My Electrum wallet not encrypted??

[m3110w]

Hi All,

Newbie here. I just installed Electrum on my Win 7 Pro pc. I navigated to the "default_wallet" file and used Notepad to open it and (as near as I can tell) it is totally *not* encrypted. I could read the contents just fine. I saw obvious plain text.

WTF!? Is this a problem? Or am I missing something? Thanks for helping a newbie.

I followed the default install instructions and created a strong password when I installed Electrum.

Cheers,

Advait

[1713859620]

1713859620

[1713859620]

1713859620

[1713859620]

1713859620

[1713859620]

1713859620

[shorena]

Hi All,

Newbie here. I just installed Electrum on my Win 7 Pro pc. I navigated to the "default_wallet" file and used Notepad to open it and (as near as I can tell) it is totally *not* encrypted. I could read the contents just fine. I saw obvious plain text.

WTF!? Is this a problem? Or am I missing something? Thanks for helping a newbie.

I followed the default install instructions and created a strong password when I installed Electrum.

Cheers,

Advait

This is my test.wallet:

Code:

{
'addr_history': 
{'1PTKhXATU3b5CjBrMPWnZE27Q1ToESSPV3': [],
 '1LSiXjRiNprPS6QffJkPKhDURyqb8Wgemo': [],
 '13wNBcEeYkWdHNpNxa5K4LUjCyifjFZw8y': [],
 '1G1t5Y9iEWXo7qpPfxvhPc3Ua6tp43hzvm': [],
 '13qMT8Ek9ALfJsEvgnTtES4vmcqAtKFGu1': [],
 '1KufuF7i1sxNYrAtjcKTtMZCqCWwHAtvCT': [],
 '194YTpXcvVEqsfmF5N77tVDHZBJ197FiWj': [],
 '1GrqPhWbxTQsVvEy9TSBF4MGUf5dwwFhy5': []
},
 'accounts_expanded': {},
 'master_public_key': '831712ada3257115efd42fb402d3dc6251f2a7bad5da3ca15ff569c5f9089da9f5fc568799ae6b9645380efa72d3e1c2d72a627642ea808ca659c313f1c1cd69',
 'use_encryption': True,
 'seed': 'QW2OcPqe278Z7j0x3FxOgncx5mPCiUJzG+RlExyNMG5D7iksiL2ZhzfpWu5ymVygAThrh5tI9CakjUa3jTcxWA==',
 'accounts': {0: {0: ['194YTpXcvVEqsfmF5N77tVDHZBJ197FiWj',
 '13wNBcEeYkWdHNpNxa5K4LUjCyifjFZw8y',
 '1LSiXjRiNprPS6QffJkPKhDURyqb8Wgemo',
 '13qMT8Ek9ALfJsEvgnTtES4vmcqAtKFGu1',
 '1KufuF7i1sxNYrAtjcKTtMZCqCWwHAtvCT'],
 1: ['1G1t5Y9iEWXo7qpPfxvhPc3Ua6tp43hzvm',
 '1PTKhXATU3b5CjBrMPWnZE27Q1ToESSPV3', 
'1GrqPhWbxTQsVvEy9TSBF4MGUf5dwwFhy5']}},
 'seed_version': 4
}

As you can see there is plenty unencrypted data, but the important part - the seed - is storred encrypted.

Code:

 'seed': 'QW2OcPqe278Z7j0x3FxOgncx5mPCiUJzG+RlExyNMG5D7iksiL2ZhzfpWu5ymVygAThrh5tI9CakjUa3jTcxWA==',

Most wallets only protect the private keys/seed in order to allow you to use the wallet without password unless you want to send bitcoin.

[flatfly]

Only seeds and private keys (if any) get encrypted. The rest is not.
Every major wallet (multibit, bitcoin core, etc) does it this way, for a number of reasons.

[m3110w]

Hello shorena,

Thanks for the reply. One reason I was nervous is that near the end of my default_wallet text is "mpk" followed by some random characters. I translated "mpk" as Master Private Key (I could be totally wrong. What is "mpk" anyway?).

And I'm guessing the actual Master Private Key will also just be a string of random characters. So I have no way of telling if the characters after "mpk" are encrypted or not. You're saying they are so I can rest easy.

Thanks for helping a newbie. Cheers,

Advait

PS: And I promise cross-my-heart to do lots of regular backups of my wallets. :-)

[shorena]

Hello shorena,

Thanks for the reply. One reason I was nervous is that near the end of my default_wallet text is "mpk" followed by some random characters. I translated "mpk" as Master Private Key (I could be totally wrong. What is "mpk" anyway?).

As nerioseole said mpk is the master public key. Its still a problem if the master public key and at least one private key are compromised, but the master public key alone is useless for someone trying to steal your bitcoin. They would just know all your addresses, but not the private keys for them.

And I'm guessing the actual Master Private Key will also just be a string of random characters. So I have no way of telling if the characters after "mpk" are encrypted or not. You're saying they are so I can rest easy.

When looking at some string its hard to tell if its just some form to safe it or actual encryption. Here is another test wallet, this time I did not use a password. As you can see the seed string is shorter. The "==" at the end of the encrytped string above is usually an indication for encryption.

Code:

 'master_public_key': 'cb1158cbf7c12a3aedac47c581b1a7204015370ea5f401429ecb7dfb114c6df6cc68f675f055b73571de71999d15309237292244f86fc4f81d8780ffcac8bb16',
 'use_encryption': False,
 'seed': '8e72fc3cba70761e83b95fd27ced318f',

Thanks for helping a newbie. Cheers,

Advait

PS: And I promise cross-my-heart to do lots of regular backups of my wallets. :-)

As nerioseole allready said: just keep your seed safe, the file is less important as long as its protected by a password.

[ColderThanIce]

The proof: if you loose your keys, the bitcoins will remain on the blockchain forever - as unspent outputs - like the +1M bitcoins that Satoshi mined in 2009...  The question is... did he loose his keys?

i don't think he did. i think he's just an extreme HODLer. i think that if he moved those bitcoins at all it would raise a lot of questions in the community.

[BitcoinAddicts]

the only data that get encrypted is private key and seeds, not others
and you can feel safe as long as they are encrypted, nothing to worry about