Best Bitcoin Core Version for Cold Wallet Setup?

Hey, sorry if this has been asked before. Just noticed version 26 of the Core Client dropped this month, but Bitcoin.org is still pushing version 25. Is that about stability or something?

I'd go for 26. It’s the latest release with some improvements. You can grab it from the official dev site. Bitcoin.org just hasn’t updated yet, probably.

Yeah, no reason to stick with 25 if you’re going for stability. Both are solid releases, unlike those beta versions you can find on GitHub. Check out the release notes for 26 too.

Just to clarify, bitcoin.org isn’t the official Bitcoin Core site. That’d be bitcoincore.org. The Core developers don't manage bitcoin.org, as far as I know.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll use 26 then. Planning to set it up on a Raspberry Pi 2.

Even bitcoin.org suggests checking bitcoincore.org for the latest version. Good call.

Not sure if Bitcoin Core will even run smoothly on a Raspberry 2. It’s below the minimum specs.

Wait, what limitations for a cold wallet? I thought it didn't need the network. I’d run it with the -noconnect option. RAM is okay, but RNG might be a concern.

Should run fine with that setup. Just make sure you’re using it right.

Just so you know, Linux uses different inputs for RNG. A little usage on your Pi should generate enough entropy.

Cobra runs bitcoin.org, but yeah, bitcoincore.org is the real deal. But why care about Bitcoin Core if you're not planning to use it directly? Lightweight clients like Electrum could be better.

I switched to bitcoincore.org already. Just had some uncertainty, but it’s cleared up. Thanks for mentioning other clients. I’ll also use the wallet manually as intended.

Running a daemon on a connected device isn't really cold storage even with -noconnect. A cold wallet should never touch the internet.

I get that, just trying to avoid unnecessary timeouts. I’ve been reading and came across sethdseed. Can I use that for generating my xpriv key?

Yes, but you need to encode the 'seed' into WIF first. You mean the seed, not the phrase, right? Only legacy wallets can use that command.

Is there a command for that? Because I found out Bitcoin Core doesn’t support those BIP 39 word lists. I was thinking about a binary seed.

Yeah, normally you'd go through legacy wallets for that. You’ll have to convert it to WIF yourself.

Okay, let’s backtrack a bit. I’m using a tool for BIP39 and it gives me extended keys. If I enter a BIP32 Root Key, will it compute the right keys?

You got it. Binary seed to XPRV is the way to go. That xprv is what you’ll work with.

Still confused. That BIP39 tool calls it a BIP39 seed, but isn’t that the same as my binary seed?