I have a wallet from 2013, I need to know how to access it

[FBQ]

Dear all,
I have a bitcoin wallet back from 2013, I have few files + some keys.
Tried many ways but still could not access it correctly ( I accessed a sort of wallets all empty)   
I suspect having around 4 BTC

I need someone to tell me how I can open it, what is needed.


HODL!!!

[BitMaxz]

What exactly are some of these keys? Are those private keys?

If those are private keys, then you don't need the other files to recover your wallet; just simply import it to any Bitcoin wallet that supports private keys. One of the wallet that support it is Electrum; you can download it from electrum.org.

If not a private key, then let me ask, what is the file extension of those files?
If those files came from Bitcoin-qt, it must be a wallet.dat file you can try to import into the Bitcoin Core wallet. Just make sure to make a copy of that file first and use that copy to import it to the Bitcoin Core wallet. Check the image below how to restore this wallet.


Uploaded by BitMaxz

[takuma sato]

Dear all,
I have a bitcoin wallet back from 2013, I have few files + some keys.
Tried many ways but still could not access it correctly ( I accessed a sort of wallets all empty)   
I suspect having around 4 BTC

I need someone to tell me how I can open it, what is needed.


HODL!!!

You didn't specify what type of wallet are you holding. If it is a wallet.dat, then it has to be a Bitcoin Core wallet. I just asked this in another thread, in case you want to read it, maybe there is something useful for you:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5538345.msg65285753

So the restore wallet should be enough. But if you want to use as online wallet, you need importdescriptors:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5498210.0

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
I have a bitcoin wallet back from 2013, I have few files + some keys.
- snip - 
I suspect having around 4 BTC
- snip -

How much did you pay for this wallet? I hope it wasn't very much. Are they selling more?

[Bitcoin_Finder_2025]

Hello,

we can help you to recover your wallet, where we can contact you?

[LoyceV]

we can help you to recover your wallet, where we can contact you?

If it isn't obvious yet: this is how you get scammed.

[Forsyth Jones]

Hello,

we can help you to recover your wallet, where we can contact you?

OP, ignore posts like this, the chances of someone pretending to be a good Samaritan to take advantage of others are too great to risk. Especially coming from a newly created account.

Also OP, beware of shady messages in your PM offering help. One of the only reliable password and wallet recovery services/members is DaveF.

The wallet is from 2013, right? So you're probably talking about a backup of a bitcoin-qt and/or electrum wallet.

Why can't you access it? What software are you using to import these files?

Do you remember encrypting this file with a password?

Without screenshots and more detailed descriptions, it's very difficult to help you. Please provide us with more details as requested.

In the meantime, this topic is worth exploring: [overview] Recover Bitcoin from any old storage format

[amaclin1]

How much did you pay for this wallet? I hope it wasn't very much. Are they selling more?

Take mine. It is free
https://www.ic.unicamp.br/~stolfi/EXPORT/projects/bitcoin/amaclin/
Sorry, it is from 2016

[LoyceV]

Take mine.

Here's a warning from someone who knows a thing or 2 about Bitcoin Core to anyone thinking of downloading/buying wallets:

it is not safe to use potentially malicious wallet.dat files.  Anyone who gets sent a wallet.dat from a third party should take great care in using it. I would not be shocked if it were possible to get arbitrary code execution from a wallet.dat file.  If a bad guy found a way to do that the best way to exploit that discovery would be to pose as someone who corrupted their wallet and encourages people to try to 'scam' them by getting a copy of their wallet or help them with a promise of an outsized reward.

[apogio]

It's outrageous how much the wallet.dat files commerce has increased during the previous years. People spend $100 to buy a file that is supposed to be worth $1,000,000. And they don't even realise that it's absurd to think that anyone would sell something that costs $1,000,000 for $100. Where is common logic??? I am seeing too many posts around the internet for things like this.

[LoyceV]

Where is common logic???

Scammers adapt:

It's a weird development in scams: back in the days, scammers made small promises. Nowadays, scammers promise billions and somehow that's what earns them the most money.

Apparently, that's what works. It's not only with scams, it happens in all kinds of advertising: bigger numbers sell. Remember the 3D phone screen protectors? They went higher and higher, and are currently at 99999D screen protectors. Lotteries do the same: prizes get higher and higher, after which people buy more tickets even though the odds of winning get smaller and smaller. Other products do it too: product names get longer and longer.
And the worst part is: all the BS finds their way to this tech board, making the people with real tech problems look suspicious because some scammer made a business model out of their rare real wallet problem.