline computer. Then I could import the public keys as 'watch only' into bitcoind on an Internet connected server. The Internet connected server would have full access to track incoming transactions and even if the server was hacked there would be no risk of player deposits being compromised.

I've checked the bitcoind API calls list and can't find a way to do this:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client/API_calls_list

I found a discussion of this issue on Github with no clear solution:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/3383

Can anyone please give me some input about whether it is possible to add watch-only addresses into bitcoind?

Thanks in advance!

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[amaclin]

Can anyone please give me some input about whether it is possible to add watch-only addresses into bitcoind?

1) create new wallet.dat
2) import private keys to it
3) set a very loooooong password. Something like "jfjflkjiu48t48476873284efbsdsdff8*DDD#*#*RF$*FH$NFN$F$*F$*F*@NF#*F*#FN#*fjdsjfkdsjl"
4) do not keep this password.

You will receive watch-only wallet.dat because nobody (even you) knows the password to spend funds.

PS. Do not use password from this example - it belongs to me and my wallet.dat

[bloodDiamond]

Can anyone please give me some input about whether it is possible to add watch-only addresses into bitcoind?

1) create new wallet.dat
2) import private keys to it
3) set a very loooooong password. Something like "jfjflkjiu48t48476873284efbsdsdff8*DDD#*#*RF$*FH$NFN$F$*F$*F*@NF#*F*#FN#*fjdsjfkdsjl"
4) do not keep this password.

You will receive watch-only wallet.dat because nobody (even you) knows the password to spend funds.

PS. Do not use password from this example - it belongs to me and my wallet.dat

the complexity of the private key is all for safety ... especially for online wallet ...
where it can be done brute force attack starting from a dictionary basis key with a high probability of resolution.
for stronger security you should set a password with a GUID generator online ...

you will have a code like this 9bc0926f-4ab2-4aea-9109-e9fd50c44a23

difficult to attack

 

[Miitch]

Thanks for the replies! Will I need the private key for the wallet to import more keys into it in the future though...?

[bloodDiamond]

Thanks for the replies! Will I need the private key for the wallet to import more keys into it in the future though...?

i think you will need private key just to spend bitcoin present in wallet.

[Dabs]

You'll want to look into importing watch only addresses using pywallet, into encrypted wallets. It can insert a public key into your wallet.dat file, and include a dummy or fake private key.

[emrebey]

if you consider using armory(d) wallet, you get watch-only feature.

https://github.com/etotheipi/BitcoinArmory

I used this in one small project - it works well.