Can you retrieve a lost bitcoin wallet?

When Bitcoin (BTC) first came onto the scene, the majority of the people were not aware of what it was or what it could do. Even up to now, the majority of the world’s population is still not aware or educated on BTC and other crypto slang. When bitcoin was invented, not many people knew about it but that doesn’t mean everyone was unaware.

When Satoshi Nakamoto first submitted his paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, it didn’t go unnoticed. One of bitcoin’s first supporters, Hal Finney, downloaded the bitcoin software the day it was released. Finney was even part of the first-ever transaction, receiving 10 bitcoins from Satoshi Nakamoto on January 12, 2009.

The point is that some people have been a part of the bitcoin community for a long time and people often forget how long it has been around. There are even people who have bought bitcoin and totally forgot about them. An interesting example is 50-Cent. Yes, the American rapper, 50-Cent. When he released his Animal Ambition back in 2014, he accepted bitcoin as payment. At that time, a single BTC was around 662 US dollars. With the sales of his album, he was able to rack up around 700 coins but he completely forgot about it. He found them again in January 2018 and cashed out, making several million dollars in the process. Yes, people forget and we know that there are some of you out there that have done the same: buy BTC at a really low price, and now that the price is high, you’re looking to cash out those pesky little coins.

To exchange Bitcoin, visit: bitcoin to paypal

We understand your pain and trust us, some of us have felt the same thing you’re going through. It can be a daunting process, but there have been stories of people finding old bitcoin wallets. These stores are all over Reddit and other forums. Some people have found something, others have found nothing but isn’t the “what if” thought more painful than finding out you have nothing?

There is still hope out there so don’t worry, we’re going to help you find what you’re looking for.

Is there any way for me to obtain my lost bitcoin wallet?

If you’re one of those people looking for their old bitcoin wallets, then you’ve come to the right place. The truth is, there is no surefire way to find them. It’s basically going to be a trial-and-error but there are a couple of ways to get you started. If you’re serious about looking for your lost BTC wallet, then get ready to dig deep.

To find an old bitcoin wallet, you’ll simply need to retrace your steps. We know that it sounds like common sense but it really is the only way to find them. If you really say that you were into BTC as much as you say you were, then there should be traces of information all over your computer, phone, email, etc. As a first possible step, ask yourself this: “did I use Google Authenticator or any kind of 2FA to open my wallet?” Knowing if your account was protected by 2FA could be pertinent information to regain access. If you remember that you were using an authenticator service, then you should check your email and see if there’s anything related to “bitcoin” or “BTC”. You can also check your emails for any mentions of exchanges (most exchanges require authentication).

It would also help if you knew what kind of wallet you were using back then. There are many different types of bitcoin wallets out there, each having a specific purpose.

• If you had a hardware wallet, you can look around your home or dig through your old stuff to look for the device that stored your cryptocurrency.
• If you had a desktop wallet, you should search through the computer you used for any traces. Sometimes, people find their wallets in the most random of folders so be sure to check everywhere.
• If you had a mobile wallet, the app that you used should be easy to find. If you can’t find the app you used, then you should be able to redownload it.
• Paper wallets might be a little harder to find since you’ll literally be looking for a piece of paper but nothing is impossible, don’t give up!

How to access your old wallet

Once you’ve found your wallet, make several copies of the file so that you don’t corrupt the file. You can then try and use Bitcoin Core to see if there’s any balance left.

If you find out that there are bitcoins in the wallet, you can actually download the whole blockchain to obtain them. This isn’t really practical as the blockchain is over 150 gigabytes of data. If you don’t want to do this (and we highly recommend that you don’t download the whole blockchain), then you can go to the blockchain. All you have to do is sign up, log in, go to settings, then you’ll see the option “addresses”. Click on “addresses” and there should be an option to import bitcoin addresses. Once you add your private key, you can once again use your account.