Sovereign - Personal Bitcoin Node

last updated: 9th November 2024.

Project goal

A cookbook to convert an old laptop into a Sovereign Personal Bitcoin Node.

Easy to follow instructions to build a secure and sovereign Linux based Bitcoin node using free open source software, self-verified (non-branded/containerised), enabling the use of hardware wallets while preserving privacy of personal bitcoin addresses (& balances) when interacting with the bitcoin network.

Because external guides can be out-of-date and not actively maintained. This guide has a subheading stating the last update and a link to each official software project page for further self verification.

Think of this as a general installation guide with additional trouble shooting tips.

Why run a bitcoin node?

Inspired by Arman The Parman with a few personal additions...

1. You can maximise privacy. Connecting your bitcoin wallet to your a node means not relying on someone else's copy of the timechain data, you won't divulge your IP (your location!) nor your bitcoin addresses (and their balances). It's harder for potential attackers to even know you exist and provides protection from surveillance firms who WILL co-operate with your local ruler when it's confiscation time during the inevitable collapse of fiat.

2. You can verify if you have been paid - like checking a gold payment is real by melting it down. A bitcoin payment must register on your copy of the timechain.

3. Defend the rules of your money if there is a contentious fork - no one can force you to run Bitcoin Larry Fink's Vision, for example.

4. Be one of many cockroaches that need to be destroyed to wipe out the UTXO set (who owns what). Note: even that doesn't kill Bitcoin, Bitcoin is an idea. They'd have to kill all the Bitcoiners.

5. Help someone else run a node, or provide the infrastructure so someone else can trust you and connect to your node. Remember, being a human node is not the power to run the software but the power to choose the right software to connect to - you can be that option for people, especially those you orange pill, instead of letting them connect to a random node.

6. Enjoy peace of mind, and gain a greater appreciation for the power of Bitcoin. You’ll probably end up buying more, and accumulating more girlfriends.

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HARDWARE

Bitcoin Core minimum requirements

• Ram: 1GB
• CPU: Some ARM chipsets >1.GHz
• HDD: 650GB (however large the Bitcoin blockchain currently is.)
• Download: 500 MB/day (15 GB/month)
• Upload: 5 GB/day (150 GB/month)

Most entry level laptops should meet the above specifications. Just add an external 2T SSD drive with an unlimited broadband connection.

I purchased this second hand HP portable laptop from Amazon.com for $140.

• Ram: 16GB
• CPU: Intel celeron 1.1 GHz
• HDD: 64GB

At time of writing the Bitcoin blockchain is around 600GB of data so you will almost certainly need to upgrade the laptops internal SSD card. The laptop I am using has a 256GB Nvme SSD so I upgraded to this 2TB SSD card for $93.

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SOFTWARE

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• Bitcoin-Core
• Tor
• ProtonVPN
• Electrs
• Electrum wallet
• Specter wallet
• Sparrow wallet

(optional)

• Brave-Browser
• Mullvad VPN
• Telegram
• Ledger Live

---

VERIFY & INSTALL SOFTWARE

For all Bitcoin software, it’s a particularly important security step to verify the release. This is done to ensure the installation file you download has not been compromised. Follow download instructions and use gpg in the terminal as instructed. - Sparrow

---

Install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

I installed Ubuntu 22.04 LTS because at the time of install, the Tor project had not released support for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Deactivate Secure-Boot

If repurposing an old Windows laptop, Deactivate Secure-Boot.

Secure boot signing authorities have made mistakes in the past (section 3, page 2 under 'Disadvantages'). Let's verify all the software ourselves and not trust a third-party to do this for us.

1. Press the laptops power-on button then immediatly press the Function key that enters the Bios menu. For the HP Laptop I'm using it was the F2 key. Bios key by manufacturer.

2. Once the system Bios has loaded, proceed to turn-off Secure Boot (usually located under the security tab), save and exit. Then turn-off the laptop.

3. On a seperate PC head over to Ubuntu Releases and download the following three files:

   • Ubuntu-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso
   • SHA256SUMS
   • SHA256SUMS.gpg

   Save all three files to your Downloads folder.

Verify download signitures

Note, the slightly different commands, depending if you are on Windows or Linux. Reference Link

Windows10

1. Verify signitures. Open a Terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T). Run:

   gpg --keyid-format long --verify SHA256SUMS.gpg SHA256SUMS.txt

2. Verify ISO file

   certutil -hashFile <ISO_file_path> SHA256

Now open the SHA256SUMS.txt file in your Downloads folder and compare the SHA256 checksum inside the file with the checksum that was printed to the Terminal. It will be a long hash, verify both hashes/numbers match, if so, your ISO download is authentic.

Linux/MacOS

1. Verify signitures. Open a Terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T). Run:

   gpg --keyid-format long --verify SHA256SUMS.gpg SHA256SUMS.txt

2. Verify ISO file

   sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS 2>&1 | grep OK

   The output you want will look similar to the following: ubuntu-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso: OK

Complete install

Follow the official installation instructions to install Ubuntu.

Create partition table (not always required).

Reusing bootable USB

Flashing a USB drive with an ISO image will place a write protection on the USB drive, to prevent accidental deletion of your bootable USB drive data. If you make a mistake and need to reformat the USB drive then use something like Aomei to remove the write protection so you can reformat the drive and start again (or to reclaim the USB drive to be used for something else).

---

Tip - Linux keyboard shortcuts.

• Open a new Terminal window: CTRL+ALT+T

• Copy text in the Terminal: CTRL+SHIFT+C

• Paste text in the Terminal: CTRL+SHIFT+P

---

Configure Ubuntu

Once Installation has finished.

1. Update package manager. Run:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install Git

1. Install Git

   sudo apt install git

Install Libfuse

Official website

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS dependencies to run Specter and Ledger-Live apps.

1. Install libfuse2

   sudo add-apt-repository universe && sudo apt install libfuse2

Install AppImageLauncher

Creats Desktop icons to launch AppImages such as Specter & Ledger-Live.

1. Install dependencies

   sudo apt install software-properties-common

2. Add to apt repo

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appimagelauncher-team/stable

3. Update apt

   sudo apt update

4. Install

   sudo apt install appimagelauncher

When first run you will be greeted with Welcome to AppImageLauncher!. Configure your App image prefernces to create a new directory to store your (AppImage) Applications, the default location is: /home//Applications. Change the location if you wish (I chose the default) then click OK.

Whenever you run a new AppImage you will have two choices, Run Once or Integrate and run. Click Integrate and run. This will add an executable icon of the app to your App folder. You can now also right click the App and add it to your favourites tray on your desktop toolbar.

Adjust the power settings

Because you will want to run your node for 6+ hours a day (24hrs is better) you will need to adjust the power & lid closure settings to prevent the laptop entering into a low power mode, slowing or halting network traffic.

Navigate to the Ubuntu power settings menu:

Show Apps > Settings > Power Settings.

Make the following adjustments:

• Power Mode = Balanced
• Automatic Power Saver = Off
• Automatic suspend = Off

Then close the settings menu.

Laptop lid, do nothing when closed

1. Navigate to systemd directory. Run:

   cd /etc/systemd

2. Open logind configuration file

   sudo nano logind.conf

3. Uncomment HandleLidSwitch and make it equal to HandleLidSwitch=ignore, save and exit.

4. Restart the systemd daemon (be aware that this will log you out of Ubuntu) with this command

   sudo systemctl restart systemd-logind

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Install Proton VPN

1. Move to Downloads folder and download repo. Run:

   cd ~/Downloads && wget https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-all/protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.4_all.deb

2. Install repo

   sudo dpkg -i ./protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.4_all.deb && sudo apt update

3. Check the repo package integrity by checking its checksum

   echo "62a9d849835de8a5664cf95329458bf1966780b15cec420bf707b5f7278b9027  protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.4_all.deb" | sha256sum --check -

4. Install ProtonVPN desktop app

   sudo apt install proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

5. Check for updates to ensure you’re running the latest version

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

6. Linux system tray icon (optional) By default, GNOME doesn’t support tray icons. Enable this functionality

   sudo apt install libayatana-appindicator3-1 gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1 gnome-shell-extension-appindicator

7. Clean up and remove old files

   cd ~/Downloads && rm -r protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.4_all.deb

8. Headover to ProtonVPN and Sign-up to a free account.

Connect to ProtonVPN whenever accessing a web browser on your machine.

---

Install Mullvad VPN (optional)

Mullvad recommended by the official Tor website. It's a paid service but has no email requirement and can use BTC to pay for the service. The internet speed should also be faster than a free ProtonVPN account.

---

Install Brave Browser (optional)

1. Enter the following commands one at a time. Run:

   sudo apt install curl

2. Download keys to keychain

   sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg

3. Verify

   echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main"|sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

4. Update and install

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install brave-browser

---

Install Telegram Desktop (optional)

A quick solution for encrypted files/messages.

1. Install Telegram from apt repo. Run:

   sudo apt install telegram-desktop

---

Install Bitcoin Core

Head over to Bitcoin Core and:

• Download Linux(tgz) 64 bit and save to Downloads folder.
• Scroll down the page, under the heading Verify your download, click on Linux verification instructions, then follow the instructions to verify your download.

Complete install

Reference Link

1. Unzip the bitcoin folder

   tar xzf bitcoin-28.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz

2. Install bitcoin core

   sudo install -m 0755 -o root -g root -t /usr/local/bin bitcoin-28.0/bin/*

3. Clean up

   cd ~/Downloads && sudo rm -r bitcoin-28.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz guix.sigs SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS

---

Run Bitcoin Core (start initial blockchain download)

Plug in your external 2T SSD drive.

1. Then start Bitcoin Core. Run:

   bitcoin-qt

   You will be greated with the Bitcoin Core Welcome screen, it is here that we will let Bitcoin Core know where our external SSD drive is located if you are using one. If not just keep the default settings.

2. Uncheck Limit block chain storage. We want to download the complete Bitcoin blockchain from the genisis block.

3. Click OK.

Bitcoin Core will now create the main data-directory in a hidden folder .bitcoin inside your home directory. It is here that all Bitcoin Core configuaration files will be stored along with the complete blockchain data. Get familiar with this data-directory (home/USERNAME/.bitcoin) location as we will be accessing it again later.

If you have trouble locating your external SSD Drive (if using one), try the following, open a new Terminal. Run:

cd /media && dir

You should see your user directory listed, cd into this dir which should contain your external drive.

4. Leave the laptop power plugged in and wait for the Bitcoin blockchain to download, Bitcoin Core will show a % complete and a rough estimate of how much time remains until completion.

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Configure Bitcoin Core

1. Once Bitcoin core is fully synced you will be greeted with a welcome screen asking if you would like to Create a new wallet. Proceed to create a standard wallet.

2. Then edit Bitcoin Core config file.

3. From the Bitcoin Core GUI click on Settings, Options, then Open Configuration File.

4. Enter the below text, save and exit

   # server=1, this tells Bitcoin to accept JSON-RPC commands 
   # (such as ones from EPS or Electrs etc.). txindex=1 allows any transaction 
   # to be looked up by EPS, this flag is not required for Electrs.
   server=1
   txindex=1
   listen=1
   
   proxy=127.0.0.1:9050
   bind=127.0.0.1
   
   datadir=
   
   # only connect to Tor hidden services, not even IPv4/IPv6 nodes
   onlynet=onion
   
   # Electrs can use the .cookie setting to connect to Bitcoin Core
   # but Specter can not and requires the rpcuser/rpcpassword to be set.
   rpcuser=<User>
   rpcpassword=<Password>
   
   # If running tor, walletbroadcast=0 prevents the node from 
   # rebroadcasting transactions without tor.
   walletbroadcast=0
   

5. Now shut down Bitcoin Core so that the config changes we made can be applied. Click on the X in the top right hand corner. Or enter the below command in any Terminal window:

   bitcoin-cli stop

Allow incoming connections (optional but recommended)

Configure your WIFI router to allow Bitcoin core incoming connections on port:8332. Make a note of both your MAC and IP address then follow the instructions in this Link

Retrieve your Laptops MAC address and IP address from the Terminal.

1. To print your MAC address to Terminal. Run:

   ip link

   You can find the MAC address of your device at the last line after link/ether=##:##:##:##:##:##.

2. Print your IP address to Terminal

   hostname -I

Some other helpful commands

3. Install net-tools to check incoming/outgoing port traffic

   sudo apt install net-tools

4. Check what IP and port Bitcoin is listening to

   sudo netstat --ip -lpa|grep bitcoin

---

Install Tor

Official website

"Browse Privately. Explore Freely. Defend yourself against tracking and surveillance. Circumvent censorship." - Torproject.org

1. Verify your CPU architecture. Run:

   dpkg --print-architecture

2. Install apt-transport-https

   sudo apt install apt-transport-https

3. Check what Linux Distribution you have installed

   lsb_release -c

4. Create a new file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ named tor.list

   cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

5. Open the file

   sudo nano tor.list

6. Add the following entries inside the file, save and close

      deb     [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/deb.torproject.org-keyring.gpg] https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org jammy main
      deb-src [arch=<amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/deb.torproject.org-keyring.gpg] https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org jammy main

7. Add Tor gpg key used to sign the packages

   sudo wget -qO- https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/deb.torproject.org-keyring.gpg >/dev/null

8. Update apt

   sudo apt update

9. Install Tor

   sudo apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring

10. Check Tor is installed

    tor --version

11. Configure Tor to start at system Boot (optional but recommended)

    sudo systemctl enable tor

Tor Systemctl commands

1. Manage Tor using systemd

   sudo systemctl restart tor

2. To check the status

   sudo systemctl status tor

---

Set up Tor hidden service

Configure Bitcoin Core to only connect using Tor. Reference link

Additional video tutorial, for further reference: Canadian Bitcoiners

1. Make changes to Tor configuration file. Run:

   cd /etc/tor

2. Open torrc file

   sudo nano torrc

3. Enter the below text at the bottom of the file, save and exit

   ControlPort 9051
   CookieAuthentication 1
   CookieAuthFileGroupReadable 1

4. Check what your Bitcoin Core user name is

   ps -eo user,group,comm |egrep 'bitcoind|bitcoin-qt' |awk '{print "Bitcoin user: " $1}'

5. Now add your Bitcoin Core user name to your Tor group. For example my command would be sudo usermod -a -G debian-tor rez as my Bitcoin user name is rez.

   sudo usermod -a -G debian-tor <user name found from above command>

6. If the above command did not work, double check your Tor user group name, run this command for a list of user groups, look for a user group with Tor in it's name.

   getent group

The above configuration sets up an automatic hidden service that is initiated by Bitcoin Core. On the next startup of bitcoin, Bitcoin Core will generate a file called onion_private_key in the data directory. KEEP THIS SAFE. If someone copies this file they can run a server with your .onion address. While a malicious party cannot necessarily associate the server with you as a person, as long as your server has the same xxxx.onion address they will know it is run by the same person.

If you delete this file, the next time bitcoind loads it will generate a new key file and xxxxxxxx.onion address. For absolute security delete your onion_private_key file at each reboot or some frequent interval.

7. Do a system Restart

   sudo shutdown -r now

Verify Bitcoin Core uses Tor. Option: 1

1. Start Bitcoin Core GUI

   bitcoin-qt

2. Once loaded enter the Network screen by pressing CTL+N.
3. Click on the Peers tab. You should now see a list of all the Bitcoin peers that your node is connected too. Under the Network column all the row values should say Onion, meaning you are only connected to peers over the onion ntwork.

Verify Bitcoin Core uses Tor. Option: 2

1. Check Bitcoin Core NetworkInfo. From the Bitcoin Core GUI click 'Window' tab, 'Consol', then type the below command after the > and press enter.

   getnetworkinfo

2. Scroll up until you see the networks section. Your node is running behind Tor if the 'ipv4' and 'onion' networks have the below settings (there will also be other settings in each network group but they can be ignored):

   "name": "ipv4",
         "limited": true,
         "reachable": false
   
   And
   
   "name": "onion",
         "limited": false,
         "reachable": true
   

Verify Bitcoin Core uses Tor. Option: 3

You will learn a lot about what Bitcoin Core is doing during start-up and shut-down if you watch the debug.log file.

1. Navigate to you main Bitcoin data-directory.

   cd ~/.bitcoin

2. Ooen a new Terminal window, will will call this 'Terminal 1'. Activate tail on the Bitcoin Core debug.log file with a grep on Tor.

   tail -f debug.log | grep tor

3. Now in a new Terminal window start bitcoind with debug set to Tor.

   bitcoind --daemon --debug=tor

4. Watch the debug file output printed in Terminal 1. You will see Tor: ADD_ONION successful and a lot of other Tor actions printed to the Terminal that Bitcoin Core completed during start-up including starting a Tor control thread, opening a Tor connection and finally connecting to the Tor network using your Tor encryption key.

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Install Electrs

Official website

"Electrs is a great low-resource, easy-to-install option for personal use - especially on resource-constrained hardware." - Jameson Lopp

Build dependencies

1. Install recent Rust

   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

2. Install Cargo

   sudo apt install cargo

3. Update package manager

   sudo apt update

4. Install dependencies for Rust-RocksDB

   sudo apt install clang cmake build-essential

I chose to compile electrs by statically linking to librocksdb, which has less dependencies.

5. Install dependencies

   sudo apt install -y libgflags-dev libsnappy-dev zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev liblz4-dev libzstd-dev

6. Clone the repo

   git clone -b v7.8.3 --depth 1 https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb && cd rocksdb

7. Install using make

   make shared_lib -j $(nproc) && sudo make install-shared

8. Clean up directory

   cd .. && rm -r rocksdb

9. Prepare man page generation (optional)

   cargo install cfg_me

10. Move to home directory and download electrs repo

    cd ~ && git clone https://github.com/romanz/electrs

11. Move into electrs directory

    cd electrs

Build Electrs

Note: you need to have enough free RAM to build electrs. The build will fail otherwise. Close those 100 old tabs in the browser.

12. First build should take ~20 minutes

    cargo build --locked --release

    During installation build the below warning was thrown:

    warning: electrs (lib) generated 1 warning (run cargo fix --lib -p electrs to apply 1 suggestion)
    Finished release [optimized] target(s) in 5m 53s

    I ran the command, suggested in the above warning, which completed the build without further errors.

    cargo fix --lib -p electrs

Generate Electrs man pages (optional)

Run cfg_me man to see man page immediately or run cfg_me -o electrs.1 man to save it into a file (electrs.1).

---

Configure Electrs

1. First lets create a symbolic link to a directory that is in our PATH so we can run electrs from anywhere

   sudo ln -s /home/<USER>/electrs/target/release/electrs /usr/local/bin/electrs

2. Check symbolic link was created

   ls -l /usr/local/bin

   Now when we upgrade to a new release we won't need to do this again as the link should still work.

3. Test the link

   electrs --version

   If the terminal displays a version number then the link is working and we can now run Electrs simply by running electrs from any location.

4. Create a config file for Electrs

   cd ~ && sudo mkdir .electrs && sudo nano .electrs/config.toml   

5. Copy below text into config.toml, save and exit

   # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY - COPY IT FIRST!
   # If you edit this, you will cry a lot during update and will not want to live anymore!
   
   # This is an EXAMPLE of how configuration file should look like.
   # Do NOT blindly copy this and expect it to work for you!
   # If you don't know what you're doing consider using automated setup or ask an experienced friend.
   
   # This example contains only the most important settings.
   # See docs or electrs man page for advanced settings.
   
   # File where bitcoind stores the cookie, usually file .cookie in its datadir
   #cookie_file = "/media/<USER>/<External_SSD_Name>/.cookie"
   
   # Use the below auth="USER:PASSWORD if you have RPC user:password set/active
   # in bitcoin.conf file.
   auth="<User>:<Password>"
   
   # The listening RPC address of bitcoind, port is usually 8332
   daemon_rpc_addr = "127.0.0.1:8332"
   
   # The listening P2P address of bitcoind, port is usually 8333
   daemon_p2p_addr = "127.0.0.1:8333"
   
   # Directory where the index should be stored. It should have at least 70GB of free space.
   db_dir = "/home/<User>/electrs/db"
   
   # bitcoin means mainnet. Don't set to anything else unless you're a developer.
   network = "bitcoin"
   
   # The address on which electrs should listen. Warning: 0.0.0.0 is probably a bad idea!
   # Tunneling is the recommended way to access electrs remotely.
   electrum_rpc_addr = "127.0.0.1:50001"
   
   # How much information about internal workings should electrs print. Increase before reporting a bug.
   log_filters = "INFO"
   

Build Electrs server index

6. Check size of current Bitcoin Core block directory

   du -ch ~/.bitcoin/blocks/blk*.dat | tail -n1

   This will print the size of the existing Bitcoin Core block directory. The final Electrs index DB will be about 10-20% the size of the Bitcoin Core block directory.

7. Start Bitcoind and wait for bitcoind to complete initial sync.

   bitcoind -server -daemon

8. Check sync is complete (the "blocks" & "headers" number needs to match, if not then there are still blocks being downloaded and synced).

   bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo | head

9. Start Electrs initial sync. First sync can take 1-2 days depending on CPU/hardware.

   electrs --log-filters INFO

10. Check final size of Electrs server index DB (should be around 10% the size of the Bitcoin Core block directory we checked earlier).

du ~/electrs/db

Monitoring Electrs (optional)

1. Install prometheus

   sudo apt install prometheus

2. Edit prometheus.yml file

   cd /etc/prometheus/ && sudo nano prometheus.yml

   Scroll to the bottom of the file and add the below, save and exit.

    - job_name: electrs
      static_configs:
        - targets: ['localhost:4224']

3. Restart prometheus

   sudo systemctl restart prometheus

4. Check collected metrics

    brave-browser 'http://localhost:9090/graph?g0.range_input=1h&g0.expr=index_height&g0.tab=0'

Click on Status tab then Runtime & Build Information tab to see if prometheus loaded and is pulling stats for further user querying.

---

Install Electrum

Official website

Electrum was first released as open-source back in 2011, making it one of the most trusted Bitcoin wallets available.

1. Download ThomasV public key and import into keychain. Run:

   cd ~/Downloads && wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spesmilo/electrum/master/pubkeys/ThomasV.asc && gpg --import ThomasV.asc

2. Install dependencies. Run:

   sudo apt-get install python3-pyqt5 libsecp256k1-dev python3-cryptography

3. Download package

   wget https://download.electrum.org/4.5.5/Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz

4. Verify signitures

   wget https://download.electrum.org/4.5.5/Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz.asc && gpg --verify Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz.asc

5. Install with pip

   sudo apt-get install python3-setuptools python3-pip && python3 -m pip install --user Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz

6. Clean up

   cd ~/Downloads && sudo rm -r Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz Electrum-4.5.5.tar.gz.asc ThomasV.asc

7. System Restart

   sudo shutdown -r now

---

Configure Electrum

The Electrum config file is located in a hidden Electrum directory, however this directory is only created once Electrum is run for the first time. To prevent any privacy leaks we can run Electrum with some flags to make sure it only connects to our Electrs server.

1. Launch Electrum using the following flags

   electrum --oneserver --server 127.0.0.1:50001:t --proxy socks5:127.0.0.1:9150

   Once Electrum loads, immediatly close it down again so we can edit the config file that was just created.

2. Open Electrum config file

   cd ~/.electrum && nano config

3. Replace the contents of the file with the below. save and exit:

   {
       "auto_connect": false,
       "check_updates": false,
       "decimal_point": 8,
       "log_to_file": true, 
       "oneserver": true,
       "proxy": "socks4:localhost:9050",
       "proxy_password": "",
       "proxy_user": "",
       "server": "localhost:50001:t"
   }

   This is what each config setting does:

   • auto_connect: false = Don't auto connect to read headers at startup
   • check_updates: false = Dont check for updates
   • decimal_point: 8 = Use BTC not sats
   • log_to_file: true = Log debugging to logs/ folder in data directory
   • oneserver: true = Only connect to one server
   • proxy: socks4:localhost:9050 = Use tor proxy
   • proxy_password: "" = No password for tor proxy
   • proxy_user: "" = No user deets for tor proxy
   • server: localhost:50001:t = Connect to electrs without ssl

The next time we start Electrum we can simply run the command electrum and let the config file handle the rest.

Create a Test wallet

We will create a new test (hot) wallet in Electrum to confirm and verify our config settings are correct.

1. Start electrum. Run:

   electrum

2. At the welcome screen. Click Next.
3. Rename default_wallet to test_hot_wallet (I think this name is less confusing). Click Next.
4. Select I already have a seed. Click Next.
5. Head over to CoinPlate and generate a Bip39 24 word seed phrase . Copy and save the seed phrase to a note on your desktop. Don't worry about security as this is just a simple test wallet for testing configuration settings.
6. Copy and paste the seed phase into the Electrum box that is displayed.
7. Click Options, and select Bip39 seed. Click OK. Ignore the warning and click Next.
8. Keep native segwit (p2wpkh) selected and click Next.
9. Leave the password fields blank, we wont encrypt the wallet data as this is just a test wallet, click Next.
10. Electrum - enable update check. Click No. We will always verify and update our software ourselves.

Add some watch-only addresses

We will use these to confirm Electrs & Bitcoin Core are connected correctly.

1. From the Electrum window press CTRL+N, this will bring up the New/Restore menu.

2. Choose a name for your wallet, you can just name the wallet something like satoshi_address or mr100. Click Next.

3. Select Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys, click Next.

4. Add any bitcoin addresses that you would like to watch. A simple Google search can return some interesting famous bitcoin addresses. I find it more intuative to create a new watch wallet for each address. Out of curiosty and fun, I added the following three addresses to three individual wallets named satoshi_address, huobi_address and mr100_address. Just add the actual address (long string of 34 characters). i.e if you want to watch mr100 bitcoin address just add 1Ay8vMC7R1UbyCCZRVULMV7iQpHSAbguJP and click Next.

   • 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa (satoshi_address, shows first Bitcoin transaction to Hal Finney)
   • 35hK24tcLEWcgNA4JxpvbkNkoAcDGqQPsP (Huobi_address = Huobi exchange hot wallet)
   • 1Ay8vMC7R1UbyCCZRVULMV7iQpHSAbguJP (mr100_address = Unknown, transacts daily in blocks of 100 BTC)

5. No need to set a wallet password as your just watching someone elses Bitcoin address. Click Finish.

Footnote: Although it's great to watch something smash buy bitcoin in blocks of 100 at the same time there is always an equal seller for instance the legendary Gummo telling the world in 2024 that he's selling 72,572 bitocoin in blocks of 100🤔

X post - The Bitcoin Historian @pete_rizzo_

"I'm taking steps to sell the remaining 72,572 bitcoins responsibly! 💼 No deals with organised crime, third parties, or middlemen - just direct transactions with integrity. Selling in lots of 100 for transparency only. Let's keep it real & legal in the crypto world!💰" - Gummo

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Launch Bitcoin-Core, Electrs & Electrum

1. Start Bitcoin-Core by running bitcoin-qt to use the GUI or to run a daemon. Run:

   bitcoind -datadir=/media/<User>\<External_SSD_Name> -server -daemon

2. Start Electra once Bitcoin Core has fully loaded

   electrs --log-filters INFO --network bitcoin --db-dir ~/electrs/db --daemon-dir /media/<User>\<External_SSD_Name>

3. Start Electrum once Electra has fully indexed and is at te blockchain tip. You can check this by looking at the Terminal printout and waiting for the INFO electrs::chain chain updated. Electrum will not sync until Electrs has synced to the tip of the Blockchain. So wait for the INFO electrs::chain chain updated and you are good to launch Electrum.

   electrum

If the Network light in the bottom righthand corner of Electrum GUI is blue then you are connected to your own node (which we configured & verified is running behind Tor). It is now safe to interact with your real wallets.

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Install Specter wallet

Official Website

Specter is an open-source Bitcoin wallet, first released June 2020. It offers an intuative desktop GUI ideal for the creation and management of MultiSig or SingleSig wallets with extensive HWW support.

1. Create a new directory in Downloads folder called Specter and move into it.

   mkdir ~/Downloads/Specter && cd ~/Downloads/Specter

2. Download Specter, SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.asc to Downloads folder

   wget https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-desktop/releases/download/v2.0.5/specter_desktop-v2.0.5-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-desktop/releases/download/v2.0.5/SHA256SUMS https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-desktop/releases/download/v2.0.5/SHA256SUMS.asc

3. Now head over to here and click on Verify signiture, below For Linux. Follow the instructions to verfiy both the signiture and the file.

   On step #2, Brave browser blocked the download, I had to manually resume/approve the download by clicking on the small yellow triangle in the top righthand corner of the browser window. I also had to rename the file to pgp_keys.asc as Brave-browser wanted to name the file by the long RSA number.

4. Extract the download

   tar -xvf ~/Downloads/Specter/specter_desktop-v2.0.5-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Set UDEV rules

5. Naigate to Specter directory

   cd ~/Downloads/Specter

6. Apply the following udev rules by copying them to /etc/udev/rules.d/ and notifying udevadm. Your user will need to be added to the plugdev group, which needs to be created if it does not already exist. Run the following commands one at a time:

   sudo cp udev/*.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/

   sudo udevadm trigger

   sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

   sudo groupadd plugdev

   sudo usermod -aG plugdev `whoami`

Specter configuration

7. Launch Specter for the first time

   cd ~/Downloads/Specter && ./Specter-2.0.5.AppImage

You will be greeted with Specters welcome screen providing the options to configure the application.

8. Use the below config settings:

   • Name = Bitcoin Core
   • Username = (matching the rpcuser details in bitocoin.conf file)
   • Password = (matching the rpcpassword details in bitcoin.conf file)
   • Host = 127.0.0.1
   • Port = 8332

9. Click Connect

Specter will automatically utilize the existing Tor configuration used for Bitcoin Core. To validate this yourself, you can check the Specter Desktop logs for any Tor-related messages or errors. If everything is configured correctly, you should see no issues or warnings regarding Tor.

10. Check Specter logs for any errors/issues

    cd ~/.specter && nano specterApp.log

11. Clean up, delete old files/directories

    cd ~/Downloads && rm -r Specter   

Read Specters official docs to get the most out of the software wallets functionality.

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Install Sparrow wallet

Official Website

Sparrow is an open-source Bitcoin wallet, first released September 2020, offering exellent wallet encryption, keeping the wallet open for as limited time as possible for added security. The encrypted wallet file can also be saved to a seperate location (external flash drive etc.) for additional plausible deniability.

1. Verify your CPU architecture. Run:

   dpkg --print-architecture

2. Head over to hear and download the installation file that matches your architecture. Save to Downloads folder.
3. Scroll the Sparrow/Downloads page and follow the instruction under the heading Verifying the release to verify your download. It doesnt make sense to install software then use that software to verify itself so we will verify manually using gpg. Scroll down the official Sparrow download page further for the manual vefification instructions using gpg.
4. Download and import craigraw/pgp_keys.asc

   curl https://keybase.io/craigraw/pgp_keys.asc | gpg --import

5. Verify the signature of the manifest file

   cd ~/Downloads && gpg --verify sparrow-2.0.0-manifest.txt.asc

6. Verify the download file

   sha256sum --check sparrow-2.0.0-manifest.txt --ignore-missing

   If you recieve the OK result to your terminal then the solftware is authentic and safe to install. This also means that we can now use Sparrows veification feature to easily verify future software from the GUI interface if we wish.

Install and configure

7. Navigate to Downloads folder and install the downloaded .deb file. This will save the app to your Show Applications folder, that can be accessed from your Desktop.

   cd ~/Downloads && sudo dpkg -i <NAME_OF_FILE>.deb  

8. Start Sparrow by double clicking the app icon.
9. Read the welcome messages and then choose Server: type, Private Electrum (the blue toggle switch).
10. Enter these config settings

• URL: 127.0.0.1 50001
• Use SSL: toggle switch Off
• Certificate: (leave the field empty)
• Use Proxy: toggle switch On (blue)
• Proxy URL: 127.0.0.1 9050

11. Make sure Bitcoin Core and Electrs are running then click on the
    Test Connection button. You should be greeted with the following text:

    Connected to electrs/0.10.5 on protocol version 1.4
    Batched RPC enabled.
    Server Banner: Welcome to electrs 0.10.5 (Electrum Rust Server)!
    

12. Clean up, delete old files/directories

    cd ~/Downloads && rm -r sparrow_2.0.0-1_amd64.deb sparrow-2.0.0-manifest.txt.asc	sparrow-2.0.0-manifest.txt

Read Sparrows official docs to get the most out of the software wallets functionality.

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Hardware Wallet support

Linux systems require udev rules from each Hardware device manufacturer to allow the USB functionality to work. These were all included during the installation of Specter (as Specter privided a handy folder containing all the most popular hardware device Udev rules for Linux).

Electrum HWW support

Reference Link

1. For electrum we just need to downgrade pip to allow installation of required dependencies for Electrum HWW support. Run:

   python3 -m pip uninstall pip && python3 -m pip install pip==22

2. Install dependencies

   python3 -m pip install hidapi btchip-python ecdsa ledger-bitcoin

3. Upgrade pip back to latest version

   sudo pip3 install --upgrade pip

Install Ledger Live (optional)

Reference Link

If you are still using Ledger or needing access to to the Ledger Live suite then follow below instructions to install.

1. Add udev rules for Ledger (if not already done so) to allow USB access to your Ledger device

   wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LedgerHQ/udev-rules/master/add_udev_rules.sh | sudo bash
   

2. Install Ubuntu 22.04 dependency

   sudo add-apt-repository universe

3. Head over to Official website and download the Linux .Appimage file to your Downloads folder.
4. Shorten the name and move to the home directory

   mv ledger-live-desktop-2.91.1-linux-x86_64.AppImage ~/LedgerLive-2.91.1.AppImage

5. Run Ledger-Live for the first time (after the first run the app will be added to your Show Applications folder via the desktop Toolbar.

   cd ~ && ./LedgerLive-2.91.1.AppImage

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Configure desktop

Build Bitcoin node desktop icon

Build a launchable Desktop icon called Bitcoin that when clicked will launch Bitcoin Core and Electrs, ready for you to then open the bitcoin wallet of your choice.

1. First we need to create an executable bash script, we'll call it node.sh

   nano node.sh

2. Edit the file with your application launch paths

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # launch bitcoin-qt as a background job
   #/usr/local/bin/bitcoin-qt &
   
   # launch bitcoind as a background job
   /usr/local/bin/bitcoind &
   
   # Sleep to allow Bitcoin Core to load, if electra throws an error that then increase the sleep time
   sleep 5
   
   # launch electrs
   /usr/local/bin/electrs --log-filters INFO
   
   exit 0
   

3. Make the file executable

   chmod +x node.sh

4. Check if you have a .icon directory

   cd ~/.icon

   If you get the error No such file or directory. Then create the directory.

      mkdir ~/.icons

5. Move to ~/.icons directory and download a Bitcoin logo icon

   cd ~/.icons && wget https://bitcoin.design/assets/images/guide/getting-started/visual-language/bitcoin-symbol.svg

6. Shorten the file name and move the file to the icon directory

   mv bitcoin-symbol.svg btclogo.svg

7. Create a new file named bash.desktop in the home directory (same location as your node.sh file). This file will contain the desktop entry information.

   cd ~ && nano bitcoin.desktop

8. Edit the file adding the following information, save and exit:

   [Desktop Entry]
   Version=1.0
   Type=Application
   Terminal=true
   Icon=btclogo
   Name=Bitcoin
   Exec=/home/<user>/node.sh
   Comment=Run Bash Script

9. Validate the bash.desktop file using the desktop-file-validate command

   desktop-file-validate bitcoin.desktop

   If there are no errors, the file is valid.

10. Move the bash.desktop file to Desktop

    mv bitcoin.desktop ~/Desktop

    Log out and log back in to your system to ensure the icon is updated.

11. Right-click the desktop icon, select Allow Launching (or similar). The icon should now be visible and launchable.

12. Double click the desktop (Bitcoin) icon to Launch Bitcoin-qt and electrs together, or use the Terminal command:

    ./node.sh

Build Electrum desktop icon

Build a launchable Desktop icon called Electrum that when clicked will launch the Electrum wallet.

1. Create a new .desktop file

touch ~/Desktop/electrum.desktop

2. Edit the new .desktop file

nano ~/Desktop/electrum.desktop

3. Add the following into the file, save and close.

   [Desktop Entry]
   Name=Electrum
   Comment=Lightweight Bitcoin Wallet.
   GenericName=Bitcoin Wallet.
   Exec=/home/<USER>/.local/bin/electrum
   Icon=electrum
   Type=Application

4. Udate the shortcut’s permissions:

   chmod +x ~/Desktop/electrum.desktop

5. Also add a shortcut to your app-menu

   sudo cp ~/Desktop/electrum.desktop /usr/share/applications/

6. Right-click the desktop icon, select Allow Launching (or similar). The icon should now be visible and launchable.

7. Double click the desktop (Electrum) icon to Launch Electrum.

Remove HOME folder desktop icon

1. Remove Home folder icon

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.ding show-home false