Blockchain wallet: login, registration, setup

is one of the most popular online wallets for storing cryptocurrencies. Was launched in 2011. Supports five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Stellar (XML), Paxos Standard stablecoin (PAX).

During its entire existence, not a single incident of hacking has been recorded, and the number of cryptocurrency addresses created in the Blockchain wallet exceeds 41 million. In addition, the volume of transactions carried out through the accounts of Blockchain wallet users exceeded $200 billion. There is an application for iOS and Android.

At the moment, the online cryptocurrency wallet Blockchain is the main, but not the only Blockchain product. Among other services, the site features a block explorer, The Pit cryptocurrency exchange, tools for tracking asset prices in real time, and all sorts of cryptocurrency charts and statistics.

Below you will find a detailed overview of the Blockchain wallet.

• Blockchain Wallet: History
• How to Login to Blockchain Wallet
• How to create a Blockchain wallet
• Blockchain wallet interface and capabilities
• Receiving and sending cryptocurrency through a Blockchain wallet
• blockchain.com security system
• Account settings in the Blockchain wallet
• Pros and cons of Blockchain info
• Reviews about the Blockchain wallet

Blockchain Wallet: History

How did the Blockchain wallet appear?
Launched in August 2011 as Bitcoin Wallet Blockchain, i.e. solely as a wallet for Bitcoin. Also at that time, the site, which was originally hosted in the .info domain zone, had a block explorer, also only for the Bitcoin network.

In 2013, Blockchain became the most visited Bitcoin-related website. At the beginning of 2014, the number of wallets created using this service exceeded 1 million.

In the fall of 2014, venture capital companies Mosaic Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners invested $30.5 million in the Bitcoin wallet Blockchain.info. At that time, this was a record for attracting investments in the cryptocurrency sector.

In the summer of 2016, the number of transactions made using this online wallet exceeded 100 million. A year later, another round of financing took place, within which $40 million was raised from a dozen companies and private investors.

In August 2022, the Blockchain wallet became multi-currency, as support for the Ethereum (ETH) cryptocurrency was added. In December, the list of assets that could be interacted with through the service was supplemented by the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) cryptocurrency.

In July 2018, Blockchain.info moved to the .com domain zone. In parallel with this, the site was redesigned. In November of the same year, support for Stellar (XLM) was added to the wallet and an airdrop was announced in this currency for verified accounts.

On May 1, 2022, the Blockchain wallet began supporting the Paxos Standard (PAX) stablecoin, giving users the ability to store their savings in digital dollar equivalent.

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Blockchain wallet official website

Expert opinion: which wallets are the safest?

In 2022, Veriphi conducted an analysis of all currently existing Bitcoin wallets. Services were compared according to 48 different criteria: from programming language or the ability to connect to your own node, to the presence of multi-signature and two-factor authentication. As a result, all the services considered were divided into four groups.

Bitcoin wallets recommended for use:

1. Bitcoin Core
2. Green
3. Bitcoin Wallet
4. Wasabi
5. Blue Wallet
6. Samourai

Allowed for use:

• Armory
• Bither
• Keymaster
• Mycelium
• DropBit

It's better not to use:

• Abra
• BRD
• BitGo
• Edge
• Exodus
• Coin Space
• Trezor Wallet
• Ledger Live
• Coinomi

You definitely shouldn't use:

• Coinbase
• Xapo
• Copay
• BTC.com
• Blockchain.com

You can also take these recommendations into account when choosing. But a lot depends on which features are important to you personally and which are of little importance.

How to Login to Blockchain Wallet

Login to the Blockchain wallet
To log into the Blockchain wallet, you need to:

1. Go to the official website.
2. Register a new account.
3. Confirm your registration by clicking on the link in the email.
4. Enter your username and password.
5. You are logged into your Blockchain wallet!

Each step will be described below with all the details.

Translation mechanisms

How to check a bitcoin transaction? There are 3 important types of information that are relevant to a transaction:

• Input – sender's address;
• Amount – the number of bitcoins sent;
• Output – recipient address.

To transfer bitcoins, you need an address as well as a secret key. When you open your wallet, a private key (25 to 34 numbers and letters) is first generated. As a result, the wallet opens the address by converting the private key. Bitcoin - the address is similar to a transparent cell - everyone can see what's inside. But don’t worry if someone decides to check your Bitcoin address for you - only the owner of the private key can use it.

Let's return to Vasily and Fedor. When sending coins, Vasily, using a secret key, prepares a transfer for sending with data on the input, amount and output. From Vasily’s bitcoin address, information is sent to the Bitcoin network.

In a random order, the information arrives at one of the nodes - a computer connected to the blockchain, whose task is to check the Bitcoin transaction and transmit it. A code is written - a record of the transfer to the recipient's account in the distributed registry system, which as a result leads to an increase in the balance of btc - Fedor's address.

In addition, information about the movement is distributed to other nodes (nodes). Thus, openness of information about all transfers is realized. It is possible to track bitcoins stored on other bitcoin wallets - the system is open and completely anonymized.

How to create a Blockchain wallet

Creating a Blockchain Wallet
To get started with a Blockchain wallet, you need to follow a few extremely simple steps. The registration form is called up using the “Registration” or “Create your wallet” button on the main page of the service.

Start of registration in Blockchain

In the window that opens, you need to enter an email address that is controlled by the user, come up with a strong password, check the box agreeing to the terms and policies of the site, and click “Create your Wallet.”

Registration details

After this, the Blockchain wallet interface opens, in which the ability to receive and send cryptocurrency is immediately available. At the same time, a notification is displayed indicating that you need to confirm your email address to ensure the security of the created account.

Start screen after completing registration in the Blockchain wallet

After clicking on the “Yes, this is my email” button in the received email, the user will automatically log out of his account on Blockchain.com. You can log in again only using the password specified during registration and the wallet ID specified in the same message.

Login to Blockchain wallet using ID

To confirm the user’s intention to log into the specified account, the service sends a corresponding letter to his email. Login occurs only after clicking on the link present in it.

Gaining access to the wallet occurs according to this scenario until additional options are enabled in the settings in the form of the need to enter a code from SMS and/or Google Authenticator.

In the future, the system will combine these three confirmation options depending on the level of trust in the device and IP address from which access is being made.

Functions performed by wallets on the Bitcoin network

A Bitcoin wallet is special software created to work with the blockchain. In turn, the blockchain is a digital ledger of records that stores absolutely the entire history of transactions with a specific cryptocurrency, starting from the very first transaction. The wallet makes it possible to move funds between nodes of the blockchain network, as well as receive information about the state of your own account.

To perform operations, the user must confirm the validity of his address, which requires a so-called private key. A Bitcoin wallet is designed to manage keys and keep them secure (since stealing a key is equivalent to stealing assets). Bitcoin itself cannot be stored anywhere, since it is a purely digital currency. So its storage comes down to storing the keys.

There are different forms of Bitcoin wallets, each of which has its own characteristics in terms of security, convenience, functionality and many other parameters. We invite you to consider all the varieties available today.

Blockchain wallet interface and capabilities

The service interface is quite user-friendly, adapted to Russian (not perfect, but quite acceptable) and intuitive. On the left there is a menu with which you can navigate between the available functionality of the Blockchain wallet:

• Monitoring panel, which by default displays the Bitcoin exchange rate chart (you can select other currencies) and account balance - both general and separately for the online wallet and hardware wallets connected to it (the same data is present in the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of any site pages).

Blockchain Dashboard

• Buy and sell is an option that allows you to buy or sell Bitcoin for fiat funds (using a bank card). Unfortunately, this opportunity is not yet available to residents of the CIS countries
  . It can only be used in the EU, India, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino and some US states.

Buying Bitcoin via Blockchain

• Swap is a tool for instant exchange of cryptocurrencies supported by a Blockchain wallet at the current rate. To access it, the user must provide basic information (mail, name, date of birth and residential address). In this case, the annual limit on the exchange of funds will be $1000. To increase the limit to $25,000 per day, you need to undergo full verification.

Cryptocurrency exchange through available Blockchain tools

• Hardware - Here you can connect a hardware wallet to your account to manage assets stored on your device. Connection available for Ledger Nano S and Blockchain Lockbox (branded version of the same model).

Connecting hardware wallets to Blockchain
Immediately below the menu items there is a list of available cryptocurrencies. Selecting any of them opens a page with the options “Receive” (the wallet address for receiving funds is displayed) and “Swap” (the exchange tool already described above).

Example of a page for a single cryptocurrency

There are also tabs for switching between lists of transactions of different types (receiving, sending, exchanging), as well as the “Export private key” button, when clicked, the private key of the wallet of the selected cryptocurrency is displayed. With its help, the address created through Blockchain.com can be accessed through any other wallet.

Exporting private keys to Blockchain

Also in the site header there is a panel with buttons “Update”, “What’s new?” (system notifications) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Nearby are links to “Security Center” and “Settings”.

Buttons in the header of the wallet website

Centralized and decentralized

Centralized Bitcoin wallets operate in such a way that all core functionality is under the control of a central governing body. At the same time, a centralized wallet can be non-custodial, but more often they are classified as custodial. Such services always retain full power over user accounts and the transfer of their transactions.

Examples:

• Xapo
• BTC.com
• Coinomi

Xapo, a wallet for storing Bitcoin
A decentralized wallet is one that has no central authority, but operates according to the principles of blockchain technology. Provides users with much more control and financial security than a centralized one. Such a wallet does not hold funds or personal data of users. A special algorithm is responsible for sending and receiving transactions. Another important caveat is that governments and regulators also cannot interfere with or obtain user data, since there is no centralized source that can provide this data.

Examples:

• Atomic Wallet
• Bitcoin Core
• Wasabi

Bitcoin wallet Atomic Wallet

Receiving and sending cryptocurrency through a Blockchain wallet

Functions of the Blockchain wallet
At the top of any page of the service, the “Send” and “Receive” buttons are displayed. If you click the latter, by default a window will be displayed with the address of the user's Bitcoin Wallet on Blockchain.com, including in the form of a QR code. Here you can switch between currencies and methods of receiving funds (to a web wallet or to a connected hardware device).

Receiving BTC transfers on Blockchain

It is worth paying attention to the fact that for Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, a new address is generated in each individual case of receiving funds, but for Ethereum it is always the same.

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Another important nuance is that the Blockchain wallet does not support working with ERC20 tokens. They can be received at the user’s ETH address, but they will not be able to see the balance or send it to someone.

To do this, you will have to export the private key (described above) and use any other wallet with the mentioned feature, for example, MyEtherWallet.

To create an outgoing transaction, you must click “Submit” and in the form that opens, indicate:

• The currency that is being sent;
• The wallet from which funds are withdrawn;
• Address of the recipient;
• Transfer amount;
• Description (optional);
• Network commission (regular or priority).

To speed up the transaction, experienced users can adjust the commission amount themselves by using the appropriate button. Current data for this can be taken from specialized sites, for example, ethgasstation.info for Ethereum or Blockchair for Bitcoin.

Sending a transaction
// Source: Blockchain.com

Security measures when checking a Bitcoin wallet

There are various fraud schemes operating within the foreign exchange market. In 2022 alone, criminals stole $4.3 billion worth of crypto.

One of the fraudulent schemes involves wallet manipulation. If someone asks you for your private key combination, be careful. No one has the right to demand a set of numbers that constitute confidential information. This technique is compared to entering a PIN code from a bank card. If you disclose the private key combination to third parties, you may lose all the funds received.

Another trick used by scammers is to track the addresses where transfers are coming from. For example, a holder stores an amount in BTC and regularly sends part of the funds to another user. To protect himself, the owner needs to generate a new unknown address each time, otherwise third parties can use the information.

blockchain.com security system

Security of the Blockchain wallet
The security system of the Blockchain cryptocurrency wallet is based on three levels:

1. Confirmed email address
   - allows you to send the user codes to enter the site, as well as notifications about suspicious account activity and receipt of payments.
2. 2FA (two-factor authentication)
   - helps protect your wallet from unauthorized access by entering a code from SMS or Google Authenticator when logging into your account.
3. The phrase to restore access
   is 12 words with which the wallet seed is encrypted. Is the only key to the funds of a user who has forgotten the login password.

All these settings are made in the “Security Center” section. There, if necessary, you can replace the email address originally used to create the account.

Blockchain Security Center

On the “Advanced” tab of the Blockchain wallet, you can change the password specified during registration, as well as use additional options that can increase the security level of the wallet:

• Second password - the system will request it when attempting to withdraw funds;
• Remember 2FA - eliminates the need to go through full authentication when logging in again for some time;
• List of allowed IPs and IP restrictions for login - make it possible to create a “White List” and configure the login of only those addresses that are indicated in it;
• Wallet access via Tor - you can block attempts to log into your account using this anonymous network;
• Password stretching—allows you to make it more difficult for attackers to guess your password.

Advanced security settings in Blockchain
Despite the abundance of functionality for protecting your account, a significant part of the responsibility for the security of funds rests on the shoulders of the user - it depends on him how and how securely the passwords from the wallet and the email associated with it, the recovery phrase and 2FA will be stored. keys.

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Read the full article: Online Security: Two-Factor Authentication Methods

If you lose a device with a two-factor authentication application installed, you can reset it by filling out a special form with identification data known to the user.

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But if you forget the password for your Blockchain wallet account, you won’t be able to recover it. To regain access to your funds, you will need to create a new wallet and use a previously saved 12-word phrase. If it is also lost, it is not possible to regain access to the funds.

Working with private keys using Bitcoin Core as an example

Let's go a little further and see how private keys are stored and worked with using software clients as an example.
As we've already established, malware can gain access to your wallet's private keys. The question is how easy or difficult it really is to do this. First, let's look at how Bitcoin Core does this. This process is well described in the Bitcoin wiki itself. As you saw in the screenshot above, this client is marked as one of the most advanced and meets most requirements.

Your wallet's private keys are stored, along with other information, in a wallet.dat file in the “bitkeys” format. This file may

may or may not be encrypted =) By default, of course, nothing is encrypted. You are a competent user and will find the right button yourself. Only private key information is encrypted using the AES-256-CBC algorithm. In this case, the so-called master key – a random number – is used as the encryption key. In this case, the master key itself is encrypted using a key obtained from the passphrase using SHA-512 and the OpenSSL function - EVP_BytesToKey. The number of encryption rounds is determined by the speed of the computer at which the initial encryption occurs.

After that, your wallet is used by the client as usual. This state is called “locked”. If at any point you need to access the wallet's private keys, you will need to enter the passphrase into the client GUI or use the walletpassphrase command in the RPC. In this case, the private keys will be decrypted and the wallet will go into the “unlocked” state. In the first case, it will be in this state exactly as long as necessary to carry out a particular operation. In the second case, the time after which the wallet will return to the locked state is determined by the second parameter in the RPC request!

The code looks like this:

int64_t nSleepTime = request.params[1].get_int64(); pwallet->nRelockTime = GetTime() + nSleepTime; RPCRunLater(strprintf("lockwallet(%s)", pwallet->GetName()), boost::bind(LockWallet, pwallet), nSleepTime); It looks very nice. An ordinary wallet user is unlikely to launch a server unless they miss a file. But the attacker...

With the GUI and storing the same passphrase in memory, everything is also not very simple. The guys implemented a special class for storing such data - SecureString. In general, it was implemented quite well; the rake using memset was successfully bypassed. But they keep it in memory longer than they should.

For example, this is what our GUI does (slightly corrected for clarity, for the curious, look at askpassphrasedialog.cpp:154):

case Unlock: if(!model->setWalletLocked(false, passphrase)) { QMessageBox::critical(this, tr(“Wallet unlock failed”), tr(“The passphrase entered for the wallet decryption was incorrect.”)); } else { QDialog::accept(); // Success } break; } return; First we will do accept(), and only then our oldpass will go out of scope and clearing will occur. It is clear that more secure code will not be as beautiful as less secure code. But we seem to be working with money here?

In my opinion, this perfectly confirms my concerns about the openness of the wallet sources. Open source does not equal security.

Account settings in the Blockchain wallet

How to create an account in Blockchain
Interaction with the Blockchain wallet can be personalized using the settings menu, which consists of four sections:

• General
  - here you can find out the unique identifier of your wallet and the pairing code, which is used to access funds through gadgets with the Blockchain mobile application installed.

General settings of the Blockchain.com wallet

• Profile
  - allows you to specify verification data to gain access to all available functionality of the wallet (buying BTC for fiat, Swap, etc.), increasing the limit on the volume of transactions performed and the ability to participate in the XLM airdrop. There are 2 levels of verification in total:

1. For the first one (Silver), you need to indicate your email, full name, date of birth and residential address.
2. To obtain the second level (Gold), the user must provide his ID and a selfie.

User Profile Settings

• Preferences
  - in this section you can verify your phone number in order to use codes from SMS as one of the two-step verification options for logging into your account. Also here you can configure the language, currency and color theme of the Blockchain wallet interface, methods for receiving notifications about the receipt of funds, set the time value for automatically logging out of the account in the absence of user activity, and activate the ability to process payment links using Blockchain in the browser.

Additional settings for interaction with the Blockchain wallet

• Wallets and addresses
  - here BTC and BCH wallets are managed, and Bitcoin addresses are imported, incl. created by third party wallets.

Managing wallets and addresses through settings
The video instructions below will help you understand the interface and capabilities of the Blockchain wallet in more detail:

Blockchain Wallet Review

Not so simple

Behind this seemingly simple process lies a unique and vast world where everyone does their job.

So, before the transaction arrives at the recipient’s account, it must be confirmed by miners.

They do this by mining blocks that store information about transactions.

Each of them holds only a certain amount of data. This is due to its size of 1 MB.

When this space is filled, the block is considered closed. After this, the data cannot be changed.

Each subsequent block stores information about the previous one. When the BTC transfer information reaches 6 blocks, it is considered confirmed.

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Pros and cons of Blockchain info

Advantages and disadvantages of the Blockchain.com wallet
The main advantages of the Blockchain.com web wallet include:

3-level security system.

Intuitive design.

Ability to display account balance in different currencies.

Built-in tools for buying and exchanging cryptocurrencies.

Linking a mobile gadget with the Blockchain application installed to the web version of the wallet via a QR code.

Interaction with hardware devices.

Low service commissions.

Despite the impressive list of positive qualities, the Blockchain wallet still has several disadvantages:

Small number of supported cryptocurrencies.

The need to pass verification to gain access to all the features of the wallet.

The function of buying/selling Bitcoin for fiat does not work in all countries.

Otherwise, the Blockchain wallet is excellent for storing cryptocurrencies, offering very convenient and reliable functionality to users who prefer to work with their funds directly in the browser instead of installing desktop applications.

Another variant

Chain.so is another resource that allows you to find your bitcoins.

The search principle is the same: enter the address, transaction or block hash.

Chain.so will return all available details. Unique number, confirmation status, transfer amount.

Moreover, the resource will show the miner if his identity is public.

Chain.so will tell you about all the transactions contained in the block, the addresses of the sender and recipient, as well as the amount of the commission paid for transferring Bitcoin.

You can also see on Chain.so which miners worked more hard. Here you can create your own Bitcoin wallet.

The service also allows you to track the movements of Dogecoin, Litecoin and Dash.

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How to cancel an unconfirmed transaction

Freezing is a fairly common problem for cryptocurrencies. Usually recommended:

• wait a day or two for the transaction to be included in the next block;
• download a new block chain;
• launching a client with magic keys.

In other words, you cannot formally cancel the transfer, but you can delete the wallet. Naturally, before making a decision, finally check the Bitcoin payment. Nothing changed? By launching the client with the -salwagewallet key, you can create a new wallet, importing into it all the accounts from the old one and the transaction history. You don’t have to delete the old wallet; there is a possibility of renaming or moving it.

Bitcoin transaction fees

It seems that the commission is an optional element, but it is still present. When you need to pay and when you don’t need to pay a commission. No need if:

• transaction no more than 0.01 bitcoin;
• takes up little space in the block;
• sent btc have many confirmations.

You need to pay a commission to transfer money as quickly as possible. Don't worry, the commission will go to the miners, not the banks. Miners are coin miners who will place your transfer into the mined block of coins. Viewing btc transactions is, of course, their favorite pastime, but they charge some commission for their services. But even if you don’t pay a commission, the transfer will still take place, just after a while. All you need to do is check the bitcoins in your wallet.