Can't send money from Electrum Wallet

[littleBT]

Hi,
I'm not very familiar with Electrum so please be patient with me
I have a some BTC in my Electrum wallet, and would like to send it to another wallet.
I went through the process and I was asked for my 2fa code. I don't recall setting up 2fa, I dont have Electrum in my Authenticator app.
Anyways, after trying I see a Transaction window but Status is "Partially Signed 1/2"
I am not sure what to do.
I am struggling with using the wallet, it's not super user friendly!
I do have my seed.
I tried to create a new wallet (recover from seed) but when I open it there is nothing in it i.e. no coins.
I can still access my 2fa wallet however.
I'm a bit stuck and maybe i've been looking at it all for too long, but I can't seem to figure out how to move forward and send my BTC from Electrum wallet to my other wallet.
Any suggestions or help, would be very much appreciated!
Thanks !

[1714744516]

1714744516

[1714744516]

1714744516

[1714744516]

1714744516

[1714744516]

1714744516

[1714744516]

1714744516

[jackg]

What does it say in the top of the wallet with funds in it? Does it say "2fa"?

Also what happens when you try to make a new wallet and put yur seed in, before clicking past it, it should tell you your seed type.

[littleBT]

Hi thanks for your reply.
Yes it says 2fa on my wallet with the funds in.
With the new wallet. I selected 'disable 2fa' when setting it up, yet it also shows as [2fa]
I'm really confused!

[littleBT]

Hi, to answer your other question.

When I put my seed in, before clicking past it, it says Seed Type : 2fa

I can click on options button, and tick 'Extend this seed with custom words' and 'BIP39 seed'

?
Thanks

[Abdussamad]

Hi thanks for your reply.
Yes it says 2fa on my wallet with the funds in.
With the new wallet. I selected 'disable 2fa' when setting it up, yet it also shows as [2fa]
I'm really confused!

yeah but you won't need the otp code from google authenticator to spend from a disabled 2fa wallet.

alternatively you could still use the original wallet with 2fa enabled. the google authenticator entry is called trusted coin not electrum so i'm sure that's the mistake you are making.

[littleBT]

Hi thanks Abdussamad for your reply.
I am not sure my wallet with funds in is disabled?
I can't see Trusted Coin on my authenticator app. I'm not sure why. Maybe I had set it up on a previous phone? I'm not sure.
All I want to do is send my BTC to another wallet. When I try do that I get asked for 2fa code, which i don't have.
Any ideas on what I can do here?

[jackg]

Hi thanks for your reply.
Yes it says 2fa on my wallet with the funds in.
With the new wallet. I selected 'disable 2fa' when setting it up, yet it also shows as [2fa]
I'm really confused!

If the new wallet with it disabled has funds in it you can use thst!

If you do as abdussamad suggests, I'd advise on deleting the wallet file with it disabled if the one with it enabled works (and you can't accidentally delete the wrong one).

[littleBT]

The new wallet I made, using my seed to recover, shows as no funds in it.
I can still access my original wallet (the one with the funds in) and can see the funds.
I am not actually sure what Abdussamad is suggesting? I can't use the authenticator entry as I don't have it setup under Trusted Coin.
I'm also not sure what you mean by "I'd advise on deleting the wallet file with it disabled if the one with it enabled works (and you can't accidentally delete the wrong one)"
Please excuse my lack of experience with this!

[jackg]

The only other possibility is that you've used a different mnemonic seed for the one with funds than the one you wrote down.

I'd suggest contacting trusted coin and asking them for the masterprivste to cosign it but im not sure what you'd be bale to use to authenticate yourself.

[bob123]

The new wallet I made, using my seed to recover, shows as no funds in it.

If the recovered wallet shows 2fa but does create different addresses, then it seems like it is the wrong mnemonic.

Do you remember setting up multiple wallets? Did you maybe backup / write down the secret key for the 2FA ?

I'd suggest contacting trusted coin and asking them for the masterprivste to cosign it but im not sure what you'd be bale to use to authenticate yourself.

This shouldn't be possible.
Their service is meant to offer some kind of security. Even if the pc of a user is compromised, no transaction should be possible.
With a "recovery" option, the chance exists that a malicious actor with full control over the users system can recover that key himself. This would be counterproductive.

[TryNinja]

This shouldn't be possible.

It shouldn't, but it is possible. OP just needs to email them from the same email he used when creating the 2FA wallet and they will (most likely) send him a QR of his lost 2FA token.

For reference: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2722000.msg28063968#msg28063968

[bob123]

It shouldn't, but it is possible. OP just needs to email them from the same email he used when creating the 2FA wallet and they will (most likely) send him a QR of his lost 2FA token.

For reference: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2722000.msg28063968#msg28063968

To be fair, there was no other case since then. Or was it? 

I wouldn't trust the post of a single random person too much. I mean, it is very well imaginable that they recovered his code.
But it's also possible that this was a pretty dumb employee who got fired afterwards or that the story wasn't that true at all.

I definitely wouldn't rely on getting the code recovered. And i also definitely wouldn't rely on trusted coin not doing this a.k.a. being relatively secure.

[TryNinja]

But it's also possible that this was a pretty dumb employee who got fired afterwards or that the story wasn't that true at all.

Highly doubt.

Before OP:
2017 - https://www.reddit.com/r/Electrum/comments/7i5h56/resetting_2fa_direct_from_trustedcoin_too_easy/

After OP:
2018 - https://www.reddit.com/r/Electrum/comments/9sekl5/lost_two_factor_authentication_phone_no_seed/
2019 - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5127850.msg52959353#msg52959353

I also don't see why anyone would create a fake story about this.

[HCP]

The new wallet I made, using my seed to recover, shows as no funds in it.

Then, unfortunately, it would appear that you do not have the correct seed mnemonic written down. Recovering from the seed should generate an identical wallet (including all the addresses and funds). If you don't see the same addresses and wallet history, then you don't have the correct seed mnemonic

I can still access my original wallet (the one with the funds in) and can see the funds.

That wallet is effectively useless to you unless you have the 2FA code to match it... without your old device that has the 2FA code setup, you're a bit stuck.

With Electrum 2FA wallets, to be able to spend (or recover) coins you need either:

1. 2FA wallet file + wallet password (if any) + 2FA code from authenticator app
or
2. The (correct) seed mnemonic

You don't appear to have either of these things


At this point, your best only option is to email TrustedCoin from the same email address that was originally used when creating the 2FA wallet. If you are able to provide sufficient proof of ownership, they may be able to reset the 2FA code (or provide the old secret key) for you.

[Abdussamad]

The new wallet I made, using my seed to recover, shows as no funds in it.

as in zero balance in the bottom left or forever stuck on synchronizing or not connected?

[TryNinja]

At this point, your best only option is to email TrustedCoin from the same email address that was originally used when creating the 2FA wallet. If you are able to provide sufficient proof of ownership, they may be able to reset the 2FA code (or provide the old secret key) for you.

I definitely wouldn't rely on getting the code recovered.

Update: just got an email back from Trusted Coin after I asked about their instance on the matter.

1. If a user still has their seed, it's possible to configure a new authenticator by restoring their wallet from the seed

2. In certain instances, if a user has lost both their authenticator and their seed, but still controls the email address that they provided when they originally created their wallet, I can send that signup email (and only that signup email) a recovery QR code.

[o_e_l_e_o]

The new wallet I made, using my seed to recover, shows as no funds in it.

Does this recovered wallet show the same addresses as your 2FA wallet?
If yes, it means you new wallet is simply not syncing up properly.
If no, it means you have either used the wrong seed phrase, or you used a passphrase which you have not entered.

Are you 100% sure the seed phrase you have written down is for this wallet? Do you have any other seed phrases backed up anywhere? When you created the wallet, did you extend it with any custom words?

[bob123]

Update: just got an email back from Trusted Coin after I asked about their instance on the matter.
[...]
2. In certain instances, if a user has lost both their authenticator and their seed, but still controls the email address that they provided when they originally created their wallet, I can send that signup email (and only that signup email) a recovery QR code.

So, bascially.. the whole reason for a 2FA option is completely negated by that business practice.

If the used device is clean, no 2FA is necessary.
If the used device is compromised, the 2FA won't protect in most practical cases. An edge case would be that the mail account used is only accessed through a single clean device. And at that point, we are already far away from a simple to use 2fa wallet.

[NotATether]

So, bascially.. the whole reason for a 2FA option is completely negated by that business practice.

If the used device is clean, no 2FA is necessary.
If the used device is compromised, the 2FA won't protect in most practical cases. An edge case would be that the mail account used is only accessed through a single clean device. And at that point, we are already far away from a simple to use 2fa wallet.

In general, services should not be giving people QR codes as a recovery option. That's why one-time passwords exist, so that someone can request a few at wallet creation, authenticate with one of them when they forget their 2FA and move their whole balance to a new wallet.

I doubt that TrustedCoin will add support for one time passwords though.

[o_e_l_e_o]

So, bascially.. the whole reason for a 2FA option is completely negated by that business practice.

Most people use 2FA completely incorrectly across the board.

Having both the wallet file and the email account username/password or logged-in session stored on the same computer completely negates the point of 2FA, as you say. However, people do the same thing with exchanges and web wallets (for example), with the log ins for both their exchange account and their email account which they use for 2FA both saved in the same browser on the same device. Or they use an authenticator app on the same device as the exchange app they are logging in to, or an SMS sent to the same phone they are logging in to the web wallet from, or so on. The majority of uses of 2FA are not 2FA at all. Most people simply use 2FA to protect themselves from the fact that they have chosen a short, non-random password which they have likely used across multiple accounts as opposed to providing real protection from a compromised device.

When it comes to Electrum, using 2FA in this manner makes even less sense since your wallet cannot be hacked in the same way an online account can be. The only benefit I can think of is it would have protected against the malicious Electrum 4.0.0 malware provided the 2FA was already in place, and it would offer some protection to anyone stupid enough to back up their wallet file on some cloud server.