How to verify the Bitcoin Core wallet binary file on Windows, Mac, and Linux

Recently I saw a post saying 'Before downloading the new version of Bitcoin Core software, please check the signature, otherwise there is a risk of losing your coins'. After seeing this post, our company immediately paid attention to this issue, because it is a very important security issue, so I was sent to explain to you how to verify the binary file of Bitcoin Core.

First, you need to go to the official Bitcoin Core website to download the wallet at: https://bitcoin.org/en/download. Download the version you need, as shown in Figure 1-1 below:

Figure: 1-1

After the download is successful, the file should look like this: (I am using Windows 10 as an example). Please pay attention to the part I marked with a red box, Verify release signatures. Click this link and you will be asked to download a file. Save it to a location you can find as shown in Figure 1-2:

Figure 1-2

OK, so here comes the question, how can I verify whether the Bitcoin Core wallet I downloaded is a good wallet?

Please log in to this website: http://www.atool.org/file_hash.php This is an online calculation tool as shown in Figure 1-3:

Figure 1-3

After logging in, you can drag the wallet you just downloaded directly to the window as shown in Figure 1-4:

Figure 1-4

Hey, you will see a SHA256 Hash in the red box. You will find that the file you just downloaded is called HA256SUMS.asc and it also has SHA256. Now open the SHA256SUMS.asc file, you can directly drag this file to the browser window. According to my test, in addition to IE browser, Firefox, Google, QQ and other browsers can directly display it, as shown in Figure 1-5 (I use Firefox browser):

Figure 1-5

In the upper middle part of the file, you can see that the first part is the SHA256 hash code and the second part is the name of the binary file. The file name and hash value correspond to each other. You may have noticed the place where I drew a red box. This is a corresponding file name and hash value. At this time, compare the SHA256 hash value you just calculated from the online calculation tool with the hash of the same file name in SHA256SUMS.asc downloaded from the official website. Please note that you must find the corresponding hash value according to the file name you downloaded, as shown in Figures 1-5-1, 1-5-2:

Figure 1-5-1

Figure 1-5-2

If you find that they are exactly the same, congratulations, the wallet you downloaded is a 'real wallet'.

If they are different, then congratulations, you have won the prize. Your wallet is problematic and may have been modified by someone else, so there is a risk of theft.

The results of my personal test on Mac OS X are shown in Figures 1-6, 1-6-1, and 1-6-2:

Figure 1-6

Figure 1-6-1

Figure 1-6-2

You will find that it is still the same. I have not tested it under Linux, but it should be the same.

Here is a great piece of news:

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Tian Xin

Beijing Bitmain Technology Co., Ltd.