so I imported the satashi nakamoto private key, the only one I found with a balance on it, to see what actually happens. remarkably, to me, it made it into the next block (search for 0.0000574 on the page); my limited understanding was that an import only was seen by the node importing, not the whole network. and its inclusion into the block apparently added no new information, rather it seems to have replayed an old transaction. nowhere do I see my own BTC address on that page, and the 574 satoshis are still credited to the original account.
I had done a bitcoin-cli move "satoshi nakamoto" "my other local account" 0.00000574" but that shows up in the transaction list as only a local event, and my understanding was that it had to enter the blockchain.
so there's still a lot I don't understand. I'm trying to figure out if I can aggregate these tiny amounts into something useful by importing the keys, but apparently the answer is "no".
and I'm also thinking, despite all the warnings about importing random private keys, that there's no real danger except for the amount held by that key (wallet) itself; any other funds on the same box are, I believe, not vulnerable. I guess I'll find out eventually.
last updated 2018-01-05 23:19:57. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com