Stolen Laptop causes me big trouble can anybody help

[mark76g]

My story is this.

I decided to dabble it bit coin and purchased 12 coins at MTgox a few months ago when they were a bit over $100 each.

I initially downloaded Bitcoin-qt to my macbook air then discovered a serious network connection was need to run
this wallet so I switch to Multibit (I think although it may have been some other light wallet).

After Mtgox sent me the coins I sent 10 coins to an online currency trading firm with the intention of dabbling in some small time currency trading and kept 2 in my wallet for a rainy day.

I quickly read a guide to backing up bit coins off google. I put a password on my wallet and then found a file
somewhere on my hard drive which I though was my wallet and copied it to a USB key.

A few months later when on holidays in a third world country my bag and laptop were stolen.

This has caused some major problems.

1) The trading company is claiming I can only withdraw my 10 coins to my old wallet address.
This must be one of their own rules because bit coins dont work like that as far as I know.
I should just be able to prove who I am and send them a new wallet address.

2) The file I backed up with the 2 coins in it is called wallet.dat. Googling reveals this is the wallet file for Bitcoin-qt not
Multibit. However I cant remember what happened when I backed it up.
    1) I may have renamed the file to wallet.dat
    2) I may not have been using Multibit are there any there any other light fast wallets out there ?

In any case if somebody technical knows a way I can check the wallet.dat file I have to find out where it came from.
If it still has coins in it and your help unlocks them I will tip for sure.

Thanks.

Mark.

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[CrashX]

It sounds that you stole your friend laptop and figured that you'll just transfer the coin to you. You it seems you didn't catch up correctly on how wallets work.

First Off, if you don't have the backup with the backup keys, yours or yours friend coins are gone. They will stay on the web for eternity.

Any online wallet will allowed you to change the sending address, they might have a 2 step verification process as Blockchain.info has.


Good Luck...

[mark76g]

Thats really rude.

What the hell would make you think that ? I didn't steal anything from anybody.
My laptop was stolen in the Philippines along with my whole bag. It was not a pleasant experience.

I dont know much about bit coin at least you got that part right.

But what im telling you is true.

I have a file called wallet.dat which I created in a hurry four months ago from quickly googling a how to guide.

Are you telling me that I need a private key to go with the file or its useless ?

In hind sight I think I copied the wallet file from Bitcoin-qt and not the other wallet where
my coins were and its probably empty anyway.

[Puppet]

Try this:
https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

drop your wallet.dat there.
If it fails to import, it may be the multibit wallet, just download multibit and import the file.

As for changing the address, you'll have to contact the "online currency trading firm". Which one is that anyway?

[mark76g]

Hey thanks for the tip about "blockchain.info" that worked.
My wallet imported it turns out its was my empty wallet from Bitcoin-qt.
In my haste I've saved the wrong wallet. My coins must have been in the Multi-bit wallet file.
The one I should have copied. Thats with the thief now but its passworded so they are probably lost forever.
The laptop may have already been formatted.

Out of curiosity is there a way to look up the block chain and see if the have been spent ?.

That was an expense way to learn about back ups.

What was the other poster saying about private keys ?. If I back copy a wallet file from any bitcoin client do I need anything
else to go with it for future reference ?

[Puppet]

Hey thanks for the tip about "blockchain.info" that worked.
My wallet imported it turns out its was my empty wallet from Bitcoin-qt.
In my haste I've saved the wrong wallet. My coins must have been in the Multi-bit wallet file.
The one I should have copied. Thats with the thief now but its passworded so they are probably lost forever.
The laptop may have already been formatted.

Out of curiosity is there a way to look up the block chain and see if the have been spent ?.

Sure, just copy paste the bitcoin address(es)  in blockchain.info search box.

That was an expense way to learn about back ups.

What was the other poster saying about private keys ?. If I back copy a wallet file from any bitcoin client do I need anything
else to go with it for future reference ?

The wallet contains the private keys. Its all you need(ed) really. If you dont have a backup, those coins in that wallet are indeed gone forever, but the ones you had at the trading firm should be recoverable.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

If you are not lying, tell which exchange this is. If you  are telling the truth, the only coins you have are on that exchange, and it's silly, their requirements.