I found a paper wallet on a beach ... seriously

[LoyceV]

I scanned the initially concealed QR code on my phone, entered the also concealed code and was presented with a web page with info pertaining to a btc balance

Did you scan the private key's QR-code? If so, the wallet could already be compromised.

....like I said, too many laws, too much restriction of freedom, too much government involvement.  Somehow when someone loses something and another person finds it, the government has laws in place that mandate their meddling (for lack of a better word).

Although I agree we have far too many laws and government is far too big, I don't think the law on finding items is that bad. If "finders keepers" would be allowed, any thief could just claim they found the item. Hell, I just found a Ferrari Lambo! It was totally unattended!

I just meant that it is easy to compromise a paper wallet if compared to a hardware wallet.

You should read up on BIP38 encryption Even a simple password makes it very hard to take the funds.

OP said "0.6104...ish". There are no addresses which contain exactly 0.6104 bitcoin. There are 85 addresses which contain between 0.61040000 and 0.61049999 bitcoin.

I made a slightly broader selection of all legacy addresses around this range:

Code:

14eLjod6F2ah2KKvxUV9zRnwgkTFPBC33a      61050000
1LcQK2jgwbrdAvzyVNHonpoQp1ECMn3DB4      61050000
16CHqj6SPky9T5enNdwXLVNgh1uPCz2a5G      61050000
1Ah41jARGcmWGEfxYPdGxhxL9kdYRu1HEF      61050000
18NA43NZgAPzvr1e9LhV7EFQSU5pdKr5B8      61048819
1VTgszWBL9Bucxrh4r5uj1rURunKmiBQ8       61048701
132fj2HwxgysZ8Bi19xEa6bqks7ZcDJUXp      61048488
1JyEFsX6dNe7AJYcKniQXrBk8VfqS7dKqy      61048331
1583qb3z53pHDUzxiHw72kzWH7FVK6mMBT      61047802
1JP2uT2MhqrtqHtZMMgg2hcV54Yw5BnYs8      61047152
16dP5aDu6vyA9QbN8HzbxLogjJNSPtWTWX      61046972
1GxBeXMEogGqxAE72pMPPZWuuxMwi3kkGx      61046719
18TwwNYLVxYbmXESygEVMhHvTkAvS8R4MQ      61045760
1L1cMrWMuUnV4WfdLv2Ds2tmqQi9G7mhvw      61045632
1vfEckEjM5ZTzSdjWCfubZGhBCpHaz5MX       61045614
148TucJejynPguqLKCgrn64VxvEYBDcKZc      61045092
1FfUn38CEawVyhNGiedV8nTCPqUi2tXiVn      61044842
1EwKSpXaxn7une9SLp7JAVSbm3mMQDU4ED      61044000
1Kmbdh5L6pWgJ5Kg5AMyqEaqrEoKbFENXp      61043830
12GEWVM8HQW9WiacUMmgtnBGrYziZnfqg6      61043696
1DfEUpKRpd4XhaakcAgAqeK9x66pjmsMZ1      61043000
1Fj1kNPohX3pGVidz4vfsZvdLBu7fKF6K1      61042156
13YUCSKqUFg5CFqnWztSVJMHZv2xEQ7D3K      61041259
17NkMSp8zDG621HQQLNaq9gqzQJwBudqpf      61041164
1Nebf4kTxvpyozXpmqMCdXawaNMhkVS8NV      61040600
19j93FEWWyVH5Gy6YJ1gG84FUvqK7i9uz9      61040508
1KF4cMqxw7DaYPh63bx22HAexFveekXvEo      61040497
1MMkMRi8NuNVmEmG38u2nJ14Xj3BGBvYCn      61040422
1JscNcdkvvxYA6CrxuhVHLWqiHkN4AYepq      61040268
1Hu3RKK35V9bbmEKBA2p7LbixAEm2HcFrC      61040258
18MtnxViv2Cp7vnocjuyzc4yF8yCBCY6o1      61039881
1HFXWqd5ML64AxE4c3DzSvEiRhEiNGmr3Y      61039500
1NDFkx3QmzE5iARda1pFxTjJxXuEBGw4AB      61039471
1L8ZrmArsUcr1BnTipoYabynpbpdWM8p34      61038488
17YpoNAoojRYv9c1GVrUwh448Y9RGucmK6      61038356
1J6EiRSGegfa1i69CTnFmTprFKinCMjEMe      61038250
1FYYXbNwychpx3KsosYX15c6ritpgQy5Yf      61038000
1H4QP6mQnNiVFAy6f86YNZbfPPEm2b9LwN      61037743
1JGmtUfyw7QgKb6ggZwCE36BNo8bVd2Uby      61037400
1936At62aXS8epprtjQiZV4AWGLdKrfm8P      61037177
1GY4WbWDRxtiUhYipSH2g93Aze5ENMfqZ7      61037000
1HRZG6ASqLyd6mrxMwV3ALgigfdhx1KhXT      61036917
1C3X5aZAYjBTgti7GU6VhErH6rg8WBqDuW      61036290
1H2wUSPgQaxP4V51JKvZuGpWEUhKnjif1k      61035866
1MCirzugBCrn5H6jHix6PJSLX7EqUEniBQ      61035329
19uJj1qSWf2qdH5B6p3QJieWkKC6mYwTrK      61035115
1CBhCMBuwZjgreA6uRzyE3y7MP8BKgAVKq      61034803
1DbaUbGuZKv4RCFLsqtzHofWkopAY1gwCd      61034576
164rmLcaYPbkLfmYKbAhfNeTnroftvFRx4      61034476
15pRZ6SZAeHpaji3iCodBkocxjdhMZYw12      61034277
1PUpynpNm2MyvkbRCfK9pwiLYzA6PzJYmb      61033300
1Jih4JvKfmLLYcnHLNT7Ydoba5Sa98R5sj      61032712
1Jvw9wbuYLNaLHJPuNw496zKpoqPvJbqx9      61032673
1EapZfi6ZuYBAQHcMVL6aFcAiD6W5SohhT      61032650
1PoFexmU8Gdej2xXA1MrLjnLeCTNMzeY8Z      61032468
1AdS1ycaZcpY8f7DMEPoUiw7MhCdKkqSXi      61032238
1Ly5K4kKYBXWfjbv4VmUberLdXFNr6yF7g      61031845
1AMHbmaWtrN9tDcP1vovkQdojhfqJXWPR       61031618
1EH4s5xYLzXPaTJzGVehLrRj1TwUZb3kRy      61031425
1KMaWhBg6aNUTkyDGN63U7KyciWw9cTPrx      61031037
19j2DHUnDcURBU3B7sBJSWfNeqVET1rDYQ      61031000
1C9jwQU9fsyaNiffZEwgSc3JoonNmeEbZT      61031000
16eabf2boFQDaiuNqzgzJP5mnfDL8AdF2q      61031000
1ACk424Mc6vMoKm7bPUA31UiwyjNuD2Lw       61030794
17auiEuA8usxmoHsx6x8ueBJcuJdnYEnNm      61030591
1P1rfFMzA8a6ZZzqbpwEQxVaeuewndsR44      61030000

It doesn't matter which one it is: if it's in this list it should be enough for search engines to pick up on it.

https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/outputs?s=value(asc)&q=value(61040000.00000001..61049999),is_spent(false)
This query returns (as of right now) 127 UTXOs with 0.6104-0.61049999 BTC balance.

You're not looking for UTXOs, but for total balance. The wallet could have received more transactions.

[1714685263]

1714685263

[Charles-Tim]

You should read up on BIP38 encryption Smiley Even a simple password makes it very hard to take the funds.

I agree. If encrypted with BIP38 passphrase, and if the passphrase used is strong, it would be a protection, especially in this case. But some people may not use passphrase to encrypt their paper wallet private key as it is optional.

[hZti]

My first though was that maybe the paper wallet was put there intentionally because it is so unlikely that somebody would carry it with him at the beach. It may sound also possible that it was put there by a thief that didn't understand it but in any case I would suggest that you simply keep or donate it.

[Pmalek]

Finding a paper wallet, not stealing.
There is a big difference.

Finding something on the street or the beach and taking it is the same as stealing in many countries. Stealing does not have to be breaking and entering. If you walk behind someone who drops his phone or wallet and you pick it up and put it in your pocket, it's stealing. You didn't pull it out of the person's pocket but you still took something that doesn't belong to you.

It's not the same if I found a piece of land nobody is using, and if I kill someone and take away land from him.

An unused piece of land doesn't make it yours to take. Even if unused, it might belong to someone.

After reasonable amount of time I would give one part to charity or poor people, and I would just stake rest of the coins for future.

But that's the thing. What is a reasonable amount of time? 1 month, 1 year? 2 years? Has a reasonable amount of time passed since satoshi mined his bitcoin? Someone might say it has while others could say no. The truth is that it's a subjective decision. I make the decision what is a reasonable time before I spend my bitcoin, same as you. If one year is reasonable for me, maybe you consider 10 years to be reasonable.

[AnotherAlt]

Technically, whoever owns the private keys, owns the coins.
I agree that it may be unethical to 'take' them if we assume whoever lost that seed has another copy and might notice.

Hehe. Then Exchanges own many coins because users don't have private keys  . They only have email and passwords.
It's unethical for exchanges to steal users' coins.

Just Kidding.

[PrivacyG]

this image is not about the topics specific find. but im just leaving an image via google which might explain why a guy found a paperwallet in a sealed bag.. not the first time someone found a random bag with a paper wallet included
(hint: geocaching)

An interesting outlook, but geocaching is basically leaving an item somewhere and marking it on a map so others could find it.  Right?  If so, why would someone leave over $10,000 on a beach for someone else to claim?  Also, if that is the case, I think there should be a map showing all the geocached things so OP could look to see if this paper wallet has been marked on the map?  If you are right, this could lead to just the right answer this thread (and OP) needed.

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

[franky1]

this image is not about the topics specific find. but im just leaving an image via google which might explain why a guy found a paperwallet in a sealed bag.. not the first time someone found a random bag with a paper wallet included
(hint: geocaching)

An interesting outlook, but geocaching is basically leaving an item somewhere and marking it on a map so others could find it.  Right?  If so, why would someone leave over $10,000 on a beach for someone else to claim?  Also, if that is the case, I think there should be a map showing all the geocached things so OP could look to see if this paper wallet has been marked on the map?  If you are right, this could lead to just the right answer this thread (and OP) needed.
Regards,
PrivacyG

possible scenario
it was in a geocache box(at some time in the past). someone found it X months/years ago (when the value conversion was not worth $10k but 100x less) didnt think much of it or didnt understand bitcoin to care much.. so just disregarded it, and nature took care of the rest.

EG blew into a river that then ran down to the coast, much like how 85% of all discarded items found on beaches originated

i just found it interesting when the OP said he found a paperwallet in a zippy bag.. and also it wasnt just a passphrase but a QR code which is more of what i call a 'bitnote'(as demo's in image) rather than a paper wallet (hand wrote key on paper)

so if the topic creator can confirm if it was a 'bitnote' that was found. it seems more plausible that he found a discarded geocache prize from ages ago.

bitnotes where it has a QR code and instructions on how to redeem are not meant for the guy that printed it to keep as they already know how to handle bitcoin. its meant to be handed around to other people.

the other thing is the topic creator can use his block explorer to see when the funds were confirmed.
if they were deposited recently where the deposit was worth something more than a few days salary at the time of deposit. that the original owner would be shocked that they lost their funds.
however if the amount at the time of the confirmation was low. then its obvious a disregard amount meant to be found by anyone to then claim

[LoyceV]

i just found it interesting when the OP said he found a paperwallet in a zippy bag.. and also it wasnt just a passphrase but a QR code which is more of what i call a 'bitnote'(as demo's in image) rather than a paper wallet (hand wrote key on paper)

A (no longer trusted) paper wallet site used to sell CDs, tamper proof stickers and ziplock bags, basically making it a complete package to create and store paper wallets. Ziplock bags are quite common anyway, I use them for my phone and wallet too when cycling through the rain.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

I suspect it was stolen and dumped by an ignorant burglar. It's there any way to identify from whom it came so I can return it? It seems pointless handing it into the police if they'll just destroy it....

1. 0.6 BTC at current price is still alot of money for many.
2. In my own personal point of view, I agree that it is pointless handing the paper wallet over to the police because...
3. If there is absolutely no means or clues available to you as a means of guessing who the real wallet owner might be, then I honestly do not think the police will find any clue either, since they are not super humans.

Here is what I think you should do - - since you have access to the wallet now, I will suggest you try moving the funds to another wallet, if the operation go through successfully, then pay absolute attention to this forum to see if any user is going to complain about a wallet hack, incase there is, you can then try to match the wallet details provided by the user to that which you have at hand, if it matched, then maybe you now know who the owner of the paper wallet is.
But the above can only work if the real owner of the paper wallet is on this forum and currently active.

[n0nce]

Technically, whoever owns the private keys, owns the coins.
I agree that it may be unethical to 'take' them if we assume whoever lost that seed has another copy and might notice.

Hehe. Then Exchanges own many coins because users don't have private keys  . They only have email and passwords.
It's unethical for exchanges to steal users' coins.

Just Kidding.

They do own the coins and they do steal coins; that's actually not even a joke! I suggest you this thread.
[Blacklist] of unreliable, 'taint proclaiming' Bitcoin services / exchanges.

Back to topic: @easternklaas, I think you got enough bits of advice on ways to get the original owner to notice they lost their wallet.
In case you need help with any of the proposed ideas, don't hesitate to ask for more detailed instructions.

Anyways, just posting the address can't hurt and it may reveal that pursuing the matter any further may be futile (e.g. output may already have been spent), as well as helping with search engine indexing.
Make sure not to share the private key with anyone.

Addresses always look like one of these 3 options.

P2PKH which begin with the number 1, eg: 1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2.
P2SH type starting with the number 3, eg: 3J98t1WpEZ73CNmQviecrnyiWrnqRhWNLy.
Bech32 type starting with bc1, eg: bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq.

Taproot addresses start with bc1p, but I highly doubt that you have found such a recent paper wallet - statistically, barely anyone uses Taproot yet.

[franky1]

i just found it interesting when the OP said he found a paperwallet in a zippy bag.. and also it wasnt just a passphrase but a QR code which is more of what i call a 'bitnote'(as demo's in image) rather than a paper wallet (hand wrote key on paper)

A (no longer trusted) paper wallet site used to sell CDs, tamper proof stickers and ziplock bags, basically making it a complete package to create and store paper wallets. Ziplock bags are quite common anyway, I use them for my phone and wallet too when cycling through the rain.

if you are concentrating on the zippy bag point you missed the point. it was the BITNOTE that was more interesting.
i did previously say that the topic creator can use an explorer to see WHEN the funds were confirmed to the address, and presuming that it was ages ago when value was way less, then that leans even more towards it being a discarded geocache.

EG paper wallets i own are not bitnotes they are just passphrases and private keys on paper. no design no logo(top creator mentioned logo) no instruction(topic creator mentioned instructions) so it appears thats its a bitnote not a simple pen on paper 'paperwallet'. and as such the main utility of bitnotes especially ones in zippy bags were not to put into your own drawer/safe for your own use but to be given out/given away.

so if the confirmed coin date was significantly in the past where the value at the time was not significant. then it leans more towards being a discarded geocache bitnote that the original maker doesnt care much for..

though if it is the case they could probably investigate anyone that did perform bitcoin geocache giveaways in that region of the planet and see if they can find the originator via people talking about doing geocache giveaways around the date of the confirmed coins

[LoyceV]

because...
3. If there is absolutely no means or clues available to you as a means of guessing who the real wallet owner might be, then I honestly do not think the police will find any clue either, since they are not super humans.

The owner may have reported the missing wallet to the police already. That's the official go-to place for missing items.

if you are concentrating on the zippy bag point you missed the point. it was the BITNOTE that was more interesting.

OP's description doesn't sound like a "bitnote":

There is faint remnants of a bitcoin logo on it and the words 'paper wallet' and the name of the website from which it came printed down the right hand side.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Let's say few years ago I lost/forgot a photo camera in beach, and I never reported it as stolen because I lost it and it's my fault, nobody came and took it from me with a knife.

Again, irrelevant. Whether or not it is morally right to steal money which does not belong to you also does not depend whatsoever on how careful or otherwise the owner has been with that money.

Finding a paper wallet, not stealing.
There is a big difference.

I don't see the difference whatsoever. Whether you find a paper wallet or whether you break in to an electronic device to access the wallet, you are stealing money which is not yours. What about if you accidentally stumble across someone's seed phrase back up? I would suspect that most people would view that as outright theft. How is that any different from stumbling across a paper wallet?

If you think that any thing someone found was stolen in the world, than we are living in world that stole 99% of things and land from other people.

I mean yes, but that's beside the point.

Hehe. Then Exchanges own many coins because users don't have private keys  . They only have email and passwords.

Completely correct. If all the bitcoin you have purchased is on a centralized exchange, then you own exactly zero bitcoin.

I will suggest you try moving the funds to another wallet

Once again, absolutely do not do this. The most likely way for the owner to access his funds is by realizing his paper wallet is lost and moving them. If you move them first, they cannot do that anymore.

[Cricktor]

OP's description doesn't sound like a "bitnote":

There is faint remnants of a bitcoin logo on it and the words 'paper wallet' and the name of the website from which it came printed down the right hand side.

In my reception OP's description could be something like shown below ^{(please, do NEVER use the site anymore referenced in the picture as it will scam you and steal coins from even offline generated paper wallets with their Javascript site code: those private keys can be recomputed by the site owner and he will steal coins as done many times since about approx. end of 2018 after the original trustworthy site creator Canton Becker sold the website address to some shady entity)}:
(pictures taken from one of canton's own posts)




The final zip bagged paper wallet (the colored version) is shown here:



While I prefer to call such an example a paper wallet, I wouldn't be irritated if someone were to call it a bitnote, too. It conceales the private key slightly better as if it were just openly viewable.

[franky1]

while again certain people want to pander to social drama poking of buzzwords.
lets just sort out their issues,
especially when the quote of the descriptors quoted by someone trying to social drama poke a failed rebuttal about buzzwords

a paper walet is an umbrella term
it can mean many things. mainly its only requirement is seed/key put on paper.. thats it
EG hand written using pen/pencil/crayon, or printed out

where as, there are then is a more defined sub-group of things that have more minimal standards
EG bitnotes
which can be any design made by anyone (its not a brand for a particular company/entity/person)
that has the bitcoin logo, the qr codes, and instructions to redeem.
where the purpose is to hand the bitnotes out to other people that know less/nothing about bitcoin

thus now lets come back to the actual point
by having the descriptors of a bitnote as oppose to a plain hand written seed on paper(basic paperwallet) helps the topic creator narrow down options for trying to find the original owner

emphasising the major point (finding original owner)
by using a blockexploerer to check the funds confirmation date. he can see if the value was still a significant amount the original owner would be concerned/cared about at the time or it was an amount valued at the confirmation time that leans more to a giveaway amount.
again by having redeem instructions and logo and qr code already leans in the giveaway scenario, as oppose to someone wanting to keep funds for self(no need to instruct self if your already involved in bitcoin)

also using the confirmation date can then look around forums and social media for people that performed giveaways/geocache drops that used that design at the time.

[Pmalek]

<Snip>

Franky you are forgetting about something. Let's put the terminology aside or if you want, let's call it a bitnote. So OP found a bitnote. Maybe person A created said bitnote and gave it to person B, and person B is the one that lost it or had it stolen. You could be right that whoever created the bitnote didn't want to keep it for themselves. But that doesn't mean the physical item wasn't given to the other recipient who now no longer has access to it.
easternklaas hasn't written anything for a few days, but I am sure he/she is still checking this thread. @easternklaas can you tell us what is written on it besides the keys? You mentioned a logo and a website. Share some more info about it.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

because...
3. If there is absolutely no means or clues available to you as a means of guessing who the real wallet owner might be, then I honestly do not think the police will find any clue either, since they are not super humans.

The owner may have reported the missing wallet to the police already. That's official the go-to place for missing items.

You are right, but I highly doubt anyone would think of reporting this kind of matter to the police, except in the occasion that the user was robbed and many items, including the paper wallet was taken from such a person, then no doubt, the matter can be reported to the police, but in an occasion where the user was just walking by the side of a beach and wanting to bring out his or her phone from the pocket where the paper wallet is, eventually, the paper wallet fell off without the user taking notice, I personally would not report such a case to the police since....
1. I don't think the police will go in search of the paper wallet for me.
2. If someone picked my lost paper wallet, I am not expecting that person to take it to the police.
3. Even if the picker turned out to be a good Samaritan by handing over my lost paper wallet to the police, I don't find the police trustworthy enough to call me up to let me know that my lost paper wallet have been found, the police are likely to keep the wallet for themselves.
Though I understand that police differs from country to country, but the fact that there are many countries in this world that their police are more corrupt than the citizens, this can never be over emphasized.

[Cricktor]

@easternklaas can you tell us what is written on it besides the keys? You mentioned a logo and a website. Share some more info about it.

It's not wise to reveal more details about what has been found with the exception of the public address of the paper wallet.
This has already been written by others, so please stop asking or there's less and less that a potential true owner could provide as proof of ownership.

..., but in an occasion where the user was just walking by the side of a beach and wanting to bring out his or her phone from the pocket where the paper wallet is, eventually, the paper wallet fell off without the user taking notice, I personally would not report such a case to the police since....
1. I don't think the police will go in search of the paper wallet for me.
2. If someone picked my lost paper wallet, I am not expecting that person to take it to the police.
3. Even if the picker turned out to be a good Samaritan by handing over my lost paper wallet to the police, I don't find the police trustworthy enough to call me up to let me know that my lost paper wallet have been found, the police are likely to keep the wallet for themselves.
Though I understand that police differs from country to country, but the fact that there are many countries in this world that their police are more corrupt than the citizens, this can never be over emphasized.

I find it highly unlikely someone would walk his paper wallet out to the beach, c'mon seriously. With such an amount of coins loaded that's ridiculous. Definitely I wouldn't take any of my paper wallets and put them care- and recklessly sloppy with my phone in my pocket to risk to loose them anywhere.

And yes, as I doubt that police staff is overly well paid in most countries of this world, there's potential that you can't trust even police to handle such a paper wallet properly. I don't want to deny the police any righteousness, many do their job right, some don't. It depends where you are and with what particular souls you deal with.

[hZti]

@easternklaas can you tell us what is written on it besides the keys? You mentioned a logo and a website. Share some more info about it.

It's not wise to reveal more details about what has been found with the exception of the public address of the paper wallet.

Even if you just have the public address you could go to the police to report it and maybe get lucky that the OP has them over the paper wallet. So I would definitely not share any more details here. What also the OP never said is if there is even a valid private key on there. If it is encrypted this whole thread is completely useless.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Share some more info about it.

All he should share is the address. Anything else is unnecessary and will make verifying the true owner more difficult in the future. If he will not reveal the address, then the whole thing is pointless.

If it is encrypted this whole thread is completely useless.

Not at all. If it is encrypted, it stands to reason the true owner either knows or has access to the decryption key. If OP can reunite the encrypted key with the owner, then the owner can decrypt it and access their coins.