Using BTC Core watch-only on Tails

Anyone know if BTC Core runs smoothly when set up on a Tails USB with Persistent Storage turned on? I saw that the newer versions let you upgrade Tails on the fly while keeping your Persistent Storage encrypted, which is awesome. I didn’t use this OS before because you had to clear everything to do an upgrade, but that’s changed now. So if I'm using the BTC Core wallet just to watch and send transactions, does it work fine? Has anyone given it a shot? Also, is there an issue with sending BTC to a centralized exchange through Tor? Like, could that get the transaction blacklisted or anything? I use Tor for privacy reasons, but who knows these days.

With Bitcoin Core you are sending Bitcoin through its blockchain. Or even better said, you don't send bitcoin, you just create and sign a transaction which is picked up by the other nodes. And the other nodes don't care neither about Tor, nor about the fact the recipient address is in the wallet of a CEX. So, to make it clearer: the CEX will not know whether the transaction was done under Tor or not. I can't help with that, sorry. My Linux knowledge is limited and I didn't manage to install and use all the software I wanted to a Tails USB.

I'm a Tails user.  I strongly advise against attempting to download the blockchain onto a USB stick.  Relying on such persistent storage for an extended duration is not recommended.  In my two years of using Tails, I've encountered USB corruption issues numerous times, and must have reinstalled the OS by more than five times.  It's also crucial to upgrade to the latest version promptly, which further complicates using it for this purpose.   Very probable.  I doubt you'll even reach the stage where it shows your deposit address.  Your IP will likely have been blacklisted by then.   Edit:  After reading NeuroticFish's response below, I'm uncertain if you're referring solely to broadcasting through Tor while accessing the exchange from the clearnet.  I understand that you're accessing the exchange through Tails and consequently via Tor as well.

USB sticks aren't the only storage media you can install Tails on. It could be a portable SSD or even a portable HDD (the latter only if you want to suffer from slower I/O). You simply need to be able to boot from it, at least that's my experience. I strongly advise to use a more reliable storage media when you have valuable data on the persistant storage of Tails and particularly syncing a likely to some extend pruned blockchain with Bitcoin Core. I wouldn't use cheap USB sticks for that as some of those have questionable longevity and/or are painfully slow at writing data and random access. (I mostly use an USB3 microSD card adapter and sufficiently fast microSD cards with good longevity (e.g. Samsung Pro Endurance) instead of traditional USB3 sticks. I got tired of slow USB3 sticks in practical use while advertised with some phantasy speed ratings.)

I don't know. But at very least you need to either, 1. Point Bitcoin Core to correct folder whenever after you restart Tails. 2. Configure Tails to manually keep configuration file created by Bitcoin Core using something called Dotfiles. See https://tails.net/doc/persistent_storage/configure/index.en.html#dotfiles.

I would be running the OS through an USB but I would have a portable SSD to host the blockchain and keep it updated there. Or I could just install it on the SSD and use it as the OS there. I would be accessing the CEX with clearnet. So when I send to a CEX, I would like to be able to send through clearnet, so it matches the clearnet IP with the broadcast IP. If I send it through my node, then it would go directly into the CEX node, so they would know the IP, or it goes through additional hops? I've read people got transactions blocked from broadcasting through Tor into a CEX. Sometimes I want privacy so I want to run through Tor, sometimes I want a clearnet transaction. If I use Tails, is it possible to send through clearnet? or is it all forced through Tor? You can use clearnet browser if you want to, not sure how this would work with a BTC transaction.

Theoretically, this can work.  I haven't attempted to run Bitcoin Core within Tails, so it's possible that it requires specific configuration settings.  I believe there's a misunderstanding.  Broadcasting means sending to multiple nodes, and none of these nodes can determine if your node is the originator of the transaction.  Even if your node is connected to a CEX's node, there's no method for them to identify you as the transaction owner. Users are blocked when accessing CEX from the Tor Browser, not when they broadcast transactions through the Bitcoin network using Tor.

Watch-only wallet is not spendable and you can not spend your bitcoin with a Watch-only Wallet. To spend your bitcoin, you must have private key, and watch-only wallet does not store any Bitcoin private key. Watch-only Bitcoin wallet. Creating a Watch-Only wallet with Electrum.

Yeah, it may be installed, Over there is the guide on how to do this, but  take into account that there will be a need for at least 1 TB flash stick to accommodate  the full  blockchain ( as 512 GB will be not enough for this however it may be less if you run Bitcoin Core in pruned mode) Also you will need HW to sign transactions when Core is in watch-only mode. Commonly, there should be no problem, anyway you can always check with the small sum.