Here’s an article that explains why bitcoind getbalance
is different from bitcoind listunspent
when using imported multisig Bitcoin watches-only addresses:
Understanding Bitcoin Watch-Only Addresses and getbalance
vs listunspent
When working with Bitcoin in a regtest environment, you’re likely familiar with the bitcoin-cli
commands getbalance
, listunspent
, and others that provide various information about your wallet’s balance, transactions, and unspent outputs. However, there might be times when you need to differentiate between these two seemingly similar commands: getbalance
and listunspent
.
In this article, we’ll explore the differences between getbalance
and listunspent
, especially in the context of using imported multisig Bitcoin watches-only addresses.
Multisig Watches-Only Addresses
When you create a multisig wallet with watches-only addresses, each address is a separate entity that can only receive funds, but not spend them. This means that if an attacker tries to spend any funds from a multisig watch-only address, the transaction will be rejected by the network.
In regtest mode, we’ll focus on these watches-only addresses as they’re used for testing and development purposes.
getbalance
: Understanding its purpose
The getbalance
command is used to retrieve information about an account’s balance. When you run bitcoin-cli getbalance
For multisig watches-only addresses, using getbalance
might seem like a straightforward way to check the balances. However, this command does not provide any information about the transactions associated with these addresses.
listunspent
: Understanding its purpose
The listunspent
command is used to retrieve a list of all unspent outputs in an address’s transaction history. When you run bitcoin-cli listunspent
For multisig watches-only addresses, using listunspent
can reveal information about the transactions associated with these addresses. This is because each multisig watch-only address typically has multiple unspent outputs associated with it.
Key differences
The primary difference between getbalance
and listunspent
lies in their purposes:
getbalance
: Retrieves account balance information, without providing transaction details.
listunspent
: Provides a detailed list of all unspent outputs associated with an address, including sender, receiver, amount, and other transaction details.
When using imported multisig Bitcoin watches-only addresses, you should use listunspent
instead of getbalance
. This is because the latter command does not provide any useful information about transactions, whereas the former command reveals valuable insights into the accounts associated with these addresses.
Example: Running listunspent
on a multisig watch-only address
Suppose you have created a multisig wallet with two watches-only addresses: address1-ws
and address2-ws
. You want to check the balances of both addresses and see which one has more unspent outputs.
bitcoin-cli listunspent address1-ws
This command will return a detailed output showing all unspent outputs associated with address1-ws
.
bitcoin-cli listunspent address2-ws
This command will show you the balance and transaction details for both addresses.
In summary, when working with multisig Bitcoin watches-only addresses in regtest mode, use listunspent
instead of getbalance
to get a detailed view of transactions associated with each address. This ensures that you have accurate information about your wallet’s balances and can make informed decisions.