Understanding Node Balances on Electrum

If you’re wondering how nodes connect to Electrum and privacy issues that might be associated with it, then you have come to the right place. Today we will be talking about privacy concerns and discuss possible solutions.
Nodes are the most secure ways to verify your transactions and getting the most transparent view of your wallet. Anyone who is running a massive crypto operation should be using a full node, which can be operated from a different machine than your wallet.

Introduction

If you have any questions during this article, then comment on your issues below, and we will make sure to get back to you and better assist you. If you encounter any more Electrum problems, check out our library of stories as we have step by step guides for all common Electrum problems. This will save you a lot of time since you won’t need to contact support and wait long periods in high ticket liquidity times.
Today we will talk about nodes and some issues you may have with viewing your balance on Electrum with them.

Nodes

Privacy

Nodes can see your balance if they know your wallet ID. Nodes collect a lot of data when in operation, so this could be a considerable privacy break for you.

Solution

Some people have decided to use third party services like Wasabi or set up their node that connects to Electrum Personal Server. If you use a third-party service, then you’ll have to trust the application, so it’s best to run your node. We have step by step guides on running your full node, so if you’re interested in setting one up, check out our stories.

Conclusion

Running your node will be the best way to maintain a high level of security. Trusting third parties to hide your data isn’t recommended because there are bad actors who could exploit your data.
Whenever you’re using Electrum, you should remember to secure your recovery phrase safely. This phrase should be written down on a piece of paper and secured in a lockbox that is flameproof for maximum security. If your client or wallet ever crashes, you will use this sheet of paper to recover your assets. Without it, you could potentially lose all of your cryptocurrency since you own your private keys; it’s your responsibility to keep standard security.
Hardware wallets are recommended to use with Electrum because your device will store the private key information locally on the hardware. A device like Ledger can complete cryptographic hashing to verify the key without sending it over the internet.