“label” (string, optional, default=””) An optional label.“bitcoinprivkey” (string, required) The private key (see dumpprivkey).Importprivkey “Kthebitcoinprivkey” ( “label” ) ( rescan ) The importprivkey command has the format: This command adds a private key to your wallet - it would also serve to import a private key as created by the dumpprivkey command. This is accomplished with the importprivkey command in the Bitcoin Core CLI. This doesn’t mean you’ve lost funds - you would have sent funds to the compressed address, and you therefore need to import the compressed private key. If you accidentally import the uncompressed private key, you’ll probably see a balance of zero. This address has 52 base58 characters and starts with a ‘K’ or ‘L’. This means that you need to import the Private Key WIF Compressed. If you generated your paper wallet using, the Bitcoin addresses on the paper wallet are compressed. If you’ve sent funds to the Bitcoin Address generated from the compressed public key, you’ll need to import the compressed Private Key (i.e Wallet Import Format compressed). To access funds, the compression state of the keys must match. The compressed version of the public key is almost half the size, and generates a Bitcoin address that is distinct from the uncompressed public key.īecause compressing keys significantly reduces blockchain space without losing any data, compressed keys are the recommended default.
Personally, I take the time to run a verified copy in an offline Tails session. If you’re certain that your system is secure (without malware or keyloggers etc), you could skip the previous steps and just disconnect from the internet.
Download and run locally after verifying the downloaded copy. Be careful not to expose the private key during the decryption & import process.ĭecryption can be done using.
Decrypting the Private KeyĪccess to the private key equates to full control of the funds attached to the Bitcoin address. Other wallets, such as the Electrum desktop client, Mycelium mobile wallet do have this function. The Bitcoin Core client does not have a built in function for ‘sweeping’ funds. In contrast sweeping the private key involves making a transaction whereby all Bitcoins held on the wallet are sent to a new address managed by the receiving client - leaving the original (paper) wallet empty, and the funds in the full and exclusive control of the Bitcoin client.
As such, if others have access to the paper wallet private key, they would also be able to gain access to the funds. Importing a private key hands control of the Bitcoins linked to the paper wallet to the Bitcoin Core client - the funds remain attached to the original Bitcoin address, as the private key is only imported. Note: this article describes importing rather than sweeping the paper wallet. The process is quite involved - and much of the online documentation is either incomplete or outdated.
This process allows the Bitcoin Core client to access and control the funds associated with the paper wallet Bitcoin address.
This article outlines how to import a BIP38 encrypted private key (for example, a Bitcoin paper wallet) to a Bitcoin Core wallet. Import a private key from a BIP38 encrypted Bitcoin paper wallet to a Bitcoin Core (Bitcoin-QT) client wallet.