OG Bitcoin Wallet Addresses Suddenly Active - Are they being hacked?

[tread93]

Recently I was visiting one of my friends who writes code, he brought up this topic to me recently saying that it seems like old wallets are being hacked into, that hackers have targeted older BTC addresses because of their vulnerabilities and lack of security.

I thought that was very interesting and since he is a tech savvy coder his use of relevant jargon and explanation was so good, I just wish I remembered exactly how he put it. I did a quick search though and found this relevant article: https://cryptoslate.com/old-wallets-activate-sparking-fears-of-mass-hack-targeting-bitcoin-veterans/

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

[dzungmobile]

Recently I was visiting one of my friends who writes code, he brought up this topic to me recently saying that it seems like old wallets are being hacked into, that hackers have targeted older BTC addresses because of their vulnerabilities and lack of security.

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

It is impossible to break private key and steal it.

It is possible for someone to get access to a very old disk then successfully access an unencrypted wallet file or break a wallet file with encryption. It is a more realistic case if you are discussing about wallet hack.

However, above all, there are many possible scenarios why coins from old eras are moved in this year. They can move their coins from old wallets to new wallets. From a single signature wallet to a multi signature wallet, cold wallet, and something else.

Such transactions does not always mean old wallets were hacked.

[hsdjkahskjdh]

It is impossible to break private key and steal it.

You are kidding right.

[Poker Player]

You are kidding right.

This has been long debated in the forum and the odds are so low as to be ridiculous.

I mean theres tons of addresses out there so its like how could you not hit one

Because there are this many possible valid 12 word seeds:
340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456

And there only approximately 30 million bitcoin addresses with balance on them. Divide those two numbers and you get a roughly 1 in 11 million trillion trillion chance of finding a collision. (Now, this is not quite accurate since any seed can generate potentially billions of addresses, but you get the idea.)

If we were talking about 24-word combinations, they are exponentially much smaller.

[adaseb]

If old OG wallets are moved it’s because they are sending to a newer wallet with better security. Doesn’t mean they are hacked.

If it was possible they wouldn’t hack old wallets they would just try and hack satoshis wallet and then they would take a large short on the perpetual futures and make tons of money due to the panic they would cause that satoshi is selling his coins.

[franky1]

the address of funds of the 6071btc. lead back to a MTGox stash that was seized by authorities. i guess the us gov now wanted to move the coins in preparation to sell them for the liquidation courtcase to pay off the creditors

yep the reason for no movement for 10 years is due to mtgox being in bankruptcy court case for 10 years

[mk4]

MtGox aside, why can't people just make the assumption that maybe, just maybe, that OG bitcoin holders just want to move their funds? Why does it always have to be something very bombastic like a mass hacking?

[Z-tight]

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

If you believe this, what makes you believe that newer private keys are safe, if there is a way to hack private keys then no key is safe. With the technology available today, there's no way someone can hack your private key or seed phrase, except you expose it to them. Funds can remain inactive in wallets for very long, and it does not mean that the funds are lost, and whenever the funds are moved it does not mean it has been hacked, the owner of the funds can be the one who has decided to move it.

[Stable090]

Recently I was visiting one of my friends who writes code, he brought up this topic to me recently saying that it seems like old wallets are being hacked into, that hackers have targeted older BTC addresses because of their vulnerabilities and lack of security.

I don’t know why people are always thinking negative about bitcoin, you noticed that some old bitcoin wallet’s are been activate, can’t you just think or make assumptions that the owner of the bitcoin is just trying to change wallet, must you think the wallet have been hacked? Any slight thing happening in bitcoin, then just negative thing that’s always coming to our minds, I think it’s just better we stop sharing negative news about bitcoin, let’s try and be positive.

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

Maybe not, maybe the owner of the bitcoin just decided to move his bitcoin to a more secure wallet. Even if bitcoin have been inactive for long time, we all know the bitcoin belongs to someone, if the person haven’t lost his/her private key, then time will come when the person will activate the wallet, but that those not mean the person is trying to sell off the bitcoin or the wallet have been hacked.

[aoluain]

You are kidding right.

This has been long debated in the forum and the odds are so low as to be ridiculous.

I mean theres tons of addresses out there so its like how could you not hit one

Because there are this many possible valid 12 word seeds:
340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456

And there only approximately 30 million bitcoin addresses with balance on them. Divide those two numbers and you get a roughly 1 in 11 million trillion trillion chance of finding a collision. (Now, this is not quite accurate since any seed can generate potentially billions of addresses, but you get the idea.)

If we were talking about 24-word combinations, they are exponentially much smaller.

1 in 11 million, trillion, trillion chance . . . reminds me of the scene from the movie
Dumb and Dumber...

https://youtu.be/nFTRwD85AQ4

Recently I was visiting one of my friends who writes code, he brought up this topic to me recently saying that it seems like old wallets are being hacked into, that hackers have targeted older BTC addresses because of their vulnerabilities and lack of security.

I don’t know why people are always thinking negative about bitcoin, you noticed that some old bitcoin wallet’s are been activate, can’t you just think or make assumptions that the owner of the bitcoin is just trying to change wallet, must you think the wallet have been hacked? Any slight thing happening in bitcoin, then just negative thing that’s always coming to our minds, I think it’s just better we stop sharing negative news about bitcoin, let’s try and be positive.

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

Maybe not, maybe the owner of the bitcoin just decided to move his bitcoin to a more secure wallet. Even if bitcoin have been inactive for long time, we all know the bitcoin belongs to someone, if the person haven’t lost his/her private key, then time will come when the person will activate the wallet, but that those not mean the person is trying to sell off the bitcoin or the wallet have been hacked.

I would never have automatically thought that just because an old wallet address
became active it meant it had been hacked, I would automatically think someone
was spreading FUD or just making wild assumptions.

[Merit.s]

It is impossible to hack into private keys that are not expose to a third party. If the OG bitcoiner could keep his coins safe for so many years,why did you think that he can't still keep it safe now. It is either the owner has decided to sell off his investment or is moving his coins to a more secured wallet. If it is possible for private keys to be hacked,then our coins are no longer safe which might have a bad effect on bitcoin. I guess your friend is spreading the FUD because he understands coding and he is using this to panic bitcoin investors. Let us be positive for once,when an OG chose to move his abandoned coin to another wallet. Sometimes, it might be that the owner has forgot his password or where he kept his phrase seed and after a long time he saw it,and decided to use or move his coins. We have heard so many old wallet being active after a long period of time,this should let you know that it is normal.

[irhact]

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

It's unlikely as this should have caused a panic in the community already if the story was true and would had made Bitcoin price to drop. For now this are just assumptions and has not been proven untill few people affected can come out to confirm the news of their wallets been hacked. Maybe the OGs are just moving their Bitcoin to a hardware wallets or other more secure wallets.

It could be they're selling some amount of the Bitcoin they bought in the past. Private keys are impossible to be hacked into, there hasn't been a news to confirm that any hacker has successfully hacked a private key. If the OGs accounts are been hacked into, no wallet is safe.

[o_e_l_e_o]

What a bunch of absolute clickbait nonsense. Claiming that all 12 and 24 word seed phrases are vulnerable!? I'm sorry, has someone managed to break the laws of thermodynamics and create a colossal amount of energy out of nothing in order to start cracking 2¹²⁸ bit seed phrases? Are the oceans boiling from the heat this energy is turning in to? Because that's legitimately what would happen if we used enough energy to successfully start brute forcing seed phrases. And lets not even mention the fact that seed phrases didn't even exist when most of these old addresses were funded for the first time.

An absolute trash article, but sadly what comes to pass for "news" in the crypto world. Just like that article a couple of weeks ago that claimed seed phrases are vulnerable because someone posted all their words online and then their coins were stolen.

[Onset]

Sure, people are losing millions all of a sudden and nobody says a thing. They’re all quiet while hackers do their job. Say this was possible MAYBE with a single “OG” address someone found by complete luck (and even that’s almost impossible). But multiple? Unless there was a huge flaw nobody’s found yet or something like that, no way. And again, why would owners of these addresses be quiet about losing millions to “hackers”?

[CryptSafe]

OP, I really do not give in to this you have said. If there are recent old hacked wallets I believe the owners would definitely come up publicly to say something about it so as to make something out of it. If not necessarily engaging tech guru to help them recover their assets,  maybe a proper investigation to unravelling the identities behind the hack. Some would even turn it into a process to gain attention and recognition as early adopters of bitcoin you know how it feels then telling someone you were amongst the early adopters of bitcoin that is a catchy one you know.

Back to the reality,  hacking a wallet is not as easy as you think one must have clues of your keys if not in full some hint can gain them access but in this situation none of it is the case so how do you think it is possible. Let me run down to CEX hack as an illustration, do you think CEX exchange hack is just let alone a hacker, I believe there are always information leak before such could happen likewise private wallets too.

Let me remind you as well, do not forget that some of those accounts holders are tech gurus as well and they too are good at their games so tell me how do you explain that when you are sophisticated to protect your own. Some of the hacks claimed to have occurred on old 1st generational bitcoin wallets are not what we think some are just a change of wallet. Maybe the owners just felt like changing asset location to another current trending one to be on the safe side.
Of lately there have not been any complaint on private wallet hack rather it is coming from CEX so this justifies it that most old private wallets holding bitcoin safe or possibly change of assets location are not hack.

[Lucius]

When I see a Senior member asking about such things, I wonder what these people were doing on the forum all that time and why they didn't learn some basics... Although what else can you expect from someone who goes to the gym and meets people there who know all the world's secrets

I just checked my old wallet addresses and no one hacked them, am I the only one or are there others who haven't been hacked?

[vv181]

Fear sells. It is funny how the articles cite unrelated unknown and uncertain EVM-coins issues. And especially only citing the Bitcoin community concerns, solely on Twitter.

Mass hacks targeting veterans? Where is the other transaction source or information? the article only cites two dormant addresses. The next step for this kind of journalism is to rehash the news into sentiments like, look how tremendous Bitcoin investors' profits are and such kind of things. Fear leads a click, and a piece of bombastic news will follow as a rehashed version.

[stompix]

I did a quick search though and found this relevant article: https://cryptoslate.com/old-wallets-activate-sparking-fears-of-mass-hack-targeting-bitcoin-veterans/

Could it be that folks have figured out how to crack the codes on these old private keys? IF so, they are seeing some massive pay days, EH?

Whale alert...d'oh!

So first transaction mentioned would be this:
https://mempool.space/tx/bb40bc71a6c551ef2c3b767094e2225685a8f690877edc6bb97b33035e65d866
what hacker withdraws 400 BTC and leaves the other 600 BTC in the compromised address?

Second one:
https://mempool.space/tx/859878cbe79f7cd4a2be5d4c5e2f80bbe5230a1e33ed3b0318b75288acbf721f
So the hackers decided to take only 6071 coins and leave there coins worth $108,448,000!

Do this sound to you like some "hacks" happening?

[Lorence.xD]

MtGox aside, why can't people just make the assumption that maybe, just maybe, that OG bitcoin holders just want to move their funds? Why does it always have to be something very bombastic like a mass hacking?

I know right, it would be impossible to steal a private key especially to an anonymous wallet. I think that's the case if you are one of the OG bitcoin holders you're like a celebrity in every action you take. Like just moving your funds suddenly you have an thread/article about it lmao. They are considered OG so it they know how to handle their funds that wouldn't be open to hacking.

[Aikidoka]

It seems highly unlikely that the wallet was hacked. My guess is that the wallet owner simply decided to transfer their bitcoins to a more secure and safe wallet after waking up. As we are aware the seed phrase is currently impossible to crack with the most advanced hardware available today.

It's strange that in situations like this, people tend to jump to the conclusion that the bitcoins were hacked rather than considering the possibility that they were simply transferred to another wallet by the genuine owner. It could be due to a lack of understanding or trust in the security of bitcoin technology?