Access Old Bitcoin Account

[RP440]

 I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

[longbob72]

Are you talking about bitcoin wallet or a service account? Desktop wallets generally doesn't have usernames.

[DannyHamilton]

I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

The ONLY wallet that existed in May of 2009, five months after Bitcoin started in January of 2009, was the original wallet.  Today it is known as "Bitcoin Core".  It didn't have any username, and it didn't have any accounts.  Just wallet software and data on your hard drive that was encrypted with a password.  There were no mining pools, you would have been solo mining on your computer.

This means that if you don't have a backup of that wallet file, and you no longer have access to that computer, then those bitcoins are permanently lost forever.

[YIz]

I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

The ONLY wallet that existed in May of 2009, five months after Bitcoin started in January of 2009, was the original wallet.  Today it is known as "Bitcoin Core".  It didn't have any username, and it didn't have any accounts.  Just wallet software and data on your hard drive that was encrypted with a password.  There were no mining pools, you would have been solo mining on your computer.

This means that if you don't have a backup of that wallet file, and you no longer have access to that computer, then those bitcoins are permanently lost forever.

It think he might be referring to address and private key as username and password.

[calkob]

This sounds like a load of bull, this person hasnt a clue how wallets worked back 2009, avoid like the plauge, next thing he will be trying to sell you his wallet.dat for a a few bitcoin...... 

[RP440]

I must be wrong about when I started mining.
I am pretty sure it was after 2010. Since bitcoin started open source mining in  2009 I must be way off.
I know  where the old hard drive is where I remember downloading bitcoin to "solo mine" exactly as you stated. I will try to get it and go from there.
I recently found a password and email that I had written down from  back then, thus sparks flew in my head in hopes I could have a small "fortune"  
If I am able to access that hard drive I will post for advice!
Thanks all!

calkob, you are right as I have no clue how wallets worked, you are wrong in everything else

[YIz]

I must be wrong about when I started mining.
I am pretty sure it was after 2010. Since bitcoin started open source mining in  2009 I must be way off.
I know  where the old hard drive is where I remember downloading bitcoin to "solo mine" exactly as you stated. I will try to get it and go from there.
I recently found a password and email that I had written down from  back then, thus sparks flew in my head in hopes I could have a small "fortune"  
If I am able to access that hard drive I will post for advice!
Thanks all!

calkob, you are right as I have no clue how wallets worked, you are wrong in everything else

I'm not 100% sure, but there might have been a lite-client in 2010. I know blockchain.info offers such a service since 2011.

[DannyHamilton]

bitcoin started open source mining

What is "open source mining"?

Mining bitcoin started in January of 2009.

Initially there were no mining pools, and the wallet had mining software built into it.  Anyone with a wallet could use their computer to mine.

Eventually, specialized mining software was created, and then to reduce the time between payouts and provide a more reliable revenue stream, mining pools were created.  

After that the mining software was enhanced to make use of GPU and FPGA chips and finally ASICs.

I must be way off.

By quite a bit, yes.

I recently found a password and email that I had written down from  back then,

If you had sent your bitcoins to MtGox (The only centralized bitcoin exchange in 2010) to convert them into your local currency, then the bitcoins are gone.  MtGox is bankrupt and lost (or stole) all their user's bitcoins.

[RP440]

Open source:
"Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list,[16] and released as open-source software in 2009"
-apologies, but I was only reiterating what I read on wiki. I wouldn't be able to explain what open source regarding bitcoin is.

I owned a diner in NJ and was thinking of accepting bitcoin as payment but when my computer stopped working I did not pursue it any further.
I bought the diner in 2010 so I must have tried Bitcoin in 2011.
I am sure that I downloaded bitcoin on my pc to mine while I researched how to accept it as payment at my diner. I wrote on a piece of paper 3 things back then,
First "BITCOIN"
Second my email address at that time and
Third a password.
Thus I assumed email was user name and password was password.

Anyways, Thanks everyone!
Let me try to access that hard drive and go from there otherwise I will only be wasting all of our time!
Thanks DannyHamilton!

[calkob]

if you where genuinely solo mining on your computer then your wallet file should still be on there, just be careful who you give it to to fix or get access, as they my make off with any priv keys they find.

And if like danny said you had it stored in Mt Gox then its gone..... pretty much like this young mans savings https://youtu.be/FJNRVptyb9Y 

[RP440]

Thanks for the advise calkob!

[Velkro]

This sounds like a load of bull, this person hasnt a clue how wallets worked back 2009, avoid like the plauge, next thing he will be trying to sell you his wallet.dat for a a few bitcoin...... 

Sounds like it, he doesnt actually have a clue how was back then...
If this is true actually, then recover your private key, this is only thing u need to recover your bitcoins. Good luck in becoming millionaire.

[Yakamoto]

I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

I would assume that you found the account info to your pool account, and not the wallet that you think you might have. Assuming that you're referring to the pool account, chances are you just have to login to whatever the pool's website is to access your account and the funds stored in it. If you set it up to be automatically sending funds to a wallet you set up previously, I have no idea what you'd do.

[rizkyhiw]

I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

The ONLY wallet that existed in May of 2009, five months after Bitcoin started in January of 2009, was the original wallet.  Today it is known as "Bitcoin Core".  It didn't have any username, and it didn't have any accounts.  Just wallet software and data on your hard drive that was encrypted with a password.  There were no mining pools, you would have been solo mining on your computer.

This means that if you don't have a backup of that wallet file, and you no longer have access to that computer, then those bitcoins are permanently lost forever.

It think he might be referring to address and private key as username and password.

yeah i assume he think a private key as username of bitcoin core wallet
too bad if this really true he is an early adopter
i believe he have mined and earned hundreds bitcoin at least
and without any backup , they are gone i must say

[mogrith]

The used name and password were needed to solo mine. You set them in bitcoin.conf.  then used them in your mining software to mine.

You don't need them if you still have your wallet.dat.  If you found a block back then then you got 50/25 BTC so you may have a more than a few bucks in the wallet. But you might just have a small amount from other sources like a faucet or bought on mt gox and send to your wallet.

I bought 10 BTC from Mt Gox for less than $10.00. found my old wallet.dat when BTC was $150 and cashed it out on mining equipment.

Open source:
"Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list,[16] and released as open-source software in 2009"
-apologies, but I was only reiterating what I read on wiki. I wouldn't be able to explain what open source regarding bitcoin is.

I owned a diner in NJ and was thinking of accepting bitcoin as payment but when my computer stopped working I did not pursue it any further.
I bought the diner in 2010 so I must have tried Bitcoin in 2011.
I am sure that I downloaded bitcoin on my pc to mine while I researched how to accept it as payment at my diner. I wrote on a piece of paper 3 things back then,
First "BITCOIN"
Second my email address at that time and
Third a password.
Thus I assumed email was user name and password was password.

Anyways, Thanks everyone!
Let me try to access that hard drive and go from there otherwise I will only be wasting all of our time!
Thanks DannyHamilton!

[Doamader]

I started mining in the early days of Bitcoin, roughly 5-6 months after Bitcoin started. I signed up and mined for a very short period of time and my computer broke down. I never accessed my account again. I recently found my UN and PASSWORD that I used when I originally signed up but I don't know where to access my account as of today. Any suggestions? Is there an original bitcoin wallet still active?

I would assume that you found the account info to your pool account, and not the wallet that you think you might have. Assuming that you're referring to the pool account, chances are you just have to login to whatever the pool's website is to access your account and the funds stored in it. If you set it up to be automatically sending funds to a wallet you set up previously, I have no idea what you'd do.

Looks like that at those time there werent any pools it were solo miner, soo this person looks like had found a computer with some information from the mining details stored on the computer,because the post isnt make any sense, he doesnt know what he is saying.

The used name and password were needed to solo mine. You set them in bitcoin.conf.  then used them in your mining software to mine.

You don't need them if you still have your wallet.dat.  If you found a block back then then you got 50/25 BTC so you may have a more than a few bucks in the wallet. But you might just have a small amount from other sources like a faucet or bought on mt gox and send to your wallet.

I bought 10 BTC from Mt Gox for less than $10.00. found my old wallet.dat when BTC was $150 and cashed it out on mining equipment.

Open source:
"Bitcoin was introduced on 31 October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list,[16] and released as open-source software in 2009"
-apologies, but I was only reiterating what I read on wiki. I wouldn't be able to explain what open source regarding bitcoin is.

I owned a diner in NJ and was thinking of accepting bitcoin as payment but when my computer stopped working I did not pursue it any further.
I bought the diner in 2010 so I must have tried Bitcoin in 2011.
I am sure that I downloaded bitcoin on my pc to mine while I researched how to accept it as payment at my diner. I wrote on a piece of paper 3 things back then,
First "BITCOIN"
Second my email address at that time and
Third a password.
Thus I assumed email was user name and password was password.

Anyways, Thanks everyone!
Let me try to access that hard drive and go from there otherwise I will only be wasting all of our time!
Thanks DannyHamilton!

Well for some moments i had thinked that you had found those computer, i do hope you able to recover your coins, and for sure own 50 bitcoins or above will help a lot or boost your life with it, kindly let us know if you were able to recover the wallet.

[Kprawn]

Did Gavin's faucet have any username and passwords back then? Some people confuse Bitcoin mining with sucking from a faucet. OP, can

you still remember how many bitcoins you mined back then? How great would it be, if someone discovers that they have a couple of

hundreds of bitcoins laying in a cupboard somewhere after all of these years. Like the guy, who lost his hard drive and was looking for

it in the garbage dump. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/11/30/from-treasure-to-trash-man-tosses-out-bitcoin-wallet-on-hard-drive-worth-9-million/#7c17d5c23f1a

[SAMKUSH]

I myself have lost a few bitcoins from leaving it in wallets and forgetting about it. It's the risk that comes with owning bitcoin and even with all the precautions it is still possible to lose a large amount.