![]() ![]() My working hypothesis: there ought to be another wallet software that existed around 2013 that used Electrum's "old" word list and generated 15 words by default. This method produces 15 words that Electrum GUI does recognize as 12 + 3 (extended), but leads to empty wallet. I cloned Electrum repository from github and tried converting mnemonic to hex seed using the old list, then converting it back to mnemonic using the "new" word list. I considered the possibility that this mnemonic was extended with custom words, but it looks like custom words in Electrum work only with the "new" word list. But the number 15 is puzzling, since no version of Electrum ever produced 15 words by default, as far as I know. I suspect the passphrase was used to encrypt the wallet, and is probably irrelevant here, since the wallet file itself is lost.Īll words are found in the "old" Electrum list. All that is known is a passprase, and 15 words. In my next post, I’m going to show you how to make a paper wallet for cold storage.The wallet was created around Feb 2013, using unknown wallet software. The more you play with sending and receiving money from Electrum, the more familiar you’ll get. Just use any of your Electrum addresses as the “to” address and you’re all set. Coinbase and LocalBitcoins both have online wallets where it’s easy to send money from. Just right-click and choose “Copy to clipboard” to make it easier. These are yours, so you can start sending money to any of these. The default “History” view isn’t particularly helpful, so click over to the “Receive” tab. Ok! So above you can see your empty Electrum wallet. (But don’t forget to add a password if/when you start accumulating some serious money.)Īll this flew over my head, so I just left the default “Auto connect” checked. The wallet will then scan the blockchain and check the balances of each address to calculate the total balance associated with the seed phrase. You can leave it blank if you just want to get started. Importing the seed phrase into Electrum or a similar software wallet, will effectively recover all the addresses and private keys associated with that seed phrase. This is to prevent someone with access to your computer from taking your wallet file and stealing your keys. You’ll then be asked to create a password for your wallet. The math that’s doing this behind the scenes is nuts. This is your “seed” and you can use it to recover your wallet if it becomes lost or damaged. When you launch it, you’ll want to “Create a new wallet.” Then it’ll present you with a bunch of random words. You should also be familiar with creating an offline wallet or paper wallet, which is known as "cold storage." (I’ll get to that in my next post.) Setting up the Electrum wallet software ![]() So as a best practice you should create encrypted backups of your wallet and store them somewhere off your computer (this is easily Googleable so I'll leave that in your capable hands). Now of course, you could still be shit out of luck if a) your computer crashes, or b) your computer is hacked. So the overall concept is that you keep your wallet on your computer so that your private keys are safe on your hard drive and not "in the cloooooud" somewhere. There's also Multibit, which I've tried, but the interface seemed a little too complicated for me as a beginner.) I heard a podcast with Armory's inventor and he seems like a real honest security buff. (I've also heard good things about Armory, which is constantly raising the bar in terms of security. It's not particularly intuitive or amazing, but enough people in the forums were using it, so I thought what the hell. There are a few reputable software wallets out there, but I settled on Electrum for the Mac. Now it’s time to pick some wallet software. Ok, so at this point you probably have an account at Coinbase or. ![]()
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