<p>You could take a look at <a href="https://github.com/spesmilo/obelisk" rel="nofollow">Obelisk</a> &amp; <a href="https://github.com/spesmilo/sx/" rel="nofollow">Sx</a>. If you want something you could also host yourself. Sx has an <code>sx balance &lt;ADDRESS&gt;</code> command which also has a <code>Total received</code> field. Which I think is what you are looking for. You can also interface to an Obelisk server via the <a href="https://github.com/darkwallet/python-obelisk" rel="nofollow">python libs</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T09:41:40.710Z
Didn't know `sx` can do this (apparently a lot has changed since the last time I checked). Will look into Obelisk, but I already sense it's exactly what I was looking for! Awesome!
knaperek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T05:04:33.607Z
2015-03-02T16:02:51.193Z
2015-03-02T16:02:51.193Z
Maran
<p>Bitcoin Core 0.10 was just released with support for watch-only wallets.</p>

<p>You can use the <code>importaddress</code> command to make a wallet consider the address to be belonging to it, and track incoming payments to it. <code>getreceivedbyaddress</code> will work as expected in that case. In fact, Bitcoin Core does not support an "address balance" feature at all.</p>

<p>It does indeed require you to import the address in advance (or go through a lengthy rescanning procedure). The upside is that this approach scales much better (it doesn't require a fully indexed blockchain, and is compatible with future pruning features).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-10T12:49:36.427Z
will listtransactions work as normal?
Fantastory
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-03T11:42:36.673Z
2015-03-03T11:42:36.673Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>Not considering any external services, is there any way (opensource implementation) that would keep up with the blockchain and expose an API with the same functionality as the original <strong>getreceivedbyaddress</strong> method in bitcoind?</p>

<p>To emphasize, I need the API to return the sum of coins ever received on that address, NOT a current balance. Preferably, this would work without the need of registering/importing that address in advance (so the system should auto-index all addresses spotted in the blockchain).</p>

<p>There's an old (0.8+) fork of bitcoind (<a href="https://github.com/TOCICI/bitcoin" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/TOCICI/bitcoin</a>) that adds importaddress RPC call, which is the best I could find so far (even though it's not optimal since it requires the addresses to be imported first).</p>

<p>Also, there's a continuing discussion going on about watch-only wallets, but I'm afraid (correct me if I'm wrong) this will only provide address balance, not the total amount ever sent.</p>

<p>I've also considered using Electrum server for this, but was only able to see that one can get a current balance of an address.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

<bitcoind><electrum><watch-only>
getreceivedbyaddress without knowing the private key
knaperek
# getreceivedbyaddress without knowing the private key

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-04-17)

Not considering any external services, is there any way (opensource implementation) that would keep up with the blockchain and expose an API with the same functionality as the original **getreceivedbyaddress** method in bitcoind?

To emphasize, I need the API to return the sum of coins ever received on that address, NOT a current balance. Preferably, this would work without the need of registering/importing that address in advance (so the system should auto-index all addresses spotted in the blockchain).

There's an old (0.8+) fork of bitcoind (<https://github.com/TOCICI/bitcoin>) that adds importaddress RPC call, which is the best I could find so far (even though it's not optimal since it requires the addresses to be imported first).

Also, there's a continuing discussion going on about watch-only wallets, but I'm afraid (correct me if I'm wrong) this will only provide address balance, not the total amount ever sent.

I've also considered using Electrum server for this, but was only able to see that one can get a current balance of an address.

Any ideas?

**Tags:** bitcoind, electrum, watch-only


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-05-13. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

You could take a look at [Obelisk](https://github.com/spesmilo/obelisk) & [Sx](https://github.com/spesmilo/sx/). If you want something you could also host yourself. Sx has an `sx balance <ADDRESS>` command which also has a `Total received` field. Which I think is what you are looking for. You can also interface to an Obelisk server via the [python libs](https://github.com/darkwallet/python-obelisk).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Didn't know `sx` can do this (apparently a lot has changed since the last time I checked). Will look into Obelisk, but I already sense it's exactly what I was looking for! Awesome!  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2015-03-03. Score: 4

Bitcoin Core 0.10 was just released with support for watch-only wallets.

You can use the `importaddress` command to make a wallet consider the address to be belonging to it, and track incoming payments to it. `getreceivedbyaddress` will work as expected in that case. In fact, Bitcoin Core does not support an "address balance" feature at all.

It does indeed require you to import the address in advance (or go through a lengthy rescanning procedure). The upside is that this approach scales much better (it doesn't require a fully indexed blockchain, and is compatible with future pruning features).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: will listtransactions work as normal?  

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