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    How To Prove That You Own Bitcoin (Signed Messages)



    𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 ππˆπ“π‚πŽπˆπ π‚πŽπ”π‘π’π„βžœβžœβžœ
    https://www.trader.university/courses/38824-the-ultimate-guide-to-bitcoin
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    In this video, I discuss how to sign a Bitcoin message, in order to cryptographically prove that you control a particular Bitcoin address and the Bitcoin associated with it.

    For this example, I use a Trezor hardware wallet to sign a message associated with a Bitcoin address that I control, and then I use a different website to verify the signed message.

    I also walk through the privacy implications of trusting this external website, which can certainly log my IP address and associate it with that particular Bitcoin address.

    If you are not using your own Bitcoin node, then you are using someone else’s node whenever you interact with the Bitcoin blockchain.

    For reasons of security and privacy, it is always much better to run your own node, in order to eliminate unnecessary layers of trust.

    Not investment advice! Consult a financial advisor.

    Wright court docs:
    https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6309656/512/7/kleiman-v-wright/

    Craig Wright labeled β€œfraud” by Bitcoin addresses he purportedly owns:
    https://decrypt.co/30098/craig-wright-fraud-bitcoin-addresses
    https://twitter.com/Zectro1/status/1264867307546800130/photo/1

    Trezor hardware wallet:
    https://trezor.io/

    Verify Bitcoin signed messages:
    https://www.verifybitcoinmessage.com/

    I am not being paid or otherwise compensated by any company or cryptocurrency project that I mention in my videos.

    My opinion is not for sale. Please do not contact me with any affiliate or advertising deals.

    #bitcoin
    #trezor

    Disclaimer
    Neither Trader University, nor any of its directors, officers, shareholders, personnel, representatives, agents, or independent contractors (collectively, the β€œOperator Parties”) are licensed financial advisors, registered investment advisors, or registered broker-dealers. None of the Operator Parties are providing investment, financial, legal, or tax advice, and nothing in this video or at www.Trader.University (henceforth, β€œthe Site”) should be construed as such by you. This video and the Site should be used as educational tools only and are not replacements for professional investment advice. There is a high risk in trading.

    View 44 Comments

    44 Comments

    1. Trader University on

      WARNING: There are a number of scammers who are using my image and
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    5. 911zhenxiang on

      I would never do – so dangerous. What if while using your private key it gets captured by a virus/troyan horse/key logger or what ever!!! NO THANKS!

    8. AcidUser on

      How it works:
      Each address has a private key and a public key as key pairs. With the private key you could spend that Bitcoin.

      When you encrypt something with the public key, you can decrypt it with the private key and the other way around.

      So when you encrypt a text using the private key, you can decrypt the encrypted message using the public key. And that is used to verify that you own that private key.

      If the decrypted text is the same as the original message, the signature is valid.

    12. E Schmitty on

      very nice simple way to verify address. Thx. What do you do to protect your bitcoin if something happens to you? like you all of sudden get sick. Is there any way to designate a beneficiary?

    16. Ralfbo on

      What are the signs you may not own the bitcoin you think you do?
      If I have moved coins from an exchange (or Strike) to a multi-sig cold storage setup. Do I need to bother with proving the address is real? Thanks in advance.

    17. First Last on

      Having car keys proves you have access not that you own

      Having car registration in your name "identity" proves you own the car even when the keys are stolen

      I know what you are getting at and he might be a fraud but logically speaking this is how things work

      Not your keys not your bitcoin also works in the reverse
      YOUR KEYS YOUR BITCOIN!

      so if he gets them by court (legit) or "steals" them again they will be rightfully his coins

      Again he might be stupid and a fraud but I am just arguing logic and hypocrisy

    19. mavadd88 on

      Connect your own node over tor, then connect an electrum wallet controlled by a good hardware wallet, then get some non kyc bitcoin by mining or over bisq or robosats for the win in financial sovereignty

    20. C. on

      Satoshi: went to great lengths to stay anonymous.
      Faketoshi: going to great lengths to become known to everyone.

    22. Omri Barouch on

      From what I understand the reason it works is because a private key and a bitcoin address are coupled mathematicaly so when you sign the message with your private key it creates an encrypted data that can be decrypted using the address key. So what it basically does is use the address of interest to decrypt an encrypted message and then checks if the result is equal to the message you want to verify. It's a way to answer the question "does this message was encrypted with a key that corresponds to that address?"

      Note that you could use the address to decrypt the signature and just read the plain text that appears. The website just "helps" you by checking if the result decrypted message equals to the message in the box so it can give you a valid/invalid response.

      I think it can also work vice versa: you can encrypt a message with your public key and then use your private key to decrypt it (obviously in this case it requires you to share your prive key with the software that decrypts it, which you'll probably won't do, but mathematicaly it's possible)

      It's actually not directly bitcoin related, but rather using private key/public key mathematics, which, of course, bitcoin also makes use of.

    23. rakeau on

      As far as I understand, a transaction itself is just a signed message that is submitted to the network. So really, signing messages in this way is the same thing, except with whatever message you want (and that isn’t β€œsubmitted” to the mempool). But from a technical/cryptographic perspective there’s little to no difference. I wouldn’t even say this is a feature, just a happy accident that is inherent to the technology.

    24. A. on

      How does someone buy BTC ? On the OTC market.

      And why does this alternative channel exist. ?

      What’s going on. ?

    25. WJG GMT on

      If only BTC content was more dominated by TU and a few others who don't feel the need to push shitcoins constantly. Raoul and his ladybio apartment in Mexico City is such an embarrassment. As is George and #PompAss and Lark. All complete clowns.

    26. Living Sacrifice on

      @Trader University it is verified just like every modern HTTPS website verifies identity… It is public private key infrastructure. It runs the whole internet. It has been around awhile. That is how BTC does it using same public private key infrastructure framework. You explain public private key infrastructure well… basically it is cryptographically verified using public & private key pairs just like the rest of the internet. So if you want to dig into the details just study public private key infrastructure. Thanks for all your consistent hard work Love you Brother!!! You are on the right side of history & truth… God Bless you and yours all the days of eternity in Jesus name I pray amen… ✝✝✝

    27. Dorfjunge Georg on

      I'm very familiar with bitcoin for more than 10 years but I never looked into this bitcoin message topic. And sorry but from your video I did not get it at all.
      Will the message always be linked to an address, even if the btc amount in it changes? Is the message saved on the block chain? Can I read messages on a blockexplorer?

    28. Desmond Chin on

      Understand that trezor hard wallet can keep generating fresh public address to receive BTC.

      If that's the case, how can we verify the hard wallet balance in blockchain explorer by pasting the old public address?

    30. Jinko on

      I've been looking into a tool on the lightning network called "Stablesats", it uses something called "perpetual inverse swaps" to create "synthetic USD". Could you please look into this and see if you can potentially identify any points of failure in this system? From what I've identified, it uses something called a "bitcoin bank" which I am initially skeptical of without being able to run the entire system trustlessly.

    32. das boot on

      Hey Matt. I’m curious what your node setup looks like. I know you have it in your paid courses, but I don’t need help setting up a node (I already run one). I’m just wondering if you could do a quick tour of your node.

    33. David Coelho on

      What's the status on Faketoshi? Didn't he win the lawsuit against McCormack or something? I always wondered why if all he needs to do is sign a message but he doesn't

    36. Fusion on

      That's probably super useful. But how do you see it on chain? Can you open up blocks and see messages attached to transactions?

    37. first name last name on

      Have you been following the drama that's going on currently in the BSV world?

      A miner has started mining empty blocks and accruing BSV from the coin base reward. The Bitcoin Association (the organizing body of BSV) has instructed nodes to freeze the moving of the miners coins.

      I don't think the people behind BSV understand bitcoin at all. They are claiming that they can sue miners and node operators who don't do as they say, because they believe that the node operators and miners have agreed to some contract by running some software.

      I would like to see the look on their faces when they try to sue someone for using code they didn't design, or for manipulating a security they didn't register. (They had an investment round, but the investing body is part of the BSV scheme though.)

    39. N M on

      1:36 wait what? I've never heard about that part…where the actual owner of the early bitcoin addresses responded…that's hilarious!

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