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Author Topic: Cold Wallet questions  (Read 1917 times)
CIYAM
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December 15, 2014, 04:42:41 PM
 #21

I mean if you store your bitcoins in a cold wallet and then we have in the future a fork of bitcoin for some reasons like technology upgrades etc can the forked edition handle this old adresses?

Bitcoin development is now very conservative so I would not be too worried about that - if there was any reason why addresses would need to be changed (such as ECDSA being cracked) then I'm sure you'll know about it before it is too late.

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DannyHamilton
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December 15, 2014, 04:53:31 PM
 #22

I mean if you store your bitcoins in a cold wallet and then we have in the future a fork of bitcoin for some reasons like technology upgrades etc can the forked edition handle this old adresses?

It will have to.  If it can't, then nobody will be able to spend any of their bitcoin ever, since there will be no way to spend it out of the old addresses into the new addresses.

This might sound a bit scary if its the first time you've heard it but: There are no actual bitcoins, and there are no actual addresses at the technical level of how bitcoin operates.

The way the protocol works is that the blockchain stores transactions that list unspent outputs that are to be spent as inputs and new outputs that are to become unspent outputs.  The inputs supply a sum of value to the transaction.  The new outputs encumber that value with requirements.  The most common requirement that an unspent output is encumbered with is a requirement to supply an ECDSA digital signature which must be verifiable with a specific public key.  The public key is identified by its RIPEMD-160 hash, which we convert to an "address" to make it easier for humans to work with.

Therefore, anybody that can provide the proper ECDSA signature can "spend" the value associated with the output.  If the protocol changes in the future to allow a new way to spend outputs, then new outputs will need to be created that have this new encumbrance. The only way to do that is to first spend the old output by supplying the proper signature.  Therefore, nobody will be able to move any of the value to the new encumbrance unless the protocol continues to allow users to spend the existing outputs that have the old encumbrance.
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December 15, 2014, 04:57:06 PM
 #23

thank you so much Smiley Was really educated this post.

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fryarminer
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December 15, 2014, 05:14:36 PM
 #24

- snip -
A cold wallet can transfer
- snip -

I don't think that word means what you think it means.


A cold wallet is a wallet that is not connected to the internet, has never been connected to the internet, and never will be connected to the internet.

As soon as you connect a wallet to the internet, it is no longer a cold wallet.

thx everyone for the answers Smiley My question remain. If a wallet is not sync with blockchain how can i trust that my assets is not somehow corrupt in the future? Is not danger to have a wallet that is not even sync with the blockchain?

Easy. Check your public address on the blockchain. That will tell you how much is in your wallet without bringing your wallet online.
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December 15, 2014, 05:21:26 PM
 #25

If a wallet is not sync with blockchain how can i trust that my assets is not somehow corrupt in the future?

You either trust your wallet to properly generate private keys and the correct address for each private key, or you don't.

If you trust the wallet to properly generate private keys and the correct address for each private key, then you can use any block explorer or any "watch only" wallet to calculate the total sum that you control. Therefore, there is no benefit to having the wallet sync.

If you don't trust the wallet to properly generate private keys or the correct address for each private key, then it won't matter if the wallet it hot, cold, sync, or not sync.  If you sync a wallet that is generating the wrong addresses, then how can you trust that your assets are not somehow corrupt? Therefore, there is no benefit to having the wallet sync.

Is not danger to have a wallet that is not even sync with the blockchain?

What danger are you afraid of?  Please describe the specific danger that you think might happen to your offline wallet.  Then perhaps we can help you figure out how to protect against that danger.

Dude, thanks dude.. Now you scared me: what if my cold storage doesn't have the correct private key.. I'm gonna have to make a small transaction to verify!
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December 16, 2014, 01:20:52 AM
 #26

If a wallet is not sync with blockchain how can i trust that my assets is not somehow corrupt in the future?

You either trust your wallet to properly generate private keys and the correct address for each private key, or you don't.

If you trust the wallet to properly generate private keys and the correct address for each private key, then you can use any block explorer or any "watch only" wallet to calculate the total sum that you control. Therefore, there is no benefit to having the wallet sync.

If you don't trust the wallet to properly generate private keys or the correct address for each private key, then it won't matter if the wallet it hot, cold, sync, or not sync.  If you sync a wallet that is generating the wrong addresses, then how can you trust that your assets are not somehow corrupt? Therefore, there is no benefit to having the wallet sync.

Is not danger to have a wallet that is not even sync with the blockchain?

What danger are you afraid of?  Please describe the specific danger that you think might happen to your offline wallet.  Then perhaps we can help you figure out how to protect against that danger.

Dude, thanks dude.. Now you scared me: what if my cold storage doesn't have the correct private key.. I'm gonna have to make a small transaction to verify!
Your public key (aka your address) is calculated from your private key. As long as whatever you used to generate your private key properly calculated your address, then this is not an issue.
DannyHamilton
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December 16, 2014, 02:06:09 AM
 #27

Your public key (aka your address)

The public key and the address are not the same thing. The address is generated from the public key.

is calculated from your private key.

Correct.

As long as whatever you used to generate your private key properly calculated your address, then this is not an issue.

Exactly.  If you trust the software to properly calculate the address, then it is not an issue.  If you don't trust the software, then you might not want to use bitcoin at all until you find software you trust.
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December 16, 2014, 09:12:18 AM
 #28

classic "senior" moment this post is
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