<p>You should implement it as a separate layer.</p>

<p>Bitcoind doesn't really support multiple users.  It lets you set a single username/password to connect to the RPC server, as well as encrypting the (single) wallet with a passphrase.  But there's no way within bitcoind to have individual authentication credentials that will allow one to spend some of the coins in the wallet but not others.</p>

<p>So a typical way to do this would be to have bitcoind store all the coins of all the users, pooled in a single wallet.  Then your software has to track how many coins belong to each user, authenticating the users, and ensuring that they can only spend those coins which are credited to them.  (The accounts feature might have helped with the first of these, but not the others.)</p>

<p>Alternatively, you can run a separate bitcoind instance for each user, but this will require more resources.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-19T18:25:06.833Z
Okay, that's what I was thinking. Sorry, I'm relatively new to the Bitcoin API, do I use it to create a new wallet address for each user, and then track deposits made to that address and use that to credit the user, despite the fact that all of the wallet addresses end up in the single pool?
Anthony
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-19T18:20:03.107Z
2016-03-19T18:20:03.107Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>This question was asked here: <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/12209/bitcoind-and-multiple-users">Bitcoind and multiple users</a> but its answer is a link to a deprecated feature.</p>

<p>If I am running <code>bitcoind</code> on a server and want it to manage multiple users, what is the proper way to authenticate to that server and have separate user accounts, or should I implement user accounts on my own end which interact with a master <code>bitcoind</code> instance? </p>

<bitcoind>
What is the proper way to authenticate to Bitcoind for multiple users?
Anthony
# What is the proper way to authenticate to Bitcoind for multiple users?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-19)

This question was asked here: [Bitcoind and multiple users](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/12209/bitcoind-and-multiple-users) but its answer is a link to a deprecated feature.

If I am running `bitcoind` on a server and want it to manage multiple users, what is the proper way to authenticate to that server and have separate user accounts, or should I implement user accounts on my own end which interact with a master `bitcoind` instance?

**Tags:** bitcoind


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-03-19. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

You should implement it as a separate layer.

Bitcoind doesn't really support multiple users. It lets you set a single username/password to connect to the RPC server, as well as encrypting the (single) wallet with a passphrase. But there's no way within bitcoind to have individual authentication credentials that will allow one to spend some of the coins in the wallet but not others.

So a typical way to do this would be to have bitcoind store all the coins of all the users, pooled in a single wallet. Then your software has to track how many coins belong to each user, authenticating the users, and ensuring that they can only spend those coins which are credited to them. (The accounts feature might have helped with the first of these, but not the others.)

Alternatively, you can run a separate bitcoind instance for each user, but this will require more resources.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Okay, that's what I was thinking. Sorry, I'm relatively new to the Bitcoin API, do I use it to create a new wallet address for each user, and then track deposits made to that address and use that to credit the user, despite the fact that all of the wallet addresses end up in the single pool?  

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