The Bittr Blog
How do I obtain a new xpub from Ledger wallet?
Ruben Waterman
Sep 12, 2020

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the steps of using the xpub of your Ledger hardware wallet in combination with bittr. If you would first like to know a bit more about extended public keys (xpub, ypub, zpub), we’d recommend you to read this blogpost first.

First of all, it’s important to update your Ledger hardware wallet, as well as Ledger Live. Older versions of Ledger Live did not provide support for native Segwit addresses, which are required if you want to use your Ledger xpub with bittr.

Updating Ledger Live

Connect your Ledger hardware wallet and open Ledger Live on your computer and then click on “Accounts” (Step 1). As you never want to share an extended public key of a wallet you have used in the past, you first click “Add Account” (Step 2), which you will only use for bittr!

Creating a new account in Ledger Live

As we obviously would like to add a Bitcoin account, make sure “Bitcoin (BTC)” is selected (Step 3) and click “Continue” (Step 4).

Selecting Bitcoin and continuing

Make sure your Ledger hardware wallet is connected and that you open the bitcoin app on the Ledger wallet, then click “Continue” (Step 5).

Connecting Ledger device and clicking continue

Optionally, give your account a name, such as “Bittr Wallet” (Step 6) to easily identify this account (and not use it for any other purposes). Click “Add account” (Step 7) to finish the creation of your new account.

Naming the new account

Click “Close” to exit the dialogue and continue to obtain your xpub for the newly created account.

Exiting the dialogue

Click the tool (“Edit account”) in the upper right corner of the main screen (Step 9).

Opening settings

Click “Advanced Logs” (Step 10) so that the detailed information of your account becomes visible. Then copy your xpub into your clipboard (Command (⌘) / CTRL + C) so that you can later paste your xpub on the bittr website (Step 11).

Copying the xpub

It’s now time to create your account with bittr. Follow the steps as usual, by entering your e-mail address and mobile phone number. On the third step of registration, you’ll see a button for advanced users. Click “enter extended public key” to continue.

Entering extended public key on bittr

Paste your extended public key into the form.

Pasting the xpub on bittr

Besides the xpub, bittr will also require you to enter the first address in this xpub. Back in Ledger Live, click on the account you have newly created (Step 12A) and then click on “Receive” (Step 12B).

Receiving a new bitcoin address

Once again, select the newly created account (Step 12C) and then click “Continue” (Step 12D).

Continuing with the new account

Make sure your Ledger wallet is connected and open the Bitcoin app on the Ledger wallet, then click “Continue” (Step 12E).

Connecting the Ledger and continuing

Now you’ll be shown the first address in this xpub (since you just created a fresh xpub). Then copy your address into your clipboard (Command (⌘) / CTRL + C) so that you can paste this address on the bittr website.

Copying the bitcoin address

Now paste the bitcoin address from the previous step in the bitcoin address field on the bitttr website (Step 13). As bittr wants to make sure you’re entering an unused extended public key, you then click on “Check Key” (Step 14) in order to continue.

Verifying the bitcoin address on bittr

On the next screen of the bittr website, you will be asked to sign a message with your Ledger wallet. As Ledger Live still does not support this feature, you’ll have to use Electrum (or another wallet interface for your Ledger device), to sign a message with your Ledger wallet. If you’re not quite sure how to do this, we have a step-by-step guide available here.

Do you have any questions? Reach out to us at hello@getbittr.com.

Ruben Waterman
Author
Ruben, the founder of Bittr, has been a passionate bitcoin advocate since 2013. After obtaining his MSc in Digital Currency from the University of Nicosia, he not only created the easiest way to save bitcoin but also became a proficient software developer, now maintaining the bittr project. With his expertise and dedication to the bitcoin industry, Ruben continues to drive Bittr's mission and vision forward.