Subject: [Bitcoin-development] minor bitcoin-qt gripes moving BTC off specific key

From: Adam Back <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 May 2013 14:16:41 +0200

Hi

Three minor security/other issues:

1. please a way to unlock the wallet without displaying wallet password in
   console screen (console unlock wallet, to import priv key); or 

2. a button to import a private key (and option to transfer it to another
   key - if you are not the sole controller the private key)

3. a UX way to transfer BTC off a specific adress (eg choose from
   address), rather than having to spend the entire wallet onto a new
   address, just to get BTC off a specific address.  Doing it that way has
   problems: creates more network traffic/bigger packets, higher fees (if
   any transactions are young/low confirmation), and generally damages
   privacy as all your funds end up linked.

Stop reading here if thats clear.. below is how those scenarios happened
which I think are common enough.

So someone sent me a small BTC donation by emailing me the private key, as I
had no bitcoin address.  So naturally I need to move the funds off the
private key, or they could spend it under me.

I had another small amount on a self-controlled private key in the wallet
via a reddit tip (.05BTC tip payed to self-controlled key became .0498BTC).

So I went through the debug->console unlock wallet (password in cleartext on
screen? yuck), then importpriv key, process and that worked, though not
particularly intuitive - could do with an "import key" button?

Then I wanted to take the .01 BTC off the private key and the FAQs etc seem
to suggest that the only way to do it is to spend our entire balance (from
all keys) onto a new address.  Not exactly what I wanted, but I did it
anyway and the tx fee goes up from .0001 which I set it to to .0005 because
the transaction was young, to avoid network flooding.  Even though
transaction I actually wanted to move (on the non self-controlled key had a
big heap of confirmations and so could've been .0001 tx fee).

Would be kind of handy to be able to select the key to empty without having
to empty the entire wallet into a new key...  (Smaller transaction KB on the
network, less fees for the user, less confusing).

Maybe theres a way to do it, eg via the console again, but I didnt find it;
and it's surely common enough that it could do with being another button or
right click option.  eg I could've setup another wallet instance but thats
rather indirect.

Adam