Remember that Bitcoin addresses (except the one in my signature, of course) are best used as one-time only addresses, you don't continuously get payments to them. You should simply send your balance to a new wallet if you wish to use different software.
Compressed addresses were introduced because they are advantageous - transactions from them take almost half the space so spending many payments is cheaper in fees and takes less space in the blockchain.
Topic: Exporting a Private Key from Multibit; Importing the key to Bitcoin-QT (Read 8582 times)
December 14, 2013, 01:18:32 AM
December 14, 2013, 12:33:01 AM
A compressed address/private key combination cannot be "decompressed" for any useful purpose; a decompressed private key (which only has a flag indicating that the public key is uncompressed) has a different bitcoin address.
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
oh...if that's the case, is there any way to export the "original" private key from Multibit? The one that starts with a 5?? So that I can restore my wallet to any client in the future without any worries?
So sorry, I think I understand a bit more now. So would you recommend that I use a client which does not compress their private keys so that I can move the BTCs around with worrying about compatibility issues?
December 13, 2013, 11:25:13 PM
A compressed address/private key combination cannot be "decompressed" for any useful purpose; a decompressed private key (which only has a flag indicating that the public key is uncompressed) has a different bitcoin address.
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
oh...if that's the case, is there any way to export the "original" private key from Multibit? The one that starts with a 5?? So that I can restore my wallet to any client in the future without any worries?
December 13, 2013, 10:51:38 PM
A compressed address/private key combination cannot be "decompressed" for any useful purpose; a decompressed private key (which only has a flag indicating that the public key is uncompressed) has a different bitcoin address.
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
oh...if that's the case, is there any way to export the "original" private key from Multibit? The one that starts with a 5?? So that I can restore my wallet to any client in the future without any worries?
December 13, 2013, 10:29:46 PM
Another tip; you can avoid excessive wait and hassle by creating a batch file to import the keys, disabling the automatic rescan that can lock the client for 10 minutes, with lines like:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind importprivkey L3GMeSqH3HTcqLBsYtQtJQhLQ2iaFMq8FBHga9gek2hGXMQbskjY multibit1 false
C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind importprivkey KxFFdK2xG9kJDXC5yQ3Ck6SFodsR1y97bNBz9tNu5uzkxzMchiG1 multibit2 false
the false disables the rescan, you can have false until the last line so only the last import makes a rescan of all addresses.
Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind importprivkey L3GMeSqH3HTcqLBsYtQtJQhLQ2iaFMq8FBHga9gek2hGXMQbskjY multibit1 false
C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind importprivkey KxFFdK2xG9kJDXC5yQ3Ck6SFodsR1y97bNBz9tNu5uzkxzMchiG1 multibit2 false
the false disables the rescan, you can have false until the last line so only the last import makes a rescan of all addresses.
So I can use this "new" compressed private key on any client without any decompressing/converting to the old format or things like that?
A compressed address/private key combination cannot be "decompressed" for any useful purpose; a decompressed private key (which only has a flag indicating that the public key is uncompressed) has a different bitcoin address.Some clients, notably Electrum, do not support compressed addresses (which may result in you paying more fees than you need to).
December 13, 2013, 10:16:17 PM
Uncompressed private keys (the 'old' format) start with a 5
Compressed private keys (the 'new' format) start with a K or an L
Compressed private keys (the 'new' format) start with a K or an L
I see..thank you for the reply!!
So I can use this "new" compressed private key on any client without any decompressing/converting to the old format or things like that?
December 12, 2013, 10:15:30 AM
Uncompressed private keys (the 'old' format) start with a 5
Compressed private keys (the 'new' format) start with a K or an L
Compressed private keys (the 'new' format) start with a K or an L
December 12, 2013, 02:47:34 AM
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.Then edit file with some editor like Notepad++ and copy only key - this is row without # ,and you must copy only key - no date and another symbols , and then in BitCoin-Qt open from Help->Debug window ->Console then type
without <>
where label is name of owner - your name.
And when press enter the your address with coins will appear in your addresses and in your balance.My be you can wait until client rescaning the blocks .
In my opinion here no problem to use two different client with the same private key - if you spend or receive the coins from one client with this private key - address it will be synchronized in the another client - this address - private key.
Code:
importprivkey[label] [rescan=true]
where label is name of owner - your name.
And when press enter the your address with coins will appear in your addresses and in your balance.My be you can wait until client rescaning the blocks .
In my opinion here no problem to use two different client with the same private key - if you spend or receive the coins from one client with this private key - address it will be synchronized in the another client - this address - private key.
I tried exporting the private key without password. I can see the strings in the .key file. However are these the "actual" private keys? If I'm not wrong private keys starts with "5"?? None of the strings inside my file is like that.
December 07, 2013, 01:36:57 PM
I have been successful at my import (yay! FINALLY). What worked, in case it's helpful to anyone else is:
don't include date, time, or z in the private key - only the letters & numbers
and
yes, include a label of some kind
and
using [rescan=true] resulted in a parsing error every time I used it. The import worked without it.
don't include date, time, or z in the private key - only the letters & numbers
and
yes, include a label of some kind
and
using [rescan=true] resulted in a parsing error every time I used it. The import worked without it.
December 07, 2013, 11:34:31 AM
Quote
So one private key is for one address -in wallet you can have many addresses
every key is in row WITHOUT # and finish to date and time.
And for every wallet you have to export private keys-it is impossible to export key for two wallets together
So for me you put wrong key because is the wrong message - for label yo can put some name or whatever you want
every key is in row WITHOUT # and finish to date and time.
And for every wallet you have to export private keys-it is impossible to export key for two wallets together
So for me you put wrong key because is the wrong message - for label yo can put some name or whatever you want
This is helpful. Thank you. I would clarify the following (if this is wrong, somebody please correct me):
Every key is in row without # and finish to date and time and z
and
for label you can put some name or whatever you want but a label does need to be present
December 04, 2013, 06:14:01 PM
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.Then edit file with some editor like Notepad++ and copy only key - this is row without # ,and you must copy only key - no date and another symbols , and then in BitCoin-Qt open from Help->Debug window ->Console then type
without <>
where label is name of owner - your name.
Code:
importprivkey[label] [rescan=true]
where label is name of owner - your name.
I also am trying to import a Multibit key into Bitcoin-Qt. I can view the unencrypted key in Notepad, but I'm uncertain just how much of the text I'm to copy - is it everything in between the two # symbols? I have two wallets, and there appear to be two keys in between the # symbols. Would I be interpreting that right?
Also, my labels aren't owner name, they are descriptive - but when I try to import the key using the descriptive label, I get this error:
Quote
Error: value is type int, expected bool
If I try to import the key without any label, I get this error:Quote
Error: Error parsing JSON:[rescan=true]
So one private key is for one address -in wallet you can have many addresses
every key is in row WITHOUT # and finish to date and time.
And for every wallet you have to export private keys-it is impossible to export key for two wallets together
So for me you put wrong key because is the wrong message - for label yo can put some name or whatever you want
December 03, 2013, 12:00:07 AM
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.Then edit file with some editor like Notepad++ and copy only key - this is row without # ,and you must copy only key - no date and another symbols , and then in BitCoin-Qt open from Help->Debug window ->Console then type
without <>
where label is name of owner - your name.
Code:
importprivkey[label] [rescan=true]
where label is name of owner - your name.
I also am trying to import a Multibit key into Bitcoin-Qt. I can view the unencrypted key in Notepad, but I'm uncertain just how much of the text I'm to copy - is it everything in between the two # symbols? I have two wallets, and there appear to be two keys in between the # symbols. Would I be interpreting that right?
Also, my labels aren't owner name, they are descriptive - but when I try to import the key using the descriptive label, I get this error:
Quote
Error: value is type int, expected bool
If I try to import the key without any label, I get this error:Quote
Error: Error parsing JSON:[rescan=true]
November 18, 2013, 04:04:53 PM
Thanks for the replies.
Can you tell me why this is important? Is it because if you export the private key with a password, the readable version of the password is different - starts with U rather than K or L, for example? And if you export the private key without the password you can read the actual private key?
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.
Can you tell me why this is important? Is it because if you export the private key with a password, the readable version of the password is different - starts with U rather than K or L, for example? And if you export the private key without the password you can read the actual private key?
This is important because password encrypts actual private key so i didn't try to edit private key file with password.
November 18, 2013, 05:06:24 AM
Thanks for the replies.
Can you tell me why this is important? Is it because if you export the private key with a password, the readable version of the password is different - starts with U rather than K or L, for example? And if you export the private key without the password you can read the actual private key?
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.
Can you tell me why this is important? Is it because if you export the private key with a password, the readable version of the password is different - starts with U rather than K or L, for example? And if you export the private key without the password you can read the actual private key?
November 17, 2013, 07:02:05 PM
Or you just use the Bitcoin network to transfer the coins, which is more user-friendly...
November 17, 2013, 12:48:09 PM
Export private key from MultiBit without password - this is important.Then edit file with some editor like Notepad++ and copy only key - this is row without # ,and you must copy only key - no date and another symbols , and then in BitCoin-Qt open from Help->Debug window ->Console then type
without <>
where label is name of owner - your name.
And when press enter the your address with coins will appear in your addresses and in your balance.My be you can wait until client rescaning the blocks .
In my opinion here no problem to use two different client with the same private key - if you spend or receive the coins from one client with this private key - address it will be synchronized in the another client - this address - private key.
Code:
importprivkey[label] [rescan=true]
where label is name of owner - your name.
And when press enter the your address with coins will appear in your addresses and in your balance.My be you can wait until client rescaning the blocks .
In my opinion here no problem to use two different client with the same private key - if you spend or receive the coins from one client with this private key - address it will be synchronized in the another client - this address - private key.
November 17, 2013, 05:35:16 AM
Can I export a Multibit private key in compressed encoding format to the Bitcoin-QT client using importprivkey?
Is there anything I should be concerned with in doing this - such as having the private key in two different clients?
Thanks in advance.
Is there anything I should be concerned with in doing this - such as having the private key in two different clients?
Thanks in advance.
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