BitShares Forum

Main => General Discussion => Topic started by: bitmeat on July 19, 2014, 08:05:38 pm

Title: Confused about private keys
Post by: bitmeat on July 19, 2014, 08:05:38 pm
I imported a private key and I want to send all my funds there, just in case. I can't seem to be able to locate the list of my BTS public addresses.
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: Riverhead on July 19, 2014, 08:13:43 pm
I imported a private key and I want to send all my funds there, just in case. I can't seem to be able to locate the list of my BTS public addresses.


One option, though not as clean as perhaps another, is to Export your wallet to .json and then view in a text editor.  You're talking about the newly released Bitshares-X, right?
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bitmeat on July 19, 2014, 08:21:51 pm
Yes, I've had hardware failures in the past where I lost 300 PTS. I want to have all the private keys and ability to recover from just those.

So how does one backup their accounts is really the question - and we should put good instructions on that.
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bytemaster on July 19, 2014, 08:23:52 pm
File -> Export Wallet will allow you to save your wallet as a .json file.  You can import it again using the console... the import feature is not quite there yet, but your keys should be safe so long as you don't forget your password.
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bitmeat on July 19, 2014, 08:28:18 pm
So is there a way to store a balance in cold storage, similar to Bitcoin? i.e. I generate a public key offline from a private key, and store the balance there?

Is there code in the toolkit somewhere that generates public key from private key?
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bytemaster on July 19, 2014, 08:30:20 pm
So is there a way to store a balance in cold storage, similar to Bitcoin? i.e. I generate a public key offline from a private key, and store the balance there?

Is there code in the toolkit somewhere that generates public key from private key?

To do that, create a wallet off line, create an account in the wallet, and then copy the public key.  Export the wallet to json. 

Then send your funds to that account. 
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bitmeat on July 19, 2014, 08:33:43 pm
Would I be able to control what private key is used to generate that wallet? If I create an account offline, isn't it still generated by your software?
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bytemaster on July 19, 2014, 08:36:17 pm
Would I be able to control what private key is used to generate that wallet? If I create an account offline, isn't it still generated by your software?

It would be generated by our software...... you can use anything you like to create the account key provided you can convert it to the proper format.
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: AdamBLevine on July 19, 2014, 08:55:31 pm
bytemaster, is "import wallet" supposed to be selectable for me once my blockchain is updated?  It is not, and putting the wallet.dat in the appropriate place didnt work.

How do I onboard?
Title: Re: Confused about private keys
Post by: bytemaster on July 20, 2014, 08:37:50 pm
bytemaster, is "import wallet" supposed to be selectable for me once my blockchain is updated?  It is not, and putting the wallet.dat in the appropriate place didnt work.

How do I onboard?

Yes... it should be selectable...  if there is a UI issue then you can always do this:

Console > help wallet_import_bitcoin

Code: [Select]
Usage:
wallet_import_bitcoin <wallet_filename> <passphrase> <account_name>                                   Imports a Bitcoin Core or BitShares PTS wallet
Imports a Bitcoin Core or BitShares PTS wallet

Parameters:
  wallet_filename (filename, required): the Bitcoin/PTS wallet file path
  passphrase (passphrase, required): the imported wallet's password
  account_name (account_name, required): the account to receive the contents of the wallet

Returns:
  void