How to Send and Receive Bitcoin in KeepKey Desktop

Let's Begin

Don’t have KeepKey Desktop? Go here.

To manage your funds, you must use a dapp. There are many dapps in the ecosystem, but the best one for sending Bitcoin is ShapeShift. That is why we default to the ShapeShift dapp opening every time the application starts.

(If for any reason you are not brought into ShapeShift on startup, click here.)

Managing your Bitcoin

1. Search for Bitcoin (BTC).

   

2. Press the Receive Button.

   

To receive Bitcoin, give this address to the person or exchange you are receiving Bitcoin from.

You can verify your Bitcoin transactions here: Blockstream Block Explorer

As well as view your history in the app.

Understanding Address Script Types

Legacy addresses: Legacy addresses are traditional Bitcoin addresses that begin with the number “1”. They are supported by most wallets and exchanges and are the most commonly used address type.

SegWit P2SH: SegWit P2SH addresses are a type of SegWit address that start with the number “3” and are supported by most wallets and exchanges. They are a more secure and efficient way to send Bitcoin.

Native SegWit: Native SegWit addresses are a type of SegWit address that start with the number “bc1” and are supported by most wallets and exchanges. They are the most secure and efficient way to send Bitcoin and have lower fees compared to other address types.

TL:DR

It’s important to understand.

SegWit addresses are slightly cheaper in transaction fees. However, the fees saved from using native SegWit do NOT justify moving your funds into them. Simply prefer SegWit native when receiving NEW Bitcoin into your wallet.

Understanding Accounts

An account is a very loaded term. In the case of our application, accounts refer to specific paths in relation to BIP39 derivation paths.

Accounts can be used to segregate funds purely for accounting purposes. Every account can produce an infinite amount of legacy/SegWit-P2SH/SegWit native addresses.

Limiting account generation:

To maximize the performance of the application, we default to a single account. If you wish to segregate funds for accounting purposes, you can follow the following procedure.

1. Proceed to the accounts tab.

   

2. Verify if you have used account0. If you have NOT and do not currently hold any Bitcoin, you MUST first fund your account0 with any amount of Bitcoin.

3. Press Add account. Select Bitcoin, and continue.

   

Notice that both accounts contain all 3 script types. You may distribute funds to any of these paths, and each path can generate an infinite amount of addresses. All accounts tracked by the app will register as source Bitcoin when building a transaction.

Sending Bitcoin

Return to assets search.

Select Send Bitcoin.

Enter the address of the user you wish to send Bitcoin to.

Note: You may NOT send your entire balance of your wallet. You are limited from sending from multiple script types. This is a limitation of our wallet, not the protocol. You must select the source account and script type you wish to send FROM, and are limited to the balance of the specific script type. You also must account for fees; however, the app has a built-in sendMax button. Just understand the amount sending will never be exactly your balance.

Understanding The Fees Tab

TL:DR

Select average or better and don’t go down this rabbit hole… it's a deep one. If you want to not stress and potentially be stuck in limbo for long periods, just pay a moderate fee.

And that's it, you can now send and receive Bitcoin using KeepKey Desktop!

For more support, go to http://keepkey.com.

But for all those who dare ask the question:

It's a long and complicated answer…

...

Last chance

Continue to my article on Bitcoin fees

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