Hello. I am trying to recover coins from an old wallet on Armory -- help?

[OldWalletNeedHelp]

I am getting messages that say it cannot connect to the db and that it is basically permanently offline.  I was referred to this forum.

I have all the paper-based information that Armory gave me to keep safe to restore/recover my wallet.

I read there is a 'fork' of Armory but upon closer inspection it looks like the newest version is for Linux only.  

If I just want to get my coins off of Armory and back them up, how do I do so?  Someone linked me to https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/18088/how-to-obtain-the-private-key-of-an-armory-wallet and I wondered if this requires you to still have an Armory that has been connected to the blockchain/online.

Despite being savvy enough to do this back in the day, I am relatively new when it comes to bitcoin and understanding everything, so please go easy on me.

BONUS QUESTION: Is "Cold Card" the hip new storage method, or will it go the way of ledger and be vulnerable in some capacity?

Thank you in advance.

[1714569200]

1714569200

[hosseinimr93]

If I just want to get my coins off of Armory and back them up, how do I do so?  Someone linked me to https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/18088/how-to-obtain-the-private-key-of-an-armory-wallet and I wondered if this requires you to still have an Armory that has been connected to the blockchain/online.

If you don't want to download the blockchain, you should export your private key(s) and import them in a SPV wallet like electrum.
For exporting your private keys from Armory, you don't even need internet connection.

First create a wallet in Armory using your paper backup, if you haven't already done so.

To know how you can export your private keys, click here and follow the guide provided by HCP in another thread before.

After exporting your private keys, you can import them in other wallets and spend your fund. A good option is electrum.

[OldWalletNeedHelp]

I guess I'm like... really afraid I'm going to do something wrong?  I've been downloading bitcoin core this whole time.  So I don't even need to do all that?  I saw other people say they had to do all this work -- why would that be the case if it was really that simple? 

Well, that guide you linked to looks legit.  Maybe I'll just try it : 3

[hosseinimr93]

I guess I'm like... really afraid I'm going to do something wrong?  I've been downloading bitcoin core this whole time.  So I don't even need to do all that?  I saw other people say they had to do all this work -- why would that be the case if it was really that simple?  

You need bitcoin core and the full blockchain if you want to make transaction with Armory itself. With having the full blockchain and using Armory, you won't rely on servers run by third parties and that's helpful for protecting your privacy.

In the case you are going to make transaction with Armory, make sure that pruning is enabled in bitcoin core.
To check if you are running a prune node, click on "Setting" at top of the window an then go to "Options". If you run a prune node, Armory can't be synced and you will have to redownload the blockchain after disabling prune mode.

[OldWalletNeedHelp]

Ok so I followed the instructions and got by "Plain Base58" keys from my wallet.  The tutorial says that 'sweeping' is safer?  How can I basically take this wallet and transfer it somewhere else, like I guess an electrum wallet?  Someone said 'blue wallet'?  Thank you in advance, I'm almost shaking right now physically lol

[hosseinimr93]

Ok so I followed the instructions and got by "Plain Base58" keys from my wallet.  The tutorial says that 'sweeping' is safer?  How can I basically take this wallet and transfer it somewhere else, like I guess an electrum wallet?  

You can either import or sweep your private key(s) into electrum.

If you import your private keys, you don't make any transaction and you will have access to the same wallet in electrum.
Sweeping means creating a new wallet in electrum and send all the fund to the new wallet.

Sweeping may be safer because you will send all the fund to a new wallet.
If you import your private keys, you will have the same keys in two different wallets and that may increase the number of  attack vectors for hackers.

Take note that any online device is prone to hacking and if you want to be completely secure, you should import your private keys into an air-gapped device. That's highly recommended, especially if you have a big amount of bitcoin. If you do so, your wallet on the airgapped device will be used only for signing transactions and you will need a watch-only wallet on an online device for checking your transactions, creating unsigned transactions and broadcasting signed transactions.

Someone said 'blue wallet'?

Bluewallet is also good.
For desktop, I prefer to use electrum.

[OldWalletNeedHelp]

Ok.  I just got the coins onto Electrum.  A lil scared now on how to make this a cold wallet instead of a live one, but one thing at a time.

Also to my knowledge, I had 1/3rd (0.34) of a Bitcoin (I even found my original 'receipt'), and it's showing more like (0.28) of a Bitcoin lol?  How could that be?  Also, I heard that you can 'claim rewards from all the forks' how do I do that?  Thanks

[hosseinimr93]

Ok.  I just got the coins onto Electrum.  A lil scared now on how to make this a cold wallet instead of a live one, but one thing at a time.

If you want to have a cold wallet, one solution is to get a hardware wallet and send all the fund to that.
The other solution (which requires some technical knowledge) is to create a new wallet on an air-gapped device.

Also to my knowledge, I had 1/3rd (0.34) of a Bitcoin (I even found my original 'receipt'), and it's showing more like (0.28) of a Bitcoin lol?  How could that be?  

You probably had bitcoin on multiple addresses and didn't import all of them.
Did you check "Include unused" when exporting your private keys from Armory?

Also, I heard that you can 'claim rewards from all the forks' how do I do that?  Thanks

The most valuable forked coin is BCH which costs only $247 per coin now.

To claim the forked coins, you can follow the guide provided by LoyceV.
LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (and service)

Before claiming the forked coins, make sure you have moved all your bitcoin.
You swept your private keys and moved your fund to a new wallet, but since you said you had 0.34 BTC and now you have 0.28 BTC in your electrum wallet, there's a chance you still have some bitcoin in your old wallet.