How to Connect to Bitcoin
Learn how easy it is to connect to the Bitcoin blockchain via RPC or WebSocket with Blockdaemon.
In this guide, you'll learn the following connection methods to the Bitcoin infrastructure:
Note:
If you haven't configured any infrastructures, visit the Bitcoin marketplace page to learn more about Blockdaemon's Bitcoin options.
How to Access Your Blockdaemon Bitcoin Credentials
Once you have purchased your Blockdaemon Bitcoin infrastructure, you can access your credentials:
- Log into the Blockdaemon app.
- In the Blockchain Access menu, click Nodes.
- Click the Bitcoin node.
- Click the Connect tab.
In the Connection Information area, you'll find the following:
- Your Endpoint URL
- Your Auth Token
Bitcoin RPC Connection via cURL
curl --user blockdaemon:YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN \
--data '{"method":"YOUR_RPC_METHOD","params":[],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}' \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X POST https://YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL
- Replace
YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL
with the Endpoint URL in the Blockdaemon app. - Replace
YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN
with the Auth Token in the Blockdaemon app. - Replace
YOUR_RPC_METHOD
with your chosen RPC method.
Bitcoin Connection via WebSocket
wscat -H "X-Auth-Token: YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN" -c wss://YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL:8443/websocket
- Replace
YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL
with the Endpoint URL in the Blockdaemon app. - Replace
YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN
with the Auth Token in the Blockdaemon app.
Info:
wscat is a tool that can connect over WebSocket(s) and may need to be installed. You can use your preferred tool of choice.
Bitcoin RPC Connection via Python
The following describes how to run a simple Python application that prints the current best block.
➡️ 1. Install Python libraries
Install the Python library python-bitcoinrpc. We will use this library to communicate with the RPC interface.
pip3 install python-bitcoinrpc
➡️ 2. Copy script
Copy the following Python program into a file called bitcoin_rpc.py
import pprint from bitcoinrpc.authproxy import AuthServiceProxy, JSONRPCException
rpc_user = "blockdaemon"
rpc_password = "blockdaemon"
rpc_connection = AuthServiceProxy("<your node endpoint>" .format(rpc_user, rpc_password))
best_block_hash = rpc_connection.getbestblockhash()
best_block = rpc_connection.getblock(best_block_hash)
pprint.pprint(best_block)
➡️ 3. Start the Python script
python3 bitcoin_rpc.py
Note:
Bitcoin does not require an extra auth header. You can:
- use extra auth user in header (existing curl example).
- use basic auth.
- use X-Auth-Token in header without auth user.
- use bearer token in header without auth user.
- pass auth as url param.
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Updated 3 days ago