Questions tagged [bitcoin-core]

Bitcoin Core is a full node implementation of the Bitcoin protocol with a wallet and GUI. Bitcoin Core is a MIT-licensed Qt 5 GUI application for the original Bitcoin codebase. Additional/previous names include "Bitcoin-Qt", "Satoshi-Client", and "Standard Client". This tag should be used when referring to the Bitcoin Core software.

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Should I leave the Bitcoin client open?

Some people recommended that I leave my Bitcoin client open because it helps the network. Apart from the security implications, why should I do this? I thought that miners were the ones responsible ...
nmat's user avatar
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52 votes
4 answers
201k views

Import wallet.dat into a new Bitcoin-Qt client

I had Bitcoin-Qt on my computer with several bitcoins in my wallet, using Vista. Then my computer crashed. Finally I was able to get my computer fixed and download a new version of Bitcoin-Qt. Now I ...
Doug's user avatar
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45 votes
2 answers
69k views

How do I import a private key into Bitcoin-Core?

How do I import a private key into Bitcoin-Qt? bitcoind is nowhere to be found, and pywallet says it requires "bsddb" when I run it, which is also nowhere to be found. I generated some vanity ...
lurf jurv's user avatar
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44 votes
2 answers
83k views

How can I export the private key for an address from the satoshi client?

If I want to transfer an address from the satoshi client into a different client, how can I find its private key to do so?
Chris Moore's user avatar
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42 votes
4 answers
76k views

Where is the data folder for Bitcoin-Qt?

Where can I find the blockchain, wallet.dat, etc. on each of the operating systems Bitcoin-Qt supports?
Chris Moore's user avatar
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41 votes
2 answers
21k views

When should I use -reindex-chainstate and when -reindex

What is the difference between the options -reindex and -reindex-chainstate? Is one of the options faster? When should each option be used?
amanusk's user avatar
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33 votes
1 answer
53k views

How can I restore my wallet?

I just purchased a new laptop and I want to decommission my old one. I have a back-up of my wallet.dat file copied to my new PC. What do I need to do to restore it to my Bitcoin (Windows) client? ...
RLH's user avatar
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31 votes
2 answers
35k views

How exactly does -rescan work?

-rescan is a command line argument that is passed to the bitcoin client after restoring wallet.dat from backup. Which files get recalculated? Which files does the rescan command read? Why is it a ...
ripper234's user avatar
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30 votes
2 answers
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How can I combine all the tiny amounts I've received to minimise transaction fees, and do I need to?

Important parts in bold, for those who don't want to read the detail! I've received lots of tiny transactions, in amounts sometimes as low as 0.000003BTC. Even though I've also received (relatively) ...
Highly Irregular's user avatar
27 votes
3 answers
33k views

Where can I access the original, Satoshi written Bitcoin code?

The articles of https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41718.0 seem to be annotated walkthroughs, and I'd like to see the raw code, as it was originally written in the first release.
erasmortg's user avatar
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26 votes
1 answer
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Why the signature is always 65 (1+32+32) bytes long?

A signature created by the Bitcoin-Qt client can always be decoded (base64) to a 65-byte array. This array seems (according to https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/key.cpp#L217) to ...
Ning's user avatar
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24 votes
2 answers
15k views

Bitcoin URL scheme

What is the URL scheme that is used by Bitcoin to copy transaction information directly into the client? Which versions of Bitcoin clients support it?
ThePiachu's user avatar
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24 votes
3 answers
31k views

How to send bitcoin with a message attached

Is it possible to send bitcoins with an attached message with the transaction? If yes how to do it?
Sathish Manohar's user avatar
24 votes
3 answers
14k views

Bitcoin-Qt command line control on Mac

I'm trying to communicate with the new Bitcoin-Qt -server via a command line on Mac. I run ./Bitcoin-Qt -server, the application starts, but my terminal window is stuck on an empty line (no matter ...
ThePiachu's user avatar
  • 43k
23 votes
1 answer
18k views

Get non-wallet transactions using bitcoin rpc (gettransaction)

I am playing around with Bitcoin-qt. I want to iterate all blocks and all their transactions. So far I've been able to get a list of all tx's in the blocks I want to. Now I want to get information ...
Lars Holdgaard's user avatar
23 votes
4 answers
36k views

How do I import private keys from Bitcoin-qt to Multibit client?

Question says it. I spent 20 mins Googling. Saw several links on bitcointalk.com but amazingly found no solution to this. Am I the first one trying to do this? Note the following are not the ...
Jus12's user avatar
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23 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why was the MIT license chosen for Bitcoin?

Given that an open, transparent, distributed p2p network is a central element of Bitcoin project it seems unusual that it is licensed under the MIT license which allows proprietary closed source ...
DeathAndTaxes's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
23k views

What's the difference between bitcoind and bitcoin-qt? Different commands?

This is a multi-part question, mainly do to contradictory information from different articles. It's got me all confused. From my understanding, bitcoin-qt is just a GUI version of bitcoind - which ...
xil3's user avatar
  • 275
22 votes
5 answers
47k views

Bitcoin-Qt setup: Change block-chain file location, settings? documentation?

I am installing Bitcoin-Qt and have been reading about Bitcoin basics, but I found very little information on the client. I have a few questions about the Bitcoin-Qt program (v0.8.1-beta under Windows ...
Garrick's user avatar
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22 votes
1 answer
6k views

Migration from Berkeley DB to LevelDB

In 2013 a new bitcoin core was released and one of the supposed improvement was migrating from Berkeley DB to LevelDB. According to the release notes at bitcoin.org: LevelDB, a fast, open-source, ...
Mark Messa's user avatar
21 votes
4 answers
31k views

How can I setup Bitcoin to be anonymous with Tor?

Bitcoin is billed as many things, among them its anonymity is highly regarded. While it is true that a transaction does not identify a user or wallet, recent news shows that there is the potential for ...
Willtech's user avatar
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20 votes
5 answers
26k views

How to decode private key from Android Bitcoin Wallet?

I want to import my private key from the android's Bitcoin Wallet (the one created by Andreas Schildbach) but it can export it only in an encrypted way. How do I decrypt the file so I can import the ...
pmichna's user avatar
  • 350
20 votes
1 answer
8k views

What is the use case of bitcoind ZeroMQ?

What is the use case of ZeroMQ implementation for bitcoind which will be merged into Bitcoin Core v0.12.0? Block and Transaction Broadcasting With ZeroMQ https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/...
Satoshi Nakanishi's user avatar
20 votes
3 answers
6k views

Is bitcoin.org or bitcoincore.org the one to trust?

"Download Bitcoin Core": https://bitcoin.org/en/download "Download Bitcoin Core": https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/ I've been alternating between the two sites for years. I have ...
D. G.'s user avatar
  • 209
20 votes
2 answers
47k views

How to use the "Bootstrap.dat" file with bitcoin-qt?

I have searched around, and nothing I find works for me. Downloaded the approx. 10 GB Bootstrap.dat file. Now stuck on trying to link it with Bitcoin-QT. Tried the following command in the console ...
CalicoBrak's user avatar
20 votes
5 answers
31k views

Sync with bitcoin-qt very slow (0,01%)

I have the issue that my node's synchronisation is very slow. I am 14 weeks behind and it estimates to take 12 weeks to get synced. The synchronisation rate per hour is only 0,01%. I have a fast ...
michL's user avatar
  • 301
20 votes
4 answers
9k views

How can I limit bandwidth usage in Bitcoin-qt client?

I've just finished the intial blockchain download/verify in my BitcoinQt client (17 hours..) and I now see that BitcoinQt is happily eating all of my upstream bandwidth. (About 110kByte/sec on my ADSL ...
gosmond's user avatar
  • 516
19 votes
3 answers
20k views

Are there Bitcoin password crackers I can use to recover forgotten passwords?

I've lost the password to one of my wallets (it's a small one, don't worry). I was sure I remembered the password ... but evidently I don't. Is there a program that I can use to brute-force my ...
ripper234's user avatar
  • 26.5k
18 votes
1 answer
5k views

Is there a reason to why Bitcoin Core does not implement BIP39?

Is there a specific reason to why BIP39 isn't added to Bitcoin Core? Seems very trivial to add and am confused to why it isn't there.
kcalvinalvin's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
10k views

What are the safety guidelines for using the Sign Message feature?

bitcoin-qt's dialog box states, "Be careful not to sign anything vague, as phishing attacks may try to trick you into signing your identity over to them. Only sign fully-detailed statements you agree ...
osmosis's user avatar
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17 votes
1 answer
5k views

getrawtransaction error? [Code -5]

I'm trying to read raw transactions but there is a problem; Seems like getrawtransaction only works for recent transactions, old transactions give me the next error: No information available about ...
user3418's user avatar
  • 604
17 votes
2 answers
10k views

Warning: Unknown block versions being mined! It's possible unknown rules are in effect

Recently, my full node (Bitcoin Core 0.14.2) displays this for both HD and non-HD wallets: Warning: Unknown block versions being mined! It's possible unknown rules are in effect What does this ...
Geremia's user avatar
  • 4,556
17 votes
2 answers
11k views

How does the Bitcoin client encrypt the wallet.dat file?

What is the algorithm used for encrypting the wallet.dat file?
ThePiachu's user avatar
  • 43k
17 votes
2 answers
13k views

Should I be running Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin-XT?

I just read about Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin-XT, and I want to know what is the difference between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin-XT? And which is better Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin-XT?
Fery Jhie's user avatar
  • 269
17 votes
1 answer
17k views

How do I specify in which directory Bitcoin blocks and other data should be stored? [duplicate]

I am on Windows and installed the Bitcoin wallet. The block folder seems to grow bigger everyday and is stored on my C drive in the roaming directory. I would like to set this to some other folder on ...
Enthusiast's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
9k views

How to run bitcoind in a low memory environment

I have a Raspberry Pi with 925 MB of memory. Bitcoin Core, operating as a full node, uses between 600-900 MB. How can I reduce bitcoind's memory usage? I tried setting maxmempool to its minimum ...
Geremia's user avatar
  • 4,556
16 votes
5 answers
27k views

How can I transfer a Bitcoin-qt wallet to Electrum?

I am switching from bitcoin-qt to Electrum, and it seems as if I will need to download the blockchain again. Can I copy and paste my wallet.dat into Electrum's files?
tom's user avatar
  • 161
16 votes
4 answers
22k views

A complete bitcoin implementation in Python?

I recently became aware that python-bitcoinlib is not a full bitcoin node implementation, but rather a set of tools to work with bitcoin-core cpp. I would like to know whether there are some ...
user2277550's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Where in Bitcoin Core does it do X?

Note that this is a general question and answer designed to serve as a guide for finding things in Bitcoin Core. Where in Bitcoin Core's source code does it do X? How can I find that code by myself? ...
Andrew Chow's user avatar
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16 votes
3 answers
524 views

What happens if the developers make a controversial change to the "standard" client?

One criticism I commonly hear of Bitcoin is that it merely transfers trust from some sort of central bank or government entity to the developers of the main project. Can anyone provide a clean ...
eMansipater's user avatar
  • 14.4k
16 votes
1 answer
21k views

How does "Sign Message" work?

How does "Sign Message" option in the Bitcoin QT client work? I can't find any description or documentation of it. Do I have to use this option to sign some message when I receive bitcoins? If so, ...
Janman's user avatar
  • 263
15 votes
3 answers
8k views

Attacking Bitcoin with a supercomputer

The difficulty in Bitcoin is recalculated every 14 days. What if immediately after this difficulty adjustment someone targets Bitcoin nodes with a supercomputer and start creating new blocks? Such ...
Nulik's user avatar
  • 285
15 votes
3 answers
5k views

Can Bitcoin-Qt be configured to trim the blockchain?

I run Bitcoin-Qt and Bitcoin Armory on a laptop. I don't have the space to store the whole 20 GB (or however big it is now) blockchain. I understand the need to run through the entire thing for ...
Sai's user avatar
  • 313
15 votes
3 answers
23k views

How can I create a new wallet on Bitcoin Core?

How can I create a new wallet on Bitcoin Core (Bitcoin QT)? I forgot my old password, so I can't create transactions using the old wallet. I don't have money on my old wallet, I just need to create ...
user14998's user avatar
  • 153
15 votes
2 answers
835 views

Why does the age of the coin in my wallet matter?

When a new transaction is made, the client seems to prefer older coins in the wallet. What is the rationale for this? Are there any cases where it doesn't make sense to strictly collect coins by ...
makerofthings7's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
12k views

How to generate SegWit address

How do I generate a SegWit address using Bitcoin Core CLI? Also will I be able to redeem those outputs and send them to a "legacy" address? If so, will this second transaction be accepted by older, ...
Paul's user avatar
  • 361
15 votes
3 answers
5k views

Estate planning: how can I ensure my bitcoins are inheritable?

What are good ways to ensure my bitcoins can be inherited by my family when I die or become permanently incapacitated? I think there are probably two significantly different situations to account for,...
David A. Harding's user avatar
14 votes
5 answers
9k views

bitcoin-cli not found on OSX

I have a Qt testnet3 node synched and running on my mac. In the terminal, when simply trying: $ bitcoin-cli getinfo or $ ./bitcoin-cli getinfo I get: -bash: bitcoin-cli: command not found ...
user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why doesn't the Bitcoin core team develop official Bitcoin mining software?

If I am right, the Bitcoin Core just maintains the software necessary to run a full node. Essentially it's the code for the Bitcoin wallet, which just verifies blocks, but doesn't mine. But mining is ...
Arun Satyarth's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
79k views

opening an old wallet.dat

I had about $8 USD worth of bitcoin in a wallet, and I backed up the wallet.dat to my dropbox. According to the modified date of the file this was in April 2013, so it was probaby from bitcoin qt ...
valan's user avatar
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