What should I do if I change my BitCoin wallet?

Question

At present, I use Electrum as my wallet, and I create private key and transfer some bitcoin to the Electrum wallet.

If I choose a new wallet such as BitGo wallet listed on https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet, how can I pass bitcoin from old wallet to new wallet?

Do I must to send bitcoin from old Electrum wallet to the new address created by new BitGo wallet?

Answer 1

When switching wallet providers/programs, the safest option is to usually just send the BTC to the addresses provided by the new system (after you have made a backup of the mnemonic phrase/keys for the new wallet).

Although standards compliant wallets should be able to accept each other's seed phrases, a wallet restoration process is an inherent weak point of the system, leaving you susceptible to attacks such as keyloggers and phishing. Thus, it is better to set up a new wallet.

Note that you should be aware of basic security practices regardless of which method you use, such as ensuring you are on the correct website, using a trusted/ clean device, and making sure that no one is looking over your shoulder.

Answer 2

1. Generate a new wallet. Do not reuse your old seed.
2. Make sure you keep a backup of your old wallet & seed. The seed is enough to make sure you can restore any money sent there in the future, but the wallet has your historical transaction history with metadata such as notes etc.
3. Make sure you keep a backup of your new wallet & seed.
4. Transfer all your coins from your old wallet to the new wallet. By transfer I mean send normally.
5. Use your new wallet from now on, but once in a while you can check your old wallet in case somebody has sent funds there for whatever reason.