Replying to 516add19...

I used to think Bitcoins were a computer file. Like if I had 1 BTC it would be a file on a hard drive that I could send someone. I had no idea about sats or blockchains back then. No wonder I was super confused. Probably got this idea from the news showing people looking through garbage dumps trying to find old hard drives that had their Bitcoin on them.
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joe 1y ago

Before seeds you did have to backup your .dat file with all your private/public key pairs.

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516add19... 1y ago

Then Im even more confused! I rather have the file I think! 🤔

How would they spend their BTC though? They would need to import it into a wallet? Kinda glad I came later, much less confusing now. 🤙

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joe 1y ago

Yeah you have to load the file into your bitcoin core and rescan the blockchain for funds. The file was literally a list of all your private keys. More info here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet

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516add19... 1y ago

Do you know if Bitcoin Core still does it this way? Wondering if this method has any pros over seeds.

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joe 1y ago

Yes, it's still very similar. I prefer seeds, much easier to backup.