I'm just learning about this Bitcoin Signature thing. I've read Shorena's thread tutorial from the beginning and want to go ahead and sign a message and have it verified. I'm kinda confused on which Address to use. Do I just use one from my list? I'm using Electrum as my wallet. Also, do I just copy and paste the completed signed message from the Electrum page here?
To sign a message, you can use any address in your Electrum wallet to do it. However, before signing a message, you should remember to back up seeds of your wallet for later recovery. It sounds ridiculous if you sign a message from a wallet that you don't have control of its seeds. Then, in worst situation (such as computer broken) the sign message has zero value for your account here.
Moreover, if you have more than one devices, I suggest you to sign at least 2 messages from two different wallets - that stored on two devices. It is the way to decentralize risks of losing wallet control from technical issues of your devices and your backups.
Note:
- Don't include email in your message (to avoid phising links later)
- Place to sign your message:
Stake your bitcoin address here. Please use the format in the OP of that topic.
Yes, just choose one address from the list to sign a message from it. It's a very friendly use in Electrum on sign/verify messages.
Yes, you have to copy and paste the following three elements so another user can verify it:
- Signed message.
- Address used.
- Signature.
Don't forget to add actual date to your message; it's the proof that you just did it now, not in the past. This is just a recommendation, not a must-do.
Hello again,
Ok I followed everything to the letter, Wrote a specific message in that section with date and time, Inserted one of my bitcoin addresses in the the Address section, proceeded to the Signature section of my Electrum messaged and clicked Sign, got the pop up window requesting my password, I entered my password and clicked, "ok", but instead of adding the signature, I got this pop up.
"Cannot sign messages with this type of address: p2sh
Signing with an address actually means signing with the corresponding private key, and verifying with the corresponding public key. The address you have entered does not have a unique public key, so these operations cannot be performed.
The operation is undefined. Not just in Electrum, but in general."
I'm using one of my Addresses that says "receiving" just to the left of the Address. There are about 20 of them and I used one that has not been previously used before.
Also, at the bottom of the list of Address, there are 6 that say "Change" to the left of the Addresses instead of "Receiving".
I tried one of those and got the same pop up window as before.
Am I missing something here or entering something incorrectly? I have no idea what "p2sh" means.
I'm using Electrum version 3.3.4 and have had no problems receiving 3 different deposits of bitcoin and my balance total is showing correctly.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.