Sending XRP from paper wallet to Coinbase

[Janice_DeBard]

I sent a small test amount of XRP from my Coinbase account to a Bithomp paper wallet using an XRP tag I made up.

When trying to receive it back from the paper wallet into Coinbase, it looks like it only offers the Coinbase wallet address and their XRP tag.

How do I receive XRP back into my Coinbase wallet? 

And, do I need to use the same XRP tag that I see there?  I'm looking for a clear explanation before I move larger amounts to a paper wallet.

I want to be sure I can get it back!  Thank you.

[Dogowner5]

You don’t need a tag into a paper wallet it has no effect.  The tag is simply a way for a pooled walled to know who owns what.

To send back to an exchange go to that exchanges “deposit xrp” menu item and use the address and the tag they specify for you.  It will differ in tag number to all other members and will in all likelihood stay the same ever after but you should always check by going back to that menu item before depositing in case they have made any changes to their wallets.

So do a small trail back and all should be well.

[Valhalla_Guy]

Yes you must use the Coinbase tag when sending XRP from your paper wallet to Coinbase.

You do not need a tag when sending XRP from Coinbase (CB) to the paper wallet.

The tag that CB provides is your custom ID within the CB generic wallet. Any XRP sent from any wallet or exchange must use the CB tag in order for you to get the funds in your account at CB.
If you send funds to CB without using the tag, CB will still receive the funds but will not put them in your account. You will have to call CB to get your funds.

[Janice_DeBard]

Valhalla_Guy and Dogowner5 - Thanks for your answers!  

I'm new at this. 

I have my CB wallet address and key.  My issue now is HOW to receive into CB from my paper wallet.

These are the steps I'm taking: 1) Log in to Coinbase.com  2) Click Portfolio.  3) Under "Your Assets" click the XRP line.  4) Click the "Receive" button.

From there, though, I'm stumped.  It simply shows me my wallet address and key.  It doesn't seem to have any way to receive from another wallet.

Please, next steps?

 

 

[Dogowner5]

3 hours ago, Janice_DeBard said:

Valhalla_Guy and Dogowner5 - Thanks for your answers!  

I'm new at this. 

I have my CB wallet address and key.  My issue now is HOW to receive into CB from my paper wallet.

These are the steps I'm taking: 1) Log in to Coinbase.com  2) Click Portfolio.  3) Under "Your Assets" click the XRP line.  4) Click the "Receive" button.

From there, though, I'm stumped.  It simply shows me my wallet address and key.  It doesn't seem to have any way to receive from another wallet.

Please, next steps?

 

 

No problem,  it is confusing at first.

A wallet address is like a mailbox.  It’s an address and it can hold funds.  So you are going to your letterbox (Coinbase wallet) and wondering why you can’t get it to receive funds.  The reason is because you don’t do anything at the letterbox to receive funds.  You do the work at the “sending” end.

There is maybe a misunderstanding here so I will lay it out as best I can.  Sorry if it’s too long winded.

On 3/25/2020 at 5:43 PM, Dogowner5 said:

To send back to an exchange go to that exchanges “deposit xrp” menu item and use the address and the tag they specify for you.

When I said that I meant for you to go to the Coinbase menu item that will tell you the address of your Coinbase wallet/letterbox.  There you can look at,  and record (copy-paste maybe?) the wallet/letterbox address.  The address is the long string of characters starting with an ‘r’.  But critically important it will probably also have a ‘tag’. That tag is a number that specifies your account at that address.  Without specifying the tag when sending your XRP they will be just floating in the wallet pool and won’t hit “your” account till you contact support and beg them to sort it for you.  So don’t forget the tag when sending to an exchange.

 

Now, and this is the bit you maybe haven’t understood...    the paper wallet is really just an address on the XRPLedger potential address space.  The are quintillion’s of potential addresses and when a paper wallet is created it is really just generating a random seed and finding the related address that the associated (and newly generated) secret key works with.

I am not an expert,  but I have a fair bit of an understanding of this and I could go on for pages about how this works and what the consequences are.  But for you wanting now to send from this paper wallet,  well,   you will need deal with the gotcha.  I sort of didn’t realise you hadn’t got this sorted as yet.  I apologise for overlooking that possibility.

So you need to craft a transaction to send from the paper wallet address back to the Coinbase address.  That’s not easy for the layman to do,  so people have created software tools to do it.  Bithomp have some.  Phone and desktop apps (they are called wallets but in reality are secret key storage, and transaction crafting software with an associated address, hence ‘wallet’) exist also.

You should perhaps research on this site to try and decide what one to use.  I personally have used the Toast Wallet app for iOS on my phone.  I am not recommending it, just sharing one of my selections.  Bithomp tools also have the software to send your transaction and so far I have only heard good things about Bithomp.

But here be dragons.  Any software you use, any browser based tools, any device you use to do this with,  be it phone or computer, can (if you are unlucky) have malicious code that is designed to steal your XRP.  So you need to be careful,  and the moment that you need to be the most careful is when you enter the secret key (the S string that you got with the paper wallet).  There are all sorts of issues in this and varying degrees of relative safety.

Essentially if you ever enter your secret key you are trusting the developers of the software your are using to not have put a recorder in there to transmit your key to them.  If they have your key they can irretrievably steal your XRP in seconds.  So you can see why some people just leave their XRP on exchanges.  But that is very risky too...  many exchanges have done exit scams or people had their funds stolen in one way or another.

So I’m sorry but you need to research wallet software and then either need to trust online software like the Bithomp tools or install a Wallet on your phone or computer.  I advise my family to install ToastWallet on the phone and ensure it’s properly secured at all times.  I use a paper wallet but it’s got issues for the non technical as you are now finding.  So all of that is not advice for you.  You will need to make up your own mind.

I know this hasn’t really helped,  but maybe it gives you a general idea of the issues.

[Flintstone]

@Dogowner5 Pretty much has you covered.

If you can, use a dedicated computer offline for your wallet for added security. Bithomp tools is an excellent recommendation and is available as a standalone  offline wallet. Member Warbler is also active on this forum if you ever need help.

If you use Toast wallet, please follow the instructions and create a backup of your wallet and keep it safe! (Can’t stress this enough. Lots of cases of lost phones without backups).

[Dogowner5]

Fred above just reminded me of something too...     never ever leave your paper wallet secret key in view of your phone’s or laptop’s camera.

If you are really unlucky and a hacker is secretly streaming video from your cameras,  then once she has seen your secret key she can steal your XRP in seconds.  She simply uses the secret key to craft a valid transaction moving the XRP out of your wallet and into her own.  Irretrievably gone in three or four seconds.