Need help with an old BTC Wallet

[swiper9]

So, back in 2014 I used to mine LTC and other cryptos at home using various graphic cards and used to have wallets for each one of them on my local machine.  This included a BTC wallet as well. Probably I might have converted some of the LTC to a fraction of BTC.  Not sure.  Later life events took over and I had to stop mining.  I think I  have saved the addresses and .dat files created by wallets of the respective Crypto (LTC, DOGECOIN, VertCoin and what not) in a google drive before I left those mining operations.  Over the years, I forgot all about it.

Recently while cleaning my google drive, I found that folder containing an excel with various BTC and other crypto addresses and corresponding .dat files generated by the respective wallets neatly organized in to folders.  I don't really remember what I was thinking at that time, But I believe I might have thought, all I need is those .dat files to do transactions on those addresses.

Then while checking those addresses, I found that I have some balance left for BTC, LTC and DOGE coins.  The dollar value is not much, less that $750 all together at current market prices. I don't remember what wallet software I have used back in the day and.  I am not sure how and if I can use those .dat files somehow to retrieve the security phrases for those addresses.  The BTC address has about $500.

Is there any way I can recover security phrase for that BTC address using that .dat file?  What wallets I can try and what is the procedure if at all it is possible.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

[Csmiami]

Is there any way I can recover security phrase for that BTC address using that .dat file?  What wallets I can try and what is the procedure if at all it is possible.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

No, you'll need to install the respective coin wallet and operate from there.

For bitcoin you can use the Bitcoin Core wallet  (bitcoin.org)
For DOGE you can use the native Dogecoin wallet (dogecoin.com)
For LTC you can use the native Litecoin wallet too (litecoin.org)

Note that besides the 500$ worth of BTC, you'll also have some residual value of forkcoins. You can check this thread for more information

[swiper9]

Is there any way I can recover security phrase for that BTC address using that .dat file?  What wallets I can try and what is the procedure if at all it is possible.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

No, you'll need to install the respective coin wallet and operate from there.

For bitcoin you can use the Bitcoin Core wallet  (bitcoin.org)
For DOGE you can use the native Dogecoin wallet (dogecoin.com)
For LTC you can use the native Litecoin wallet too (litecoin.org)

Note that besides the 500$ worth of BTC, you'll also have some residual value of forkcoins. You can check this thread for more information

Thank you for the quick reply sir.  I have now dowloaded bitcoin core wallet and started syncing it.  Will take it from there.

[Csmiami]

Thank you for the quick reply sir.  I have now dowloaded bitcoin core wallet and started syncing it.  Will take it from there.

If you don't want to wait until the whole BC syncs, and know what addresses have coins, you can alternatively export the private keys using the

Code:

dumpprivkey "address"

Command in the console. Once you have the private key, you can use a lightweight client (like electrum) to sweep the funds into a new wallet of yours

[swiper9]

Thank you for the quick reply sir.  I have now dowloaded bitcoin core wallet and started syncing it.  Will take it from there.

If you don't want to wait until the whole BC syncs, and know what addresses have coins, you can alternatively export the private keys using the

Code:

dumpprivkey "address"

Command in the console. Once you have the private key, you can use a lightweight client (like electrum) to sweep the funds into a new wallet of yours

Thank You.  I have already started the sync.  Do not want interrupt it.  Should be done in about 20 hours as per the status.  Have waited so long without even realizing what I have.  Can't hurt another day or more I guess

[HCP]

Thank You.  I have already started the sync.  Do not want interrupt it.  Should be done in about 20 hours as per the status.  Have waited so long without even realizing what I have.  Can't hurt another day or more I guess

Note that using dumpprivkey (and/or dumpwallet) command will not "interrupt" your sync... that will quite happily continue in the background.

It will also save you a lot of time/bandwidth.

[swiper9]

Thank You.  I have already started the sync.  Do not want interrupt it.  Should be done in about 20 hours as per the status.  Have waited so long without even realizing what I have.  Can't hurt another day or more I guess

Note that using dumpprivkey (and/or dumpwallet) command will not "interrupt" your sync... that will quite happily continue in the background.

It will also save you a lot of time/bandwidth.

Got it.  Just did that and got the private keys.  Thinking about the next steps to encash that in to USD.

[HCP]

Got it.  Just did that and got the private keys.  Thinking about the next steps to encash that in to USD.

Once you have the private keys imported into a wallet like Electrum, you'll either need to sign up at an exchange that supports outputting to your bank/paypal etc... or find a buyer and do a "P2P" (Peer to Peer) transaction.

The former will no doubt involve "KYC" (know your customer) requirements and involve handing over your personal details (name, PhotoID, address, phone, social security, passport blah blah blah)... While the latter holds more "risk" of being ripped off by a scammer that fails to pay, uses a reversible payment method (PayPal etc), or a fraudulent payment method (hacked account/stolen credit card etc).

Best of luck.

[Csmiami]

In this particular situation, seeing how you have not only Bitcoin and its forks; but also DOGE and LTC, the exchange option could be the most ideal one; as you can sell everything and withdraw in the same transaction to your bank account.

[swiper9]

Got it.  Just did that and got the private keys.  Thinking about the next steps to encash that in to USD.

Once you have the private keys imported into a wallet like Electrum, you'll either need to sign up at an exchange that supports outputting to your bank/paypal etc... or find a buyer and do a "P2P" (Peer to Peer) transaction.

The former will no doubt involve "KYC" (know your customer) requirements and involve handing over your personal details (name, PhotoID, address, phone, social security, passport blah blah blah)... While the latter holds more "risk" of being ripped off by a scammer that fails to pay, uses a reversible payment method (PayPal etc), or a fraudulent payment method (hacked account/stolen credit card etc).

Best of luck.

Thanks again sir.  Appreciate all your inputs.
I am in the process of recovering my coinbase user id that was created way back 2013/2014.  Once that is done, I will probably transfer funds from this wallet to coinbase and sell the btc probably at a later time to convert it in to USD.

I understand I need to download this Electrum wallet, import my public BTC address in to Electrum using the private key and then use it to transfer funds to Coinbase.  Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

[Csmiami]

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I understand I need to download this Electrum wallet, import my public BTC address in to Electrum using the private key and then use it to transfer funds to Coinbase.  Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

Yes, but not quite that.

You do need to download Electrum wallet (and verify the installation files).
Once it is installed and running, check the "create new wallet" option. On the list of options you will see, check the last one "Import Bitcoin address or private key" and paste the private keys you have exported from the Core client there.

Once the wallet is created, you just have to send everything to the deposit address from (in this case) Coinbase

[swiper9]

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I understand I need to download this Electrum wallet, import my public BTC address in to Electrum using the private key and then use it to transfer funds to Coinbase.  Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.

Yes, but not quite that.

You do need to download Electrum wallet (and verify the installation files).
Once it is installed and running, check the "create new wallet" option. On the list of options you will see, check the last one "Import Bitcoin address or private key" and paste the private keys you have exported from the Core client there.

Once the wallet is created, you just have to send everything to the deposit address from (in this case) Coinbase

Looks like I have lost multi factor authentication with google auth (as I have changed multiple phones over the years).  Coinbase asked me to verify my identity.  I have uploaded my DL and looks like the verification takes about 72 hours.  Will do the transfer once the account is activated.

[Pmalek]

Looks like I have lost multi factor authentication with google auth (as I have changed multiple phones over the years). 

When you registered your Coinbase account, the exchange gave you a 2FA recovery code that you should write down in case you lose access to the phone where the 2FA app was installed. Do you remember seeing and taking note of such a code? Maybe check that Google Drive if it is in there or any other records you might have kept from those days.

Coinbase asked me to verify my identity.  I have uploaded my DL and looks like the verification takes about 72 hours. 

I am not sure how fast Coinbase is with these things, but other exchanges make you wait much longer than what they originally estimate. Especially during bull runs. Try to find that 2FA code if possible.

[swiper9]

Looks like I have lost multi factor authentication with google auth (as I have changed multiple phones over the years). 

When you registered your Coinbase account, the exchange gave you a 2FA recovery code that you should write down in case you lose access to the phone where the 2FA app was installed. Do you remember seeing and taking note of such a code? Maybe check that Google Drive if it is in there or any other records you might have kept from those days.

Coinbase asked me to verify my identity.  I have uploaded my DL and looks like the verification takes about 72 hours. 

I am not sure how fast Coinbase is with these things, but other exchanges make you wait much longer than what they originally estimate. Especially during bull runs. Try to find that 2FA code if possible.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Coinbase has verified my account few minutes ago and I am able to login now.

I believe I have an option to receive BTC/BCH etc in to Coinbase using the specific addresses they generate for my account. 
I am now planning to transfer BTC from my old wallet that I have recovered in to this Coinbase and park it there with the intention of selling it later when I need USD or when the price goes up etc.
Once this is done, then I will work on getting those fork-coins (BCH etc.) and other cryptos that I have (Lite Coin, Doge coin, etc.)

Do you see any issues with the approach I am thinking of?  Thanks again for all your help.  I figured that I have more than 0.5 BTC that I initially thought I had.  So it's kind of feels good

[Csmiami]

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No problem with your intentions; you first "secure" the Bitcoin, and then claim the forks.

The other altcoins have no problem being sent whenever you want to, as they have no relation to Bitcoin

[swiper9]

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No problem with your intentions; you first "secure" the Bitcoin, and then claim the forks.

The other altcoins have no problem being sent whenever you want to, as they have no relation to Bitcoin

Thank You for the confirmation.  Sorry, life caught up and could not check your response earlier.

[Csmiami]

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No problem; the good thing about forums is that the information is always accesible, and discussions can be halted and continued at any moment.

Were you able to extract the forkcoins in the end?