Invalid private key error

[Tofee]

Thanks for the response and advice.The one charecter that does’nt fit the Base58 chart is ‘I’. I tried replacing the charecter with valid character but it does’nt work. Appricate suggestions. Thanks.

[1714312976]

1714312976

[1714312976]

1714312976

[1714312976]

1714312976

[Bitarock]

 Hi, i would try replacing it with every letter in base58 chart until you get a match.

[Tofee]

Hi, i would try replacing it with every letter in base58 chart until you get a match.

I did try twice but did not work. Thanks for your suggestion. I think this private key is made before Bitcoin adopting modified Base58 characters.

[nc50lc]

I did try twice but did not work. Thanks for your suggestion. I think this private key is made before Bitcoin adopting modified Base58 characters.

Sorry, it's quite funny that you're always coming-up with assumptions like the "400 hack attempts" and now "Bitcoin used to have different Base58 characters".
I understand that thinking the latter is normal if you do not know Bitcoin's history.
But the former... do the address in question perhaps shows 400+ inbound transactions in blockexplorers?
Because that's normal for old dormant funded addresses, people tend to send dust to them for variety of reasons, but none for hacking attempt.

Thanks for the response and advice.The one charecter that does’nt fit the Base58 chart is ‘I’. I tried replacing the charecter with valid character but it does’nt work.

You can also try to swap the similar valid characters like "u" and "v" or "k" and "x" which look similar in some fonts/handwriting.

You can also use the tool that I've suggested to automate the process, replace the possible wrong characters with "*".

[Tofee]

I did try twice but did not work. Thanks for your suggestion. I think this private key is made before Bitcoin adopting modified Base58 characters.

Sorry, it's quite funny that you're always coming-up with assumptions like the "400 hack attempts" and now "Bitcoin used to have different Base58 characters".
I understand that thinking the latter is normal if you do not know Bitcoin's history.
But the former... do the address in question perhaps shows 400+ inbound transactions in blockexplorers?
Because that's normal for old dormant funded addresses, people tend to send dust to them for variety of reasons, but none for hacking attempt.

Thanks for the response and advice.The one charecter that does’nt fit the Base58 chart is ‘I’. I tried replacing the charecter with valid character but it does’nt work.

You can also try to swap the similar valid characters like "u" and "v" or "k" and "x" which look similar in some fonts/handwriting.

You can also use the tool that I've suggested to automate the process, replace the possible wrong characters with "*".

Thanks for your suggestion. I am unable to use the tool as I don’t know the installation commands on Linux/Ubuntu/Debian OS.  I have downloaded and unzipped it but was unable to run it.  A request to that effect was posted by me on this board. Thanks.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Thanks for your suggestion. I am unable to use the tool as I don’t know the installation commands on Linux/Ubuntu/Debian OS.  I have downloaded and unzipped it but was unable to run it.  A request to that effect was posted by me on this board. Thanks.

There are pre-compiled binaries in the repository's releases link: https://github.com/Coding-Enthusiast/FinderOuter/releases
Those are ready to run aside from the "Source Codes".

Follow step 3 in the 'readme' to learn how to run it:

• Provide execute permissions chmod 777 ./FinderOuter
  
• Execute application ./FinderOuter
  

For better security, run it on an offline machine.

[Tofee]

-snip-

Thanks for your suggestion. I am unable to use the tool as I don’t know the installation commands on Linux/Ubuntu/Debian OS.  I have downloaded and unzipped it but was unable to run it.  A request to that effect was posted by me on this board. Thanks.

There are pre-compiled binaries in the repository's releases link: https://github.com/Coding-Enthusiast/FinderOuter/releases
Those are ready to run aside from the "Source Codes".

Follow step 3 in the 'readme' to learn how to run it:

• Provide execute permissions chmod 777 ./FinderOuter
  
• Execute application ./FinderOuter
  

For better security, run it on an offline machine.

Thanks for responding. Folder is FinderOuter-master - ls - CHANGELOG.md Doc License Readme.md Src
cd Src
FinderOuter FinderOuter.sln Tests
Sudo chmod 777 ./FinderOuter
command not found

Unable to execute the application. Please let me know where am I going wrong. Thanks.

[Tofee]

--snip--
Unable to execute the application. Please let me know where am I going wrong. Thanks.

Based on command you mentioned, it looks like you download the source instead. You should download ready to run binary instead from link mentioned by @nc50lc.

Code:

unzip FinderOuter-0.16.0.0-Linux64SCD.zip
cd FinderOuter-0.16.0.0-Linux64SCD
chmod +x FinderOuter
./FinderOuter

Hi there, thanks for your response. I did try the commands you provided and I got the error after ./FinderOuter command.

‘No usable version of libssl was found
Aborted (core dumped)’

Looks like I am doing something wrong. Please let me know my faults. Thanks.

[nrhs05]

I've used a QT that is forked from BTC, and I know with newer versions of it they migrated to default new wallets to be descriptor wallets so bitcoin QT might do it to???, i dont want to try loading it up to check lol.

So if bitcoin qt does the same (not sure if it does) then create a new wallet, uncheck descriptor, wallet and import the keys into that new wallet as you cant use the importprivkey with a descriptor wallet afaik. looking more at your error message it might not be that though. worth a try i suppose either way easy enough to test.

[nc50lc]

I've used a QT that is forked from BTC, and I know with newer versions of it they migrated to default new wallets to be descriptor wallets so bitcoin QT might do it to???

Yes it is.
But OP's wallet isn't descriptor because the error that he'll get would be "Only legacy wallets are supported by this command" regardles of the prvKey's validity.

[Tofee]

--snip--

Hi there, thanks for your response. I did try the commands you provided and I got the error after ./FinderOuter command.

‘No usable version of libssl was found
Aborted (core dumped)’

Looks like I am doing something wrong. Please let me know my faults. Thanks.

I never see this error. But it's possible certain library isn't installed on your OS. I'm not sure which one is needed, but i have these installed on my Debian VM.

Code:

libssl-dev
libssl1.1
openssl

Thanks for your response. Finally finderouter has worked. As far as the private key is I feel I have been scammed. The key is an invalid key.
Thanks for the support to all who have responded to my request.

[Tofee]

--snip--

Thanks for your response. Finally finderouter has worked. As far as the private key is I feel I have been scammed. The key is an invalid key.

I assume you already try replace all character which isn't on Base58 with "*" before attempt brute force with FinderOuter?

Why buy private keys when you can get one with a wallet?
Is it like you bought it from some dark web source to get an 'advantage' of some Bitcoins in it as advertised by some dark web seller? Don't go for such deals if that's the case.
And if you are skeptical about your wallet being a part of a possible hack, why not move your coins to a different wallet?

You have misunderstood ops point and there is no where in his post that he mentions that he bought a private key from anywhere, you can

do well to reread the message again before you make your contribution.

You're wrong, read this OP's reply.

This key was received on purchase of bitcoins via PayPal about a decade back. Then, there was very little knowledge sources available online.

But just to give you an insight into what ops is asking, he said he want to recover his old bitcoin core wallet that he just recovered the private keys from an old computer but the wallet root is responding to an error message, which might be as a result of human mistake .

Also wrong,
1. Bitcoin Core 23.0 was latest version when OP create this thread.
2. OP wanted to recover key he bought about a decade ago, not old Bitcoin Core wallet file.

I am obliged to all who responded to my post and thank everyone for your response.

 I also found another post of someone stating purchase of bitcoins in 2009-2010 and receiving an email with private keys, advising the email recipient to delete the email after storing the key at a safe place.

###https://www.Reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7de7fa/i_found_out_i_bought_bitcoin_in_2009/ ###

posted by u/DarkSchneider78 .

I wish to contact this person as I am also in similar situation. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks

[Romoe]

How did you find your private key? Did you find it in an old email? or Was it handwritten?
if it's handwriting You might write it down wrong at some point.

The private key that starts with '5' and has total 51 Char is Uncompressed WIF private key pattern.
This type of key always has a checksum in the last position to check that all characters of the key are correct. When you try to import the key and got 'Invalid private key', It may be caused by having some characters wrong.

If you write it down no more than 3 character wrong. you can recover it with this python script below.

Code:

import base58
import itertools

Damage_key = '5Kax3UAwGmHHuj6fQD1LDmKR6J3SwYyFWyHgxKAZ2cKRzVCRETY'  #change this key to your private key


Pos_3_change = list(itertools.combinations(range(1,51),3))
Base58_3_change = list(itertools.product('123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz', repeat=3))

def key_recovery():    
    for a in Pos_3_change:
        for b in Base58_3_change:
            private_key = list(Damage_key)
            private_key[a[0]] = b[0]
            private_key[a[1]] = b[1]
            private_key[a[2]] = b[2]            
            try:
                base58.b58decode_check(''.join(private_key))
                print(''.join(private_key))
            except:
                pass
    print('complete...')

key_recovery()

You can adjust the code above to suit your case. Hope this help.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I wish to contact this person as I am also in similar situation. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks

You can PM that Reddit account, but it has been inactive for 2 years, so chances of a response are very slim.

There is an account on this forum with the same handle which was active 2 months ago. You could try PMing them as well, although no guarantee it is the same person: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1355666

The other suggestion from that Reddit thread is to go via your PayPal history to obtain the details of the person who apparently sold you this private key. Have you tried that approach?

[Tofee]

How did you find your private key? Did you find it in an old email? or Was it handwritten?
if it's handwriting You might write it down wrong at some point.

The private key that starts with '5' and has total 51 Char is Uncompressed WIF private key pattern.
This type of key always has a checksum in the last position to check that all characters of the key are correct. When you try to import the key and got 'Invalid private key', It may be caused by having some characters wrong.

If you write it down no more than 3 character wrong. you can recover it with this python script below.

Code:

import base58
import itertools

Damage_key = '5Kax3UAwGmHHuj6fQD1LDmKR6J3SwYyFWyHgxKAZ2cKRzVCRETY'  #change this key to your private key


Pos_3_change = list(itertools.combinations(range(1,51),3))
Base58_3_change = list(itertools.product('123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz', repeat=3))

def key_recovery():    
    for a in Pos_3_change:
        for b in Base58_3_change:
            private_key = list(Damage_key)
            private_key[a[0]] = b[0]
            private_key[a[1]] = b[1]
            private_key[a[2]] = b[2]            
            try:
                base58.b58decode_check(''.join(private_key))
                print(''.join(private_key))
            except:
                pass
    print('complete...')

key_recovery()

You can adjust the code above to suit your case. Hope this help. if you have any question, there's an email and telegram contact in my profile, feel free to ask.

Thanks. I shall give it a try.

[Tofee]

If anybody can advise or suggest me what is the difference between
1. P2PK and its corresponding privatekey
2. P2PKH and its corresponding privatekey.

As stated earlier in my post, the key I have since 2010/2011 has couple if charectors not included in base58 but when I try to repair with FinderOuter or with other Python scripts, they are not successful.

I tried contacting another person named DarkSchneider78 who posted on this forum but my posts has been deleted.

Any suggestions/advice including critics are appreciated. Critics are most welcome because it gives me an opportunity to learn from my mistakes.

Wishing all of you a very very happy X’mas. May God bless you all and your family & friends. Thanks

[BlackHatCoiner]

If anybody can advise or suggest me what is the difference between
1. P2PK and its corresponding privatekey
2. P2PKH and its corresponding privatekey.

P2PK stands for "Pay-To-Public-Key", which is when you create a script that pays to public key. P2PKH stands for "Pay-To-Public-Key-Hash", which is when you pay to the hash of that public key, and not the public key per se. When you send coins to an address, you pay to the hash of a public key. P2PK is not used anymore (while it's perfectly valid), because P2PKH is smaller in size, and therefore cheaper.

From standard wallet software, P2PK was never available (and if it was, it wouldn't be recommended). P2PK was used in the early days, because the first Bitcoin binaries were coded such so that the coinbase reward was sent to public key. I don't believe there was a specified reason for this selection.

For example, this transaction is P2PK: 0e3e2357e806b6cdb1f70b54c3a3a17b6714ee1f0e68bebb44a74b1efd512098. (it is labeled as "P2PK". mempool.space usually puts the address there, and P2PK doesn't have an address, but a public key, so it leaves it empty)
On the other hand, this transaction is a P2PKH one, which spends two P2PK outputs: 7940cdde4d713e171849efc6bd89939185be270266c94e92369e3877ad89455a.

If you didn't mine coins in 2010/2011, then your money are sitting in a P2PKH output. It is likely that it's an uncompressed legacy address, which requires a WIF private key that starts with "5".

[Tofee]

If anybody can advise or suggest me what is the difference between
1. P2PK and its corresponding privatekey
2. P2PKH and its corresponding privatekey.

P2PK stands for "Pay-To-Public-Key", which is when you create a script that pays to public key. P2PKH stands for "Pay-To-Public-Key-Hash", which is when you pay to the hash of that public key, and not the public key per se. When you send coins to an address, you pay to the hash of a public key. P2PK is not used anymore (while it's perfectly valid), because P2PKH is smaller in size, and therefore cheaper.

From standard wallet software, P2PK was never available (and if it was, it wouldn't be recommended). P2PK was used in the early days, because the first Bitcoin binaries were coded such so that the coinbase reward was sent to public key. I don't believe there was a specified reason for this selection.

For example, this transaction is P2PK: 0e3e2357e806b6cdb1f70b54c3a3a17b6714ee1f0e68bebb44a74b1efd512098. (it is labeled as "P2PK". mempool.space usually puts the address there, and P2PK doesn't have an address, but a public key, so it leaves it empty)
On the other hand, this transaction is a P2PKH one, which spends two P2PK outputs: 7940cdde4d713e171849efc6bd89939185be270266c94e92369e3877ad89455a.

If you didn't mine coins in 2010/2011, then your money are sitting in a P2PKH output. It is likely that it's an uncompressed legacy address, which requires a WIF private key that starts with "5".

Thanks for your response. I received the private key by email which starts with 5 and has 51 characters.

I tried to sweep the key in electrum standard legacy wallet but it gave ‘invalid key’ error.
After several attempts to sweep the key in specter and sparrow legacy wallets, I received the same error.
Then I tried Bitcoin core v 23.0 Bitcoin-qt blank wallet and again I get the error of ‘invalid key encoding - error -5’.

As per advice from this forum members, I tried to repair the key with FinderOuter but the result came as failed. I tried Python script posted on this forum but that did not work.

Yesterday, I was watching a YT video of Bitcoins in early days of 2009 to 2011 era and the presenter was speaking about P2PK and P2PKH. Since the keys was received in early 2011, I presume the keys belong to P2PKH address.

 I am trying to figure out which wallet would be able to recognize my keys and point me in the right direction.

 Once again, thanks for your prompt response.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Thanks for your response. I received the private key by email which starts with 5 and has 51 characters.

I tried to sweep the key in electrum standard legacy wallet but it gave ‘invalid key’ error.

Can you write exactly what Electrum returns you during import? A private key is invalid if it either isn't correct WIF (e.g., doesn't start with 5, isn't 51 characters, checksum isn't valid etc.) or if it's outside the range of valid private keys (which is between 1 and a little less than 2^256 - 2^32).

Provide some log (or just the specific Electrum error if it isn't just "invalid key"), and we can verify about it being inside the allowed range.

[nc50lc]

-snip-
Yesterday, I was watching a YT video of Bitcoins in early days of 2009 to 2011 era and the presenter was speaking about P2PK and P2PKH. Since the keys was received in early 2011, I presume the keys belong to P2PKH address.

Unfortunately, that has nothing to do with the private key's invalidity.
It's all about the script type of the transaction of which the P2PK may have incompatibility with some wallets like Electrum.
The private key should work, still valid today, the issue would be failing to sync (find) the transactions if the outputs are P2PK. (Bitcoin Core will work just fine)

P2PKH on the other hand are the common "legacy" transactions that we see today, there shouldn't be any issue syncing those.