Lost Bitcoines In A Transaction to Coinbase

[OscarRu]

Hello Bitcointalk community,

I will admit that I am rather new to Bitcoin, a friend of mine payed me in Bitcoins a few years ago, and when I decided to transfer the money from my Electrum Bitcoin wallet, to my Coinbase 'wallet' something went wrong in the process.

This was in 2019, and when reaching out to the Coinbase community, nobody was willing or able to help me.

My Electrum history shows me that the Bitcoin's left the wallet in 2019, and double clicking the transaction prompts a transaction screen, showcasing the details of my transaction, these details look to me like looking at a language I cannot decipher, yet perhaps someone here would be able to see what went wrong by simply giving this a quick look....


Now I have two questions;

1) how much of these transaction details do I need to share, and/or should I share publicly, without potentially being duped by someone else allocating my bitcoins (if the bitcoins are even retrievable)

2) At the time I entered my coinbase wallet 'address', or so I thought, but nothing showed up, even after weeks of checking. so if I did end putting in the wrong coinbase number - does this mean coinbase could potentially help me in retrieving the bitcoins, or does this simply mean the bitcoins are lost in the deep ether of the internet?

I am thankful for any help 

O.



 

[1715201930]

1715201930

[ranochigo]

1) how much of these transaction details do I need to share, and/or should I share publicly, without potentially being duped by someone else allocating my bitcoins (if the bitcoins are even retrievable)

Transaction's details are public on the blockchain, unless you're sharing your 12 word seed or your private keys, you should be fine. Sharing it does mean that your privacy would be gone; people can link the transaction to the account that you're using right now.

2) At the time I entered my coinbase wallet 'address', or so I thought, but nothing showed up, even after weeks of checking. so if I did end putting in the wrong coinbase number - does this mean coinbase could potentially help me in retrieving the bitcoins, or does this simply mean the bitcoins are lost in the deep ether of the internet?

I assume you are checking your transaction on a blockexplorer like blockchair.com? If it didn't show up on the blockexplorer, can you try searching up the address that you have sent the funds from? If the transaction ID cannot be found on the blockexplorer or if the address is wrong, Coinbase can't help either.

[o_e_l_e_o]

these details look to me like looking at a language I cannot decipher, yet perhaps someone here would be able to see what went wrong by simply giving this a quick look....

Either share a screenshot of this transaction window, or copy the long string of characters from the box at the top titled "Transaction ID". This will allow us to take a look at the transaction and see if anything might have gone wrong. It won't allow anyone to steal your coins, but will obviously let everyone see the transaction and the addresses and amounts involved.

Do you still have your Coinbase account? Do you still have a record of the address you tried to deposit to on your Coinbase account?

[OscarRu]

Thank you two for your help, here are the transaction details according to blockchair:

https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/transaction/ab7cc44f2916ccf0bdd45e95b089b66518344281bea059761b6b1bb56d6db4fb

Let me know if any of you can make any sense of this

Best,

O.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Looks like a straightforward transaction to me. You sent coins from your address - 1Hb4iYb1B316jzXSg7QzH7SSktYx1xmt22 - and they arrived at the recipient address 1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc.

The question you need to ask is whether this was the correct address or not. If this address is correct, then Coinbase have your coins. If the address is wrong, then you have sent your coins somewhere else by mistake (possibly due to a mistaken copy/paste or due to clipboard malware).

Are you able to check your Coinbase account for this deposit address?

[OscarRu]

Thank you from the reply.

Does it perhaps look like I sent the Bitcoins to another active user by mistake? Or simply to some inactive address where the Bitcoins might be sitting around? What, if at all, are the possibilities of me retrieving these bitcoins, could I perhaps try to contact the address?

The deposit address on the coinbase account seems to be different now, though this might have to do with the fact that the website was updated, and when logging in today it asked me to fill out some new information and agree to the updated terms.

Perhaps though I simply did somehow copy and paste the wrong address, this means the bitcoins are non retrievable I assume?

Best,

O.

[sheenshane]

It's been almost 2 years but why you didn't raise this problem since then?

First, you need to contact Coinbase support if the Bitcoin address that your Bitcoin was transferred belongs to them or check your Coinbase Bitcoin wallet address if this is the same as the address where your Bitcoin last landed.  If not, then, that might you have been sent to the wrong address as what o_e_l_e_o said above that you might have infected by a clipboard malware which is automatically changed into a scammers Bitcoin address.

I checked the Bitcoin address where your Bitcoin last landed and it seems it was transferred to a cold wallet similar to an exchange wallet.

Just follow the suggestion above and ask Coinbase support if that address belonged to them.  But I don't if think there's a high chance that you can able to recover your Bitcoin back.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Does it perhaps look like I sent the Bitcoins to another active user by mistake? Or simply to some inactive address where the Bitcoins might be sitting around?

The coins you sent were quickly moved on, so it certainly wasn't an inactive address. Looking at the onward transaction, your coins were combined with coins in dozens of other addresses and consolidated in to one single address. This is the kind of transaction we see from an exchange or service consolidating deposits from many different customers in to one address. This would certainly be in keeping with a deposit to Coinbase, but also to any other exchange. It is not really in keeping with a transfer to another individual person.

What, if at all, are the possibilities of me retrieving these bitcoins, could I perhaps try to contact the address?

Zero chance, unless you know who owns this address. There is no way to "contact" an address.

Perhaps though I simply did somehow copy and paste the wrong address, this means the bitcoins are non retrievable I assume?

I'm afraid so.

Your best bet is probably to contact Coinbase, explain the above, and ask them to check if the address you deposited to belongs to them.

[Findingnemo]

The deposit address on the coinbase account seems to be different now, though this might have to do with the fact that the website was updated, and when logging in today it asked me to fill out some new information and agree to the updated terms.

Perhaps though I simply did somehow copy and paste the wrong address, this means the bitcoins are non retrievable I assume?

When looking at the transaction ID the amount you send pooled into a cold storage which most probably an exchange in my opinion. And you are talking about coinbase exchange or coinbase web wallet?

AFAIK, Coinbase webwallet will give new address everytime when you click the deposit address it doesn't mean if you send the coins to previously generated one was sent to a wrong address.

[OscarRu]

Thank you for all the replies,

I did contact coinbase originally, but they did not look into the issue further and simply replied;

"Digital currency transactions using blockchains are irreversible, meaning once they are sent there is no way to recover funds. Because your transaction was sent and completed on the blockchain, Coinbase cannot recover your funds as this is an external process."

They did not however seem to ask me for any transactions ID's or so forth, which makes me think they just quickly wanted to answer my question as they always have multiple other inquires going on, so when I posed a few follow up questions I never got a reply and eventually the case was closed...

---

'And you are talking about coinbase exchange or coinbase web wallet?'

I think Findingnemo might be on to something here though, I remember trying to exchange the bitcoins for euros, or at least that is what I eventually had planned - yet maybe I skipped a step by transferring the bitcoins to the coinbase exchange right away instead of my coinbase wallet... If that makes any sense? I never actually created a coinbase wallet..!

It probably doesn't and I apologise that I am so inept at transferring Bitcoins... It's what got me into this mess to begin with and after numerous tries to retrieve the coins and being told they are gone I eventually gave up. Now with my financial situation looking a bit bleak during corona and bitcoin being on the rise, I thought I might give it another try! - So thank you for all the commenters trying to help, I do appreciate it and I have gotten in touch with Coinbase, do I do not expect to much help from their side, as past experience has shown, maybe there are particular thing like the 'blockchair' link I could include to help them understand the issue?

Best,

O.

[Upgrade00]

They did not however seem to ask me for any transactions ID's or so forth, which makes me think they just quickly wanted to answer my question as they always have multiple other inquires going on, so when I posed a few follow up questions I never got a reply and eventually the case was closed..

There are different possible scenarios;
• They had looked into it and the address was wrong, as coinbase admins they could contact the technical team for details about your account, such as deposits and withdrawals, this would reveal any bitcoins which were received by addresses linked to you.
• Or they simply did not pay enough attention to your situation.
I do not use coinbase and I'm not familiar with how their support team operates, but it's a big exchange and I'm yet to encounter a situation where they try to deliberately rip off users.

yet maybe I skipped a step by transferring the bitcoins to the coinbase exchange right away instead of my coinbase wallet... If that makes any sense? I never actually created a coinbase wallet..!

You mean you didn't request a deposit address? Coinbase is a non custodian exchange and generates addresses on behalf of its users.
AFAIK, if you did send it to an exchange address, it would be on trade to be exchanged for some other currency.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I did contact coinbase originally, but they did not look into the issue further and simply replied

This is an automated reply. Your case will never have been looked at by an actual person. Contact them again. Try reaching out on Twitter or their Reddit channel. Get a real person to take a look.

yet maybe I skipped a step by transferring the bitcoins to the coinbase exchange right away instead of my coinbase wallet... If that makes any sense? I never actually created a coinbase wallet..!

There is no need to send coins to your Coinbase wallet first, or indeed to even have a Coinbase wallet at all. Your transaction was definitely not sent to your Coinbase wallet based on the subsequent consolidation transaction the coins were included in.

It probably doesn't and I apologise that I am so inept at transferring Bitcoins...

By all accounts, you made a successful transaction, and it ended up on an address which is certainly in keeping with an address belonging to an exchange. Did you have any other exchange accounts you were using at the time?

[HCP]

Unfortunately, the address appears to be from an "unknown" service of some description: https://www.walletexplorer.com/wallet/00052e20f14c2c57?from_address=1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc

As it is not linked to any wallets of the "big players", it may be quite difficult to identify exactly who is the owner

[hulla]

AFAIK, Coinbase webwallet will give new address everytime when you click the deposit address it doesn't mean if you send the coins to previously generated one was sent to a wrong address.

The last time I checked, coinbase generated new deposit address base on user requests.

Thank you for all the replies,

I did contact coinbase originally, but they did not look into the issue further and simply replied;

People always have issues in getting responses from coinbase support.

And you are talking about coinbase exchange or coinbase web wallet?'

I think Findingnemo might be on to something here though, I remember trying to exchange the bitcoins for euros, or at least that is what I eventually had planned - yet maybe I skipped a step by transferring the bitcoins to the coinbase exchange right away instead of my coinbase wallet... If that makes any sense? I never actually created a coinbase wallet..!

It makes sense but checking the wallet you sent the bitcoin it doesn't look much like a coinbase address but you need to contact coinbase for verification if the address belongs to them before we can reassure.

do I do not expect to much help from their side, as past experience has shown, maybe there are particular thing like the 'blockchair' link I could include to help them understand the issue?

Best,

O.

Providing the transaction ID is enough to make them understand your issue.

Unfortunately, the address appears to be from an "unknown" service of some description: https://www.walletexplorer.com/wallet/00052e20f14c2c57?from_address=1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc

As it is not linked to any wallets of the "big players", it may be quite difficult to identify exactly who is the owner

Yes, it does not look like a wallet that belongss to a big exchange like coinbase. I check an old coinbase wallet I once used back in the year 2016 and it shows coinbase wallet to be 00000014ea not 00052e20f14c2c57.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Yes, it does not look like a wallet that belongss to a big exchange like coinbase. I check an old coinbase wallet I once used back in the year 2016 and it shows coinbase wallet to be 00000014ea not 00052e20f14c2c57.

Coinbase and other big exchanges have an unknown number of hot wallets and an unknown number of cold wallets, each with an unknown number of addresses in them. Only a small number of their wallets are publicly known about, and they will be generating new wallets and new addresses all the time to accommodate new customers and new deposits.

It is entirely possible that the address you used for Coinbase back in 2016 was part of one wallet "cluster", was consolidated with other deposits to this cluster, and was used to process withdrawals from this cluster, while OP used an address in another "cluster", and the two clusters never mixed.

I'm sure some of the big blockchain analysis companies could analyze this transaction some more and discover whether or not it really did end up on Coinbase (or perhaps someone with a lot of time on their hands), but the quickest option for OP is simply to contact Coinbase, state they made a deposit to the address 1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc, and ask why it was never credited to their account.

[seoincorporation]

You should contact their support at the right time, now is a little late after 2 years. But maybe they can try to fix your problem,

Bitcoin transactions don't just go to limbo... They get recorded on the blockchain, and that should be enough evidence for you to recover your coins.

[HCP]

It is entirely possible that the address you used for Coinbase back in 2016 was part of one wallet "cluster", was consolidated with other deposits to this cluster, and was used to process withdrawals from this cluster, while OP used an address in another "cluster", and the two clusters never mixed.

Yes, re-reading my post, I realise that I perhaps should have made it clear that just because it isn't currently "linked" to Coinbase... does not mean that it isn't a Coinbase wallet... it just means that there is currently no "easy" way to say "This is a Coinbase address/wallet".

...contact Coinbase, state they made a deposit to the address 1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc, and ask why it was never credited to their account.

^^^ This

[Findingnemo]

AFAIK, Coinbase webwallet will give new address everytime when you click the deposit address it doesn't mean if you send the coins to previously generated one was sent to a wrong address.

The last time I checked, coinbase generated new deposit address base on user requests.

But its just norml to get new address every time even if it is unused still you will get new address every time so a complete newbie may think that it was not the address where he send his coins.

But I guess it is possible to see all the generated address in their account by logging into their desktop site.

[hulla]

AFAIK, Coinbase webwallet will give new address everytime when you click the deposit address it doesn't mean if you send the coins to previously generated one was sent to a wrong address.

The last time I checked, coinbase generated new deposit address base on user requests.

But its just norml to get new address every time even if it is unused still you will get new address every time so a complete newbie may think that it was not the address where he send his coins.

Yes, it normal to get new address but the new addresses are not generated automatically cause it was program to generate base on user request and newbieeee only need to be sure the address was the exact deposit address provided on their coinbase account.

But I guess it is possible to see all the generated address in their account by logging into their desktop site.

Certainly.

Yes, it does not look like a wallet that belongss to a big exchange like coinbase. I check an old coinbase wallet I once used back in the year 2016 and it shows coinbase wallet to be 00000014ea not 00052e20f14c2c57.

Coinbase and other big exchanges have an unknown number of hot wallets and an unknown number of cold wallets, each with an unknown number of addresses in them. Only a small number of their wallets are publicly known about, and they will be generating new wallets and new addresses all the time to accommodate new customers and new deposits.

Agreed.

[o_e_l_e_o]

You should contact their support at the right time, now is a little late after 2 years. But maybe they can try to fix your problem,

It shouldn't matter. If he has sent coins to the correct address, then Coinbase have possession of them. Doesn't matter if it has been 2 days or 2 years; refusing to credit them to his account if they are in possession of them is theft.

But I guess it is possible to see all the generated address in their account by logging into their desktop site.

Is this possible? I have no idea since I have never and will never own a Coinbase account, but if they do indeed show a list of all your previous deposit addresses then it should be trivial for OP to check if the address he sent coins to - 1Q6Boa9VQxxcCCNDKK1dennXSud1m5ALAc - is indeed associated with his Coinbase account or not.