# Why I need to run full node before I use my grin wallet?

**URL:** <https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [May 6, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972 "2019-05-06T03:22:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RBCHI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RBCHI](https://forum.grin.mw/u/RBCHI)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/1 "2019-05-06T03:22:06Z")

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Why I need to run full node before I use my grin wallet?  
it is not clear to me to understand the reason and the relationship between the full node and wallet user.

> **[mimblewimble/docs](https://github.com/mimblewimble/docs/wiki/how-to-use-the-grin-wallet)**
>
> Open wiki documentation for Grin and MimbleWimble. Contribute to mimblewimble/docs development by creating an account on GitHub.

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**Author:** ![MerlinsBeard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/merlinsbeard/32/2863_2.png) [@MerlinsBeard](https://forum.grin.mw/u/MerlinsBeard)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/2 "2019-05-06T16:51:21Z")

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Because you need to scan the blockchain to see your balance. There are no addresses.

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**Author:** ![monkyyy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/monkyyy/32/1590_2.png) [@monkyyy](https://forum.grin.mw/u/monkyyy)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/3 "2019-05-06T21:28:59Z")

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You need to run a _node_ that _full_y functional; but thats not nesserily what you mean, while you can’t let the network do the heavy lifting of a transaction search for you its not the same as a bitcoin full node, you only need the utxo set which will be just a list and not the complex graph

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**Author:** ![RBCHI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RBCHI](https://forum.grin.mw/u/RBCHI)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 6:26am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/4 "2019-05-07T06:26:58Z")

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Thanks for u two , @MerlinsBeard @monkyyy so it means cause I have the privkey(or blindness),  
then I can decrypt the transaction on the blockchain and scan it to show my balance?

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**Author:** ![Choeriswangqiji](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/choeriswangqiji/32/1703_2.png) [@Choeriswangqiji](https://forum.grin.mw/u/Choeriswangqiji)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/5 "2019-05-07T07:01:26Z")

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If you are using a apple mobile, you could try this decentralized wallet app for GRIN. No need for running full nodes.

> [@GRIN Mobile Wallet is Officially Released](https://forum.grin.mw/t/grin-mobile-wallet-is-officially-released/4886):
>
> Dear Grinners, GRIN’s mobile wallet is officially released on Vite iOS wallet in Apr. 22, 2019 (UTC+8). How to download: Please search “vite wallet” in App Store, or you could use the follow download link to install this mobile wallet on your Apple phone: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vite-official-hd-wallet/id1437629486?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vite-official-hd-wallet/id1437629486?mt=8). Currently, two mining pools have supported miners to transfer their GRIN dividends to Vite Wallet. Spark…

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**Author:** ![NehaSharma20](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/nehasharma20/32/2001_2.png) [@NehaSharma20](https://forum.grin.mw/u/NehaSharma20)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 11:17am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/6 "2019-05-07T11:17:52Z")

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nice check answer to your question

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**Author:** ![monkyyy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/monkyyy/32/1590_2.png) [@monkyyy](https://forum.grin.mw/u/monkyyy)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/7 "2019-05-07T18:29:44Z")

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If you have the trasaction, as far as I’m aware you have the trasaction unless it was spent.

Coins are not balences or legders stictly speaking, they are “smart contracts” which in the simpler end of the spectrum that grin is on, means a piece of code a “owner” knows how to make say “true”. In the case of grin that code is wonky beyond belief and not editable, but the fact of life from Bitcoin script should still apply.

Your “ownership” means you have the unspent trasaction and the secret to unlock it, you would be decrypting the balence off chain.

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**Author:** ![MerlinsBeard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/merlinsbeard/32/2863_2.png) [@MerlinsBeard](https://forum.grin.mw/u/MerlinsBeard)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/8 "2019-05-07T21:23:27Z")

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Here’s an extremely simplified and metaphorical (?) explanation to how Grin works:

The private key of the transaction (the blinding factor) is (in the wallet implementations) derived from your seed. So as long as you have your seed, you can always regenerate the blinding factors for your coins. The blinding factor and the coins in a transaction are two unique matching pieces of puzzle. One piece you have yourself (the blinding factor), and the other piece is in the blockchain (the coins).

What you do when you search for your coins with your blinding factor, is that you look through the whole blockchain and see if any of the puzzle pieces match yours. There are no addresses. The blockchain is just one big pile of puzzle pieces, and all you can do is to see if they match your private key, which only you have.

In order to spend your coins, you need to match the two puzzle pieces into a whole piece, and then send it to someone, and they will break it into two new pieces, putting the piece with the coins in the blockchain and keeping the other piece himself (or throwing it away, because he can always regenerate it with his seed).

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**Author:** ![RBCHI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RBCHI](https://forum.grin.mw/u/RBCHI)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/9 "2019-06-22T23:35:33Z")

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thanks for @MerlinsBeard and @monkyyy,it may be the best answer I can find in the world !

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**Author:** ![monkyyy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/monkyyy/32/1590_2.png) [@monkyyy](https://forum.grin.mw/u/monkyyy)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/10 "2019-06-22T23:38:43Z")

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Really? I know education in the space is poor but it shouldn’t be that poor that my off the cuff ramblings are top tier.

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**Author:** ![RBCHI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RBCHI](https://forum.grin.mw/u/RBCHI)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/why-i-need-to-run-full-node-before-i-use-my-grin-wallet/4972/11 "2019-06-22T23:44:31Z")

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Yes, the blockchian education is still on the raod 🙂  
BTW don’t forget Mimblewimble protocol is not easy to understand, but Grin still is potential to be one of the master medium of exchange.
