Importing a private key (paper wallet) to Bitcoin Core client, while offline, is not actually importing

Question

Trying to import a paper wallet to bitcoin core, while not having a fully synced node.

I've used: importprivkey 1Lblablablablabla "MyLabel" false It returns "null", which I understand means successful import.

But then when I use dumpprivkey with the associated public address, it says there is no private key associated with the address.

I also look in the GUI and can't find any clue as to where that private key has been imported.

So basically the wallet is not giving me errors of failed import, but also not actually importing the private key. What should I do?

What command did you use to import the key? It sounds like you just imported a bitcoin address, not a private key. — chytrik, Mar 2, 2021 at 22:57
I wrote the exact command, importprivkey "private_key" (without the quotes). I'm not going to write the actual private key here, obviously. — Pineapple29, Mar 2, 2021 at 23:44
does the private key you imported start with a '1'? If so, that sounds like it is a bitcoin address, not a privkey. You are right to not post what the privkey is exactly, but it may be helpful to describe it (ie, what character does it start with? how long of a string is it?), to ensure you're attempting to import a key with the correct format. — chytrik, Mar 3, 2021 at 2:03
Compare the length, mix of character types and initial character of your private key value with examples in private key and address - this will help you discover if the value you have is one or the other. Also any small mistake in typing will be important. — RedGrittyBrick, Mar 3, 2021 at 12:54

RedGrittyBrick · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-03 15:58:02Z

0

You can use dumpwallet to examine the wallet's contents after importing the private key.

(for completeness, since comments are disposable)

answered Mar 3, 2021 at 15:58

RedGrittyBrick

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