Wallet questions

[jdfree]

Hi all, I posted the following to the GTC support page recently, and Greg Matthews asked that I post it here for public consumption.  So here ya go:

Hi, I'm new to cryptocurrencies and even newer to GoldCoin. I just started using your wallet yesterday, and I backed it up and encrypted it. When I started up the wallet today it took much longer to open, and to connect to, and synch with, the blockchain. While I was waiting for synching to start I noticed the Lock icon on the lower right showing that the wallet is encrypted and locked. At first I feared that was why synching hadn't started, but it eventually did, and it's now up to date. Were things so much slower today because I encrypted the wallet? (Just so I'll know what to expect in the future.) Also, I don't see an option for unencrypting the wallet. Can unencrypting be done if I want/need to? I have the passphrase safely stored. Thanks in advance for your help! jdf

[MicroGuy]

Welcome to the Goldcoin forum and thank you for posting.

I will answer your questions to the best of my understanding. Others, please feel free to chime in.

Were things so much slower today because I encrypted the wallet? (Just so I'll know what to expect in the future.)

Encrypting the wallet has no impact on wallet performance or speed. The Windows reference wallet operates as a full node. This means that each time you open the wallet, it must load from disk the blockchain data. Depending on your computer specs, this can sometimes take up to 2 minutes.

This spring we will be releasing a thin client that will operate much faster. These types of wallets are known as SPV wallets. More info: https://medium.com/@jonaldfyookball/why-every-bitcoin-user-should-understand-spv-security-520d1d45e0b9

Also, I don't see an option for unencrypting the wallet. Can unencrypting be done if I want/need to?

It is currently not possible to unencrypt the Windows wallet. I believe this feature might be available in our upcoming reference wallet but will need to check.

So just to summarize: encrypting the wallet should not slow down its operation. And soon we will have both a full-node reference wallet and SPV wallet for Windows. You can read about the full network upgrade currently underway here: https://www.gldcoin.com/roadmap/

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Again, thank you for posting and please let me know if you should ever need anything at all!