How to sign a message

The process of signing a message proves ownership of an address. You can be asked to sign a message when you are performing a task that requires managing payment information or settings that may affect personalized functions related to your address. This ensures that no one except the owner of the address can make these changes.

To Sign a Message using the Standard QT Wallet (Core)

  1. Open the Qt wallet hosting the address you are being asked to verify and bring up the “Signatures” dialog by selecting “Sign Message” in the “File” menu.

    Open signature dialog window from core wallet.

  2. Ensure you have the “Sign Message” tab selected.

    Select the sign message tab.

  3. Fill in your address and paste the message you are asked to sign. You can also select your address from the address book. Note: The address's private key must be in this wallet. The signature will fail if it's not.

    Fill in address and message fields.

  4. Click the “Sign Message” button.

    Click the sign message button.

  5. If successful, the Qt client will insert a signed message in the “Signature” field.

    Message signature successful.

  6. You may copy this signed message and submit it for verification.

    Copy and paste for verification.
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To sign a message with Electrum

  1. Open the Electrum wallet hosting the address you are being asked to verify and bring up the “Sign/verify Message” dialog by selecting “Sign/verify Message” in the “Tools” menu.

    Open signature dialog window from tools menu.

  2. Fill in your address and paste the message you are asked to sign. Note: The address's private key must be in this wallet. The signature will fail if it's not.

    Fill in address and message fields.

  3. Click the “Sign” button.

    Click the sign button.

  4. If successful, the Electrum client will insert a signed message in the “Signature” field.

    Message signature successful.

  5. You may copy this signed message and submit it for verification.

    Copy and paste for verification.
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To sign a message with Multibit HD

  1. Open the Multibit HD wallet hosting the address you are being asked to verify and bring up the “Sign Message” screen by clicking “Sign Message” button in the “Tools” section.

    Open signature screen from tools.

  2. Fill in your address, paste the message you are asked to sign, and type in your password. Note: The address's private key must be in this wallet. The signature will fail if it's not.

    Fill in address and message fields.

  3. Click the “Sign message” button.

    Click the sign message button.

  4. If successful, the Multibit HD wallet will insert a signed message in the “Signature” field.

    Message signature successful.

  5. You may copy this signed message and submit it for verification.

    Copy and paste for verification.
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To sign a message with Multibit Classic

  1. Open the Multibit wallet hosting the address you are being asked to verify and bring up the “Sign Message” tab by selecting “Sign Message” from the “Tools” menu.

    Open signature tab from tools.

  2. Fill in your address, paste the message you are asked to sign, and type in your password if required. Note: The address's private key must be in this wallet. The signature will fail if it's not.

    Fill in address and message fields.

  3. Click the “Sign message” button.

    Click the sign message button.

  4. If successful, the Multibit wallet will insert a signed message in the “Signature” field.

    Message signature successful.

  5. You may copy this signed message and submit it for verification.

    Copy and paste for verification.
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To sign a message with command line

  1. Open a console on the computer hosting the wallet daemon and address you are being asked to verify.

    Open signature tab from tools.

  2. Type in the following command:

    /path/to/coind -conf=/path/to/optional/coin.conf signmessage ADDRESS "MESSAGE"

    Note: The address's private key must be in this wallet. The signature will fail if it's not.

  3. For example using Zetacoin server on FreeBSD:

    Zetacoin on FreeBSD example.

  4. Press Enter. If successful, the command will print a signed message on the console.

    Message signature successful.

  5. You may copy this signed message and submit it for verification.

    Copy and paste for verification.
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To sign a message with Hosted Wallets

  1. The process varies by host. Below is a list of some popular online wallets.

  2. Coinbase - Popular United States based Bitcoin broker and wallet host. Link to Instructions.

    Coinbase

  3. Blockchain.info - Web-based bitcoin platform. Link to FAQ.

    blockchain.info

  4. xapo - Hong Kong based online wallet host. Link to Support.

    xapo
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