Topic: Help with Paper Wallet and Private Keys from blockchain.info (offline mode) (Read 1300 times)

Yes.  The private key can be imported into any client that provides a method for importing private keys.  You could then send the bitcoins from that client.

Note that depending on the client you choose, some bitcoins may be sent to a new address that the client creates and keeps hidden from you.  So if you have 100 bitcoins (that were all received in a single transaction) associated with address A on the paper wallet, and you import that private key into Bitcoin-Qt to send 5 BTC to someone, then the remaining 95 BTC will no longer be associated with the address on the paper.  Bitcoin-Qt will have created a new address (with a new private key) that it didn't tell you about.  It will spend the full 100 BTC in a single transaction sending 5 BTC to the address you were spending to, and sending the remaining 95 BTC back into Bitcoin-Qt at the newly created hidden address.


I haven't tried importing private keys into either of those clients.  What other information do they ask for?  The only information that should be necessary when importing a private key is the private key itself.  I've done it many times with Bitcoin-Qt.


I'm nearly certain that https://blockchain.info/wallet provides an interface for importing private keys.  I know it can be done in Bitcoin-QT (although it is an advanced function requiring API calls in the Debug Window console).


No. It is in standard Wallet Import Format (WIF).  Any client that allows importing of Private Keys should accept the private keys from the paper.


The private key is the only information needed to access the bitcoins associated with the address listed on the paper.  Some clients might require you to store that private key in a file in order to import it, but that import file can be created at the time of importing.


Yes.  Any client that provides an interface for importing Private Keys can import the private key from the paper after which it can spend any bitcoins associated with that address.


Yes. The private key is provided in standard Wallet Import Format (WIF).

Lol thanks, that's pretty much what I understood too. You put it a lot more succinctly than I though

Thanks for the link...

As far as I understand it, the only piece of information you really need is the private key, everything else can be derived from this, take a look www.bitaddress.org

I haven't done anything stupid (yet) so I want to fully understand how this works.

I opened a blockchain.info wallet account in private browsing mode (using a linux livecd just in case my windows OS has some well-hidden malware) and then I disconnected from the internet. I then created a new address in offline mode, printed out some Paper Wallets of that address (which contains the public address and the private key) and closed the browser and made sure nothing was saved on the computer. I then restarted, reconnected to the internet and imported the public address I had created into my blockchain.info account as a Watch Only address.

Then I transferred a tiny fraction of a bitcoin into the address as a test and confirmed that it was received.

So my questions are these:

Is the entire bitcoin address contained in the paper wallet? IE could I just take the public address and Private Key and import then MANUALLY by typing them in or using the QR code into a client such as Armory or Multibit and then send and receive coins from that address?

If so, how does one do this given that it seems that armory and Multibit ask for information other than the public address and private key (or even for a file) when you import a private key. What I mean is can you just import a private key directly from a blockchain.info paper wallet into Armory or Multibit or another client or online service and have access to the wallet stored on the Paper Wallet?

Or is the Paper Wallet (which in effect refers to the private key) created by blockchain.info only importable back into blockchain.info?

To put it more simply, does the printed Paper Wallet from blockchain.info contain ALL the information needed to access the address listed on the Paper Wallet, or is it necessary to have a wallet.dat or JSON or some other sort of backup? And if the Paper Wallet contains ALL the info, then how can you import it into a client directly off the paper, in other words can you import JUST a private key from a wallet created on blockchain.info into a standalone client and then have access to send and receive coins from the associated public address?

Is the private key format from blockchain.info compatible with clients like Armory and Multibit? IE can it be imported as is?

If anyone can clear this up a bit I would appreciate it.

Will