RE: Bitcoin Wallets - Create, Backup and Synchronize

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Bitcoin Wallets - Create, Backup and Synchronize

in bitcoin •  8 years ago 

This might just confuse beginners even more. "Wallet" is really a bad metaphor. A Bitcoin "wallet" is not a wallet at all. It's more like a key chain that contains the keys to access all of your Bitcoin addresses. "Address" is also confusing. A Bitcoin address is really more like an account identifier. You need a private key to access each of your "accounts," which are stored on a public ledger called the "blockchain."

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Thanks for reply

Usually these programs are said to be "wallets", even MyCelium or Electrum call their programs by this word.

In addition, I think that especially for beginners we should use terms that they will understand. I think the wallet is the right term.

https://wallet.mycelium.com/

The term is misleading. People may think that they have bitcoins on their computers when the bitcoins are actually stored in a public ledger.

Of course. Conversely, "mtgox" or other cases show that it is better to teach people how to handle Mycelium than they would do on the stock market themselves.