Delete receiving addresses?

[voidzero]

I'll admit i'm new to using Bitcoin Armory, even to bitcoin as a whole. I noticed that a new address is added into my wallet each time I press "Receive Bitcoins". I didn't know where else to ask this -- can those "secondary" addresses be deleted; can they be re-used and do I just suck at finding a page that describes this?

Thanks

[etotheipi]

Because Armory uses "deterministic wallets", those addresses are part of the address chain, and must be generated in order to get to the next one. Those addresses cannot be deleted. However, in the updated version I'm going to release shortly, there is a button for hiding unused addresses, so that will hide all those receiving addresses that never actually received anything.

Bitcoin addresses are usually only used once. There's no security problems re-using addresses, but re-using addresses links together all transactions made using that address (it's a privacy issue, not a security issue). It's not a big deal for most users, but it's also unnecessary since Armory can produce an infinite number of addresses -- you might as well just use a new one every time (unless you have a public donation address, etc, in which case it will get reused)

Also, right after I make this release (0.85-beta), I will be updating the documentation part of the website. I will try to answer a large variety of questions like this one. It's not finished, but you can read the start of my FAQ at:

http://bitcoinarmory.com/index.php/frequently-asked-questions

[voidzero]

On 23-11-12 17:11, etotheipi wrote:

(..snip..)

Also, right after I make this release (0.85-beta), I will be updating
the documentation part of the website. I will try to answer a large
variety of questions like this one. It's not finished, but you can read
the start of my FAQ at:

http://bitcoinarmory.com/index.php/frequently-asked-questions

Thanks a lot for your answers. I've just started to learn more about the
offline wallet using an old netbook I didn't use anymore. I'm sure this
will help me grasp the ins and outs. The FAQ will also be helpful,
thanks again :)

Mark

[voidzero]

Me again,

Over the last few days I learned more about the offline wallet and I'd like to run some of my assumptions by you. Perhaps they can be valuable additions to the FAQ, too.

So, my online Armory now has both an online wallet for itself, and the offline PC's wallet as watch-only. On the online PC I can see the balance of both wallets.

• I don't see the current balance on my offline PC. Is this correct at all times or is it possible to see the current balance on the offline PC?
• If it's not 'logical' to see the current balance on the offline account, then am I right in assuming that the offline PC is only used to sign the outgoing transactions from the wallet?
• Doesn't the offline wallet need to confirm it actually received the transfer?

Cheers, Mark

[etotheipi]

Hi Mark,

I assume you saw the page: http://bitcoinarmory.com/index.php/using-offline-wallets-in-armory ?

I need to reduce that page to about half the words, but it does explain the background of offline wallets pretty thoroughly.

The answer to your question is this: your offline computer does not hold the blockchain, and thus does not know anything about any of the addresses in the wallet. There's no way for it to know the balances of any addresses, or how to create transactions.

However, the wallet does recognize its own transactions, and is able to sign those transactions. And because of the way the data structured, the offline wallet is capable of knowing/verifying for sure what it is signing. (it can't be tricked into signing one thing, but making the user believe it's signing something else)

For this reason, you only need to use the offline computer when you are send bitcoins. And only for signing the final transaction. All other operations are done on the online computer -- creating receiving addresses, reviewing balances, verifying payments, etc. Personally, my offline computer is off most of the month, turned on only when I need to refill one of my "hot wallets" from my offline wallet.