If you got in this situationn! What will you?

[MisFoxie]

Guessing a private key is almost impossible if someone can somehow guess the private key they will definitely be able to spend the funds in that wallet and if the address contains one billion dollars worth of Bitcoin then an ordinary person would definitely want to make those Bitcoins their own.

To make the Bitcoin their own they just have to open a new wallet and deposit it into that wallet address and they will completely become the owner of those Bitcoins. Of course they will not be able to use those Bitcoins for themselve if they try to use them they may get into a big problem. What I would do myself is a secret.

[Juicyhome]

If there is no formal complaint by anyone to the authority about his missing wallet and it get to you and you get access to the account then it yours,  you don't have to feel bad about it, it's just your lucky day, withdraw and enjoy,  if not you someone else would've done the same. If its a stolen wallet or through Fraud then it's illegal to posse things that's not yours legally.

Have seen case where a mum gave her late child bitcoin wallet phrase to her lover as gift, and he using thr fund to look after the lady, anyone can happen.  If am to be in that situation I'll wait for days before I'll withdraw the funds just incase I find the own of the wallet.  Taking things that us not yours is not a good character.  I know his fancy, it can't happen,  we can only speculate.

[Faisal2202]

Indeed, the best course of action is for us to remain cautious and never do anything that could reveal the private information in our cryptocurrency wallet. Having said that, I find it unbelievable that in 2026, when Bitcoin has already become a widely used payment method, someone would think to steal another person's BTC simply because they see their wallet seed which is something identical to ColdCard hacker.
Going back to the story you said about the South Korean, the wallet owner did the right thing by reporting the problem to the police because if he confront his friend directly, he might decide to kill him.

This is a long discussion because finding a trustworthy friend is not an easy task because they don't show their real colors until there is a big reward on the line or their own self-interest at stake if there is trouble. So never trust your friend or family member; always stay careful when dealing in these cases.

Although every person has a different way of dealing with this, and if I were in this situation, then I would not have gone to the Police because the police would have made a deal with the thief and then would make money from him and from me as well haha, they are like this. But my method would be to confront him directly, I will ask for it, or otherwise I will complain somewhere that could really scare him. But still, it all depends on the justice system. People here stole properties with fake papers, and the cases stay open for decades and nothing happens. So it is a long-lasting drama for people living in my country.

[Felicity_Tide]

However,if the owner of the dormant account is dead and you want to maintain your integrity you can a make a donation to a charity organization.

But if we're to stick with reality, we all know that it's difficult to tell whether the owner is dead or alive. A person's wallet doesn't tell much about the actual owner... It might be dormant, but that doesn't mean it has been lost. And, I'm of the opinion that such a wallet shouldn't be touched at all. It's not in our place to do charity work with someone else's money. If you're to make donations to charity, and the true owner or next of kin eventually figures it out, you should be expecting a crazy lawsuit.

Just like I said before, it is better not to put the law to test because the law can bite harder than we ever imagined. Anything that wasn't legally or willingly given to us is definitely not ours.

[Myleschetty]

Indeed, the best course of action is for us to remain cautious and never do anything that could reveal the private information in our cryptocurrency wallet. Having said that, I find it unbelievable that in 2026, when Bitcoin has already become a widely used payment method, someone would think to steal another person's BTC simply because they see their wallet seed which is something identical to ColdCard hacker.
Going back to the story you said about the South Korean, the wallet owner did the right thing by reporting the problem to the police because if he confront his friend directly, he might decide to kill him.

This is a long discussion because finding a trustworthy friend is not an easy task because they don't show their real colors until there is a big reward on the line or their own self-interest at stake if there is trouble. So never trust your friend or family member; always stay careful when dealing in these cases.

Although every person has a different way of dealing with this, and if I were in this situation, then I would not have gone to the Police because the police would have made a deal with the thief and then would make money from him and from me as well haha, they are like this. But my method would be to confront him directly, I will ask for it, or otherwise I will complain somewhere that could really scare him. But still, it all depends on the justice system. People here stole properties with fake papers, and the cases stay open for decades and nothing happens. So it is a long-lasting drama for people living in my country.

Finding a trustworthy friend is difficult, as you mentioned, because even good people can turn evil when money is involved, not to mention those who will act like snakes. Therefore, we can only trust ourselves.


Not all police will strike a deal with the person who stole the wallet's private information, unless we are discussing a nation where the police are notorious for engaging in dubious activities and dealing with criminals.

[Patikno]

I saw this topic on Reddit/Bitcoin, and got curious if this ever happened on anyone. What actually will they do? Or does this kind of scenario implicate some lawful violations. Considering that someone didnt use any sort of unlawful stuff like knocking on someone door and forced to give a private key and steal it.

Lets just say a dormant wallet for a long time and someone luckily guess the keys.
Technically this is a huge debate Im surely wanted to know some answers. Whats your thought on this?

Ethically speaking; taking someone else's Bitcoin wallet which one has no right to; is unethical, and I consider it; fundamentally as a crime. From a legal standpoint; while I am not entirely familiar with the laws in other countries, but in my own country; taking someone else's wallet is illegal, and falls under the provisions of the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions. So, I think in other countries it might be similar.

By the way, I am not convinced there is a scenario; that would allow someone to easily guess another person's phrase or key of the wallet; if such a scenario were to exist, I am certain it would require highly super advanced computational capabilities.

[B-BossMan]

If there is no formal complaint by anyone to the authority about his missing wallet and it get to you and you get access to the account then it yours,  you don't have to feel bad about it, it's just your lucky day, withdraw and enjoy,  if not you someone else would've done the same. If its a stolen wallet or through Fraud then it's illegal to posse things that's not yours legally.

Have seen case where a mum gave her late child bitcoin wallet phrase to her lover as gift, and he using thr fund to look after the lady, anyone can happen.  If am to be in that situation I'll wait for days before I'll withdraw the funds just incase I find the own of the wallet.  Taking things that us not yours is not a good character.  I know his fancy, it can't happen,  we can only speculate.

You know  we are individual differences and there are some certain levels who need to think before acting. The issues is, getting an acesss to someone's wallet doesn't mean the funds are yours, you know own the bitcoin transactions can't be reverse and if the money is being moved out its gone, even the real owner later appears getting it back would be very difficult. Some of us can go beyond expectations and while some will handle it carefully, like when it's obvious that the owner has died or missing of acesss to is a totally different story, but as for me, I will rather making an effort on trying to know the exact owner at first before making any decisions on it that may later land me into troubles. Though some may see it as free money and begin using it anyhow he likes, we have different characters and mindset when it comes to cases like this, but it's better to do the right things in this situation. Some people didn't actually have the intentions of cheating, but due to financial instability they choose to act wrongly.

[Justbillywitt]

1. Did that someone break any Law upon discovery of this ^{(Based on country probable geolocation Laws exist for digital)}?

I don’t think the person broke any law. You are free to make guesses and if it turns out that your guess brought up a wallet that has assets in it, it’s not your fault. All you have to do is delete the guessed words that brought up the wallet, because it is not your own. This is just the right thing to do on a normal basis.

2. Is he allowed to spend it or transfer to another wallet and sold it

Such person is not allowed to tamper with with the asset found in the wallet, it is not his own.

3. Technically on bitcoins perspective anyone control the keys or able to sign a message = own the bitcoin ^{(Is this somehow exempted?)}

I think this is exempted, the owner of the bitcoin didn’t drop the seed phrase carelessly. He went about guessing phrases, which he were not supposed to do. Since it was a deliberate attempt from that person to guess phrases of wallets that might have assets, it will be considered stealing if he claims those bitcoins.

4. Does he own now the bitcoin assuming the owner is probably dead and he can sign a message?

How would he know if the owner of the bitcoin is dead? Since there are no facts stating that the owner is dead, the bitcoin doesn’t belong to him. Even if the owner is dead, the bitcoins are not his. Touching it will make you a criminal.

5. Is he fortunate or like win a Jackpot or just place himself more in danger upon discovering this?

He is not in any danger if he can move the coins around without taking it to centralized exchange. Because you can’t trace him, the owner know nothing about the person. I don’t even consider it as a jackpot, because he is stealing and hurting someone else. Hitting a jackpot doesn’t have to be stealing from someone else.

[ImGenius]

~~~

Discovering a wallet with balance through a random private key is not illegal but if that fund is sent somewhere for their own use then that is an illegal activity which I think is a kind of theft.

Even if they discover the wallet through a private key they will not be its owner if the owner has died, they don't even know where those Bitcoins were earned from.

The biggest problem will happen when they send it to use that money. Whenever they send it many big chain analysis firms, exchanges, and law enforcement agencies globally will be alerted and eventually sender may fall into a very dangerous situation.

[BlackBoss_]

Discovering a wallet with balance through a random private key is not illegal but if that fund is sent somewhere for their own use then that is an illegal activity which I think is a kind of theft.

Even if they discover the wallet through a private key they will not be its owner if the owner has died, they don't even know where those Bitcoins were earned from.

The biggest problem will happen when they send it to use that money. Whenever they send it many big chain analysis firms, exchanges, and law enforcement agencies globally will be alerted and eventually sender may fall into a very dangerous situation.

It's stealing money of other people and certainly it's illegal but we can not know about people who do that.

If they could find Bitcoin private keys of other people and stole bitcoins, they are very technical and will surely know how to move stolen coins, cash them out without getting caught by governments and victims.

Like big hacks in cryptocurrency industry with allegation goes to Lazarus hacker group, exchanges, companies and individual victims have yet not been able to get their lost coins back. It's impossible.

With blockchains especially Bitcoin blockchain, coins stolen are likely lost forever and chance of identifying hackers, and arresting them is not too high.

[Ronsbit]

All my time as a crypto enthusiasts, I have never heard anywhere or anybody say they did some guess work and were able to access a wallet with funds in them. It's been brute force hack and scam that could grant someone easy access to another person's wallet to take control of their assets through the back door.
So I ask OP, have you seen or heard this before?
Let me ask you this question, if someone access your wallet and take away your assets without your consent, what will you call them or see them as?
Within you conscience do you think it is appropriate to do so when you know the asset's in that wallet is not yours but belongs to someother persons?  Will you not call the intruder a thief?
Even the government will come after you when you succeed in moving the money out of that wallet and that will tell you that wallet has eyes fixed on it.

[Faisal2202]

Finding a trustworthy friend is difficult, as you mentioned, because even good people can turn evil when money is involved, not to mention those who will act like snakes. Therefore, we can only trust ourselves.

Not all police will strike a deal with the person who stole the wallet's private information, unless we are discussing a nation where the police are notorious for engaging in dubious activities and dealing with criminals.

Exactly, police are not the same everywhere, but one thing I am 100% sure of is that there are at least a few policemen in every station all around the world who are notorious and involved in dubious things, but their percentage is higher here, so that's why I would never go to the police.

Because crypto was not legal for so long here, and before 2026, if someone lost crypto to fraudsters, the police would first ask why you are involved in an activity that is not legal, and then they would scare the shit out of you unless you give them something. I have heard several kinds of cases coming from Nigeria too.

[Nwada001]

Ethically speaking; taking someone else's Bitcoin wallet which one has no right to; is unethical, and I consider it; fundamentally as a crime. From a legal standpoint; while I am not entirely familiar with the laws in other countries, but in my own country; taking someone else's wallet is illegal, and falls under the provisions of the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions. So, I think in other countries it might be similar.

To make things clear, there is a difference between when someone picks up something and when you steal something from someone. If by chance you gain access to something that was misplaced and there is no means of returning it to the owner, that’s not stealing, or does it fall under breaking any law or taking what belongs to another.

In the case described by the OP, who luckily guessed such a seed, they have the right to claim what’s inside because whoever owns a wallet key is the owner of whatever is inside, and as long as nobody was scammed, I also don't see how such a thing breaks any law.

[MarryWithBTC]

All my time as a crypto enthusiasts, I have never heard anywhere or anybody say they did some guess work and were able to access a wallet with funds in them.

There's no such a thing like a guess work in this situation. No one get's access to a private key or seed phrase by guessing.

I have read a post in the legal board where someone proposed anyone can claim ownership of bitcoin that has stayed for decade without activities. He cited one controversial situation where abandoned property without owner eventually gets a new owner.

This example is better because it said one already guessed the key.

To me, guessing the key of such fund and using it; is like someone erroneously sending coins to your address and you refuse to return it.

[ImGenius]

It's stealing money of other people and certainly it's illegal but we can not know about people who do that.

They have no headache about the matter of being illegal because it is enough for them if they can move the money and use it.

If they could find Bitcoin private keys of other people and stole bitcoins, they are very technical and will surely know how to move stolen coins, cash them out without getting caught by governments and victims.

You have raised an important point because those who will have the skill to find private keys will definitely transfer the coins very perfectly which will not be understood in any way.

With blockchains especially Bitcoin blockchain, coins stolen are likely lost forever and chance of identifying hackers, and arresting them is not too high.

Why the possibility of arresting them is not very high, everyone is already understanding because hackers cannot be identified either because the stolen coins are technically moved away.

[ZeroVinsonN]

Just because you were somehow able to access my coins doesn't automatically make them your own, stealing is stealing however way you want to phrase it, the question should be about whether you will be able to get away with it than whether it's a crime to take the coin.
Right now I'm imagining that my lock has a fault, and someone uses the wrong key to try and open it and it worked, that doesn't automatically make everything in my house their own, it's still counts as breaking in as long as I didn't give you the keys or didn't give your permission to enter.
Sure it will be more difficult to make a case with crypto but it's still the same principle, just because you were able to luck in on someone else's wealth doesn't make it yours.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Discovering a wallet with balance through a random private key is not illegal but if that fund is sent somewhere for their own use then that is an illegal activity which I think is a kind of theft.

Even if they discover the wallet through a private key they will not be its owner if the owner has died, they don't even know where those Bitcoins were earned from.

The biggest problem will happen when they send it to use that money. Whenever they send it many big chain analysis firms, exchanges, and law enforcement agencies globally will be alerted and eventually sender may fall into a very dangerous situation.

Actually thats true. So finding or even discovering a wallet with this huge amount of bitcoin will maybe got them some money but definitely will have a huge dillema later on how to deal with the exchanges, authorities, and others that likely got a say about finding a treasure out of nowhere.

I just did the thread to know potentially what is the result if ever anyone find out something like this and what action should be done. Lets be honest, with a human mindset almost all wanting to spend it on cause thats a lifetime buyout.

[Peanutswar]

Basically that large of amount it could survive me in my entire life, but of course if ever this happen I will secure first the basic needs for me and my family or even in the future like having a land, house, and all of the things needed in a day to day basis to survive and next is of course like we have right now investment in crypto, seek other way to earn beside from crypto such as an investments, that create a good cashflow to my wallet. But we know basically that there is small percentage only right now most of the people preferred being secured with their wallets.