Bitcoin Core 32.1 makes it easier to keep a wallet's signing keys off the internet while checking its balance on an online computer.
The October 27 release adds a watch-only export for descriptor wallets. It copies the public information needed to track the wallet, plus its transactions and address book, but leaves out the private keys. The file can be restored on another Bitcoin Core node. There is a menu option as well as a command-line route.
That online copy can prepare a payment, but it cannot sign it. In Bitcoin Core's documented offline-signing workflow, the unsigned transaction goes to the disconnected computer for checking and signing. The signed transaction then returns to the online computer for broadcast.
Watch-only wallets already existed. The change replaces manual setup in the project's tutorial with an export-and-restore step. For someone maintaining separate online and offline machines, it simplifies getting the viewing wallet ready without moving the signing keys onto it.
Sources: Bitcoin Core 32.1 release notes and Offline Signing Tutorial, checked November 1, 2026.
https://bitcoincore.org/en/releases/32.1/
#Bitcoin #SelfCustody
The October 27 release adds a watch-only export for descriptor wallets. It copies the public information needed to track the wallet, plus its transactions and address book, but leaves out the private keys. The file can be restored on another Bitcoin Core node. There is a menu option as well as a command-line route.
That online copy can prepare a payment, but it cannot sign it. In Bitcoin Core's documented offline-signing workflow, the unsigned transaction goes to the disconnected computer for checking and signing. The signed transaction then returns to the online computer for broadcast.
Watch-only wallets already existed. The change replaces manual setup in the project's tutorial with an export-and-restore step. For someone maintaining separate online and offline machines, it simplifies getting the viewing wallet ready without moving the signing keys onto it.
Sources: Bitcoin Core 32.1 release notes and Offline Signing Tutorial, checked November 1, 2026.
https://bitcoincore.org/en/releases/32.1/
#Bitcoin #SelfCustody
