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Bitcoin_Core_installation.md

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Bitcoin Core installation

DOWNLOAD

Let’s use Tails to download Bitcoin Core.

If Tails is correctly installed, you should be able to setup the internet connection and open the Tor Browser.

Download Linux (tgz) package from:
http://6hasakffvppilxgehrswmffqurlcjjjhd76jgvaqmsg6ul25s7t3rzyd.onion/en/download/ (Tor onion link)
or
https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

Verify the package downloaded and the official site.

As of now (Bitcoin's block 653435), the Bitcoin Core PGP key fingerprint is: 01EA 5486 DE18 A882 D4C2 6845 90C8 019E 36C2 E964

Extract your bitcoin.tar.gz file in the persistent storage.

/Persistent
  /bitcoin-0.20.1 (Bitcoin Core launcher folder)

CREATE CONFIGURATION FILE

In order to make it work with Tails and a USB, we need to slightly configure our bitcoin.conf file.

The configuration file is not automatically created; you can create it using your favorite plain-text editor. By default, Bitcoin (or bitcoind) will look for a file named 'bitcoin.conf' in the bitcoin data directory.

(Source: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin#Bitcoin.conf_Configuration_File)

Create a folder inside the persistent storage, e.g. Bitcoin, this’ll be the Bitcoin Core data directory. Create with a text editor a bitcoin.conf file inside it.

/Persistent
  /bitcoin-0.20.1 (Bitcoin Core launcher folder)
  /Bitcoin (Bitcoin Core data folder)
    bitcoin.conf (Configuration file)

First we need pruning, since we likely don’t have >256GB in our storage. Add:

prune=10000 for 10GB pruning.

(Source: https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#reduce-storage)

Then we need to add a proxy to make Bitcoin Core work with Tor. Add:

proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

Your bitcoin.conf will look like this:

prune=10000
proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

For better privacy/security you may want to add:

  • onlynet=onion to connect only to onion addresses
  • dns=0 and dnsseed=0 to prevent DNS queries

(Source: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/70069/how-can-i-setup-bitcoin-to-be-anonymous-with-tor)

LAUNCH BITCOIN CORE

Assuming the 0.20.1 version, to launch Bitcoin Core browse to /bitcoin-0.20.1/bin, drag the bitcoin-qt file into a terminal and press enter.

Bitcoin Core will ask you to choose a directory for the data folder. Leaving the default one will lead to Core being removed at shut down, so choose the directory previously created inside the persistent storage.

The blockchain synch will start, the time needed will widely change based on your configuration. On a laptop with 8GB ram, Intel core i5 3.4GHz, USB 3.0 and optical fiber internet, took ~ 24 hours.

Once the synching is over, the node is ready to use.

At every new session Bitcoin Core will ask you for the data directory, choose your custom data folder and click ok.

CHECK NEW PAYMENTS WITH BITCOIN CORE

A simple way to check receiving payments is to open the Bitcoin Core console from Window > Console and type:

importaddress address ‘’ false
or
importpubkey pubkey ‘’ false

  • importaddress/importpubkey: is the command.
  • address/pubkey: is the address/publickey you wanna check.
  • ‘’: is the label, with ‘’ you leave it blank.
  • false: is the “rescan” argument and we need to set it to false cause pruned node cannot do rescan.

Type help "command" if you need help. e.g, help importpubkey

DELETE/CREATE WALLET

If you want to dispose of your wallet, delete wallet.dat from your data directory. Bitcoin Core will automatically create a new wallet.dat if none is found.

Next: Install Wasabi