Unexpected Bitcoin Transaction Issue

I just found my dad's old Blockchain.com wallet from 2016. When I tried to send 1 BTC to Coinbase, it sent 5 instead. 1 BTC went to Coinbase, but 4 BTC went to some random address. What the heck happened? How can I get those 4 BTC back? I contacted Blockchain.com support but got no reply.

Most likely, that 4 BTC was sent to a change address, which is part of your wallet. You shouldn't worry too much. If you check your wallet, you should see that 4 BTC still there.

Thanks! I read about change addresses, but I can't see the coins in my Blockchain.com wallet. So, should I download Electrum and import my seed phrase? Is that safe?

Yeah, Electrum is pretty safe. Just make sure to get it from the official site.

I see. Just to be clear, I shouldn’t add a passphrase if I never had one, right?

Exactly. You got it!

Honestly, I’d steer clear of Blockchain.com. They’ve had a lot of bugs and I don’t trust them. Once you sort this out, move your BTC to a more secure open-source wallet.

I opened my wallet in Bluewallet using my seed, but still no sign of that 4 BTC. Same balance as Blockchain.com. What’s going on?

You might want to share the transaction ID. It could help others figure out where your change went. Just be cautious about privacy.

Is sharing the ID safe? I mean, I don’t want anyone to see my addresses.

It’s slightly risky but could help. Just be careful.

I heard back from support. They want me to send a small transaction to a specific address they gave me. They say it’s mine and it’ll fix the issue. Is that okay?

Sending a dust transaction sounds sketchy. Are you sure it’s legit?

They say it’s a gap limit issue. I’ve talked to two different support reps who gave me the same advice.

If it’s a gap limit, you might check your addresses in Bluewallet. Go to My Wallet, then Show Addresses.

I checked and found the funds are listed under my xpub! That’s good, right?

Totally! That’s a sign that your coins are still there.

Forget about Blockchain.com. Get a live Linux system and try to find the private key using Ian Coleman's tools.

This is solid advice. Each time you go back to Blockchain, you risk running into scams. Best to move your BTC to a secure environment.

If you got access to the funds, you should also be able to get the private key. Then import it to Electrum and move everything from Blockchain.com.