Author

Topic: can't restore wallet with over 40k btc in it. Please HELP! (Read 8254 times)

newbie
Activity: 52
Merit: 0
40,000 bitcoin's is an obscene amount to think about owning in this day. I hope the OP made good use of the opportunity presented to him. I like reading good stories involving very early adopters but there are equally as many horror stories e.g. the 10,000 bitcoin pizza.
Pretty sure stories like the 10,000 Bitcoin Pizza add to the publicity of Bitcoin. So even though the buyer of the pizza has surely regretted his move, he helped make Bitcoin more successful.

so true ... it must have been hard back then to even imagine how much would have changed in ten years.  Just think what another ten is going to do!
legendary
Activity: 1292
Merit: 1000
40,000 bitcoin's is an obscene amount to think about owning in this day. I hope the OP made good use of the opportunity presented to him. I like reading good stories involving very early adopters but there are equally as many horror stories e.g. the 10,000 bitcoin pizza.
Pretty sure stories like the 10,000 Bitcoin Pizza add to the publicity of Bitcoin. So even though the buyer of the pizza has surely regretted his move, he helped make Bitcoin more successful.
legendary
Activity: 3556
Merit: 9709
#1 VIP Crypto Casino
40,000 bitcoin's is an obscene amount to think about owning in this day. I hope the OP made good use of the opportunity presented to him. I like reading good stories involving very early adopters but there are equally as many horror stories e.g. the 10,000 bitcoin pizza.
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 260
Bitcoin SV is Bitcoin
Buy a new computer and download Electrum from the oficial website. If you can  send me 0.1 Bitcoin I will be very gratefull Smiley
1xskLo18yeiJUb5Ekd6pXtoM6Vp3h8fEQ
newbie
Activity: 52
Merit: 0
Amazing - as someone late to the bitcoin party it's so interesting to go back and see posts from that time.  It must have been such a great time to be in the community
legendary
Activity: 1292
Merit: 1000
so how did it end: was the access restored or everything just remained in it's original place?
If you check the first page of the thread you'll see that he was able to restore access to his wallet. I'm more curious as to how many Bitcoins he kept to this day.
sr. member
Activity: 1932
Merit: 288
so how did it end: was the access restored or everything just remained in it's original place?
newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
It's interesting to witness a bit of BTC history in this thread.
newbie
Activity: 20
Merit: 0
40,000 BTCs or $40,000 in BTC? Big difference lol.
newbie
Activity: 21
Merit: 0
Whoah... I hope the guy who recieved the 100 btc for the technical support held the coins until now.

Thats just crazy.. and that person now is pretty much a happy camper.. for saying to do a simple "rescan".
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
wow I wish I was around to write "use -rescan" for over $35k USD ..
But who would have guess 3 years ago.
legendary
Activity: 1820
Merit: 1001

Yeah back then Bitcoin wasn't as expensive then or had as big a value. Back in 2012 to 2013 prices where all over the place. I got into bitcoin back in 2011 even tho I knew of it back in 2009 passed up as worthless wish I would of gone with my other thoughts and looked more into it and got into back then then  fully getting into it in 2011 but made a small fortune since then so guess never to late to get into Bitcoin but if would of took it on then could of been set for life. Small rewards then now worth a good amount would be nice if price tumbles down to price what where then would give so many people wanting to get into it another chance.
copper member
Activity: 2996
Merit: 2374
so it was not an early adopter who needed help. go figure right? small world.
i would consider DPR of SR1 to be a pretty early adopter (2011).

Although it is fairly unlikely that he will be using Bitcoin very much moving forward unfortunately.

heh. true. good point. I was thinking more in terms of someone who mined them i suppose. I was speculating they were not gotten in the most legal of ways and thus not my stereotypical early adopter.
Well interestingly, there were entries on Ross's accounting spreadsheet for the purchase of a bunch of FGPCAs for several thousand dollars. I am not sure that was actually what the money was used for or if it was for something he did not want written down. Although I do see your point.
legendary
Activity: 1400
Merit: 1001
My God. Who would have thought that bitcoin will be worth so much... I always have bittersweet feelings when I read some old and necroed topics like this.
Maybe in the 2020 we will cross $10.000 for 1 bitcoin too?
legendary
Activity: 2296
Merit: 2271
BTC or BUST
full member
Activity: 210
Merit: 100
Yeah, very interesting read even years later. Who would have guessed?
full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 100
Chickens will rule the world one day.
What a funny (and inciteful) thread !
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
so it was not an early adopter who needed help. go figure right? small world.
i would consider DPR of SR1 to be a pretty early adopter (2011).

Although it is fairly unlikely that he will be using Bitcoin very much moving forward unfortunately.

heh. true. good point. I was thinking more in terms of someone who mined them i suppose. I was speculating they were not gotten in the most legal of ways and thus not my stereotypical early adopter.
copper member
Activity: 2996
Merit: 2374
so it was not an early adopter who needed help. go figure right? small world.
i would consider DPR of SR1 to be a pretty early adopter (2011).

Although it is fairly unlikely that he will be using Bitcoin very much moving forward unfortunately.
full member
Activity: 144
Merit: 100
First I thought that was another troll , then I saw the topic is from 2012, then that SR1 and maybe the Dread Pirate Robert himself posted here,

This topic belongs to the story of BTC

I too wonder first and think it as latest thread.  Imagine the value of 4000+ BTC's present value Smiley-  After checking the date of the OP Post I realize the matter and my heart beat go down Smiley- (OP himself cleared his balance in 2012 itself)
legendary
Activity: 2800
Merit: 1127
First I thought that was another troll , then I saw the topic is from 2012, then that SR1 and maybe the Dread Pirate Robert himself posted here,

This topic belongs to the story of BTC
legendary
Activity: 1190
Merit: 1002
just now saw this thread and read the full conversation and after 3 yrs found a news that the OP was a silk route money laundering and he got some problem with wallet and his computer and got solved through this forum member and he paid him the bounty amount. very interesting.
legendary
Activity: 1260
Merit: 1116
so it was not an early adopter who needed help. go figure right? small world.

 Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
so it was not an early adopter who needed help. go figure right? small world.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 502
sorry im newbie
i want to ask
i tried ceck your address at blockchain and your balance is zero Huh
https://blockchain.info/address/1MR6pXDZ6gpBVN8n61SqCNF61vU8ZzRu8Y
copper member
Activity: 2996
Merit: 2374
Followup: the address in question represented Silk Road 1 profits/balances https://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/3r3s81/how_ulbricht_paid_100_to_learn_about_bitcoind/
The address in the OP is almost certainly one that belong(ed) to SilkRoad1.

The OP sent 44k BTC via 7269a8ebe71559e6337cab93fe75340dca91deeeed2af11be86affc9a23b50ab to ba3d545781, which received ~6k BTC via 39f3c6fa684bfe3413cd35179687c6ba04df1649d7427e74118c8bd88c30d7d8 only ~30 minutes later, and the wallet that tx sent "from" belongs to SilkRoad1
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
Move On !!!!!!
Followup: the address in question represented Silk Road 1 profits/balances https://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/3r3s81/how_ulbricht_paid_100_to_learn_about_bitcoind/

So how the heck did he manage to organize a whole silk road, Ross Ulbricht, and he didn't know about as basic function as bitcoind-rescan. I don't get it.

He was honest enough to send that reward of 100 bitcoins though. Much respect for that!
full member
Activity: 205
Merit: 100
newbie
Activity: 47
Merit: 0
Followup: the address in question represented Silk Road 1 profits/balances https://www.reddit.com/r/SilkRoad/comments/3r3s81/how_ulbricht_paid_100_to_learn_about_bitcoind/
newbie
Activity: 2
Merit: 0
Pretty awesome story bro.   I too have some coins in cold storage and sometimes freak out that I'll never see them again.
newbie
Activity: 24
Merit: 0
Can't a man spend 100 BTC in peace?  Grin

It's not as if the forum doesn't contain plenty of threads where this procedure was already outlined....

An honest man. You earned a lot of respect today!
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
2D
member
Activity: 76
Merit: 10
Geez! I bet those were mined with a CPU too!
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 1008
nice. a lot faster than calling india also.
legendary
Activity: 1834
Merit: 1020
Hell yeah, fcmatt  Cheesy  Congrats.
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
got the coins. that was supremely generous of you.

good luck with your sizable fortune of BTC! I am jealous of that wallet.
hero member
Activity: 938
Merit: 1000
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Keep it Simple. Every Bit Matters.
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).

I would be very amazed to find out I actually get 100 btc out of this.


In case I do here is my address: 18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

I am trying to think what to do next if this does not work for the OP.
Now you could delete everything (always have a backup of wallet.dat no matter what) and start over. Delete meaning the
blockchain and everything else except the client but basically that was already done.

So what else could be the problem? Hmm

You do realise if what you suggest doesn't work, and what you just suggested now, is what my original suggestion was.
Guess where that btc should go Tongue I admit the rescan should work.

true. i got lucky and just happened on this thread at the right time. starting from scratch does not seem reasonable since
it was just done.

Well done Matt, lucky indeed.
donator
Activity: 994
Merit: 1000
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).

I would be very amazed to find out I actually get 100 btc out of this.


In case I do here is my address: 18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

I am trying to think what to do next if this does not work for the OP.
Now you could delete everything (always have a backup of wallet.dat no matter what) and start over. Delete meaning the
blockchain and everything else except the client but basically that was already done.

So what else could be the problem? Hmm

You do realise if what you suggest doesn't work, and what you just suggested now, is what my original suggestion was.
Guess where that btc should go Tongue I admit the rescan should work.

true. i got lucky and just happened on this thread at the right time. starting from scratch does not seem reasonable since
it was just done.

Can't a man spend 100 BTC in peace?  Grin

It's not as if the forum doesn't contain plenty of threads where this procedure was already outlined....
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
success!  where would you like your coins sent fcmatt?

18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

thank you very much.
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).

I would be very amazed to find out I actually get 100 btc out of this.


In case I do here is my address: 18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

I am trying to think what to do next if this does not work for the OP.
Now you could delete everything (always have a backup of wallet.dat no matter what) and start over. Delete meaning the
blockchain and everything else except the client but basically that was already done.

So what else could be the problem? Hmm

You do realise if what you suggest doesn't work, and what you just suggested now, is what my original suggestion was.
Guess where that btc should go Tongue I admit the rescan should work.

true. i got lucky and just happened on this thread at the right time. starting from scratch does not seem reasonable since
it was just done.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Keep it Simple. Every Bit Matters.
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).

I would be very amazed to find out I actually get 100 btc out of this.


In case I do here is my address: 18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

I am trying to think what to do next if this does not work for the OP.
Now you could delete everything (always have a backup of wallet.dat no matter what) and start over. Delete meaning the
blockchain and everything else except the client but basically that was already done.

So what else could be the problem? Hmm

You do realise if what you suggest doesn't work, and what you just suggested now, is what my original suggestion was.
Guess where that btc should go Tongue I admit the rescan should work.
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).

I would be very amazed to find out I actually get 100 btc out of this.


In case I do here is my address: 18MjdXpTyek3ESTPc2HCQnATv1jY4acUeR

I am trying to think what to do next if this does not work for the OP.
Now you could delete everything (always have a backup of wallet.dat no matter what) and start over. Delete meaning the
blockchain and everything else except the client but basically that was already done.

So what else could be the problem? Hmm
hero member
Activity: 938
Merit: 1000
ok, doing the rescan now.  Thank you for the help!  I guess the reward will go to fcmatt if this works since he was the first to respond Smiley  I'll let you know the result as soon as the scan is done.

Makes me wonder whether this is a viable business model:
Technical support for large holders of bitcoins who have a lack of computational skills.

Most technical issues however often requires exposure to your wallet to solve things. Which in return requires a lot of trust. It's still an entertaining idea though if you can find the initial few customers who are willing to trust you with their computer and thus wallet Smiley

now this prob does not matter but how old is this wallet.dat file? are we talking ancient compared to the bitcoin client you
are running today? Just thinking outside the box... but if it was really old it would probably throw off an error like:
wallet corrupted

It was already fixed, go give him your address! Smiley

success!  where would you like your coins sent fcmatt?
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
now this prob does not matter but how old is this wallet.dat file? are we talking ancient compared to the bitcoin client you
are running today? Just thinking outside the box... but if it was really old it would probably throw off an error like:
wallet corrupted
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Keep it Simple. Every Bit Matters.
Matt apparently just made 100 btc, seems like a good days work (~1k dollars).
donator
Activity: 994
Merit: 1000
ok, doing the rescan now.  Thank you for the help!  I guess the reward will go to fcmatt if this works since he was the first to respond Smiley  I'll let you know the result as soon as the scan is done.

Makes me wonder whether this is a viable business model:
Technical support for large holders of bitcoins who have a lack of computational skills.
newbie
Activity: 17
Merit: 0
Do you also own the other addresses that end in .031337 BTC?

what addresses are those?
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
'bitcoind --help' shows it, 'bitcoind help' shows commands for the running daemon. Good luck with it, if the wallet.dat file is the right one everything should be fine.

Btw, why are you offering 100BTC to recover 40 BTC??

http://blockexplorer.com/address/1MR6pXDZ6gpBVN8n61SqCNF61vU8ZzRu8Y

44,000+ btc
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
'bitcoind --help' shows it, 'bitcoind help' shows commands for the running daemon. Good luck with it, if the wallet.dat file is the right one everything should be fine.

Btw, why are you offering 100BTC to recover 40 BTC??

Check again, 44914.03133700 is in that address.
donator
Activity: 994
Merit: 1000
ok, doing the rescan now.  Thank you for the help!  I guess the reward will go to fcmatt if this works since he was the first to respond Smiley  I'll let you know the result as soon as the scan is done.

wow there was a reward!?  Grin
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
Do you also own the other addresses that end in .031337 BTC?


newbie
Activity: 17
Merit: 0
success!  where would you like your coins sent fcmatt?
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
sorry it's a bit over my head.  I did:
Code:
bitcoind help
, but didn't see a command for rescanning.  can you please be more specific about what I should type in exactly?

windows
C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitcoin\bitcoin.exe -rescan

linux

bitcoind -rescan

donator
Activity: 994
Merit: 1000
sorry it's a bit over my head.  I did:
Code:
bitcoind help
, but didn't see a command for rescanning.  can you please be more specific about what I should type in exactly?
This should do the trick:

Code:
bitcoind -rescan


bitcoind --help
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Keep it Simple. Every Bit Matters.
sorry it's a bit over my head.  I did:
Code:
bitcoind help
, but didn't see a command for rescanning.  can you please be more specific about what I should type in exactly?

bitcoind -rescan

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin
hero member
Activity: 938
Merit: 1000
sorry it's a bit over my head.  I did:
Code:
bitcoind help
, but didn't see a command for rescanning.  can you please be more specific about what I should type in exactly?
This should do the trick:

Code:
bitcoind -rescan


If that still doesn't fix it you could try the undocumented -checkblocks, please note that this can take quite some time.

Code:
bitcoind -checkblocks
newbie
Activity: 17
Merit: 0
sorry it's a bit over my head.  I did:
Code:
bitcoind help
, but didn't see a command for rescanning.  can you please be more specific about what I should type in exactly?
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
As you can see, the address is present in the wallet, and the blockchain is up to date, yet the balance reads zero.  If anyone with the correct privileges feels it is appropriate, I would very much appreciate a repost of this in the main tech support section.  100 btc to anyone who can help me solve this problem.  Thanks!

That certainly is a lot of BTC, good luck in getting them back. From the sounds of it the rescan is exactly what's needed.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Keep it Simple. Every Bit Matters.
Just follow these steps:
Shut down the Bitcoin program.
Copy your backed-up wallet.dat into your bitcoin data directory.
If copying into existing profile, delete files blk*.dat to make the client re-download the block chain.

*pray to which ever god of your choosing*

Generally speaking aslong as you have these backups, you are fine.
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
that means I should stop the wallet, delete everything but wallet.dat and bitcoin.conf, and then start it up again, right?

No. You can just stop bitcoin client and run the command. Keep blockcahin there.

Also is command line arg of -datadir=xxx to make sure it knows where to look in case it is not seeing it.

Also command of -checkblocks to makr sure integrity of blockchain
newbie
Activity: 17
Merit: 0
that means I should stop the wallet, delete everything but wallet.dat and bitcoin.conf, and then start it up again, right?
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
Do a rescan please. Bitcoin -rescan
newbie
Activity: 17
Merit: 0
I own this address:

1MR6pXDZ6gpBVN8n61SqCNF61vU8ZzRu8Y

If you look it up in the blockchain, you can see that currently it contains 44,914.031337 BTC

When I try to restore the wallet containing this address in bitcoind on ubuntu, it tells me the balance is zero.  Here are some outputs:

Code:
$ bitcoind getinfo
{
    "version" : 60300,
    "protocolversion" : 60001,
    "walletversion" : 60000,
    "balance" : 0.00000000,
    "blocks" : 194708,
    "connections" : 6,
    "proxy" : "127.0.0.1:9050",
    "difficulty" : 2190865.97010286,
    "testnet" : false,
    "keypoololdest" : 1336772999,
    "keypoolsize" : 101,
    "paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
    "errors" : ""
}
Code:
$ bitcoind validateaddress 1MR6pXDZ6gpBVN8n61SqCNF61vU8ZzRu8Y
{
    "isvalid" : true,
    "address" : "1MR6pXDZ6gpBVN8n61SqCNF61vU8ZzRu8Y",
    "ismine" : true,
    "pubkey" : "02701400207b34aa2b8579625e6a9a3bfd6dc6e55cbe000dc693f46615a18d13a4",
    "iscompressed" : true,
    "account" : ""
}

As you can see, the address is present in the wallet, and the blockchain is up to date, yet the balance reads zero.  If anyone with the correct privileges feels it is appropriate, I would very much appreciate a repost of this in the main tech support section.  100 btc to anyone who can help me solve this problem.  Thanks!
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