Can't access my money because of the derivation path

[Folio]

Hi, so my friend has a coinbase wallet (stupid, I know). So he has 0.22 btc in this address

bc1q6lm6xa4fgcfxhvge06q3x2j0unqth4k3q56az0

he uninstalled his coinbase wallet app and then he installed it again. The app gave him the same username of course, but it gave him a total new address, which of course is empty.

I've read that coinbase wallet does this to improve privacy by changing addresses all the time. The problem is that now my friend can't get access to his address again.
I tried to help him to get back to it via Electrum but we failed. We tried 3 different derivation paths

m/44'/60'/0'/0/1

m/44'/60'/0'/0/0

m/84'/0'/0'

all the wallets created with his seed (that he has and is correct) and these derivation paths are empty. So it must be another derivation path.

Can we know the exact derivation path so that he can get access to his address with his money inside?

[Folio]

We can give you the public key if it helps in finding out which derivation path is correct.

[tranthidung]

From block explorer: the amount of Bitcoin still be in that address.
Check:

• Balance
• Unspent status

It means his fund is fine so that you and your friend can stop worrying about it too much. I am not familiar with Coinbase so the others will help you out.

[nc50lc]

The address is Native SegWit so it couldn't be anything other than: m/84'/0'/0' for BIP84 or m/0 if Coinbase is using BIP141 for SegWit.
Since it's Coinbase Wallet App, it must be BIP84.
But for Electrum, you should first select "native segwit (p2wpkh)" before editing the derivation path;
otherwise, It'll create legacy addresses despite the change of derivation path.

There's also a chance that the address is at higher index than Electrum's default of 20,
in that case, try to create more addresses by typing this in the console (View->Show Console):

Code:

[wallet.create_new_address(False) for i in range(200)]

Then restart Electrum.
Change "False" to "True" if you want to generate change addresses.

Lastly, sharing the address' public key wont help anyone in finding the correct derivation path.
It should be the "Master Public Key" (zpub), but that will cause your 'friend' privacy issues.

[o_e_l_e_o]

If nc50lc's suggestions don't work, then rather than just trying trial and error to stumble on the correct derivation path you would be better off contacting Coinbase through their support pages and asking specifically for the derivation path which leads to that address. You can find their support pages here: https://help.coinbase.com/en/contact-us.html

I also found this issue on Electrum's GitHub (https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/6015), where the user said they imported a Coinbase phrase and recovered the SegWit addresses without issue. I would make sure you selected "native segwit" as opposed to manually changing the derivation path. Did the incorrect addresses you generated in Electrum start with "bc1"?

[Folio]

The address is Native SegWit so it couldn't be anything other than: m/84'/0'/0' for BIP84 or m/0 if Coinbase is using BIP141 for SegWit.
Since it's Coinbase Wallet App, it must be BIP84.
But for Electrum, you should first select "native segwit (p2wpkh)" before editing the derivation path;
otherwise, It'll create legacy addresses despite the change of derivation path.

There's also a chance that the address is at higher index than Electrum's default of 20,
in that case, try to create more addresses by typing this in the console (View->Show Console):

Code:

[wallet.create_new_address(False) for i in range(200)]

Then restart Electrum.
Change "False" to "True" if you want to generate change addresses.

Lastly, sharing the address' public key wont help anyone in finding the correct derivation path.
It should be the "Master Public Key" (zpub), but that will cause your 'friend' privacy issues.

Didn't work, all addresses are empty and that specific one doesn't show up.

[Folio]

If nc50lc's suggestions don't work, then rather than just trying trial and error to stumble on the correct derivation path you would be better off contacting Coinbase through their support pages and asking specifically for the derivation path which leads to that address. You can find their support pages here: https://help.coinbase.com/en/contact-us.html

I also found this issue on Electrum's GitHub (https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/6015), where the user said they imported a Coinbase phrase and recovered the SegWit addresses without issue. I would make sure you selected "native segwit" as opposed to manually changing the derivation path. Did the incorrect addresses you generated in Electrum start with "bc1"?

He's already contacted coinbase. They asked him for the txid but they said they'll reply within 5-7 days.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Are the incorrect addresses you are generating starting with "bc1" or with something else?

If you are sure the seed phrase is correct (and there is no passphrase associated with the above address, but I don't think Coinbase wallet even offers this), then your options are either to share the zpub with someone you think can help (being aware of the privacy implications of this), or simply wait for Coinbase to respond.

Is the seed you are using backed up from the old Coinbase wallet before he uninstalled it, or from the fresh install?

[Folio]

This is the address that received the fund

https://i.imgur.com/NRhWOPK.jpg

This is the username he had on coinbase wallet

https://i.imgur.com/xjpKL1z.jpg

This is the screen he got when he logged back into the app. The transactions were gone and the funds too, because the coinbase wallet gave him other addresses and for whatever reason the address with the money doesn't show anywhere
https://i.imgur.com/UUJuiIi.jpg

[o_e_l_e_o]

The username is irrelevant - it is an unique feature of Coinbase's wallet and is used by Coinbase to let you send funds to other Coinbase wallet users and invade your privacy. It is unrelated to either the seed phrase or the addresses.

The public key he gave you - what letter did it start with? x, y, or z?

The transaction that you found - what letter or number did the associated address start with? Does he recognize the transaction? Did he make it?

[Folio]

The username is irrelevant - it is an unique feature of Coinbase's wallet and is used by Coinbase to let you send funds to other Coinbase wallet users and invade your privacy. It is unrelated to either the seed phrase or the addresses.

The public key he gave you - what letter did it start with? x, y, or z?

The transaction that you found - what letter or number did the associated address start with? Does he recognize the transaction? Did he make it?

He gave me 2 different public keys when we were trying different kinds of derivation paths. (is this normal)?
They both start with zpub.
If you want I can give it to you. I mean with it you can only watch all his transactions right? Nobody can enter a wallet with a public keys as far as I know.
Plus once he gets access to this address with the money I already told him to move everything out of coinbase.

The address that I found starts with bc1 and he does recognize the transaction. It's this one.

https://i.imgur.com/6EtoM6L.jpg

It may be important to state: when I searched the first public key he gave me, this site found no used addresses.
When he gave me the second one, the site found this one that I posted.

[o_e_l_e_o]

He gave me 2 different public keys when we were trying different kinds of derivation paths. (is this normal)?

There is only one master public key per derivation path, so he must have given you keys from two different derivation paths.

I mean with it you can only watch all his transactions right? Nobody can enter a wallet with a public keys as far as I know.

That's correct, unless he also accidentally reveals a private key. The combination of a master public key and a private key is enough to completely empty his wallet.

The address that I found starts with bc1 and he does recognize the transaction. It's this one.

It seems like that is a good starting point to go from them. What was the derivation path you used to find the address involved in that transaction?

[BASE16]

m/84'/0'/0' == bip84 == bc1 == zpub

If you have the keys you do not need any coinbase wallet at all.
You can import them into any application that is able to handle the protocol and your friends funds will be spendable immediately.

[Folio]

He gave me 2 different public keys when we were trying different kinds of derivation paths. (is this normal)?

There is only one master public key per derivation path, so he must have given you keys from two different derivation paths.

I mean with it you can only watch all his transactions right? Nobody can enter a wallet with a public keys as far as I know.

That's correct, unless he also accidentally reveals a private key. The combination of a master public key and a private key is enough to completely empty his wallet.

The address that I found starts with bc1 and he does recognize the transaction. It's this one.

It seems like that is a good starting point to go from them. What was the derivation path you used to find the address involved in that transaction?

I have uploaded the image of that address. The derivation path is m/0

[Folio]

m/84'/0'/0' == bip84 == bc1 == zpub

If you have the keys you do not need any coinbase wallet at all.
You can import them into any application that is able to handle the protocol and your friends funds will be spendable immediately.

But he tried atomic wallet, exodus, and electrum. With electrum he even tried different derivation path.
These wallets only show him empty addresses.

[Folio]

m/84'/0'/0' == bip84 == bc1 == zpub

If you have the keys you do not need any coinbase wallet at all.
You can import them into any application that is able to handle the protocol and your friends funds will be spendable immediately.

Hey by the way what do you mean with bip84? When he made the wallet and writes the seed in electrum (12 words), you can't click next. So I told him to press the option button and select bip39 so that he could click next (and also because as far as I know the seed phrase is taken from the bip39 list).
Could this bip84/bip39 be the issue???

[BASE16]

m/84'/0'/0' == bip84 == bc1 == zpub

If you have the keys you do not need any coinbase wallet at all.
You can import them into any application that is able to handle the protocol and your friends funds will be spendable immediately.

Hey by the way what do you mean with bip84? When he made the wallet and writes the seed in electrum (12 words), you can't click next. So I told him to press the option button and select bip39 so that he could click next (and also because as far as I know the seed phrase is taken from the bip39 list).
Could this bip84/bip39 be the issue???

Bip39 is related to the Mnemonic Phrase see:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki

Bip84 to the derrivation path see:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0084.mediawiki

You can use this page also https://iancoleman.io/bip39/

If you want to import Bip39 seed into electrum you have to specify this in the options because it is not a default input.

[BitMaxz]

Have you tried to tell your friend to access it through the browser and access it directly to coinbase.com?

If not, try it first you must see all of your wallet with balances if he is using a mobile you can use the built-in browser or chrome browser to access the coinbase.com and login there.

This is the only thing that I think will work if the above suggestion does not work because I have wallet created on apps before and I can also access it through their web version with history including the other wallet generated from Coinbase app(Much better try it on the PC/Laptop).

[HCP]

I've tested this with the "Coinbase Wallet App"... created a "new" wallet... got the following seed:

Code:

river company grow smart ticket purity jeans south embark they cream atom

This gave me the following address in coinbase: bc1q4hjyxu8vnrqqeygz0laj4h4492je4qd6s5sdux


I then tried the seed mnemonic in both IanColeman's:






and in Electrum:





I also uninstaled/wiped the app and restore the wallet in that as well, and all 3 wallets yielded the correct addresses:








So, it is very strange that your friend has been unable to recover their wallet from the seed mnemonic. The only possibility I can think of, is that they have restored with a different seed mnemonic than the one they were using previously... however, coinbase assigns the username to the seed mnemonic somehow (I assume by attaching the username to the Master Public Key), so if you wipe the app and restore from your seed mnemonic, it will automatically reassign you the old username (ie. if you use my seed mnemonic above to restore a Coinbase wallet, it should give you the username @bct_test).

So, if the @ghfcvvhh username that it is showing when he restored the wallet in the coinbase app is identical to his previous username, then it should be the same seed mnemonic with the same addresses.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Didn't work, all addresses are empty and that specific one doesn't show up.

HCP tried it and it worked, I have also done the same steps and it worked.
If you're sure that it restored the same username as the one he had set in the original wallet (used username can't be set to another wallet),
then the only way to resolve this is to wait for their response to your customer support inquiry because the backup should've restored the address using native SegWit's default derivation path.

There's also a chance that there's a corruption happened and that's out of their support's scope.

Or, is you "friend" your friend or another party of a deal?

Have you tried to tell your friend to access it through the browser and access it directly to coinbase.com?

"Coinbase App" and "Coinbase Wallet App" are two different applications. (weird naming system right?)
The former can be used in conjunction with the webpage, but the latter is a non-custodial wallet. (info)