Been left with my late uncle's crypto accounts - need some advice

[Krytokee]

Hi all,

Can someone kindly advise? I am at a standstill and would really appreciate some guidance with it?

My uncle recently passed away from cancer and had invested in crypto currency. We were very close over the last few years and his wishes were for me to have his collection after he died. He was of sound mind. We discussed it regularly. I cared for him over the last years. He had no children of his own. We last spoke while he was in hospital and he brought up the crypto and told me to get the details and i was still to access it and carry on with it.  I have an audio of this last discussion between himself and me.

When he did pass away, i was able to collect his belongings etc and we have gathered so much information of websites, passwords and keys etc. I do remember he came to my house to show me how to gain access to one of the websites and i know he had a phone and tablet and a nano key when he visited (which i retrieved) but the phone he used is broken and had a protected image security that we cant work out. I do have the secret codes he told me about but i think I am having trouble accessing the 2FA.  He would be gutted if this know this would be destroyed.
Im truthfully not sure what to do.

Many thanks in advance

[o_e_l_e_o]

Sorry for your loss.

There are a couple of things that you will need to clarify for us here. When you say "nano key" do you mean a Ledger Nano hardware wallet? What are the format of these "secret codes" you have retrieved? (Obviously don't reveal the actual codes themselves!) Are they a list of words, in which case they are a seed phrase? Are they a long string of letters and numbers, in which case they could be private keys or they could be 2FA back up codes. If they are a string of characters, how long is the string and what is the first character?

Are all the coins you are trying to access on one or more online accounts? Were there any coins in a wallet app on his phone, wallet software on his computer, or perhaps in a hardware wallet?

[Krytokee]

Sorry for your loss.

There are a couple of things that you will need to clarify for us here. When you say "nano key" do you mean a Ledger Nano hardware wallet? What are the format of these "secret codes" you have retrieved? (Obviously don't reveal the actual codes themselves!) Are they a list of words, in which case they are a seed phrase? Are they a long string of letters and numbers, in which case they could be private keys or they could be 2FA back up codes. If they are a string of characters, how long is the string and what is the first character?

Are all the coins you are trying to access on one or more online accounts? Were there any coins in a wallet app on his phone, wallet software on his computer, or perhaps in a hardware wallet?

Hi

Thank you for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. I do have a hardwear wallet, yes. My friend confirmed that for me. The secret codes ( there was a post-it with the name of the website name and 16 letters and another off 16 made up of numbers and letters for another site too).  The are on two different accounts, i think. I remember once he showed me a break down down of letters and numbers (values maybe ?) looking back when he was trying to show me how to sign in etc.
I also have a card with a list of words in a row. They are pretty random, being onest put handwritten very clearly.

[Gatorelf]

Hi I am sorry to hear about your Uncle

First only trust Legendary or higher people on here with working with you on retrieval of crypto. If some of his collection was of the physical nature such as collectables
you can seek some advise from MinerJones in the bitcion collectables section.  Honest guy with a long history here, he can also point you to people who can answer every question you have with retrieving currency. you can tell him I sent you if needed, there is a great group that hangs out in the collectable thread.   

[Samthehero]

This is what will eventually happen. Sooner or later all crypto funds will be lost/inaccessible - given enough time. If he had kept his funds in stocks or just a plain old bankaccount (or even gold), you would have now had access to the funds.

The lesson here - if you are about to die, sell your crypto...

[o_e_l_e_o]

I do have a hardwear wallet, yes.

The Ledger Nano hardware wallet will need a PIN to unlock it. This will be a number between 4 and 8 digits. Did your uncle leave you this? Don't try guessing blindly as three wrong guesses will reset the device. If you don't have a PIN, you might still be able to access the wallet using the seed phrase he has left you (see below).

The secret codes ( there was a post-it with the name of the website name and 16 letters and another off 16 made up of numbers and letters for another site too).

These are most likely 2FA recovery keys for the associated accounts. You can download an open source 2FA app such as Aegis and import these codes to create the 2FA codes you need to unlock his accounts.

I also have a card with a list of words in a row. They are pretty random, being onest put handwritten very clearly.

This is what is known as a seed phrase or mnemonic phrase. It would be 12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words long. Make sure you don't tell anyone these words or enter them in to any website, ever. They encode an entire wallet, which might be the same wallet that is on the Ledger Nano hardware wallet you have been left. You can import these words in to another wallet (most securely another hardware wallet) to recover the coins within.

[NeuroticFish]

I also have a card with a list of words in a row. They are pretty random, being onest put handwritten very clearly.

This may be all you actually need. Is it a list of 12 or 24 words? (Don't tell anyone those words!!)
Are those words all present in the list from https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt ?
If it's so it's the seed words and they are all you need to access the wallet.

once he showed me a break down down of letters and numbers (values maybe ?) looking back when he was trying to show me how to sign in etc.

Unfortunately I don't understand what's that. I may be completely wrong, but it may be related to even older models of hardware wallet.
Can you also tell what make (Trezor, Ledger, ...) and model (One, T, Nano S, Nano X) is the hardware wallet? Keep in mind that I wrote some of the current makes and models as examples, yours may be not in this list.

[Krytokee]

Hi I am sorry to hear about your Uncle

First only trust Legendary or higher people on here with working with you on retrieval of crypto. If some of his collection was of the physical nature such as collectables
you can seek some advise from MinerJones in the bitcion collectables section.  Honest guy with a long history here, he can also point you to people who can answer every question you have with retrieving currency. you can tell him I sent you if needed, there is a great group that hangs out in the collectable thread.   

Hi there.  Thank you for your advise.  I wll head to that section now and try to find  MinerJones.

[Gatorelf]

Hi I am sorry to hear about your Uncle

First only trust Legendary or higher people on here with working with you on retrieval of crypto. If some of his collection was of the physical nature such as collectables
you can seek some advise from MinerJones in the bitcion collectables section.  Honest guy with a long history here, he can also point you to people who can answer every question you have with retrieving currency. you can tell him I sent you if needed, there is a great group that hangs out in the collectable thread.   

Hi there.  Thank you for your advise.  I wll head to that section now and try to find  MinerJones.

these guys here had some good advise too make sure to thank them ! 

[Steamtyme]

1 - Do not respond to people who DM you with help. I'm sure you already have a dozen helpful scammers in your inbox.
2 - Do not share any passwords or full strings of characters with anyone - First few characters and total number of characters should be enough
3 -  Takew your time, small mistakes early can be costly

Secondly I would do a bit of cursory research yourself as well. It will help unmuddy the waters as you receive advice, and can ensure no one just talks you into getting scammed. I hate to say it but trust no one, you don't have the experience here to do so safely. Sounds harsh but rank can't for sure determine safety.

Moving on You may very well have access to several different coins - I don't know if your uncle mentioned all of his investments or not. This can complicate things a little bit, not overly but just know not all crytpo is Bitcoin.

When you mention websites it sounds like there may have been some exchange accounts involved - This can be somewhat problematic for a few reasons, mainly you are not the actual account holder and this could lead to funds being locked. What websites are on your list?

The nice thing about getting around the 2fa, is that for any wallets your uncle had personally the seed phrases will allow you to access it in the long run. Google wallet recovery and watch some Youtube videos. This is a good idea really for all pieces of websites, hardware and information you have gathered so far.

dependant on your country you may also be able to find someone face to face localish that can help you out.

Feel free to PM me if you have some other questions but again excercise extreme caution.

[Shikha99]

Brother, I am very sorry to hear about your uncle.
But I can say for sure that you can solve your  accessing problem with the personal codes you took from your uncle...

[iTradeChips]

My sincere condolences to your loss. With regards to your concern, definitely listen to the pros here the legendary users. The higher the rank here the more experienced they are and more trustworthy. Simply means they have years of experience in this forum and is more likely to give you sound advise. If he gave you the seed phrases and all the other codes and stuff then you should be able to access his wallet. If it is a website, maybe his 2FA devices you might have so as to properly authenticate. He should have given everything to you as preparation so be patient and contact the pros here. They will help.

[Krytokee]

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all these helpful replies.  It is a definitely challenging stuff but i don't think it's impossible.

[Ucy]

Hi all,

Can someone kindly advise? I am at a standstill and would really appreciate some guidance with it?

My uncle recently passed away from cancer and had invested in crypto currency. We were very close over the last few years and his wishes were for me to have his collection after he died. He was of sound mind. We discussed it regularly. I cared for him over the last years. He had no children of his own. We last spoke while he was in hospital and he brought up the crypto and told me to get the details and i was still to access it and carry on with it.  I have an audio of this last discussion between himself and me.

When he did pass away, i was able to collect his belongings etc and we have gathered so much information of websites, passwords and keys etc. I do remember he came to my house to show me how to gain access to one of the websites and i know he had a phone and tablet and a nano key when he visited (which i retrieved) but the phone he used is broken and had a protected image security that we cant work out. I do have the secret codes he told me about but i think I am having trouble accessing the 2FA.  He would be gutted if this know this would be destroyed.
Im truthfully not sure what to do.

Many thanks in advance

I guess the "details" (at the bold part) are keys that transfer ownership of the crypto to you?

I think it's better to get help from the police, and probably his sblings/family. They could  help you search his personal stuff more throughly considering you said you recorded his last audio conversation with you when he transfered ownership of his assets to you, right? That should encourage them to help, if it's good enough.
I think it's better they give you the right to search other private places your uncle didn't authorize you to search, where he may have stored duplicate of secret keys, codes, passwords, etc to his assets.

Not a good idea to give you idea for recovering the keys to the assets without having the right people go through the evidences you have that proves he  transferred the stuff to you.

[Krytokee]

I'm just really struggling. Fortunately i have the Brittrex secret log in key and i think i also have the 2FA codes too.  I searched paperwork and thankfully found them.  Can i still access the account?

Can someone please guide me with a step by step so i can try and access the accounts?

Thank you all

 

[zanezane]

This is what will eventually happen. Sooner or later all crypto funds will be lost/inaccessible - given enough time. If he had kept his funds in stocks or just a plain old bankaccount (or even gold), you would have now had access to the funds.

The lesson here - if you are about to die, sell your crypto...

If they kept the credentials to access the wallet then it will not become one of the many lost coins, also why would we choose gold or stocks? Does it give a 900% return in just a year? I don't think so, not even in the lifetime of your son or daughter will banks, stocks or gold will be able to replicate what bitcoin has done in a decade.

[cheezcarls]

This is what will eventually happen. Sooner or later all crypto funds will be lost/inaccessible - given enough time. If he had kept his funds in stocks or just a plain old bankaccount (or even gold), you would have now had access to the funds.

The lesson here - if you are about to die, sell your crypto...

It depends on the market situation or “instincts” whether to sell or hold it. This is why I store my private keys, passwords, 2FAs, etc., in a “sacred notebook” and keeping it somewhere safe. My family are the only ones that I trust, so when the time comes, I am about to tell them the “keys to the kingdom” and I’ll just tell them to be self-resourceful by going to Youtube and search for some “how-to” videos or such, or even create an account here on Bitcointalk and ask questions.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I'm just really struggling. Fortunately i have the Brittrex secret log in key and i think i also have the 2FA codes too.  I searched paperwork and thankfully found them.  Can i still access the account?

You will need at least three things to access the Bittrex account - the email address associated with the account, the account password, and the 2FA code. You may also need access to the email account.

The first thing to do is to restore the 2FA secret code in to a 2FA app. I would recommend an open source app such as Aegis. Download it, hit add account, select "Enter manually", and type your 16 character secret code in to the "Secret" field.

Then go to Bittrex and try to log in with your uncle's email address and password. Supply the 2FA code when asked. Since you will be logging in from a new IP, they may also send an email to the associated email address for confirmation, which you will need to be able to access.

[ulhaq]

I'm just really struggling. Fortunately i have the Brittrex secret log in key and i think i also have the 2FA codes too.  I searched paperwork and thankfully found them.  Can i still access the account?

Can someone please guide me with a step by step so i can try and access the accounts?

Thank you all

 

I would NOT do anything or be in a hurry, as people have pointed out above, you don't want to make a mistake and destroy/lose a lot of money. You have been given some excellent advice above, I would re-read those posts many times and do your own research on the terms they have mentioned, look up each one in a search engine to understand what is 2FA, what is a hardware wallet, read about the specific hardware wallet you have, and so on. When you have questions, search this forum for the answers or make new questions.  

I would absolutely NOT recommend going to the police or to the family/friends of your uncle, you have no idea what the police are going to do, you don't know that the friends/family of your uncle are trustworthy or if they just want to take the money for themselves, or if they even know anything about cryptocurrency. Obviously he confided in you for a reason, because he trusted you.

Someone mentioned finding someone local to help you, I think that is way too risky because they will pretend to be nice and helpful but will want to steal the money.

Also don't answer all the random PMs you are getting, because they are probably scammers even though they seem nice and polished.

Don't mention to anyone in-person, any friends/family, etc, of what was left to you, as it is a risk.

If someone refers you to someone trustworthy online who can give advice, vet them yourself, don't just go with someone's recommendation.

[add1ct3dd]

I sincerely hope that you’re going to find a way to unlock this wallet and recover what’s stored in it. And by the way, I think you should do a research and understand how cryptocurrency works because the explanation you have made here is not really clear. And you also have to be careful with every information that has to do with the wallet so that you don’t end up letting it get into the wrong hands, because when it does you’re going to be losing everything that is stored in the wallet.

The list of words you said are written down on a card, I believe that’s the seed, you have to be careful with it because that’s what you’re going to use in recovering the coins that are stored in that.