(Tutorial) How to import bitcoin Wallet from Copay to Trezor and claim Bitcoin Cash
Declaimer :
- I am not the expert of this. I am here just sharing my personal experience. Maybe there is a better way to do/explain this but I dont know yet.
- English is not my primary language ( meaning my English sucks)
On 2017 August 1st, Bitcoin Cash was successfully launched though the hard fork, an alternative cryptocurrency splited from Bitcoin. Everyone who had BTC in their own private wallet also got the same amount of Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ).
I would like to share how to import the private key from Copay wallet to Trezor, and then get Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) from Trezor Beta wallet.
I use Copay wallet as my primary wallet from the beginning, Recently I was convinced from a friend that I have to start using hardware wallet because of the security issues.
After decent research on internet, I decided to buy Leger Nano S ( well ... its cheaper ) , but I bought Trezor in the end because I just did not want to wait 2 months to get it.
Another benefit I will get from this hardware wallet ... is that most of the soft wallets include Copay does not support Bitcoin Cash ( not yet ... ) , so if I need BCH sooner, I need to import the private key to another wallet that support BCH.
I got Trezor about a week after the purchase, that was fast ...
It is easy to import the private key from Copay to Trezor, connect Trezor to pc, go to https://wallet.trezor.io/ , click " Trezor Recovery " , then start the import process.
Choose the number of words with your recovery seed, you can also choose to have " Enable Pin Protection ", so you have the password protection with this device.
Create the password and make sure you memorize it.
Whenever you need to enter the password, there will be random number from 1 to 9 showing on your Trezor device, and the sequence is different every time. You have to type the number based on the number you see on the device.
Enter the private key.
Now you can use Trezor as your bitcoin wallet.
I thought I imported the wrong private key, but I check it again and it is the correct one.
Okay .... then I dont know what to do .... I look up the package and Trezor website, there is no customer service to call for help. The only way to find the answer is to ask on Reddit, see if anyone has the similar situation.
On Trezor Reddit section: https://www.reddit.com/r/TREZOR/
Trezor developers will answer any questions you have while using the device.
Base on their explanation, when you import private key from one wallet to another, you need to check the public keys and see if they are the same. With Trezor, it is " account public keys XPUB ". With Copay, it is " Extended Public Key ".
If the public keys are not the same, that means the import was not successful, and you will see zero balance.
When I created the wallet in Copay, I setup an extra password ( additional passphrase ). I need to enter the password whenever I import private key to another wallet. With Trezor, even I somehow get into the wallet without password, that doesn't mean I successfully import the wallet.
So I have to do this from the beginning again, delete the wallet on Trezor.
Confirm notice before deleting.
Back to the import menu, check " Additional passphrase " , enter the passwords for both extra pin protection and additional passphrase, enter the private key. Then you will have your wallet imported properly.
Make sure to check the balance and the public keys again, see if they match with each other.
Next step : Claim Bitcoin Cash.
On https://beta-wallet.trezor.io/#/ , you will see BCH wallet.
Trezor Beta supports these types of crypto currencies.
On https://trezor.io/claim-bch/ , follow the step to claim BCH, the process is simple.
I choose Trezor BCH wallet as the target address.
Now we have the BCH in the wallet, we can choose to hold it for more value in the future, or just sell it right away :)
Thought :
- Trezor is easy to use, very simple device.
- If you see the balance is 0, DO NOT PANIC, the money is stored on internet, not on your device. Check the public key again.
- If you have any issue while using Trezor, just go to Reddit /r/Trezor and ask around, The Trezor dev may answer your questions.
I will explain " how to make Copay wallet as a tool for checking balance only " in the next chapter :)
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