I'm building an application on bitcoin and want to use testnet instead of using real bitcoins to do my test. I'm mainly using Electrum-3.1.3 to do sweeping of addresses. Security Features of Electrum Wallet. The encrypted wallet file that contains your private keys is protected with a password. Electrum wallet uses a seed phrase as a backup measure. This protects you if you lose your private key or the device that Electrum is installed on is lost or stolen. Electrum does not download any script. This means that.

Electrum Weight

This Electrum review is going to show you all the security and anonymity features that benefit the users of this wallet. It is considered one of the oldest and most secure wallets when it comes to storing Bitcoin. At the end of the article, you’re going to find a full Electrum guide to lead you step by step through the installation of the wallet and how to use it.

01.Electrum Features & Fees

Let me start with the basics – Electrum is a single coin wallet, supporting only Bitcoin. It’s one of the most preferred platforms to send and receive BTCs, because of the fast and easy setup process. It’s considered an anonymous wallet with privacy features, which makes it a tasty bite for users. Its HD characteristic allows people to easy backup and restore their wallet, thanks to the generating seed.

As a light node, Electrum is requesting information from full nodes. Here I observe the SPV (Simple payment verification) confirmation. This one verifies that your transactions are added in the blockchain.

If I have to be honest, when I initially installed Electrum, it was a bit hard for me to work with the interface. It might not be the most user-friendly on the market but once you get used to it, you’ll forget the struggles in the beginning. I would like to sum now everything I’m planning to show you with the following sections, so you can have an exact idea how am I going to proceed:

Pros & Cons

I would like to clear the air from the very beginning, providing you the advantages and disadvantages of the Electrum wallet. This will help you create an impression and sift the important information. Check the table below and make an informed decision:

• Open SourceEach user is able to read and edit the code
• Two-Factor AuthenticationThere’s an additional security layer asking some extra information to sign in
• MultisignatureAn option which requires several people to sign a transaction to get broadcasted
• Hierarchical Deterministic (HD)Automatically generates your key credentials, which makes it easy to backup and restore later

• Single-Coin SupportSupports only Bitcoin
• Unfriendly Interface Not the easiest to use interface and a bit unfriendly design

Are You Interested in the Electrum Wallet?

or

Read More on OS Compatibility

Operating System Compatibility

As explained earlier, Electrum is supporting only the BTC coin, so basically there isn’t much to say about the coin support. I would like to talk you about the operating systems. It’s supporting all the Desktop editions – Windows, Linux and Mac. You simply download and set up the Electrum desktop wallet on your personal PC. Another thing to mention here is that there’s also an Android mobile app, which you can download from your app store and install on your smartphone without any minimum requirements. In a word, all the OS, supporting the python3 coding language are compatible with Electrum. Anyway, I’ll commit my resume on the most popular ones:

• Windows

  Windows 7 or higher

• Linux

  Ubuntu 16.04 or higher

• Mac OS

  X 10.11 or higher

• Android

  Android 5 or higher

Is Electrum Safe?

Security

One of the most wanted factors, when choosing a wallet is the protection level it offers. So, for those of you wondering if Electrum is safe enough, I would like to remind you that it’s a desktop wallet, which means it’s a hot one. Ultimately, it’s connected to the Internet all the time when running, which makes it vulnerable when speaking of hacking attempts. Well, if you upgrade frequently the software, you’ll be able to profit the latest security features. How does it work? You should manually download and reinstall the wallet from the official webpage.

I would like to say a few words on the private key control. It’s you and only you in charge of your private keys. You can and have to keep your private credentials safe to avoid any attacks. You can also export it any time you wish to. Let me give now some additional details on the particular Electrum security features:

Open Source

Тhis means that anyone is able to read and edit the Electrum code. In fact, lots of providers are using this wallet’s core to build other wallets. 

Encryption

Here you’re able to create a password to keep safe your bitcoins from cyber-attacks.

Two-Factor Authentication

Electrum Tattoo Supply

You’re able to profit an additional security layer, which provides you the opportunity to secure your wallet by requesting some extra information to sign up, such as the powered by Trustedcoin multisignature. Here you have 2 of 3 keys and Trustedcoin have the other 1. Trustedcoin service is signing the transaction on your behalf acts as a second factor.

Multisignature

This feature provides you the opportunity to work in collaboration, since it requires several people to sign a transaction to get broadcasted in the network.

Privacy and Anonymity

I want to add a few words on privacy, because sometimes it happens to be the most important factor for some users to choose their wallet. If you would like to stay anonymous when performing transactions and you don’t like the idea that everybody can surveil your transactions, there’s something you might use in Electrum.

Hierarchical Deterministic (HD)

This means that Electrum doesn’t reuse the same address for every transaction. Actually, each time you want to receive bitcoins, it can generate for you a new public address to secure your signature.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

It means that it’s encrypting your traffic, using multiple servers, which makes it hard to track your transaction history.

Tor Network

Using his feature gives you the opportunity to perform anonymous and free of surveillance internet operations.

Transaction Fees

With Electrum, the software sets transaction fees automatically, but you can still change them depending on the urgency of your transactions or in other words, how fast you need them to go through. When you want to send coins using that wallet, use the slider for adjusting the fee. This software option shows you roughly after how many blocks your transaction will go through. The fees you need to pay are estimated according to the ones used in the last blocks.

The tricky part about manually adjusting the fees in your wallet is connected to the time each transaction will be processed by the miners. In case the fee you put is too small, there is a chance your transaction never to go through. Well, don’t worry, if it doesn’t pass you will receive the coins back. However, it may take days and even weeks, so it’s advisable not to temper with the fees too much. Nonetheless, Electrum charges fees for sending BTC. Usually you need to pay 0.2 mBTC. This rate varies, and you can end up paying 0.1 mBTC or lower.

Conclusion

The easy and not time-consuming setup process makes Electrum one of the most used and secure wallets for managing Bitcoin. This high anonymity wallet with top-notch privacy features is taking the tool to a must-have level. Furthermore, the HD characteristic gives you the alternative to easily backup and restore with the help just of a seed phrase. The positive approach doesn’t end here, being a light node means no extra hard disk space and simple verification of your payments.

• Hierarchical
  Deterministic
  Wallet
• Two-Factor
  Authentication
  (2FA)
• Multisignature
  Wallet

Well, let’s be honest, every wallet has its downs as well. For starters, Electrum is supporting only Bitcoin, a.k.a. is a single coin wallet. For some of you, that might not be a downside, but for the others, a nice alternative is Exodus together with Jaxx, as multi-coin wallets. Compared to them and even to another single coin wallet Bitcoin Core, Electrum’s interface is a bit complexed and difficult to comprehend. Don’t worry, once figured it will make you forget all the hurdles at the start.

02.Electrum Wallet Guide: How to Setup and Use

In this section, you will get familiar with the detailed guide on how to use Electrum. The key aspects will be pointed out in separate sections – e.g. key elements design, download and software installation. There is also information on how to check your wallet address, send, receive assets, back up or restore keys. This part is ending with some information for the advanced users, going through this wallet`s specifics and sharing some tips on the whole process. You will start off by understanding how to setup Electrum as that is the first step that you need to take.

How to Install

The official Electrum page gives you options, depending on the OS. Choose the one, matching yours. When this is done, just follow the steps below: they include configuration and everything else.

Choose Operating System

• Download the set up executable package to your PC
• Double click it and follow the installation wizard

•  Download the setup archive package to your PC
• Unzip it at any directory
• Double click the program’s icon or run it in the terminal.

• Download the package and run it on your system
•  Find the file in the list of apps and start it from there

Create an Address

After you’re ready with the installation process and start the wallet for the first time you will be presented with several choices regarding the new address you’re about to make. Here is the setup process in steps:

Choose a wallet type

Earlier in the article, 2FA and Multi-Signature wallets were mentioned so if you are interested in using any of those features, now is the time to choose between them. From the menu with options, “Standard Wallet” is the basic version and the last option is to import a previously used address or private key.

Create/Import Seed

In case you have previously created a wallet, you should have a Seed phrase. Hydraulic stacker lift. Same goes for having a master key or a hardware device. If this is your first wallet go with the “Create a new seed” option:

Standard or Segwit

The last option from the wizard is the Standard or Segwit Address. If you are not familiar with what Segwit is, we recommend you read it here (link to another site where we have it explained)

Your Seed

Here you see 12 words which represent your seed. Write them down on a save place (piece of paper or a very secure text file) because this is your only way to access the wallet in case of a lost password or the whole device. Now, click Next and write the phrase in the loaded window again, in order to double check that you have written them correctly.

Set a password

The last thing you need to do is to choose a password for your wallet which will be used every time you open the wallet. It’s a good security feature which makes sure your wallet is safe even if you lose the device, you’re using the wallet on.

Wasn’t so hard, right? You have now completed the setting up phase. Finalize it by creating a strong password, which the program will require when you create new wallet to protect your keys. When all that is done, just proceed exploring all that the wallet provides.

Interface Overview

The interface is fairly plain and simple. You have 3 menus – History, Send and Receive. Nothing flashy or distracting. Straight to the point. In the bottom right corner, you can see 4 icons: A lock which lets you change your password, a Preferences option, a menu which allows you to see your seed words and a light which indicates the status of the wallet – Green means working properly. On the bottom left corner, you can see your current BTC balance.

Send and Receive Assets

In order to send BTC, you must go to the “Send” menu, write down the Address of the receiver (or scan a QR code if available). Below you can write a text description, then you put in the amount you want to send and regulate the fee which will affect how soon the receiver will get his BTC.

When you want to receive BTC send your Receiving Address to the person that will send you coins or let him scan your QR code.

Hint: Always check the addresses several times. Sending is irreversible and not refundable.

Backup and Restore

These vital few step operations form a nice backup option of Electrum, which is accomplishable in several steps. When you initially install and run the wallet, you’ll be asked to create a strong password. The software provides a passphrase of 12 words for safety reasons. Bear in mind, you need to execute just one backup.

When having a backup of Electrum, simply restore it and operate with your assets right away. In case you restore from a seed or backup, make sure the wallet is empty. This is a necessity, because the restoring process overwrites the existing keys with the ones from the restored seed. If not backed up, the previous seed and funds will be lost. For more detailed information on the terms backup and restore cryptocurrency visit the homepage.

Backup

Install and save the seed

In the process of setting up your wallet, you’ll receive a seed, which you should safely store. This is your tool to keep your funds protected, so it’s recommendable to have several copies of it, hidden in multiple different places.

Create a strong password and keep it safe

Creating a reputable password is the key to strongly encrypt your funds. Use capital letters, special symbols and numbers all it one to be sure you’re making a unique and hard to decipher password.

Restore

Install and restore wallet from the seed

If you ever decide to restore your wallet for some reason, you can manage to do it via your pass phrase. You’re simply installing the software and then enter the seed phrase to access your funds.

Restore by importing private keys or using wallet files after install

Electrum

If the wallet offers no pass phrase, then you have to possess a backup file of it to restore the software. This must be made right after installing the wallet and keeped safe, exactly as your passphrase – multiple copies, on different devices, hidden in several locations.

Hint: HD wallets’ seed generates multiple private key and public address pairs, accessible with this single seed phrase.

Ledger Integration

Have you thought of combining a cold and a hot wallet? Maybe using the offline one to store your coins and the online wallet to operate with them? Well, I can’t wait to tell you about the Ledger-Electrum cooperation. If you buy a Ledger hardware wallet then you can easily set up the Electrum software and use them both. There are several simple steps to follow for the purpose of using the device’s safety and the desktop wallet usability all at once. Check the guide below, if you’re a Windows user:

Step 1: Download and install the Electrum wallet from their official website.

Step 2: When configuring in the installation wizard, choose the ‘Standard wallet’ option.

Step 3: Now connect your Ledger wallet to the PC, enter the PIN and pick the BTC app.

Step 4: Select the ‘Use a hardware device’ function from the list.

Step 5: When the PC initialize the Ledger device, you’ll be asked to enter your ‘Account number’, where you can type simply a zero.

Your device will sync with the software and you can continue using the Electrum wallet. What about Linux users? There are some additional commands to fulfill during the setup process like libraries, if needed. Here they are:

• apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev

• apt-get install libudev-dev

• ln -s /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libudev.so.1 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libudev.so

• pip install btchip-python

For the purpose of signing a transaction, you have to validate it on your Ledger device to get it broadcasted in the network. Now, I would like to present you the full list of security and privacy features, so keep reading.

Possible Issues and How to Avoid Them

Let me start by saying, that the setup is fairly hard for a newbie to manage single-handedly. To avoid any inaccuracies along the process it’s advisable to use this guide. Another frequent setback about Electrum is the freezing software. This happens when you try to execute a large number of transactions at the same time. It is advisable to send smaller amounts of BTC to one of your addresses (desired wallets) for verification. Talking about other wallets makes me think of the import of private keys from other BTC wallets. Well, the last version of Electrum doesn’t provide such an option. Basically, you can’t import your private keys in a wallet with a seed. What you can do here is to swap them. Last but not least one advice, make sure you have your password and seed safe. In case of losing or forgetting them, your Electrum account is unreachable.

Troubleshooting Support

Electrum is really active in supporting every user. The users have created a fast responding community reachable at Bitcointalk. One small clarification here, for the forum with questions and support you will have to register. Nothing too complicated. Reddit is one more community forum for such purposes. In case you don’t want to go too deep into the thematic, the common issues are approached in this is official help documentation.

Scams and Attacks

Electrum had a moment of vulnerability in 2016. It was software related bug in the the source code. The wallet’s developers team informed that the weakness affects versions 2.6 to 3.0.4 on every platform. It also affects the wallet’s clones like Electron Cash. This vulnerability in the code was fixed in early 2018.

03.FAQ

• Can I see my private key?

  Yes. You can access and see all of your private keys from the menu Wallet > Private Keys > Export. There you will see the full list.

• Do I need to back up every time I use my account?

  No, you do that once when you create the wallet – backup your seed.

04. About Electrum

Electrum is one of the first invented wallets in the crypto world. It was created by Thomas Voegtlin as a light BTC client in November 2011. Ever since the first day, different developers have contributed to its source code, thanks to the open source character of the product. One of the core features in addition to its BTC decentralized origin is its option to integrate with hardware wallets like Ledger Nano S, TREZOR and KeepKey.

Electrum on Social Media

In the world of crypto, laying hands on every new piece of information is essential. This way you will be able to react on time in case of threat or useful advantage. The team behind Electrum knows that and stays active on several social channels:

VIDEO DEMO: Link

This is for people who already have a Bitcoin node but just let it run and don’t do anything with it. If you are not at that stage yet, you can follow these links to my articles on WHY to run a node, and HOW, with Linux (Raspberry Pi) , Mac, or Windows.

I will show you how to connect an Electrum Desktop Wallet to your Bitcoin Node. First you will need an Electrum Server running. There are many types of Electrum Servers. In my articles above, I include instructions on how to install Electrum Personal Server, but there is also Electrum Server in Rust, and Electrum X/Spesmilo. The original Electrum X is no longer supported.

The articles above also take you through installation of Electrum Desktop Wallet.

Whichever Electrum Server you have, this article will apply.

Install Electrum Desktop Wallet

Windows

For verifying signatures, Windows users first need to download and install GPG…. Link

When installing, make sure you include GpgEX (command line or “shell” integration)…

Next, go to Electrum.org (check the address carefully, don’t get scammed). Then click the Download link at the top. Then click “Standalone Executable” for Windows to download it, and save the matching signature next to that file. (See image below).

Next right-click the link to download Thomas V’s public key (see image below for it’s location):

There is a note “Old versions of Windows might need to install the KB2999226 Windows update.” Search KB2999226 and download and run that if you need to.

At this stage, you should have the Windows executable file, the executable’s signature, and Thomas V’s key, all in the same folder, probably your Downloads folder.

Next, open the command prompt. Navigate to the downloads folder. (“cd Downloads”).

Import Thomas V’s key to your computer’s key ring…

gpg --import ThomasV.asc

Note that “ThomasV.asc” needs to match the exact file name you have

then type:

gpg --verify NameOfExecutablesSignatureFile NameOfExecutableFile

The following image shows that command at the top, and the resulting output:

You have now downloaded and verified Electrum. Double clicking the icon will run it. Read more before doing that.

Mac

Mac already has gpg installed, but if you have an old mac, you can make sure by typing this into the terminal:

brew install -v gpg

Next, go to Electrum.org (check the address carefully, don’t get scammed). Then click the Download link at the top. Then click “Executable for OS X” to download it, and save the matching signature next to that file. (See image below).

Next right-click the link to download Thomas V’s public key (see image below for it’s location):

At this stage, you should have the Mac executable file, the executable’s signature, and Thomas V’s key, all in the same directory, probably your Downloads directory.

Next, open terminal. Navigate to the downloads directory. (“cd Downloads”) – mind the capital “D”

Import Thomas V’s key to your computer’s key ring…

gpg --import ThomasV.asc

Note that “ThomasV.asc” needs to match the exact file name you have

then type:

gpg --verify NameOfExecutablesSignatureFile NameOfExecutableFile

The following image shows that command at the top, and the resulting output:

You have now downloaded and verified Electrum. Double clicking the icon will run it. Read more before doing that.

Linux – Raspberry Pi, and other ARM chip machines

Unfortunately, there is no executable fild. Linux executables are Appimages, but they don’t work on ARM chip machines. You need to download the Python zip file.

Make sure your operating system is updated. This will make sure you have Python 3.

To save time you can check if you already have Python3 like this.

python3 --version

Otherwise, update your Linux machine with 2 commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

Linux already comes with gpg you don’t need to install that.

Next, go to Electrum.org (check the address carefully, don’t get scammed). Then click the Download link at the top. Then click “Electrum-4.0.4.tar.gz” to download it, and save the matching signature next to that file. (See image below).

Next right-click the link to download Thomas V’s public key (see image below for it’s location):

At this stage, you should have the tar.gz file, and it’s matching signature, and Thomas V’s key, all in the same directory, probably your Downloads directory.

Next, open terminal. Navigate to the Downloads directory. (“cd Downloads”) – mind the capital “D”

Import Thomas V’s key to your computer’s key ring…

gpg --import ThomasV.asc

Note that “ThomasV.asc” needs to match the exact file name you have

then type:

gpg --verify NameOfExecutablesSignatureFile NameOfExecutableFile

The following image shows that command at the top, and the resulting output:

You have now downloaded and verified Electrum. Next we “install it”. Run the following three commands in order, one after the other. Directly copy and paste from the website to the terminal.

Once this is done, you can type “electrum” from any directory and Electrum will run.

Alternatively, instead of installing Electrum, you can…

1. Install dependencies see image above, top red circle.
2. Extract the tar.gz file: “tar -xf FILENAME.tar.gz“
3. Navigate to the extracted new directory. Type ./run_electrum

Linux with x86 or AMD chips

The Instructions are similar to Linux for Pi. You can follow them exactly, or you can go through most of the same steps, except, when it comes to downloading the tar.gz file, you can download the Appimage. If you do that, you need to right-click the file, and go to properties, and make it executable. Then you can double-click it to run it.

Electrum First Run: Do not connect to a public node

When you run it for the first time, if you don’t use God level command line skills, it automatically connects to a public server and you inadvertently advertise all your bitcoin addresses and balances, including some future addresses, to surveillance companies. This is no good! If your wallet has been exposed like this to a public Electrum server before (even for 1 second), then it’s too late anyway, and you need to start a new wallet, which involves creating a new wallet, and moving all your UTXOs to that wallet. Newer versions of Electrum give you an option to avoid this but I didn’t find this reliable, and with this method, you can be very sure of the program’s behaviour.

If your wallet is untarnished in this way, proceed as follows:

Open Electrum Desktop wallet (double click icon, or from command line type “./run_electrum” from within the appropriate directory.

If it gives you a choice to connect “manually” or “automatically”, click “automatically”, even though long term this is NOT what we want.

Create a brand new wallet which will be discarded later. Dtc port devices driver download.

Then close the app. This preliminary procedure creates a “blank” configuration file, and adds some extra lines we will use.

Navigate to a hidden directory called “.electrum” — note it starts with a “.” indicating it is hidden. The directory is located in:

• Mac: /Users/Username/.electrum
• Linux: /home/Username/.electrum
• Windows: I don’t know, which Bitcoiner uses that anyway? See below to find it

If it is not there you can find it by running Electrum again, and clicking the “choose” button instead of the default wallet, and the directory tree will open at the hidden folder, and you can click buttons to explore the tree to find out where it is in the tree.

In the …/.electrum directory, open the file called “config”. We need to make some edits. In Mac or linux you can use the terminal “nano config”, to edit. Or you can use the GUI. In Mac GUI, hidden files/folders can be revealed with three keys : “Apple” “.” and “shift”.

In the config file, make sure the following options are edited as follows:

“auto_connect”: false,

“check_updates”: false, ^{(we don’t want to be tricked to upgrade to something malicious)}

“oneserver”: true,

“server”: “put_your_Node_IP_address_here:50002:s”,

Be careful not to mess up the syntax of the quotes, colons and commas. Easiest way is to highlight the true or false word and change it if you need it. Then save.

Connect to your own Node

Now you can go and open electrum and load your wallet, or create a new one, to remain private.

In the bottom right there is an icon. It will be red if you are not connected, green if you are connected, and circle arrows if it’s thinking. Click that and a window pops up.

Electrum 5e

Notice how it says “connected to 1 node” — perfect.

Electrum Tattoo

Make sure “select server automatically” is unchecked.

You can make edits to your IP address if you typed it in wrong in the config file.

There is a list of public nodes in the window. Don’t worry, you aren’t connected to them, but you would have been if you didn’t follow this procedure.

Congratulations, you are now privately checking your bitcoin balances and sending transactions with your own Bitcoin Node. DM me if you have questions.

Restoring a wallet. See Video. Link

In case you are feeling generous:

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