Hey guys,

I'm hoping that I'm just tired, and doing something silly. Because if not, I've lost ~200 bitcoins.

Nutshell:

- A few months back, I created a clean OS install, then loaded the Bitcoin software, created a wallet.dat backup, and then placed it inside a Truecrypt container.
- Then I wiped the system, and kept the Truecrypt container safe.
- Then, I transferred about 200 bitcoins into the address.

Now, I want to transfer them out, so I:

- Created a new clean OS install.
- Loaded up my truecrypty container.
- Copied the wallet.dat file into my bitcoin wallet.dat location.

The problem is:

- The bitcoin balance shows 0
- When I click the "Receive coins" tab, I can see the receiving address that was originally created (so I know the restored wallet.dat is working)
- I can even copy that receiving address into blockchain.info, and it verified that 200 bitcoin balance
- But the software's balance still shows 0

Why would the receiving address be there, with blockchain.info confirming that the receiving address has the bitcoins, but they're not showing up in software?

Is it because I refreshed the blockchain BEFORE copying in the backup wallet.dat file?

This is something that I purchased this on eBay about a month ago. I was intending to use it for streaming video, but my TV doesn't have HDMI, so this has sat unused. I paid $125 for it, and had to wait for it to arrive from China (I'm in Canada). I'm more than happy to sell it for a chunk less than that - it's better than it sitting here unused.



Below is the eBay listing I purchased from, so you're probably best off looking up the specs etc there.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-Android-4-0-ARM-WiFi-HD-1080P-HDMI-Cortex-A9-1GHz-Internet-TV-Box-White-/290702361995?pt=US_Internet_Media_Streamers&hash=item43af36058b#ht_10222wt_1163
The only deviation from that listing that is that it didn't come with component cables for some reason, even though they are shown in the listing. If you actually need those (I didn't, my TV didn't have component either), they're only a few bucks on eBay. One addition that I could make to the package, if you want it, would be to include an HDMI-to-DVI adapter.

I paid $125 USD for it, and it took about 3 weeks to arrive from China. I'm listing it here for the Bitcoin equivalent of $85 (less than two-thirds) and I will cover the cost of shipping it using Expedited Parcel (to the US or Canada).

I have no idea what the norms are here in terms of making a transaction like this safe, but I'm happy undertake whatever setup is required to make it a secure transaction. I wouldn't be opposed to using a middle-man, if that's something that is done around these parts. I recognize that I'm 4 hours and 24 minutes new to this community. So if you have an arrangement in mind to make the transaction go smoothly, it's probably cool with me - within reason.

How practical is it for a traveler to turn Bitcoins into cash as a guest in the EU?

The majority of Bitcoin-to-cash mechanisms seem to require some degree of established presence (bank accounts, local IDs, etc). I'm wondering what the practicality would be of trying to turn bitcoins back to cash as a decidedly non-resident of the EU. Is it possible? Are there any brick-and-mortar locations that could be relied upon to turn a traveler's Bitcoins into physical Euros?