I just chose new wallet and then chose watch only. I'm not sure how I was able to create it without having any private or public keys.
There's no option "
watch-only" in the new/restore wallet menu. Are you sure that you're using Electrum?
The two ways to create a watch-only wallet is to select "
Standard->Use a master key->Paste a master public key" or "
import Bitcoin addresses or private keys->Paste an address".
The difference will be the wallet type after the wallet name:
[standard, watching only] and
[imported, watching only], respectively.
The only non-watching wallet I have is my Coinbase wallet, which is what I transferred the bitcoin from.
Coinbase isn't really a wallet so you can't call it "
non-watching", your receiving address still belongs to them.
They just crediting your account based form your deposits.
For the main question, you're "
fucked" if you don't know where you got that address.
If you know where it came from, then you can investigate further.
It says it's imported watching only but I never imported anything, all I did was setup the wallet, copy the provided receiving address into the sending section of coinbase, and that was that. The wallet I have setup is also encrypted. I downloaded it at
https://electrum.org/#home
I just chose new wallet and then chose watch only. I'm not sure how I was able to create it without having any private or public keys. All I have is a Coinbase account and this, and I sent the money from the Coinbase account to Electrum without realizing I wouldn't be able to change it from watch only to a normal wallet. Because it's a watch only wallet, it does not generate a Seed when creating, so I was never given a 12-word phrase.
Electrum will not allow you to create a watch-only wallet without a key or an address. "Watch Only" isn't an option that's given when creating a new wallet. It does provide options to enter previously generated keys or addresses, and then Electrum determines whether to create a live wallet or a watch-only depending on the nature of the key. At the very least you would have needed a bitcoin address to create a watch only wallet. Where did you obtain that address? From your coinbase account?
If you are sure you've downloaded the authentic Electrum software and not a malicious clone (
see here), you might want to re-trace your steps by creating another wallet, and try to remember what you did the first time.
I don't believe I selected watching only actually, I think I may have selected "import Bitcoin Addresses or private keys". I downloaded it from
https://electrum.org/#download (Mac OS X under sources and binaries). The receiving address I thought was generated when I created the account, but I just tried retracting my steps like you said and I believe I may have used the receiving address generated for me on Empire when it asked me to input bitcoin addresses. Of course now I know this does not make sense, but at the time I thought I was entering the address I'd be depositing money into. Newbie mistakes of course.
Sounds like you got super lucky on this one... congrats!
