Sign a message with Electrum

Electrum has a Sign/Verify Message tool in the desktop app and signmessage / verifymessage commands on the command line. It also works with Ledger, Trezor and BitBox devices.

Your keys never leave your wallet. Never paste your recovery words anywhere, including KeyProof. Signing a message is not a transaction.

Chains: Bitcoin
Signature format: Electrum-style signatures (65-byte base64). For SegWit addresses Electrum uses a header byte that some strict BIP-137 verifiers reject. KeyProof accepts it, as Electrum and Sparrow do.

Desktop app^[1][3]

Open the wallet that contains the requested address.
Go to Tools → Sign/Verify Message, or right-click the address in the Addresses tab and choose Sign/Verify Message.
Enter the exact address and paste the exact message.
Click Sign (confirm on your hardware wallet if you use one), then click Verify.
Send the address, message and signature unchanged.

Command line^[2]

Sign: electrum signmessage <ADDRESS> "<MESSAGE>" (use ? to be prompted for a parameter).
Verify: electrum verifymessage <ADDRESS> <SIGNATURE> "<MESSAGE>".
Pipe a message from a file with "-": cat msg.txt | electrum signmessage <ADDRESS> -

Tips

Spaces, punctuation, capitalization and line breaks are all part of the signed message.^[1]

Check my signature in the verifier

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-27. Numbers in brackets [n] in the text refer to this list.

BitBox: How to sign a message with Electrum and BitBox02 — Hardware-maker support article
Electrum docs: Command Line (Sign and verify message) (official)
Ledger: Proving ownership of your Ledger Bitcoin account using Electrum

KeyProof is not affiliated with Electrum. Wallet interfaces change, so follow your wallet's current documentation. Not legal or financial advice.