losing recovery phrases but not losing hope

[awared]

Dear fellow bitcoin community,
Like it said on the subject I have misplaced my recovery seed however I can login to Trezor and access the funds. So I was thinking I can buy another wallet and move all the fund to that one so then I can obtain a new pass-phrase. Another solution I came up with was to send my fund to my coinbase account and then reset the wallet. Any ideas if there is a better more elegant solution? Thank you so much in advance.

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[dkbit98]

Dear fellow bitcoin community,
Like it said on the subject I have misplaced my recovery seed however I can login to Trezor and access the funds. So I was thinking I can buy another wallet and move all the fund to that one so then I can obtain a new pass-phrase. Another solution I came up with was to send my fund to my coinbase account and then reset the wallet. Any ideas if there is a better more elegant solution? Thank you so much in advance.

Why would you buy another wallet for that ?!

Do you have passphrase or not?

Trezor manual:
https://wiki.trezor.io/User_manual
https://wiki.trezor.io/Security

https://wiki.trezor.io/Recovery_seed#Lost_or_compromised_recovery_seed

[o_e_l_e_o]

So I was thinking I can buy another wallet and move all the fund to that one so then I can obtain a new pass-phrase. Another solution I came up with was to send my fund to my coinbase account and then reset the wallet.

This is pretty much the only option available to you; send your coins to another wallet, reset your Trezor, set up a new wallet on your Trezor, and send them back. If you can wait for another Trezor device to arrive (and take the risk of permanently losing your coins should something happen to your current device in the meantime), then that's the safest way to transfer your coins. If you can't wait that long, then transfer them to another third party wallet, preferably on an airgapped machine. There are plenty of risks with the second option too, and you should pay particular attention to making sure the wallet you use is genuine and looking out for clipboard malware or similar.

I definitely wouldn't be using an exchange or web wallet for doing this.

[Pmalek]

You didn't mention which coins you are holding. Are you holding only bitcoins or are we talking about multiple alt coins as well.
If it is only Bitcoins you could move them to an Electrum wallet if you trust your current system setup. If you haven't used that computer for any doubtful activities like illegal and cracked software, torrenting etc. Of course make sure that your Electrum wallet is only downloaded from the official site and verify the signatures before installing it and sending any bitcoins to it.

I wouldn't wait too long for that. You never know what could happen. I experienced an issue with a Ledger device not too long ago where the device wiped itself clean following an update. If something like that happened to you at this stage where you don't have your recovery seed your funds would be gone. 

[Lucius]

Very tricky situation, but in any case solvable given that there is still access to hardware wallet. Time plays a role in this case, but only if OP is continue to use current hardware wallet and somehow resets the device. I do not know if Trezor is having such problems, but as Pmalek is mention in his post, some Ledger users recenty get their devices wiped, but this is confirmed bug which should be fixed with next firmware.

The only 100% safe option is to move all coins from that Trezor now, and maybe Coinbase or some other trusted exchange is not bad choice if we take in consideration risks that come with desktop / mobile wallets. Yet it is only on temporary storage, how long it can take to reset Trezor and to create new seed?

Second option would be to not touch that Trezor until new one is arrives, and then move coins from old to new device. This would ensure that something bad does not happen with old Trezor, and second hardware wallet can always be good solution in such cases.

[dkbit98]

I would not send coins to Coinbase or other similar exchange websites.
If you are going to send coins anywhere, then send them to your desktop or mobile wallets:
Electrum or Coinomi are probably the best options.

[AB de Royse777]

Whatever you do, you need to do it quickly. You never know something might happen and you will need the recovery phrase.

If you have only Bitcoin there (I have not idea about Trezor, if they support other coins) then instead of Coinbase I would say to download Electrum from their official site (https://electrum.org/#download) and of course verify (https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-verify-your-electrum-download/) the file before installation. And make sure your PC is clean as well. Once everything checked then install Electrum and create a wallet. Send the BTC to the desktop wallet.

If you have other coins then go to each of them's official sites and download the individual wallets. I understand that it's a lot of work but you have to suffer for the mistake you committed LOL. Send the coins to the desired wallets.

Once you have empty hardware wallet then reset it (I mean set it up with new recovery phrase and it will become a new wallet). Make sure this time you do not mess up with the seeds and other info. Send back the coins to the new Trezor wallet.

Good luck.

[awared]

Thank you so much for the feedback; it's all very stressful.
I have the pin to login cannot find the passphrase (24 words). I'm wondering if both wallets can be connected via usb at the same time when I transfer from one wallet to another, or if both need to be connected at the same time? The transfer should be straight forward, right? or is there anything else I should be aware of? I will be posting updates when the new wallet arrives.

[dkbit98]

Thank you so much for the feedback; it's all very stressful.
I have the pin to login cannot find the passphrase (24 words). I'm wondering if both wallets can be connected via usb at the same time when I transfer from one wallet to another, or if both need to be connected at the same time? The transfer should be straight forward, right? or is there anything else I should be aware of? I will be posting updates when the new wallet arrives.

Just download fresh copy of Electrum wallet for desktop:  https://bitcoin.org/en/wallets/desktop/windows/electrum/
SAVE YOUR NEW SEED / PRIVATE KEY.
Write it on paper and BACKUP.
Generate address and copy it.
Send Bitcoin from Trezor to this new address.

Confirm that you received Bitcoin in new address in Electrum.

You are done.

Now you can reset Trezor (wipe device) and generate new seed/address/pass

SAVE YOUR NEW SEED / PRIVATE KEY.
Write it on paper and BACKUP.

https://wiki.trezor.io/User_manual
https://wiki.trezor.io/User_manual-Wiping_the_Trezor_device__T1

[Pmalek]

<Snip>

Nothing wrong with your instructions except that before one starts using his wallet it is highly recommended to verify the signatures of the downloaded file.
OP can follow this guide to make sure that the file was signed by Thomas V.
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/how-to-verify-your-electrum-download/
You will need to download and install Kleopatra for the verification.

[Lucius]

dkbit98, Electrum is good choice for transfering BTC if user is have clean PC, and if he know how to verify Electrum files. Even some other Electrum forks are safe if you using offical wallets, but what if OP is have more then just BTC - he then need to move all altcoins somewhere.

Online wallets / exchanges like Coinbase or Binance should be no place for long-term storage, but for short-term storage i see no problem not using them. This solution or any trusted desktop wallet is something I would do to fix this problem.

Thank you so much for the feedback; it's all very stressful.
I have the pin to login cannot find the passphrase (24 words). I'm wondering if both wallets can be connected via usb at the same time when I transfer from one wallet to another, or if both need to be connected at the same time? The transfer should be straight forward, right? or is there anything else I should be aware of? I will be posting updates when the new wallet arrives.

When you say both wallets, you think on your Trezor and for example Electrum? There is not problem to have them both online in same time, just click on receive tab in Electrum -> copy address -> paste in Trezor -> double check that address is match on both wallets.

In case you are thinking on two Trezors in same time on same PC, this would not probably work - but I am o not sure about that. What you need to do is generate new seed on new Trezor and get receive address from them. Then just connect old Trezor and send coins to that address, you will see that transaction on new Trezor instantly, but it will take some time for confirmation (depending on fee you set&network congestion).

[dkbit98]

dkbit98, Electrum is good choice for transfering BTC if user is have clean PC, and if he know how to verify Electrum files. Even some other Electrum forks are safe if you using offical wallets, but what if OP is have more then just BTC - he then need to move all altcoins somewhere.

Online wallets / exchanges like Coinbase or Binance should be no place for long-term storage, but for short-term storage i see no problem not using them. This solution or any trusted desktop wallet is something I would do to fix this problem.

Thank you so much for the feedback; it's all very stressful.
I have the pin to login cannot find the passphrase (24 words). I'm wondering if both wallets can be connected via usb at the same time when I transfer from one wallet to another, or if both need to be connected at the same time? The transfer should be straight forward, right? or is there anything else I should be aware of? I will be posting updates when the new wallet arrives.

When you say both wallets, you think on your Trezor and for example Electrum? There is not problem to have them both online in same time, just click on receive tab in Electrum -> copy address -> paste in Trezor -> double check that address is match on both wallets.

In case you are thinking on two Trezors in same time on same PC, this would not probably work - but I am o not sure about that. What you need to do is generate new seed on new Trezor and get receive address from them. Then just connect old Trezor and send coins to that address, you will see that transaction on new Trezor instantly, but it will take some time for confirmation (depending on fee you set&network congestion).

I still DO NOT recommend that option, both for privacy and safety reasons.
Minimum that could happen is servers outage and websites not working...oh wait that happened recently ...

If he has other shitcoins he can download Coinomi wallet that have most of them,
and it is available for Desktop and Mobile.
Or some other alternative wallets (Atomic...)

[Lucius]

I still DO NOT recommend that option, both for privacy and safety reasons.
Minimum that could happen is servers outage and websites not working...oh wait that happened recently ...

I agree that we should be extremely cautious with cryptocurrency, but not extremely paranoid. Your attitude is that in general we should not use crypto exchanges because of "privacy and safety reasons", but in that case how people would trade with crypto?

OP is has an account on Coinbase, and this means that he is done KYC there, and probably he bought coins there - based on that I do not see any problem for the funds to be transferred there for some short time.


Small advice about quotations, you can edit / remove part of quote. This way you can quote only parts that are meant for you, and not to other member (in case of multi-quote).

[dkbit98]

I still DO NOT recommend that option, both for privacy and safety reasons.
Minimum that could happen is servers outage and websites not working...oh wait that happened recently ...

I agree that we should be extremely cautious with cryptocurrency, but not extremely paranoid. Your attitude is that in general we should not use crypto exchanges because of "privacy and safety reasons", but in that case how people would trade with crypto?

OP is has an account on Coinbase, and this means that he is done KYC there, and probably he bought coins there - based on that I do not see any problem for the funds to be transferred there for some short time.


Small advice about quotations, you can edit / remove part of quote. This way you can quote only parts that are meant for you, and not to other member (in case of multi-quote).

If I had option to choose, I would ALWAYS choose Non-custodial wallet,
and I don't find that to be 'extremely paranoid' at all.

We are NOT talking about trading here, we are talking about moving coins to other wallets.


PS
Thanks for advice

[o_e_l_e_o]

I have the pin to login cannot find the passphrase (24 words). I'm wondering if both wallets can be connected via usb at the same time when I transfer from one wallet to another, or if both need to be connected at the same time?

To answer this directly:

As far as I am aware, you would only be able to connect and properly use two Trezor devices at the same through a virtual machine or similar. It's overly complicated for what you need, and probably makes the whole process riskier as you run the risk of mixing up which device is which. The much easier way would be to use two separate computers (do you have an old laptop lying around?), or if not, then you will need to only have one wallet plugged in at a time.

Here's the steps I would take:
When the new wallet arrives, follow the instructions at https://wiki.trezor.io/User_manual-Setting_up_the_Trezor_device to set it up properly, and back up your 24 word phrase on paper. It might be worth creating two paper back ups, and remember where you store them this time.
Set up a new wallet on the new Trezor for the first coin you want to transfer, for example, bitcoin.
Copy and paste your receiving address in to a text editor. Double and triple check it is correct. For added peace of mind, you could screenshot your screen with your wallet open and address visible, so you know it can't be changed by clipboard malware.
Unplug your new Trezor, plug in your old one, and open your old bitcoin wallet.
Copy and paste your receiving address from the text editor to your bitcoin wallet. Double and triple check it hasn't changed, and check it against the screenshot of your address taken from your new wallet.


As a side question that hasn't been touched on yet - are you sure you simply lost your 24 word phrase? If there is any chance it has been stolen, you need to move your coins immediately.

[Velkro]

Dear fellow bitcoin community,
Like it said on the subject I have misplaced my recovery seed however I can login to Trezor and access the funds. So I was thinking I can buy another wallet and move all the fund to that one so then I can obtain a new pass-phrase. Another solution I came up with was to send my fund to my coinbase account and then reset the wallet. Any ideas if there is a better more elegant solution? Thank you so much in advance.

If you still can send them and only lost seed phrase its no problem at all.
Just send them to other wallet/exchange temporarly and then reset Trezor creating new seed. Send crypto back to Trezor.
Done.

[awared]

Hi again and thank you for all your responses.
I purchased another Trezor wallet and set it up, then transferred some money and the amount was showing within a short time. Then wanting to make sure the pass-phrase is good I wiped the wallet. Now after entering the phrase it has no history of the transaction. Does wiping the device also remove the history and funds???

[o_e_l_e_o]

Does wiping the device also remove the history and funds???

Wiping the device clears everything from it - keys, addresses, history, etc - but when you restore your wallet with seed +/- passphrase, then that should all be visible again.

If you sent coins to a wallet, wiped it, restored it, and can't see the coins, something has gone wrong. Are you sure you entered the correct passphrase? Do the addresses you are now seeing include the address you sent coins to? If yes, then it's likely a synchronization issue. If no, then you have restore the wallet incorrectly.

[Pmalek]

For future reference if you want to test if your recovery phrase is correct you should do that before sending any funds to that wallet.
Create a new address in the new wallet and wipe your device clean. Once you restore the wallet with your seed you should be able to see the generated address from earlier.

[Polar91]

Dear fellow bitcoin community,
Like it said on the subject I have misplaced my recovery seed however I can login to Trezor and access the funds. So I was thinking I can buy another wallet and move all the fund to that one so then I can obtain a new pass-phrase. Another solution I came up with was to send my fund to my coinbase account and then reset the wallet. Any ideas if there is a better more elegant solution? Thank you so much in advance.

The best thing to do is to send it to a third party wallet such as Coinbase, Blockchain, Xapo, or etc. and reset it the same day you moved your funds so that you won't worry much of getting hacked. The next time you get the recovery phrases, it's advisable to write it down on a paper in order to lessen the chance of getting hacked. You may also test your recovery phrase before you send your funds back.