Hey all, hope I'm in the right spot... I found an old wallet my brother had from when he mined bitcoin back in 2009. He left it on his laptop, which he changed later. Now I want to access it using version 0.95, but I can't seem to find any mining transactions in the blockchain. It shows that I have some bitcoin and lists all mining transactions, but no transfers have been made.
Need Help Recovering Old Bitcoin Wallet from 2009
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Sounds like a pretty old wallet, man. Do you have the private key for it?
You need either the wallet backup file or the private key to access those coins. If the backup is encrypted, you’ll need a password. Without either, you’re basically locked out.
Honestly, since you don’t have the private key or the backup, it’s gonna be tough. You should definitely reach out to your brother and ask him for the info. He probably knows more about it than you do. Or maybe he has no idea you’re trying to access it.
wallet_vaultFull Member
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#5Nov 11, 2023, 08:01 AM
That’s sketchy, man. I can’t find any TX or HEX info on any explorer. Gotta check it on my home network instead of mobile.
chrisomegaFull Member
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#6Nov 11, 2023, 10:03 AM
If the transaction isn’t showing up in the blockchain, it likely means it doesn’t exist. Could be a fake wallet file.
diamondhandsHero Member
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#7Nov 11, 2023, 01:23 PM
BIP-13 and BIP-34 are interesting, but the details you provided just don’t match. Your address is hidden, but it seems like it might not even exist in the Bitcoin network.
swiftdiamondMember
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#8Nov 11, 2023, 05:44 PM
You’re probably wrong about the values you posted. The timestamp leads back to a block that’s not your transaction.
Oops, my bad... I mixed things up. Fixed the transaction data and I'm here to clarify if needed. I got the private key and the wallet isn’t encrypted, but the bitcoins seem to be gone. My brother wasn’t really into crypto back then, just mined a bit and then stopped.
swiftdiamondMember
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#10Nov 11, 2023, 09:35 PM
That address you posted is empty and has never been used. Everything’s off here.
I promise I’m not trying to scam anyone. He left the PC for years. Now I’m just trying to help his family. I’ve got all the keys!
How do I even post images here? Not a troll, I swear!
swiftdiamondMember
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#13Nov 12, 2023, 05:09 AM
No one’s gonna click on any links you share, man. You say you have the private key, but how is the wallet empty? Which address had the bitcoins?
Let’s clarify this. The original blk00000.dat is from way back and has all the mining transactions. But when I update, all those go to 0 or unconfirmed. Yes, I got all the private keys.
swiftdiamondMember
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#15Nov 12, 2023, 01:58 PM
So, you have the private keys? What exactly do you have then? A wallet.dat file?
Yeah, I got that and I used dumpprivkey <address> to pull the keys out. If I could post images, I’d show you everything.
swiftdiamondMember
Posts: 67 · Reputation: 87
#17Nov 12, 2023, 04:01 PM
Not sure pics are needed. But since you have the keys, have you tried importing them into Electrum to see if they lead to any unspent outputs?
Yep, imported them all into Electrum, but there’s nothing.
swiftdiamondMember
Posts: 67 · Reputation: 87
#19Nov 12, 2023, 10:18 PM
You sure those addresses used to have funds? Share some of the addresses with us.
I did an export of the transaction. Here’s what I got:
"true","2009-02-26T23:56:24","Mined","","14ST7DPUUuGjLF8Ups8pwaw4axDbZkFgXi","50.00","d4a5ac52d3a9bd89673847cb1dbfa8db744fa7be730014ddd1d7001f66b957c9-000"
"true","2009-02-26T23:46:11","Mined","","13ebUvauPqSDrcCYRPsDzWCDYaowGqUCo5","50.00","3105fd3984b44837322246d6098e38f0bb4861f4c2ce043e3d9f6dc428c57a9b-000"
"true","2009-02-26T23:34:57","Mined","","12tQPs7eJ8rQG5zkpoMS6pCRSvsh8Ybhse","50.00","94c392a839ec6bd0f324cfaffae9ba2685521ccc5242910ac4281b82399ea509-000".