Thanks for the correction sir, I have a different view of the wallet after seeing "Transactions and UTXOs.
1 Like
- A bitcoin wallet stores your private (and public) keys and is used to create and sign transactions then broadcast them.
1 Like
A bitcoin wallet is used to send and receive transactions using your private key. The transactions are sent to the network and confirmed as a valid transaction with each node on the network and when it gets to a node that is a miner it can be added to the blockchain. The way it is added to the blockchain is using the proof of work protocol which the miner must solve a puzzle as explained in the previous blog on collision resistance.
1 Like
- Describe in short what a bitcoin wallet does.
The purpose of a bitcoin wallet is to store the private keys that authenticate my ownership of bitcoin in the blockchain. The wallet is used to sign debit and credit transactions on the blockchain so that bitcoin can flow into and out of my ownership.
1 Like
- A bitcoin wallet store your private keys and uses them to sign transactions.
edit: Doubling back to say that the wallet also creates and broadcasts the transaction to the network in addition to signing it.
1 Like
Describe in short what a bitcoin wallet does.
A bitcoin wallet holds both a private and a public key, and it is used to send and receive funds. It also signs your transactions and is capable of storing your bitcoin offline.
2 Likes
Bitcoin wallet has a private key with which it signs the transaction, which is then broadcast to the bitcoin network. Once verified by multiple network nodes, the transaction becomes a part of the bitcoin public ledger
2 Likes
- Describe in short what a bitcoin wallet does.
- a BTC wallet stores your private key, it does not store coins
- creates & signs transactions
- broadcasts it to the network (blockchain)
- reads the blockchain when you receive BTC
2 Likes
Send or receive bitcoin. Wallet holds private and public key. Create and sign transaction. Hardware wallet- holds your private key and is offline.
2 Likes
There are several types of wallet.Beside the paper wallet which can only store your private key off line, most other wallets can , create and sign transactions, broadcast transactions, read blockchain and notify you.
2 Likes
- Basically, a Bitcoin Wallet is an application that stores your Private Keys, creates and signs transactions and sends to the blockchain for processing and confirmation. It also checks the blockchain and notifies you when new funds are received. It is important to realize that no actual coins are stored on the wallet.
2 Likes
There are several types of wallet, most of which hold your private key (exception is a hosted wallet that would connect to a suppliers wallet on their server that holds all the other clients private keys as well).
A paper wallet and hardware wallet can both hold your private key offline. The paper wallet private key would be exposed to online systems when you have to manually input it into a system, causing potential exposure through malware on the device. The harware wallet does not expose the private key to online systems, providing only the encrypted, signed transaction. Neither a paper or hardware wallet hold the fully blockchain. The hardware wallet can query the blockchain in a similar way to a SPV.
An SPV wallet is an application that runs on, for example a mobile phone, it holds the private key but not the full blockchain. It does not have enough storage capacity to hold a full copy of the database, so instead relies on contacting different nodes, by regular polling, to ensure that the transactions have been verified. It carries the risk of internet exposure to hackers and malware etc for the private key.
Finally there is the Node, which is an application that runs on a desktop machine, it holds the private key and also a full copy of the blockchain.
With the exception of the paper wallet, they hold or have access to the private key, they create and digitally sign a transaction and then broadcast it to the network. The transaction, will propagate around the network, if appropriate and verified by nodes. The wallet doesn’t hold any coins, it holds a copy or access to a copy (SPV, hardware wallet) of the blockchain database, held by everyone that says you have coins to spend once the transaction has been processed by a miner.
Oops way too long 
1 Like
- Describe in short what a bitcoin wallet does.
-A Bitcoin wallet holds your private keys and uses the keys to create and sign transactions.
2 Likes
- It stores your private key. It sends, receives and signs transactions.
1 Like
- So, a bitcoin wallet are used for send and receive funds. It does not store any coins, it does only store the private key. This private key are used to sign transactions when one want to send some bitcoins. It also have a public key that is used to create the so called wallet address. When we want to “receive” some funds we just share that address, no private key are involved. A bitcoin wallet also reads the blockchain in order to notify ourselves about “receiving” funds.
3 Likes
You can store the keys offline, but not the bitcoins 
1 Like
A wallet stores private keys, connects to other computers on the network, and broadcasts information. It notifies you when you receive bitcoin. It does not contain the blockchain itself.
1 Like
A bitcoin wallet stores your private key which you use to sign transactions. After the transaction is signed the wallet broadcasts it to the network. The wallet also receives funds, that is it reads the blockchain to ascertain whether you have funds. The wallet does not store coins. When you spend or receive funds the node substracts or adds the transaction in the blockchain.
1 Like
My syntax was incorrect. No bitcoin is actually Stored offline, my keys are. Thanks
1 Like
- bitcoin wallet keep the private key safely
1 Like