Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 03:41:24 AM



Title: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 03:41:24 AM
Hey all.  I have an altcoin called shift.  I left it on exchange.  I then downloaded wallet to have coins sent there.  I was told the wallet is very simple.  So i downloaded wallet, then wrote down my 12 word passphrase.  Then i logged out and logged in with my passphrase to make sure its correct so i can log in.  It does.  I then withdraw from exchange to the address.  The altcoin address is basically right there on the page.  So i copied and pasted it to exchange and withdrew.


I got confirmation.  Then i notice that its not in my wallet.  I could not figure this out as this was taking too long.  I then noticed that when i log out and try to log in again, there is options to select a network before you log in.


Options are testnet which is the default.  There is a drop down menu arrow all the way on the right side to switch it to mainnet or customnode.  The thing is i did not notice this and most ppl probably wouldn't be aware of it as well.  Even if i did, i wouldn't change anything because testnet is set as the default.


The transaction did confirm as there are over 200 confirmations.


But someone in another thread said because i sent it to a testnet address, im screwed.  Can someone tell me if this is true or false?  I recall exchange said don't send it to certain address or dapp etc.  But is testnet one of them?  The thing here is testnet is set as default.  Why in the world would this wallet do this then?  What I'm not 100 percent sure was when i created the wallet, im not sure if i clicked on new account or it just created it for me.  But when i logged out and then logged back in, there was no issue.  So i figure well the address is shown right on the page.


Can someone tell me what i can do?  I do have my 12 word passphrase.   Could i login to the mainnet network with my 12 word passphrase or would that not work?  If i could, could i retrieve my coins?


I checked online and in an old reddit thread someone mentioned if you sent btc to a testnet, you could still recover the coin as long as you have the seed etc but someone else say you cannot.


Can someone please answer these questions for me?   


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: Avirunes on May 23, 2019, 04:26:13 AM
If you can provide more info with your txs maybe we can check what really is going on with your altcoin out there.


Anyway here is the explanation:

Mainnet is the main network of a coin where your coin actually has a value while Testnet is actually a test network where your coin doesn't actually have a value. Testnet is basically used to try out some developments (helpful for developers) before taking out in the main net. You have to understand that both of the networks are different and what you hold in one network doesn't necessarily means you hold the same in other network as well.

You can try with testnet faucets in eth and try it out for yourself.

Or for example: This is the address which is mining in one of the Ethereum testnet network : https://kovan.etherscan.io/address/0xfaadface3fbd81ce37b0e19c0b65ff4234148132 and here is the view in explorer in main network: https://etherscan.io/address/0xfAadFace3FbD81CE37B0e19c0B65fF4234148132

The testnet shows it has 1100 Ether while mainnet shows it has 0 Eths.


Now regarding your case, your mnemonic phrase generates only certain set of address and it doesn't changes with what network you choose. At this point I think you are watching your balance in testnet but the withdrawal must have been process in main network which is why you are unable to view your balance. If you can provide with what wallet you are watching maybe we can help or you can just fix this by changing network to main net.


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: nc50lc on May 23, 2019, 04:36:17 AM
For comparison: if it was Bitcoin, the testnet address and the mainnet address should be different and start with "2" and "1" respectively;
and testnet addresses will be rejected by the Exchange.

Don't get your hopes up but,
since your testnet Shift wallet address was accepted by the exchange, chances that it uses the same address for the mainnet is high (and it uses the same SEED). If you selected "mainnet" to the drop-down menu, just check the address list (if any) if it displays the same set of addresses as the testnet wallet.
If the addresses are the same, the problem could be something else.

If you get positive result from the above paragraph: what wallet was it? Some sort of a full node or a SPV (light) client?
If it is a full node (select mainnet), you might need to sync it first to properly display your balance (it may require a lot of storage space depending on the Coin/Network).
For light clients, it might be a connection issue.


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 04:37:48 AM
Hi there.  Its called the shift nano wallet.  


You can only log into your wallet with the 12 word phrase.  It shows testnet.  However, someone who helped me out with this issue said he downloaded the wallet... and when he opened it up... it was set as mainnet.  So that would mean... I accidentally changed it from mainnet to testnet before i created the account?



However what im not 100 percent sure is when i created the account, if it was on mainnet or testnet.  I recalled after wallet downloaded, i opened it and clicked new account.  But i must have changed it to testnet by accident?  I then remember logging out and then logging back in in the shift nano wallet.  But when i did this, it was on testnet.  


Well i could try logging in with my 12 word passphrase and change it from testnet to mainnet to see if my shift would appear?


Or should i wait to see what others in the shift thread say about this before i do it?


Also in general what happens if an exchange sends coins to a testnet?  Also is it 100% i created my account on testnet?  That is what im not sure because i was positive i did not change any settings before i clicked on new account..if i did... it was by accident.


So right now im just waiting to see what shift users are saying about this.  But if you create a mainnet account, could you still have coins sent to a testnet account?


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: nc50lc on May 23, 2019, 04:49:02 AM
Also in general what happens if an exchange sends coins to a testnet?  Also is it 100% i created my account on testnet?  That is what im not sure because i was positive i did not change any settings before i clicked on new account..if i did... it was by accident.
It will be sent to the mainnet address and if you didn't have the Private key for that address, it will be lost.
The problem is the format, usually, testnet and mainnet wallet are different and you wont be able to send mainnet coins to testnet address (don't know about shift).

But as I said above:
If your wallet displays the same set of addresses for the testnet and mannet wallet (given that it uses the same SEED), you might be able to recover it by opening the wallet as "mainnet".

Can you tell us the first three character of your testnet shift address and a sample of mainnet shift address?

Well i could try logging in with my 12 word passphrase and change it from testnet to mainnet to see if my shift would appear?
You can try it.
BTW, it's not a passphrase, it's the SEED where all the wallet addresses' private keys are based from.


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: Avirunes on May 23, 2019, 04:55:57 AM
Well i could try logging in with my 12 word passphrase and change it from testnet to mainnet to see if my shift would appear?

Yes I think it would if I am understanding your problem correctly.

Or should i wait to see what others in the shift thread say about this before i do it?

You can try without asking them. You wouldn't lose any coins by changing network to check your coins.

Also in general what happens if an exchange sends coins to a testnet?

That is very unlikely. But if they happen to do so then that is the fault of the exchange.

 
Also is it 100% i created my account on testnet?  That is what im not sure because i was positive i did not change any settings before i clicked on new account..if i did... it was by accident.

Your address creation is unrelated with network. If you can provide your adderss maybe we can check for you.

Or there is another alternative,

You can use this shift web wallet: https://wallet.shiftnrg.org to check your balance. I am sure it is connected to main net since it doesn't allows you to change network. (Hope I have picked the web wallet of right coin).


[...]

Interesting and new to read.   :D


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 05:00:16 AM
Hey all.  I changed it to mainnet and typed in my 12 word phrase and i had to do a confirmation sending and it worked.


Thanks all so much for the help.  Again im wondering if i did create this shift wallet in testnet or not?


I mean i could have created it in mainnet... then logged out.  Then accidentally logged in again with testnet but i dont think this happened.  I think i might have accidentally clicked on testnet before i clicked on new account right?   Someone who was helping me downloaded the wallet and told me when he opened it... it was set as mainnet. 


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: Avirunes on May 23, 2019, 05:07:30 AM
Hey all.  I changed it to mainnet and typed in my 12 word phrase and i had to do a confirmation sending and it worked.


Thanks all so much for the help.  Again im wondering if i did create this shift wallet in testnet or not?


I mean i could have created it in mainnet... then logged out.  Then accidentally logged in again with testnet but i dont think this happened.  I think i might have accidentally clicked on testnet before i clicked on new account right?   Someone who was helping me downloaded the wallet and told me when he opened it... it was set as mainnet. 

Phew!!! I am glad that you were able to make it out. Well TBH majority of credit goes to nc50lc as he was able to describe in much proper way than me.  ;D

I was almost going to finish with my Shift Nano wallet download to understand the situation of yours  :D


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 05:49:41 AM
Hey all thanks again.  Also HCP is another member here who has helped me a lot.  He downloaded the wallet and then said it showed as mainnet as the default... not testnet.  So again... i might have misclicked?  I dont think i did because im pretty certain after wallet downloaded... i clicked on new account.


Thanks to nc50lc and everyone in this thread for the help.


Do you have shift in exchange as well?  I assume bittrex and you want to move it to shift nano wallet?   When you create the shift wallet, when you write down the 12 word phrase... you need that every single time to log in your shift wallet.  Do you know this?  I thought that is very strange but someone told me this before i downloaded the wallet.  I used electrum for btc before and you enter a password you create to log into it.  Shift... you must log in with the 12 word seed.... which i thought is strange but thats how it works.


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 05:52:12 AM
Okay i see your avatar shows livecoin so i guess you have shift there?


By the way, is livecoin good for shift and is it safe to use?  Do you need to get verified there?



Also does anyone know if based on what i described... i created my account originally in testnet or mainnet?  Could it be i created it in mainnet... but when i logged out and logged back in... i logged in with testnet? 


Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: HCP on May 23, 2019, 07:37:45 AM
Like I told you in PMs, it makes no difference... the 12 word passphrase is created "external" to any network... And (for whatever reason), both Mainnet and Testnet use exactly the same addresses. So you didn't create your account "in mainnet" or "in testnet"... you simply created a random 12 word passphrase.

At some point, you obviously misclicked and accidentally selected "Testnet" (you don't need to click on the arrow btw, clicking ANYWHERE on the network dropdown box activates it)... and the wallet just remembers what you last selected.



Title: Re: Sent Altcoin To Testnet Address, Can I Recover My Coins?
Post by: jerry0 on May 23, 2019, 08:03:35 AM
HCP you created a shift wallet when you showed me those pictures right?  So you downloaded shift... did you click on new account?  Or did it automatically give you the 12 word phrase?  I do not remember exactly because when i downloaded it and opened it up... i do not remember if i clicked on new account ... or it just created the account etc.


Okay well yes make sense i clicked on testnet.  I notice that right now clicking anywhere on dropdown menu activate it.  But i really do not remember this happening, thats the thing.  Yes i get the part where the wallet just remembers the last one you selected.