BTC funds 'stuck' in wallet - can not send

[danieleither]

I have an issue whereby approx 0.02 BTC is stuck in a wallet, which I can't send out from the wallet. I have no idea why or how to fix this. I typically use Coinbase wallet (using an app on my phone). If I try to send from this app, it will say I have 'X' balance (for argument sake lets say this is 0.05 BTC), however if I try to send the whole wallet balance, I am greeted with a generic failure message (e.g. transaction failed, try again later). If I lower the amount (e.g. to 0.1 BTC, or any amount that does not include the 'stuck' BTC balance) it sends just fine.

I have tried using the recovery seed to recover the wallet into different apps and get the same problem. I notice however that with one other app I tried (Trust wallet), it shows the balance by indicates that 0.2 BTC as 'inscribed'. I have no idea what this means and there seems to be no helpful information about this online. It says I can 'free up' the inscribed BTC by going into settings and preferences, however when I open this menu there is nothing about 'inscribed' BTC.

What has happened here? How do I fix this?

If relevant, and for context I am a Bitcoin miner and the BTC has been paid from F2pool for mining rewards.

[NeuroticFish]

...I can't send out from the wallet...
...if I try to send the whole wallet balance, I am greeted with a generic failure message (e.g. transaction failed, try again later). If I lower the amount (e.g. to 0.1 BTC, or any amount that does not include the 'stuck' BTC balance) it sends just fine.
...it shows the balance by indicates that 0.2 BTC as 'inscribed'
...If relevant, and for context I am a Bitcoin miner and the BTC has been paid from F2pool for mining rewards.

These are the parts I've found relevant.
Is it by chance that a significant part of your funds consist in small inputs? Maybe even dust? Like getting from pool or from other sources (ordinals?) amounts like 0.00000546 BTC or even less? Or maybe not much bigger either?

The point is that sending your coins costs some, and that cost depends on how many inputs they are. If the inputs are too small it costs more than their value to be sent out. Or I'd expect too small inputs cannot be even sent by some wallets.

I don't know what is exactly your problem, but I think that this may be the directions:
* either the fee is getting significantly big
* either some inputs cannot be sent for some reason

If I am correct then the fix I know is to get a wallet that can handle coin control (Electrum for desktop, Sparrow, maybe others too) and send out only the bigger inputs.

Of course, you can also post your address and let people take a proper look instead of guessing, but maybe you don't want that for privacy reasons.

[Forsyth Jones]

Have you ever exchanged bitcoin for ordinals? I haven't used Coinbase since 2015, but from what I gei, it provides you with the recovery phrase. Have you tried restoring this wallet through Electrum?

In Electrum, you have access to the addresses tab with all the balances and a tab called "coins" where all your inputs are shown in detail.

The problem doesn't appear to be a lack of fee, since you tried to send a significantly higher balance.

[Mia Chloe]

Well if I understand your points and questions correctly op I'll say you are probably referring to what most wallets will tag as spendable balance. Some wallets especially those that are not open source usually have this kind of occurrence. Now just like NeuroticFish mentioned, all the coins in your wallet if attempted to be spent needs a fee not the fact and the spendable balance is more like your total balance minus the fees required to spend it.

I experienced something like this when I was making use of mycelium and from what I observed at that time, the spendable fees is dynamic meaning it changes as bitcoin price does and also as average fees on the MEMPOOL adjusts. Some other altcoins in mostly custodial wallets remove the fees from the total amount sent but for bitcoin you fees has its own output just like the sent amount does too.

[BitMaxz]

Have you tried to check the wallet address on explorer if there's a stuck transaction in your wallet address?
If the wallet address that you receive BTC from the mining pool is confirmed then the Coinbase wallet and trust wallet have an issue processing the transaction or maybe it's a bug in your wallet that Coinbase and trust wallet can't able to read.

Coinbase has an option on the settings where you can able to backup the private key why not backup the private key and then move and import it to a better wallet like Electrum wallet and then make a transaction?
 

[danieleither]

So, to add further info and answer some of the questions here:

No, there have not been any small 'dust' amounts sent to the wallet. Payments from F2Pool are daily, and typically in the region of 0.05 - 0.15 BTC.

The wallet is normally emptied every few days (by sending to my Trezor for long-term HODL). I just use this online wallet to receive mining payouts, and for processing of petty cash withdrawals (e.g. a few hundred USD here and there).

Looking on Block Explorer, I can see that the last time I was able to successfully empty the wallet was 23/08/2024. The smallest payment I have received since then is ~0.05 BTC. There is no apparent indication of stuck transactions in Block Explorer (however I'm not sure what I'm looking for here)?

As per my original post, I have used the recovery seed to open the wallet in various apps which all give the same result. I haven't tried Electrum however, and will try that now and report back.

[odolvlobo]

As per my original post, I have used the recovery seed to open the wallet in various apps which all give the same result.

It's odd that they all give the "same" results - a generic failure message.

Found this about trust wallet:

2. The “inscription” next to the amount indicates that it is considered dust and cannot be utilized.

It is possible that someone sent a dust amount to your wallet, and you are inadvertently trying to spend it. If that applies to you, then try sending an amount less than the full amount in the wallet.

[LoyceV]

Payments from F2Pool are daily, and typically in the region of 0.05 - 0.15 BTC.

Your post history shows you have "free electricity" and were looking to spend 100k on mining hardware. That doesn't add up to earning 3-8k per day from that mining.

The smallest payment I have received since then is ~0.05 BTC. There is no apparent indication of stuck transactions in Block Explorer (however I'm not sure what I'm looking for here)?

Can you share the address?
Bitcoin is usually quite simple: if you have the private key to an address, you can spend it.

[danieleither]

Payments from F2Pool are daily, and typically in the region of 0.05 - 0.15 BTC.

Your post history shows you have "free electricity" and were looking to spend 100k on mining hardware. That doesn't add up to earning 3-8k per day from that mining.

The smallest payment I have received since then is ~0.05 BTC. There is no apparent indication of stuck transactions in Block Explorer (however I'm not sure what I'm looking for here)?

Can you share the address?
Bitcoin is usually quite simple: if you have the private key to an address, you can spend it.

I have inclusive electricity at a couple of my sites, not 'free' as such. But that post is probably 4 or 5 years ago (I don't remember it). I've invested a lot more since then and mine over multiple locations with varying setups / power arrangements. That being said, you are right and sadly I do not mine 3-8k a day! I meant to say 0.005 - 0.015 BTC, with the smallest payment received (since when the issue started) being 0.005, which is the minimum payment threshold of F2Pool (and therefore all payments received are > 0.005). Not massive, but certainly not dust.

Wallet address: *** REDACTED - ISSUE NOW SOLVED ***

Interestingly, Block explorer reports the following:

This address has transacted 93 times on the Bitcoin blockchain.
It has received a total of 0.74037006 BTC $43,936.20 and has sent a total of 0.67861268 BTC $40,271.30
The current value of this address is 0.06175738 BTC $3,664.90

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but aside from the balance, this information is way off. This wallet has seen over 2000 transactions, and has received double digits BTC total (close to 20 probably), however it only shows a handful of transactions dating back to June 2024. I have been mining nearly 5 years and received payouts daily since start, plus I send lots of small payments, therefore there should be 2000+ transactions.

According to block explorer, the last time the wallet was empty was 23/08/2024 - therefore the problem was introduced on or after 24/08/2024

[LoyceV]

Wallet address: bc1qkjhyr44s4ksuhavgkf5hrs2xesfg2h6z63jp7r

Why don't you try Electrum instead of Coinbase and "Trust" wallet? I've imported the address (watch-only), and see 6 inputs. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to send this.

General note: importing your private key into different wallets is not the best idea. You should probably retire this address and use a new one from now on.

[danieleither]

Wallet address: bc1qkjhyr44s4ksuhavgkf5hrs2xesfg2h6z63jp7r

Why don't you try Electrum instead of Coinbase and "Trust" wallet? I've imported the address (watch-only), and see 6 inputs. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to send this.

General note: importing your private key into different wallets is not the best idea. You should probably retire this address and use a new one from now on.

OK... so I have managed to open the wallet up in Electrum, and I have identified the problematic transaction (highlighted in the image below). 0.0204458 was the F2Pool payout for that day, and 0.0204458 is the exact amount that is 'stuck' in the wallet. Does the drill-down information explain anything helpful?

[LoyceV]

OK... so I have managed to open the wallet up in Electrum, and I have identified the problematic transaction (highlighted in the image below). 0.0204458 was the F2Pool payout for that day, and 0.0204458 is the exact amount that is 'stuck' in the wallet. Does the drill-down information explain anything helpful?

Have you tried sending from Electrum?

[danieleither]

OK... so I have managed to open the wallet up in Electrum, and I have identified the problematic transaction (highlighted in the image below). 0.0204458 was the F2Pool payout for that day, and 0.0204458 is the exact amount that is 'stuck' in the wallet. Does the drill-down information explain anything helpful?

Have you tried sending from Electrum?

Yes - once again I am greeted with a generic error message (see image below):

Would it be worth contacting F2Pool support, since the payment was sent by them?

[LoyceV]

Would it be worth contacting F2Pool support, since the payment was sent by them?

That shouldn't matter: once confirmed, a bitcoin transaction doesn't depend on whoever sent it.

I tried to create an unsigned transaction with that input, but the transaction I get is 89972 bytes in size. I'm lost here, I thought I understood things, but this is a new one.

But if I create a transaction using coinb.in, I get a normal transaction size:

Code:

0100000001c2109f313932044f650f7f946e76f9035c4df20e4823e343d5e58b9335aab3da140100001f14b4ae41d6b0ada1cbf588b26971c146cc12855f420008a4321f0000000000fdffffff01782c1f000000000017a9140736c84819e8cac0b3c8a261fd2135abc0d907378700000000

You can click Tools > Load transaction > From text to load it into Electrum, verify the Output address (32MAHEMHwmhMZjDiXB9NBWhb13nsCEpp56) and amount, and sign it if you want. But VERIFY it thoroughly.

I don't get why Electrum created such a large transaction.

[danieleither]

You can click Tools > Load transaction > From text to load it into Electrum, verify the Output address (32MAHEMHwmhMZjDiXB9NBWhb13nsCEpp56) and amount, and sign it if you want. But VERIFY it thoroughly.

Forgive me, but I don't understand this instruction. Although I've been mining for years, I've only ever done basic transactions in and out of wallets. Would you mind explaining this step in a little more detail (to ensure I get it right)?

I tried loading from text, but the 'sign' button is greyed out:

[LoyceV]

Forgive me, but I don't understand this instruction. Although I've been mining for years, I've only ever done basic transactions in and out of wallets. Would you mind explaining this step in a little more detail (to ensure I get it right)?

I tried loading from text, but the 'sign' button is greyed out:

Did you import the private key into this wallet? If so, I would expect the sign button to work. I still have no idea why Electrum can't handle this specific input normally.

You could sign with coinb.in, but it's a website so you should NOT do that online. If you copy it to an air-gapped system (running from a Linux LIVE DVD for instance) and wipe it afterwards you can safely try this. Don't enter you private key in an online browser.

[danieleither]

Did you import the private key into this wallet? If so, I would expect the sign button to work. I still have no idea why Electrum can't handle this specific input normally.

I don't know? I just installed Electrum, and used my 12 word recovery seed to open the wallet.

You could sign with coinb.in, but it's a website so you should NOT do that online. If you copy it to an air-gapped system (running from a Linux LIVE DVD for instance) and wipe it afterwards you can safely try this. Don't enter you private key in an online browser.

I really appreciate your help and advice, but this is all way above my understanding. My knowledge of bitcoin wallets extends to clicking a 'send' or 'receive' button and scanning a QR (or copy / pasting an address). To date I've never had a problem like this

[LoyceV]

I don't know? I just installed Electrum, and used my 12 word recovery seed to open the wallet.

That's the same result: Electrum should be able to sign this transaction.

I really appreciate your help and advice, but this is all way above my understanding.

In that case, don't do it.

To date I've never had a problem like this

Let's wait for someone who with a deeper understanding of what's going on here.

[danieleither]

I don't know? I just installed Electrum, and used my 12 word recovery seed to open the wallet.

That's the same result: Electrum should be able to sign this transaction.

I really appreciate your help and advice, but this is all way above my understanding.

In that case, don't do it.

To date I've never had a problem like this

Let's wait for someone who with a deeper understanding of what's going on here.

Sound advice, thanks again. I assume that in the meantime, if I transfer everything apart from the 'stuck' balance OUT of this wallet, and create a new wallet for mining payouts - that would be a sensible step forward?

[LoyceV]

I assume that in the meantime, if I transfer everything apart from the 'stuck' balance OUT of this wallet, and create a new wallet for mining payouts - that would be a sensible step forward?

Yes.
You may want to consider using an address on your Trezor for mining payouts directly.