recovering seed from address

[ereimas]

Hi, I was requested to move my post to this board:


Trying to go from seed list -> address

Hi everyone, brand new to the bitcoin community.  I've been working nonstop for the past two weeks on learning all of this, so please bear with me if I'm abusing notation or something:

Situation:  My friend bought a nano ledger x a year or two ago and wrote down his 24 word bip39 word list.  He lost his seed and I am trying to recover his funds for him.  Only thing is that his handwriting is terrible and we're having a hard time figuring out the exact 24 word phrase.  Therefore, I have a list of about ~1000 mnemonics that pass checksum, one of which COULD be his.

Earlier, I was manually testing these seeds using the Electrum desktop client.  I did: Standard Wallet > I already had the seed> then entered the seed and checked Options/Bip 39 seed > native segwit > no password
and then I checked the balance.


I also have access to a transaction.  Here are some key points:

• Wallet Address is:  bc1qyw9dcldzl6jaam0rdz5  (in particular, it starts with bc1)
• On blockchain.com the address has format :  BECH32 (P2WPKH)
• It was on the receiving end of a transaction and currently >1 BTC

I have a python script to generate the mnemonic list, and have tried the following:

Code: ("Python")

from bit import Key, PrivateKey, PrivateKeyTestnet

for mn in checksum_candidates:
    my_key = Key(bip39(mn)['privatekey'])
    bal = my_key.get_balance('usd')
    if bal != '0':
        print(bal)

I'm looking for a better solution to this, or at least affirmation that my solution is correct.  My biggest concern is that I am only checking one wallet address, and if so, I don't know if i'm doing the right derivation path.

Any help is greatly appreciated -- if someone can lead me to recover funds, I will reward you handsomly if you send me your wallet address!!

[Btcspot]

Hi, i see you need  help Go try here: https://iancoleman.io/bip39

You can type in seed phrases and see if your address is in the list. If you want you can try the site offline or not. Try Bip 32 and bip 84 see if your address is Bc1. Thanks I hope this can help because i could use a huge reward. Ill give my address if needed 13ogmvro1bzG7i1rqYCxs67KzK7k1fEhqQ .

[nc50lc]

Only thing is that his handwriting is terrible and we're having a hard time figuring out the exact 24 word phrase.  

Then, the issue are the unclear words and he still have the paper where the seed was written?

If that's the case, just compare each word with the most similar word from this list: BIP39 Word List
Take note of the possible number of characters and similar letters.

[The Cryptovator]

He lost his seed and I am trying to recover his funds for him.  Only thing is that his handwriting is terrible and we're having a hard time figuring out the exact 24 word phrase.

I am confused, your friend lost seed or lost the device? You told lost seed and you are telling hand writing is terrible. So from where you get this hand writing. If your friend only lost seed and device still available then you may recover from device easily. First move your all fund from device and try to reset, see here how to Reset to factory settings . So you will get new seed. And you may back your fund into device again. Because create new seed means all private keys will new.

If you lost device, then only way to recover fund via seed phrase. If you have recovery seed and some of them you can't read then @nc50lc instructions would help you. But if all the seed word not readable then most likely you can't recover or it will very difficult. Because there is couple of similar word for a single word. Try to read maximum and try again and again. There is no any other way.

[Pmalek]

Coolcryptovator is right.
Is the hardware wallet still in his possession? Can he connect it to his computer, plug it in and access it from Ledger Live or Electrum.
If he can you don't need to go through all that. He can move his assets to a temporary wallet, Electrum for Bitcoins, for example.
Create a new wallet on Ledger Live, write down the seed properly this time, and once he is all set he can move his assets back into this newly created wallet.

Since he doesn't know his current seed tell him that he shouldn't update his Ledger to the newest firmware before sending out his coins as this could reset the device.

[AB de Royse777]

^
It seems the OP wanted to say that his friend lost his device and the seeds were written in a paper and his freind's hand writing is terrible.

He lost his seed and I am trying to recover his funds for him.  Only thing is that his handwriting is terrible and we're having a hard time figuring out the exact 24 word phrase.

Anyway, I think the best suggestion was given by nc50lc and I will echo it too.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Earlier, I was manually testing these seeds using the Electrum desktop client.  I did: Standard Wallet > I already had the seed> then entered the seed and checked Options/Bip 39 seed > native segwit > no password
and then I checked the balance.

This will work, provided the caveats regarding derivation paths that I have outlined below.

Wallet Address is:  bc1qyw9dcldzl6jaam0rdz5  (in particular, it starts with bc1)

I assume you have only shared part of the address for privacy reasons? This is not a full address.

My biggest concern is that I am only checking one wallet address, and if so, I don't know if i'm doing the right derivation path.

You need some more information from your friend. How did he use his Nano X? He must have set it up with Ledger Live. How many different bitcoin accounts did he create? Was it only 1? If it was more than 1, did that address you've shared definitely come from the first account?

If he only made one account and/or that address is definitely from the first account, then it will be under derivation path m/84'/0'/0' (this is displayed by Electrum on the screen where you select "native segwit" in your steps above). If the address is part of a different account, it will not show up in Electrum under this derivation path even if you are using the correct seed. To check other accounts, you need to go through the exact same steps above, but change the derivation path to m/84'/0'/1' for account number 2, m/84'/0'/2' for account number 3, and so on.


There is software known as "btcrecover" (available here: https://github.com/gurnec/btcrecover) which will automatically check all the seeds for you. However, it is no longer kept up to date and doesn't work with bech32 (bc1) addresses. There is a fork of it here (https://github.com/3rdIteration/btcrecover) which apparently does support bech32 addresses, but I haven't used this fork myself so cannot verify this. Anything you do with this should be on an offline computer (preferably permanently offline) for your own safety.

Follow the instructions to enter the full address which has coins in it, the best guess of your seed, and let it run. It will check as many seeds as it can to see if any of them contain that address. If the address is in the first account (derivation path m/84'/0'/0') and your best guess at the seed is close enough, then this script should find it. If you think the address was from an account other than the first one, then I would imagine it would be fairly simple to alter the code to check different accounts, but as I say, I've not used this fork myself so I can't confirm that.

[ereimas]

Earlier, I was manually testing these seeds using the Electrum desktop client.  I did: Standard Wallet > I already had the seed> then entered the seed and checked Options/Bip 39 seed > native segwit > no password
and then I checked the balance.

This will work, provided the caveats regarding derivation paths that I have outlined below.

Wallet Address is:  bc1qyw9dcldzl6jaam0rdz5  (in particular, it starts with bc1)

I assume you have only shared part of the address for privacy reasons? This is not a full address.

My biggest concern is that I am only checking one wallet address, and if so, I don't know if i'm doing the right derivation path.

You need some more information from your friend. How did he use his Nano X? He must have set it up with Ledger Live. How many different bitcoin accounts did he create? Was it only 1? If it was more than 1, did that address you've shared definitely come from the first account?

If he only made one account and/or that address is definitely from the first account, then it will be under derivation path m/84'/0'/0' (this is displayed by Electrum on the screen where you select "native segwit" in your steps above). If the address is part of a different account, it will not show up in Electrum under this derivation path even if you are using the correct seed. To check other accounts, you need to go through the exact same steps above, but change the derivation path to m/84'/0'/1' for account number 2, m/84'/0'/2' for account number 3, and so on.


There is software known as "btcrecover" (available here: https://github.com/gurnec/btcrecover) which will automatically check all the seeds for you. However, it is no longer kept up to date and doesn't work with bech32 (bc1) addresses. There is a fork of it here (https://github.com/3rdIteration/btcrecover) which apparently does support bech32 addresses, but I haven't used this fork myself so cannot verify this. Anything you do with this should be on an offline computer (preferably permanently offline) for your own safety.

Follow the instructions to enter the full address which has coins in it, the best guess of your seed, and let it run. It will check as many seeds as it can to see if any of them contain that address. If the address is in the first account (derivation path m/84'/0'/0') and your best guess at the seed is close enough, then this script should find it. If you think the address was from an account other than the first one, then I would imagine it would be fairly simple to alter the code to check different accounts, but as I say, I've not used this fork myself so I can't confirm that.

Thank you, this is helpful, I will ask these questions to him and get back to you.



For everyone else -- he has his ledger.  The bip39 word list of 24 words is the thing that's extremely unclear (like the handwriting is atrocious and believe me, we're having a hard time comparing it to each word on the word list).   That is why in my original post I am saying that I have a list of possible seeds (which I derived by having candidates for each word that's hard to read).  It is from here that I do not know what to do.

[o_e_l_e_o]

For everyone else -- he has his ledger.

If he has his Ledger, and knows his PIN to unlock it, then you don't need to know the 24 word phrase to recover the coins. The recovery phrase is only necessary as a backup. You can simply unlock the device, access it via Ledger Live or Electrum, and transfer the coins out to a new wallet which you do know the recovery phrase for. Has he also forgotten his PIN?

[Btcspot]

 You can also try this : https://cryptosec.info/verify-ledger-recovery-seed
 I dont know if you have its worth to try.

[mk4]

You can also try this : https://cryptosec.info/verify-ledger-recovery-seed
 I dont know if you have its worth to try.

Verifying if you've wrote down the correct recovery seed of your Ledger wallet is really different to what OP is trying to do. The tool specified on that website is only for verifying the seed, in contrast to in OP's case whereas he needs to recover them.

Also, it's safe to assume that OP/OP's friend already has no access to the Nano X. > or he no longer knows the pin.

[The Cryptovator]

It seems the OP wanted to say that his friend lost his device and the seeds were written in a paper and his freind's hand writing is terrible.

I think I was correct, the device still with them.

For everyone else -- he has his ledger.  The bip39 word list of 24 words is the thing that's extremely unclear (like the handwriting is atrocious and believe me, we're having a hard time comparing it to each word on the word list).   That is why in my original post I am saying that I have a list of possible seeds (which I derived by having candidates for each word that's hard to read).  It is from here that I do not know what to do.

So don't waste your time to recover your seed phrase, since you have control of your Ledger so I will refer to my first reply. If you are able to access device and have pin code then move your fund into another wallet or electrum. Then reset your device and write new seed phrase. If you forgot pin then don't try, three wrong attempt will reset your device automatically then there will be no way to recover your funds. So I will suggest once again please read their troubleshooting instructions, Lost device, PIN code or recovery phrase .

For your better understanding, once you will moved your all fund from Ledger, there is no more risk to reset your device. There will no more relation with old seed phrase. You will get brand new private keys after reset. So you should not worry about your old seed phrase. I believe you have your pin code, so try what I said.

[2double0]

OP, you should try the solution given by coolcryptovator but remember, 3 wrong attempts and you are gone!

But if I were at your place, I'd not go for this on the basis of 'hope' if I have forgotten my PIN code too and have a friend written that too but the handwriting is not understandable. Coolcryptovator, on a side note, I think that he still has a chance even if he gets the device reset because he has his recovery seed with him (though not understandable but if he could figure out, then there is no meaning in taking chance by trying with wrong PIN and I think that OP or his friend does not know the PIN).

By the way, why two threads with the same content in 2 different sections?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5216010.msg53556876#msg53556876

[ereimas]

Hi All, I discussed with my friend and the PIN is also lost.  He said he's at a stage where he cannot reset using PIN anymore and MUST reset using the seed phrase.

OP, you should try the solution given by coolcryptovator but remember, 3 wrong attempts and you are gone!

But if I were at your place, I'd not go for this on the basis of 'hope' if I have forgotten my PIN code too and have a friend written that too but the handwriting is not understandable. Coolcryptovator, on a side note, I think that he still has a chance even if he gets the device reset because he has his recovery seed with him (though not understandable but if he could figure out, then there is no meaning in taking chance by trying with wrong PIN and I think that OP or his friend does not know the PIN).

By the way, why two threads with the same content in 2 different sections?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5216010.msg53556876#msg53556876

mods told me to move it here!

[DireWolfM14]

Using the Ian Coleman Bip39 tool is probably going to be easier and faster than repeated attempts in Electrum, but I would download the source code, and only use it on a clean computer.  With the Ian Coleman tool you can enter the seed and alternately change out the questionable words until you find the address you're looking for.  

The other question you should ask your friend is to try and remember if he set up a Bip39 Passphrase on his Ledger, and if so, he may have attached it to a secondary PIN.  If he did create a passphrase, he may not have written it down on the same piece of paper as the seed, if he wrote it down at all.  A Bip39 passphrase would generate a completely different wallet and addresses that are not accessible with the seed phrase alone.  

[The Cryptovator]

Hi All, I discussed with my friend and the PIN is also lost.  He said he's at a stage where he cannot reset using PIN anymore and MUST reset using the seed phrase.

Sorry to hear your friend also lost pin code. That was last hope for easy recover your Ledger device. Just ask him try to remember if he wrote pin code somewhere on his notebook, it would be easy way if found incase. Now only hole your seed phrase, try to best guess from list of BIP39 word. To be honest, if seed phrase written by him then at least he should understand his own hand writing. It's really looking strange ! Anyway, if at least 2 or 3 character is readable from written seed it would be easy for you to identify from seed list. So try to do it, match your character position with seed list to guess best word. Hope you will success.

[tranthidung]

mods told me to move it here!

Move != create 2 sibling topics.
If I was you, I would lock that topic: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5216010.msg53556876#msg53556876
or write a last post like that: "Hi everyone, I created another topic in a right board (Bitcoin Technical Support). Now, I lock this topic. If you want to help me, please leave your replies here: recovering seed from address"

Move topic | Lock topic buttons:
You can find them at the bottom, on the left corner.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Hi All, I discussed with my friend and the PIN is also lost.  He said he's at a stage where he cannot reset using PIN anymore and MUST reset using the seed phrase.

Did he answer the question I asked about the number of accounts he created? If he can't remember, he should still be able to open Ledger Live and view his accounts, even without being able to unlock his Ledger Nano.

Your best bet is to follow my instructions above regarding the forked btcrecover program. Give it your best guess at the seed along with the address which has funds in it, and let it do its thing. Alternatively, if you want to do it manually, follow DireWolfM14's advice regarding Ian Coleman's tool. Make sure you choose "BIP84" under derivation path to generate the right keys, and change the "Account" number if necessary depending on the answer to the above question.