Web Wallet ( this is the one that I use on the Exchange like Coinbase or Coins.Ph)
For example the hardware wallet “cold storage wallet” like the Trezor or “Nano S Ledger”.
In Layman’s terms ( and pls correct me if I’m wrong):
In what i understand, cold storage wallet is not like an actual wallet where you can keep physical cash in it.
This small device is like my ATM card where it holds passwords and pin codes. But the actual money is in the bank or the cryptocurrency is in the Bitcoin Blockchain or in the ZCash Blockchain.
So if I lose my ATM card, it can be replaced, if I lose my Nano S Ledger it can be replaced w a new one and as long as I know the old codes and pins, I will be able to use the new one like the old one.
The blockchain is like a water loop that runs in my house from a source, it supplies all the water in my house and all the properties of that particular water supply within it.
The ZecWallet. What is it? Why did it took me 12 hours to synced it or to connect it?
Where is it synchronized to?
I work in a dialysis center and I can understand how the Reverse Osmosis water system works.
Please explain to me in layman’s terms, in a way a person who works in healthcare or a non computer technical person like myself can understand, in a simple diagram or in any way you can.
I will appreciate it very much.
Zec wallet is a first gen mobile wallet capable of shielded transactions
It requires being connected to a full node on a computer because the blockchain is very heavy
Syncing is basically downloading the blockchain and 12 hours is not unheard of
In this case your phone is kind of like a remote control to your computer wallet which is advantageous because your full node requires no 3rd party for verification which is also a little computationally heavy
ZecWallet v0.6.2 on my laptop - the blockchain is downloaded here ( this is the one that took me 12 hours). Meaning " the blockchain is in my laptop". Passage to my laptop is in my control or I have this laptop in front of me and I can do whatever I want with it.
ZecWallet “mobile” connects to my laptop’s blockchain and uses this blockchain to send and receive Zec.
Did I get it right?
In other words:
The ZecWallet v0.6.2 in my laptop is like the Coinbase website, or Coinbase will have something equal to this type of connection, they control this connection or they have this in front of them and they can do we whatever they want with it.
My Coinbase “App on my mobile phone” connects to Coinbase website and they take care of me to send and receive Zec.
I hope I did not sound like a comedian.
But did I get this right?
Few more questions.
How can I recover my ZCash if my laptop breaks?
So if I reinstall ZecWallet in a different desktop, can I have a clone of my ZecWallet?
Or
Let’s say right now I’m using a PC and I want have a clone of this in a Mac?
You can recover a desktop wallet anywhere enough you have the private keys for each adress you use. Or simply, the private keys of the adresses you have funds in case you use more than 1 adress.
Step by step guide:
First you have to export the private key
On your current desktop wallet open the command/debug console
write there: dumpprivkey “your ZEC address here”
hit “Enter”
after some seconds it will show the private key for this adress.
copy/paste this private key to wherever you wish it to be, usb flash card, whatever…
Importing the private key into a new desktop wallet on other device:
download the desktop wallet
wait until it is synced
open the command/debug console, in most cases it’s under “help”
write: importprivkey “your ZEC Private key”
Hit “Enter” and wait
It might take some time for some re-syncing but you have now your wallet adress imported and are done.
Caution: Have in mind that whoever has your private key has control over your wallet & funds, means keep it in a safe place and never ever give it to anybody!!!
Another option would be to simply copy the wallet.dat file of the ZEC wallet over to a flash card for example or another device. This works most times, but it’s possible there occur problems in future:
i had a wallet from another coin where the wallet.dat file was no more compatible with later wallet versions.
There is always a chance that the wallet.dat file gets damaged, corrupted, whatever.
It takes more resources on a given device to have the wallet.dat file saved.
You can badly mess up things if something doesn’t work out for some reason left without privacy keys and i was twice in a situation it took me days to recover a wallet than back while using only the wallet.dat backup solution.
Best & most secure way is the import/export private key feature and additionally a backup of the wallet.dat file.
I just imported my private keys from my laptop to my newly downloaded ZecWallet on my desktop to make a backup just in case I break my laptop.
The new ZecWallet says " The keys are imported. It may take several minutes to rescan the blockchain. Until then functionality will be limited".
Am I going this right?
How long does it usually takes until a copy of my original wallet balances shows up?
You will need to wait until the block chain is synced to see your balance. See the progress in the bottom right. If once synced you still have balance issues see this: Troubleshooting Issues - ZecWallet Docs and you can perform a rescan via the Settings->Troubleshooting menu. But let it fully sync first as that’s likely the issue.