---
updatedAt: 2026-05-13T16:09:42.000Z
---

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.blockdaemon.com/llms.txt. Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. Append .md to any documentation page URL to get its markdown version.

# How to Connect to Bitcoin

## How to Access Bitcoin Credentials

> 📘 Info
>
> If you haven't configured a node, learn how to deploy one [here](https://docs.blockdaemon.com/docs/how-to-deploy-a-node).

1. Log into the [Blockdaemon app](https://app.blockdaemon.com/).
2. Select **Nodes & RPC** from the sidebar menu
3. Go to the **My Nodes** tab and select the **Bitcoin** node you want to connect to.
4. Under the **Connect** tab, you’ll find:
   1. Endpoint URL
   2. Auth String
   3. Auth Token

> Please reach out to <support@blockdaemon.com> or your Customer Success Manager for support.

***

## 1. How to Connect via cURL

```curl
curl --location --request POST 'YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL' \
  --header 'X-Auth-Token: YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "method": "RPC_METHOD",
    "params": [],
    "id": 1,
    "jsonrpc": "2.0"
  }'
```

* Replace `YOUR_ENDPOINT_URL` with the Endpoint URL in the [Blockdaemon app](https://app.blockdaemon.com/).
* Replace `YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN` with the Auth Token in the [Blockdaemon app](https://app.blockdaemon.com/).
* Replace `RPC_METHOD` with your chosen [RPC method](https://docs.blockdaemon.com/docs/whitelisted-methods).

***

## 2. How to Connect via Python

The following describes how to run a simple Python application that returns info on the Bitcoin server.

1. Create a Python script called `bitcoin_rpc.py`.

```python
import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

auth_token = (
    "<YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN"  # Replace with your node's auth token
)
rpc_url = "https://<YOUR_NODE_URL>"  # Replace with your node URL

payload = {
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": "curltest",
    "method": "getblockchaininfo",  # Replace with your desired RPC method
    "params": [],
}

headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json", "X-Auth-Token": auth_token}
response = requests.post(
    rpc_url,
    json=payload,
    headers=headers,
)

if response.status_code == 200:
    print(response.json())
else:
    print(f"Error: {response.status_code}, {response.text}")
```

2. Run the script.

```python
python3 bitcoin_rpc.py
```

## 3. How to Connect via ZMQ

Blockdaemon Bitcoin nodes support ZMQ, a messaging system that lets applications subscribe to real-time events like new transactions or blocks. This guide shows you how to use a Python script to display new Bitcoin transactions and their total output value.

1. Install the `zmq` library to listen for Bitcoin events.

```
pip3 install zmq
```

2. Install the Bitcoin library to parse raw Bitcoin transactions.

```
pip3 install bitcoin
```

3. Copy the code below into a `bitcoin_zmq.py` file:

```python
import binascii
import sys
import zmq
import bitcoin
import pprint
 
context = zmq.Context()
socket = context.socket(zmq.SUB)
 
# Connect to ZMQ - this port must be tunneled to the Blockdaemon node using SSH
socket.connect("tcp://localhost:28332")
# Subscribe to all new raw transactions
socket.setsockopt_string(zmq.SUBSCRIBE, "rawtx")
 
# Loop until the user presses CTRL+c
while True:
    # Wait for the next raw transaction
    msg = socket.recv_multipart()
    topic = msg[0]
    body = msg[1]
 
    # Convert the binary transaction into a simple dict
    tx = bitcoin.deserialize(body)
 
    # Calculate the total value of all outputs
    total_value = 0
    for out in tx['outs']:
        total_value += out['value']
 
    # Print the result
    print("")
    print("New transaction: {}".format(bitcoin.txhash(body)))
    print("Total value of all outputs: {} BTC".format(total_value / 100000000.0))
```

4. Create a tunnel to the ZMQ port on your Blockdaemon node.

```
ssh -i [YOUR_SSH_KEY] -L 28332:localhost:28332 blockdaemon@[NODE_IP]
```

5. Start the Python application.

```
python3 bitcoin_zmq.py
```

> 📘 Note
>
> Please note that this application lists all transactions even before they are mined. Some transactions may be invalid.

## 👋 Need Help?

Contact us through [email](mailto:support@blockdaemon.com) or our [support page](https://www.blockdaemon.com/support) for any issues, bugs, or assistance you may need.