Unable to access BTC from change address on Blockchain.com wallet

[snapper1010]

I understand that many users have faced issues with the Blockchain.com web wallet, but I couldn’t find a similar case to mine here.

I have a wallet with Blockchain.com that I hadn’t used since 2017. When I logged in my balance of BTC was showing in a wallet I named "August2017", not in the "DeFi wallet".

Recently, I purchased a Trezor hardware wallet and decided to transfer my BTC there for safekeeping.
8 days ago, I made a small test transaction from my Blockchain wallet into my Trezor. However, the change from this transaction isn’t reflected in my wallet balance which now shows as zero. I can see the outputs from the transaction, and the BTC appears to be sitting in a change address, but my wallet balance in Blockchain.com now shows as zero. It seems like my Blockchain web wallet isn’t allowing access to the change address where the BTC is stored.

I tried using my seed phrase from the settings tab to access my Bitcoin through another wallet service (BlueWallet), but the balance shows as zero.

I’ve contacted Blockchain.com support twice, but I haven’t received any response in the past 8 days.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue with Blockchain.com wallet, where a user hasn't been able to access BTC from their change address?

I would appreciate any advice on how to recover these BTC, as the amount is significant for me.
Am I likely to receive any help from the Blockchain.com customer service? I know their reputation is not great in this community.

Thank you very much.

[Charles-Tim]

I tried using my seed phrase from the settings tab to access my Bitcoin through another wallet service (BlueWallet), but the balance shows as zero.

Can you paste the txid of the transaction? So that we can know the change address.

If we have known the change address. Open Bluewallet that you imported the seed phrase and click on the three dots (...) and click on tools. Click on 'is it my address'. Paste your change address and click on 'check address'. This will help you know if the address belongs to any of your wallet and it will let you know the name of the wallet. I mean the name you named the wallet on Bluewallet.

Or Open Bluewallet, click on your wallet, click on the three dots, click on show addresses. Click on change address. You will see some lists of your change addresses. Look for your change address there.

I prefer the first one.

Is the change address there?

[snapper1010]

I appreciate your help but I'm reluctant to post the wallet id or transaction id in a public forum for privacy reasons (sorry, I'm just trying to be careful).

The seed phrase I imported into BlueWallet was taken from the settings tab in Blockchain.com, and the balance shows as zero.
If I try adding the change address on Bluewallet I can see the balance but it shows as "Imported Watch-only".
When I tried the Tools --> Is it my address? option it just shows up as the Imported Watch-only

I'm guessing this means the seed phrase in Blockchain.com wallet settings does not allow access to the Change Address. Maybe because it was an old Blockchain.info wallet generated in 2017 or earlier? The address format is Base58 (P2PKH)

I did find a post on Reddit where someone recently had the same problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1gs01zv/did_i_lost_my_btc_my_at_blockchaincom_wallet/

[Charles-Tim]

I'm guessing this means the seed phrase in Blockchain.com wallet settings does not allow access to the Change Address. Maybe because it was an old Blockchain.info wallet generated in 2017 or earlier? The address format is Base58 (P2PKH)

But you have access to the seed phrase. On Bluewallet: Click on 'add a wallet' -> import wallet. Paste your seed phrase and click on import. It will want to automatically be searching for funded address derivation path but below it click on click on 'custom derivation path'. Click on HD legacy (BIP44 P2PKH). That is the wallet that Bluewallet will degenerate for you. Its addresses start from 1.

[snapper1010]

After importing the seed phrase into BlueWallet it shows as "Imported HD Legacy (BIP44 P2PKH)" - all the addresses under this wallet start with 1. But the change address from my transaction which is holding my BTC starts with bc1q... and does not appear on this list

[Charles-Tim]

After importing the seed phrase into BlueWallet it shows as "Imported HD Legacy (BIP44 P2PKH)" - all the addresses under this wallet start with 1. But the change address from my transaction which is holding my BTC starts with bc1q... and does not appear on this list

You will need to import the seed phrase again and select HD Segwit (BIP84 Bech32 Native) instead. The addresses will start from bc1. That is even the default derivation path on Bluewallet. So if you let Bluewallet do it automatically for you without clicking on any derivation path, it should be native Segwit that the wallet will generate for you.

[snapper1010]

I've imported it using the default which came up with "Imported HD Legacy (BIP44 P2PKH)" and then tried importing it again selecting HD Segwit (BIP84 Bech32 Native), both times the balance is zero and the change address does not appear in the "show addresses" tab.
Feeling confused and stuck.
Thank you for your time in trying to help me

[khaled0111]

I've imported it using the default which came up with "Imported HD Legacy (BIP44 P2PKH)" and then tried importing it again selecting HD Segwit (BIP84 Bech32 Native)

When you imported the seed and restored the wallet as legacy, did bluewallet create the same addresses as the one you see on the blokchain.com wallet? If yes, does it show your transactions history on the transactions tab?
If the answer is no then you must have imported the wrong wallet.

all the addresses under this wallet start with 1. But the change address from my transaction which is holding my BTC starts with bc1q... and does not appear on this list

In this case I doubt this is a change address issue! Bitcoin core changes the type of changes addresses for privacy reasons but I don’t think blockchain.com does it too. Even if they do, the change amount should be visible on your account. It’s not supposed to disappear just like that!

[snapper1010]

When you imported the seed and restored the wallet as legacy, did bluewallet create the same addresses as the one you see on the blokchain.com wallet? If yes, does it show your transactions history on the transactions tab?
If the answer is no then you must have imported the wrong wallet.

Thanks. The imported wallet on BlueWallet (using my blockchain.com recovery phrase) shows historical transactions but the most recent is 7 years ago. The address that I sent the bitcoins from in my Blockchain wallet starting with 17DW7... does not appear in the "show addresses" tab.

That suggests to me that the Recovery phrase in the Security tab in my Blockchain.com account settings is NOT linked to the wallet I sent the BTC from, and therefore not linked to the change address either. And yet I can see the transaction in my account history on Blockchain.com. Very frustrating.

I can only think that this must be a bug with the Blockchain.com interface related to it being an old or obsolete wallet.

It’s not supposed to disappear just like that!

Arrrgh 

[khaled0111]

Thanks. The imported wallet on BlueWallet (using my blockchain.com recovery phrase) shows historical transactions but the most recent is 7 years ago. The address that I sent the bitcoins from in my Blockchain wallet starting with 17DW7... does not appear in the "show addresses" tab.

That means the wallet you've imported into bluewallet is not the correct wallet. It’s not the wallet from which you made that transaction. But since it shows old transactions then it’s yours and there is no type or derivation path issue, here.
 
However and if am not mistaken, blockchain.com allows users to create multiple wallets. So, are you sure you don’t have another wallet under that account? There should be an option on the main dashboard that allows you to switch between your different wallets. Unfortunately, I didn’t use it for a long time so I can’t help you with how to find it. Sorry!

[snapper1010]

 So, are you sure you don’t have another wallet under that account? There should be an option on the main dashboard that allows you to switch between your different wallets. Unfortunately, I didn’t use it for a long time so I can’t help you with how to find it. Sorry!

Yes there is a wallet named "August2017" and a wallet named "DeFi wallet", the balance of both now reads as zero. There is only one recovery phrase under the Settings --> Security tab, and that's the one I've imported to BlueWallet. I have scoured the blockchain.com interface to see if I can find private keys for any other wallet under my account settings but I can't...

I think my only hope now is that the Blockchain.com support team will respond to my query and be able to sort this out for me... they haven't acknowledged my messages at all which makes me feel very nervous...

The only thing that somewhat reassures me is that I can still see the balance of BTC sitting in the change address from my transaction on the public blockchain.

[nc50lc]

But the change address from my transaction which is holding my BTC starts with bc1q... and does not appear on this list

Try to manually derive most of your possible change address using IanColeman's open-source BIP39 tool, only use it on an offline Air-Gap machine.
Link: https://github.com/iancoleman/bip39

Follow these steps:

• 1. Open the tool on the offline PC's browser, type your recovery phrase on "BIP39 Mnemonic" text box.
• 2. Scroll-Down to 'Derivation Path' below, and select "BIP84" tab.
• 3. In that tab, Change "External / Internal" from '0' to '1'. (that would be your change addresses of your 1st Blockchain.com wallet)
• 4. Then look for the address in the 'Derived Addresses' list below (use Show __ more addresses to generate more, recommended '100').
• 5. If it's not there, go back to 'Derivation Path' and change "Account" from '0' to '1' and keep the internal chain set to 1. (the address list will change to your 2nd Blockchain.com wallet's change addresses)
• 6. If it's also not in your 2nd, test up to '9' account_index to see if they have another bug that causes it to send to a change address of a higher account index.

If you found the address, copy its private key and import it to Electrum via new wallet option; "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys" on the same Air-Gap machine.
(use USB flash drive to install Electrum, do not connect to internet)
Then on an online machine, create a "watch-only" Electrum wallet using its address (paste the address, not prvKey).
To spend, follow the steps on how to spend from a Cold-Storage Electrum setup: bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-cold-storage-wallet-in-electrum

If it's not in any of the given derivation path, Blockchain has another Bug and you may have to provide more information than what's given.
(not the private keys/recovery phrase of course)

[krav]

Hi all,

I have exactly the same problem as snapper. I transfered a small amount from my BTC DeFi wallet on Blockchain.com to a different exchange. Because I'm not very familiar with blockchain, I only transfered a small amount. When succesfull, I wanted to transfer the remaining amount. The transfer was succesfull, but the remaing BTC's got transfered to a change adress (I had to google what is going on here). The DeFi wallet I have on Blockchain.com also originates from 2017. I only deposited on there once, and never touched it again. Untill today.

The balance on my DeFi wallet is now zero... I know what the "change adress" is, I can see it in the "output" of the transaction. Could anyone explain to me how I can get access to this "change adress" via my blokchain.com account?

I would be very gratefull.

Kind regards,

Krav

[nc50lc]

The balance on my DeFi wallet is now zero... I know what the "change adress" is, I can see it in the "output" of the transaction. Could anyone explain to me how I can get access to this "change adress" via my blokchain.com account?

My post above describes how you can manually derive your possible "bc1" change addresses of your 1st, 2nd and more blockchain DeFi-wallets.
If your change address starts with '1', switch to 'BIP44' tab instead of 'BIP84'.

Here's a short explanation:
Each of your Blockchain.com account's (non-trading) wallets are derived from succeeding 'account_index' starting from 0.
Each of those wallet's change addresses are derived from 'internal chain_index', which is '1'.

If you followed it correctly, you should be able to derive most of the change addresses that can be derived from your recovery phrase.
And safe too if you properly setup an Air-Gap machine (PC).
Now if you can't find it using those instructions, it was sent elsewhere due to a bug or something.

[krav]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not really familiar with this so a few questions:
- By an Air-Gap machine, do you simply just mean to disconnect my PC from the internet?
- Do I need Python software to run the offline version of the tool?
- What do you mean by "use USB flash drive to install Electrum".

Thanks in advance.

[Charles-Tim]

- By an Air-Gap machine, do you simply just mean to disconnect my PC from the internet?

It is more than that because you will also remove the device WiFi card and Bluetooth.

- Do I need Python software to run the offline version of the tool?

There are many bitcoin wallet that can run on airgapped devices.

- What do you mean by "use USB flash drive to install Electrum".

To download Electrum on USB drive and connect it to the device you want to install Electrum for the installation.

I have not been following this thread when I thought you may no more have coins on the wallet but I might be wrong. You can wait for a reply from nc50lc.

[khaled0111]

- Do I need Python software to run the offline version of the tool?

There are many bitcoin wallet that can run on airgapped devices.

I believe what he was asking about is if he needs to download a third-party software like an interpreter or an IDE to be able to run the script.
The answer is no, you don’t need any of that, OP. Coinb.in script is written in JavaScript not in Python. So, you can use any web browser you like, as long as it supports JS (chrome, firefox..), to run it.

[nc50lc]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not really familiar with this so a few questions:
- By an Air-Gap machine, do you simply just mean to disconnect my PC from the internet?
- Do I need Python software to run the offline version of the tool?
- What do you mean by "use USB flash drive to install Electrum".

I'll list my replies based from the questions respectively;

• That would be "offline usage", not totally "Air-Gap", here's Air-Gap by definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gap_(networking)
  But if you do not have any other option, make sure that the PC is safe from malware and do not enable your internet until you've sent the transaction via the cold-storage spend method that I've mentioned,
  wait for at least 1 confirmation on the transaction before re-enabling your internet.
  
  
• You can download the release which is a stand-alone HTML file.
  That can then be run on any browser and will run like its online version except everything it needs to function is in that html file.
  
  
• Since the PC is Air-Gap, you cannot download it from there.
  Instead, use your online computer, download it from https://electrum.org/#download (recommended to verify its signature)
  Then copy the downloaded binary (appimage/installer/executable) to a USB Flash drive and plug it to the offline machine to install it there.

[snapper1010]

But the change address from my transaction which is holding my BTC starts with bc1q... and does not appear on this list

Try to manually derive most of your possible change address using IanColeman's open-source BIP39 tool, only use it on an offline Air-Gap machine.
Link: https://github.com/iancoleman/bip39

Follow these steps:

• 1. Open the tool on the offline PC's browser, type your recovery phrase on "BIP39 Mnemonic" text box.
• 2. Scroll-Down to 'Derivation Path' below, and select "BIP84" tab.
• 3. In that tab, Change "External / Internal" from '0' to '1'. (that would be your change addresses of your 1st Blockchain.com wallet)
• 4. Then look for the address in the 'Derived Addresses' list below (use Show __ more addresses to generate more, recommended '100').
• 5. If it's not there, go back to 'Derivation Path' and change "Account" from '0' to '1' and keep the internal chain set to 1. (the address list will change to your 2nd Blockchain.com wallet's change addresses)
• 6. If it's also not in your 2nd, test up to '9' account_index to see if they have another bug that causes it to send to a change address of a higher account index.

If you found the address, copy its private key and import it to Electrum via new wallet option; "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys" on the same Air-Gap machine.
(use USB flash drive to install Electrum, do not connect to internet)
Then on an online machine, create a "watch-only" Electrum wallet using its address (paste the address, not prvKey).
To spend, follow the steps on how to spend from a Cold-Storage Electrum setup: bitcoinelectrum.com/creating-a-cold-storage-wallet-in-electrum

If it's not in any of the given derivation path, Blockchain has another Bug and you may have to provide more information than what's given.
(not the private keys/recovery phrase of course)

Good news - I followed this advice and have successfully recovered the bitcoin from the change address and it is now safely transferred to my trezor wallet!
Feeling very relieved, and grateful to you nc50lc for your excellent clear advice on this. I would have had no idea how to do it without your help. Some BTC coming your way, by way of thanks.

BTW I've still had no response from Blockchain.com "support" and I am baffled at how they can allow this to happen to multiple users without any acknowledgement. I've now removed all my funds and won't be back to that website. No wonder their reputation has tanked in the time since I first registered with them in 2013!

[khaled0111]

Good news - I followed this advice and have successfully recovered the bitcoin from the change address and it is now safely transferred to my trezor wallet!

Happy to hear you were able to recover your coins, thanks to nc50lc guidance!
So, were the coins sent to a change address on the same account or on a different account?

This topic is just another example why no one should be using this wallet. I can’t even imagine how many of its users have lost their coins because of similar bugs!
You did the right thing by sending all your coins to your Trezor wallet