Early Bitcoin Wallet - Help Needed - Advice Appreciated

[LoyceV]

3. Appears the orginal paperwallet & brainwallet websites that may have been used are no longer active.

Try Github if you really want that site: https://github.com/cantonbecker/bitcoinpaperwallet
Note:

README

*********************************************************
***  DO NOT USE THE WEBSITE BITCOINPAPERWALLET[.]COM  ***
*********************************************************
Since I transferred ownership of this domain in 2018,
it has been reported that funds secured using wallets
generated on the live site were stolen. (Malicious code
was inserted to generate predictable random keys.)

As far as I know, wallets that were properly generated by
downloading this code from GitHub (at any time, including
after 2018) are not at risk. However, wallets that were
generated on the live website after April 2018 should be
considered as untrustworthy.

[theunionjack]

Came across that generator yesterday. Downloaded it to my phone, unzipped & ran the program to see what happens. It seemed to load ok but couldn't find the fields to insert password & passphrase. Will try opening again on the offline computer tomorrow to see if I can get it to work.

[nc50lc]

It seemed to load ok but couldn't find the fields to insert password & passphrase.

It's in "✓ Validate or Decrypt" tab.
It auto-detects if it's not a valid private key format and will ask you if the entered "Passphrase" is a Brainwallet, press "yes" to proceed.

[theunionjack]

I get a "public bitcoin address" & a "private key WIF" using the 8 words. No text box for adding a salt which just doesnt seem right. Assuming a a space, then a backslash, then another space, then the password after the 8 words will give me a "salted passphase/password combination" but thats definitley not how remember it.

Getting one letter wrong changes everything. Adding a backslash into the mix seems a bit ridiculous.

Highly likely this bitcoinpaperwallet.com site was used to make the printed copy of the wallet but fairly certain the original brainwallet site must have been used to generate the address. Not 100% certain but the way I remember it there was a text box for passphrase then in the next step a text box for password.

Is there a download on Github for the old brain wallet site. I'm trying to find it now.

[LoyceV]

No text box for adding a salt which just doesnt seem right.

There is no salt in "classic" brainwallets.

the way I remember it there was a text box for passphrase then in the next step a text box for password.

That sounds like BIP38 on the same site: a brainwallet to create a private key, and a password to encrypt the printed version.

[ABCbits]

I get a "public bitcoin address" & a "private key WIF" using the 8 words. No text box for adding a salt which just doesnt seem right. Assuming a a space, then a backslash, then another space, then the password after the 8 words will give me a "salted passphase/password combination" but thats definitley not how remember it.

Most brain wallet works in that way, no salt and only single SHA-256. IIRC only WarpWallet do it differently by having salt and many hash iteration.

Getting one letter wrong changes everything. Adding a backslash into the mix seems a bit ridiculous.

Yeah, that's how hashing works.

Highly likely this bitcoinpaperwallet.com site was used to make the printed copy of the wallet but fairly certain the original brainwallet site must have been used to generate the address. Not 100% certain but the way I remember it there was a text box for passphrase then in the next step a text box for password.

Relevant news, BitcoinPaperWallet ‘Back Door’ Responsible for Millions in Missing Funds, Research Suggests.

Is there a download on Github for the old brain wallet site. I'm trying to find it now.

See statement from old owner of website you mentioned on https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=169836.msg46727114#msg46727114. His statement contain link to old version of that website, but i can't guarantee anything.

[theunionjack]

Ok so technically speaking it may have been possible to base58 the passphrase get a result then sha256 that result with a password (or am I missing something).

Love to know where the guide I followed to get this done in the first place. Whoever wrote the guide factored in a "salt" which makes cracking a brainwallet alot more difficult.

If this wasn't possible on a classic wallet website then some program must have been used. Nothing epse makes much sense.

Its so confusing cause three different wallts were created using the same passphrase & 8 words. Brainwallet, the paperwallet & loaded into a program that encrypted everything.

[Cricktor]

Ok so technically speaking it may have been possible to base58 the passphrase get a result then sha256 that result with a password (or am I missing something).
...

I'm not sure if you understand what you're talking about. Why would you Base58 a passphrase, whatever you mean by that passphrase.

Explain how would you SHA256(something) with a password!


Let me ask you, I know it's too late but it may serve educational value, why didn't you document what you have done in the past? It's not surprising that after a long time memory blurs and this is the reason why nobody should skip to document stuff, especially when you're doing something non-standard. I recommend to also document standard stuff because at some point of time someone will need this documentation, especially after a long time.

In many cases the concept of a brainwallet is sort of flawed when people SHA256(human_secret) and this "human_secret" has weak entropy, is something known like names, citations or song texts or whatever is already present online or is more or less easy to guess based on personal data e.g.

From a brainwallet you get a private key that is simply the SHA256(human_secret). If you want to secure this further, you could apply BIP38 and encrypt that private key with another passphrase (which needs to be documented separately and best with some decent redundancy, too). On the other hand a BIP38 encrypted private key has a recognizable form and shouldn't be misinterpreted.

You're in trouble now because you didn't seem to document anything and you and we have to guess, which may not lead to a straightforward solution, if at all.

[theunionjack]

I dont want to jump the gun on this but think I've got this fuckery figured out. Had to relearn everything from start to finish & re engineer the processes using terms from the original post.

Even if I dont access my coins I've been able to piece together how I created the three wallets what programs were used & the order of the processes.

If there is anyone else out there that may have had a remotely similar experience & can't access their wallet id love to hear from you.

My first post reads reasonabliby true. Granted its a mess but there was enough there to work with but some important details were missed to complete the story.

Without the full story using Grok4 would never have got this done even though some of the advice I received here got me close. Just needed the original program I used, the right script & an AI detective.

Its been a tough road over many months but I confident Im nearly there. Will post the method for all three wallets once I've got custody of the coins. Its a piece of history that should not be forgotten.

I might be considered a newbie on this forum but been here since the beginning. Some of you did point me in the right direction & for that I thank you.

[Cricktor]

I gave you a merit in the hope that you will come back once you succeed (or even when not) to post more details. Every story about wallet recovery has something to learn from, be it what works or be it what should be avoided because it shoots you in your own foot.

From my own experience and observations of other cases, it's in many cases a lack of proper documentation that constantly shoots yourself in some way or another.

Happy to hear you've made progress.

[theunionjack]

Thanks bro. Main concern now is safety. Bit paraniod to say the least. After everything I've been through. I have to assume all devices are compromised & start fresh. I have downloaded files that are possibly suspect. If I dont & something goes wrong losing coins a second time would be worse that not finding them. FML.

[LoyceV]

I have to assume all devices are compromised

That's always the safest assumption. Just work on a system that will never go online, so your keys can't possible reach the internet.

[theunionjack]

Yeah I get it now. Had to ask AI a billion questions. New PC for key generation. New Ledger Flex with Billfodl for seed backup. New phone & sim for signing then broadcasting BTC sweep transaction. Probably new laptop aswell. Then none of that on the current network in future. Seems a bit extreme but if i'm going to attempt to pull this shit off might aswell do it right.

And then going to go sit in the middle of nowhere outside the range of WIFI, microwaves, CIA devices that test your CPU fan speed & fuck knows what else to do whatever necessary to complete the transaction. 😂😂😂

[Cricktor]

Sorry to be a party pooper but in my opinion basically all Ledger stuff is crap (closed-source firmware). Billfodl has too many movable parts, especially under stress. Simply see https://jlopp.github.io/metal-bitcoin-storage-reviews/reviews/billfodl/ and decide yourself if this can retain a precious recovery words backup under potentially harsh conditions like fire and collapsing building. There are better options in my opinion, see J. Lopp's metal backup storage reviews...

Why would you generate your keys on a PC when you already seem to think about a hardware wallet. Personally, I despise Ledger for all the crap they do and produce, but that's just me. Normally good hardware wallets have decent TRNGs (true random number generators in hardware) and are well suited to produce good entropy to yield "random" private keys.

I would stay away with a mobile phone from a wallet that has more than pocket money worth of coins. People tend to do all sorts of internet shit with their mobile phones and this is no safe playground for a crypto wallet. YMMV.

Get an affordable used laptop, wipe the storage, update BIOS firmware (if possible) to have a clean BIOS, install Linux or run a live Linux in RAM-only, like Tails or similar. Don't do your daily internet shit on this device. Pretty safe already...

A mini PC with removed wifi components and no LAN cable should be a decent base for a cold wallet setup. You don't need anything fancy because this "cold wallet" part doesn't do any heavy lifting.

(I use a BitBox02 hardware wallet, titanium washers, self-stamped as metal backup.)

[whanau]

And don't forget, if you find the key therefore the address you will have the same amount in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) which is yours. So transfer that too.

At some point, you will have to see whether the address you have has a balance by going online and checking it.
here is a site to do that   https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/search?search=16UwLL9Risc3QfPqBUvKofHmBQ7wMtjvM you will see how it gives 2 addresses to check.

As has been said, do all your tests and checks offline and don't publish the key anywhere. If you need a simple offline script to change private keys into the various formats (address, WIF etc) send me a pm and I will send it to you. I may have already put this on the forum on one of my posts.

Good Luck.

[theunionjack]

All im doing is buying the Ledger to sweep the BTC from Electrum to the Ledger using an office computer. Have to sign the off-line transaction using a fresh internet connection which will be a hotspot on a new phone & new sim.

Anything is better that I've got right now so going to follow the advice I've been given which was supportive & helpful. Granted the advice is AI generated so it may not be best practice but the steps are easy to follow & they will work. Never have been a fanboy of Linux or Apple products so lets not go there.

Get the feeling you think you know everything Cricktor but lets face you don't. My guess is you weren't there around in 2010 so there might be something you can learn from me. Better yet what I've got to say may even rewrite the history of wallet generation & fill in all the gaps that have been lost.

I apologise for the tone but reading some of the replies I've received on this forum have been super frustrating. I have been doing the best I can to solve this puzzle, I promised myself nearly two years ago id get this done not just for my own personal benefit but for everyone else who has ever lost a wallet. By the time I'm finished this may just ge the most important recovery post ever.

Just give me a bit more time & I'll be happy to explain.

[LoyceV]

All im doing is buying the Ledger to sweep the BTC from Electrum to the Ledger using an office computer. Have to sign the off-line transaction using a fresh internet connection which will be a hotspot on a new phone & new sim.

What do you mean when you say "sign using an internet connection"? There's no need to go online with the system that holds your private key. This is what I would do:

Online:
Install Electrum on your PC.
Import your address to create a watch-only wallet.
Preview the transaction, Copy the unsigned transaction. Put it on a USB stick.

Offline and running without hard drive storage:
Get a Linux LIVE DVD. Use Knoppix or Tails for instance, or any other distribution that comes with Electrum pre-installed.
Unplug your internet cable. Close the curtains. Reboot your computer and start up from that DVD. Don't enter any wireless connection password. Keep it offline.
Start Electrum. Import your private key.
Copy your unsigned transaction from the USB stick, load it into Electrum.
CHECK the transaction in Electrum. Check the fees, check the amount, check all destination addresses (character by character).
If all is okay, sign the transaction. Copy it back to your USB stick.
Turn off the computer. That wipes the Live LINUX from memory and all traces are gone.

Online:
Use your normal online Electrum to (check again and) broadcast the transaction.

Bonus:
After moving all your Bitcoin, and once the transaction confirmed, check if you own Forkcoins.

[theunionjack]

I meant use Electrum offline on desktop. Create & sign a transaction then sweep the BTC to Ledger Flex new address. Copy siged transaction file to new USB. Then use new laptop, new phone, sim, hotspot & internet connection to broadcast transaction via Electrum.

I dont pay attention to the fine details till its required. I apologise for the confusion.

[Cricktor]

I know that I don't know everything, that's for sure. And I can't remember ever having said to think I know everything. I might stepped a bit on your toes with my rant on Ledger or something else. You can ignore it, whatever works for you and doesn't screw up, is fine.

My journey with Bitcoin started 2011 when I mined more than one Bitcoin with a measly mid-class graphic card and did stupid things with the most part of my self-mined coins. I used Bitcoin-GUI wallet on Windows and definitely didn't know a thing how a wallet worked, how Bitcoin transactions actually worked, not even how Bitcoin worked at all. I was just faszinated that somehow by some number-crunching magic I could create digital coins myself that actually had some value (wasn't much in 2011). The power consumption to mine the coins likely was more expensive than the coins itself (or maybe not, I forgot).

I was lazy with backups and the harddrive with my wallet started to show signs of media errors and severe problems. I barely managed to complete a ddrescue image for later recovery attempts. I stowed the image file in two or three backup copies away for years before Bitcoin's rise in Winter 2017 relighted my interest to recover my wallet.

In the process of my personal wallet recovery I realized I knew so little about Bitcoin that it sparked my desire to learn a lot more and to avoid doing stupid things that might lead to avoidable losses.

I still have some "coins" from 2011, btw., hodling strong. Recovered also the fork coins and of course converted them to bitcoins. Who cares about shitcoins?

Sorry to bore, but I felt I'd share a part of my story when you make assumptions based on no facts. Take of it whatever you want or none, up to you. And by the way, I'm human, I make errors, that's normal. I'm not impressed when AI is hyped. I can learn stuff myself to be able to distinguish if AI talks shit or not, because, guess what, AI isn't always right. If AI helped you, good for you, fine with me. Just make no religion of it, please.  

[whanau]

I meant use Electrum offline on desktop. Create & sign a transaction then sweep the BTC to Ledger Flex new address. Copy siged transaction file to new USB. Then use new laptop, new phone, sim, hotspot & internet connection to broadcast transaction via Electrum.

I dont pay attention to the fine details till its required. I apologise for the confusion.

FWIW, I think you may be over complicating things. How are you going to create the offline transaction? Sounds like that could be a place to introduce irreversible errors.
The advice LoyceV has given is sound.
However I would do it slightly differently. You have found the private key to create the offline transaction.  Instead of creating the transaction yourself, transfer the private key to a text file on a  USB stick to place in your online machine. If you like you could turn off your WIFI at the wall to be extra sure. Then you can open Electrum and sweep that key directly into your Electrum wallet, reading from the usb (with wifi back on). Electrum only exposes your private key on your PC for a fraction of a second in order to sign the transaction for you, then broadcast it. The private key is not broadcast. If the key is correct you will have the balance shortly. Let Electrum do the work for you.
Of course you must make sure Electrum is downloaded from the official website and the private key is in the right format (WIF)  it will start with a 5.
Conversion to WIF is all over the internet but on no account do this online with your private key or your coins will be gone.

Familiarize yourself  with Electrum with an empty wallet before attempting it for real.

Good Luck.