Topic: HELP.. bitcoin transfer between my wallets big problem - page 2. (Read 630 times)

In my experience, nobody ever reads, so keeping it short and businesslike can help.

On a slightly related subject: have you already claimed your forked Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold and airdropped Bitcore? If not, it'll be worth your time to check.

Hello LoyceV

I wrote the below.  Yours is more businesslike but I hope if there is any openness there, this should work... (open to comment)

Hello Darren (?) and thanks for replying. I can see my first post was about possibly reversing a transaction but I quickly learnt as you say that is not possible.

My post update of Jan 06, 2018 07:01AM (I guess with the crazy number of tickets you face this was not read) is nothing to do with reversing, it is proving that I sent the funds to an address that 'belongs' to coinbase but is not allocated to any one person. The request is not to reverse but to
a) do some checking to confirm that 1.25BTC is sitting on the address xx .. within the control of Coinbase
b) check my proof from a signature / transaction ID that this was sent by me
c) send it from this unallocated to a person address to my personal coinbase address

You will appreciate 1.25BTC is a huge amount of money and I hope you will see it is the right thing to do in this case to do the above - if there is more I can or should do to help you do so let me know

Your messages to Coinbase aren't very clear. When you started this tread, you wrote this:

Allow me to rewrite your messages (removing irrelevant information), correct me if/where I'm wrong, and feel free to send it to Coinbase:

---

Dear Coinbase,

Thank you for your reply, but unfortunately it's not what I need. I'll try to explain it again:

In July 2017, I withdrew 1.75 BTC from Coinbase to my wallet, txid: .
Last week, on January 1st, I wanted to deposit 1.25 BTC to Coinbase. But, instead of sending it to my own deposit address, I returned it to

, which is the address Coinbase used to send me 1.75 BTC last July. I now know this is a mistake, and it can only be fixed by your manual intervention. Can you please credit the 1.25 BTC to my account?



Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your time,
timbo555

---

Yes... what I wrote was

1st post
I am with you and coinbase. In July I sent them 1.75 BTC. When it arrived THERE it had the above Hash showing. 9:50pm UK time 1st Jan I sent 1.25 BTC BACK to you but I used this code, thinking it was my Coinbase address... I now see it is a public hash number that changes and not the address. I am HORRIFIED... please help me reclaim this for a reward in BTC

8 hours later
To confirm the address I sent TO was xxxx
I'm told through a forum that you must control the private key to this address in order to make it the public facing sent from - so I believe it may be in your power to connect my send back to my account?

yesterday:
I can now prove it was me that sent this to you - Here is a signed message that (if I did it correctly) should show the address FROM which I sent 1.25 BTC to the above address:

Message:
Hello Coinbase Support - this is Timbo xxx, email xxx. This is a signature that shows the address I mistakenly sent 1.25BTC to your address: xxx from. I am writing to prove to you that it was ME that sent this so you can please re-allocate it to my Coinbase Wallet. The Transaction ID was xxx

Signature:
xxx

NOTE.. .this was sent FROM this address since I had received from Coinbase this address ending xxx on July 31 2017 @ 04:47 PM 1.75BTC.... this may help you confirm my Coinbase wallet. I'm updating this ticket not creating a new one since you say it is quicker. I hope it does not mean I'm not at the back of the queue


So if he only read the 1st post it is more forgivable

I'll write in an hour with a reply to his and a new post... any thoughts welcome, Tim

Support 101: Click auto-reply #26 without reading the actual question the customer sent you.

At this point I would start with: "please read what I wrote to you", but it might help to stay a bit more friendly to get their support
"Thank you for your answer, unfortunately it's not what I asked" might do. What exactly did you write to support? Feel free to leave out any personal information (addresses and signatures).

Thankyou LoyceV and HCP again... an update... not pretty..

Hello there,
Thank you for contacting Coinbase and apologies for the trouble here.
Unfortunately, digital currency transactions using most blockchains are irreversible, meaning once they are sent there is no way to reclaim funds.
If you sent digital currency from your Coinbase account to an email address by accident, your funds will be returned to you in 30 days if the funds remain unclaimed. If the email address has not already been claimed, you could do so to ensure the funds are returned to you.
I hope this information helps.

Apart from being very shaken by this I think he is missing the point - I've not asked them to reverse but to re-allocate.  Also there is no mention here they have read the parts of my post about proving..

Any further thoughts / tips before I respond?

I'll do so on a new ticket and an update to hopefully ensure it gets read again

Tim

It depends... I work shifts... so my "online" time is an always changing window



Thanks guys... just trying to help out fellow BCTalkers

ps. LoyceV was on the money with the answers

Thankyou LoyceV, I guess HCP is from down under.. he does not reply at this time of day!

Sounds good then and I'm basically now waiting for coinbase.  Any tactics for getting them to reply (4 days now) or comments for past cases of their track record in allocating my BTC gratefully received

Re my Electrum Wallet - for security I presume I'm better to send the small amount of money I had in it to coinbase and then delete the 'program' - presumably that removes the slight security risk (tho I have a decent password on electrum anyway)

Timbo

You don't mind if I jump in, do you?

You can sign a message without encrypting your wallet.

You've duplicated your wallet, and can access your funds from both blockchain.info as well as your local Electrum.

You can still set a password in Electrum.

Correct.

That's your own change address, also correct.

I think you did everything correct.
Technically, each time you import a private key (or seed), you reduce the security a bit. As always, it mainly depends on how secure your computer is, if it's compromised, neither one (online or local wallet) is safe.

HCP is very resourceful, I've noticed that before

OK HCP

Progress at last I believe and some check questions:
1) I used my recovery phrase in Electrum.  It asked if I wanted  to encrypt and I did not .. thought that might make the address not work for signature.  It found and downloaded all transactions from B.info.  this is impressive but
1a) does this mean my wallet is now in 2 places and could be spent from electrum or b.info ?
1b) I'm worried I did not encrypt as above - how can / should I resolve this... perhaps now delete the electrum wallet ?

2) with all transactions I was able to find the -1.25 BTC one It showed in details
a)a Transaction ID  (I included in my signed message)
b) an input address ... this matched one of the imported wallet addresses so I presume THIS is the one I sent from and put this in the signature address box.
c)2 outputs... the one I sent to (general coinbase unallocated to me... had 1250 against it )... and one in yellow with the remaining balance of BTC (499 or 0.5)

I updated the support ticket with a message and the signature of the address.

So... does this make sense / did I do right / any comments esp re the import security in 1 above ?

HCP - I reiterate you have been great and I want to reward this if/when I get my BTC back

1) No, not as part of a transaction. You create a new wallet ("File -> New\Restore -> Import Bitcoin Addresses or Private Keys")... paste in the private key, you should get a wallet with a single address (it should match the address your coins were sent FROM)...

Alternatively, and probably easier, you can just import your entire 12 word b.info recovery phrase ("File -> New\Restore -> Standard Wallet -> I already have a seed -> Click "Options", select "BIP39 Seed" -> Enter Seed -> leave the derivation path as m/44'/0'/0')

That will import your entire b.info wallet into Electrum.

Either way, you then select "Tools -> sign/verify message", type your message at the top (Coinbase might ask for something specific to be entered here?)... put in the address that you accidentally sent the coins from... and then click sign... it will generate the signature.


2) Yes, once you have the signed message, you give the original message you typed into the message box, the ADDRESS (NOT the private key) and the "signature" to Coinbase (send them in an email or support ticket or whatever)... they should be able to then verify that you created the message using the private key for the address that sent the coins... which proves you have control/ownership of that address.


3) As in my previous message, you need to use the Ian Coleman BIP39 Mnemonic Code Converter tool (https://iancoleman.io/bip39/)... or just import your 12 word seed into Electrum as I've outlined above.

OK HCP thanks, that helps a lot,

I think I can follow it except where you say to import the private key into electrum.

1) Do you mean as part of a transaction, or  I just paste it into their signing tool?... or.. Do you mean in Electrum I go into Tools / Load Transaction / From the blockchain... and then paste the private key that matches the public key I sent from ?

2) Also, once Electrum has created a signed message - that is just some digits on a screen - how do I get that communicated to Coinbase linked to my account ?

3) While you are 'here'... within blockchain.info I need the private key linked to the public key I sent from - that is not at all immediately obvious to me how to get it - can you point me towards this?

... again, may be silly messages !


Also.. any ideas on coinbase support times - I'm hearing online it is up to a week and VERY poor ... at least with your help I can be prepared to make a clear case for re-allocation

No, you don't need to send BTC to prove ownership... you simply sign a message. This thread might prove useful: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-to-sign-a-message-990345


1) Basically, it works a bit like signing a transaction, you use the private key that matches the public key (address) to sign the message, proving that you have ownership of that private key.

So you need the PRIVATE KEY that matches the address that you SENT FROM... ie, your transaction from b.info to coinbase... you need the private key from the b.info address. You then import that private key into Electrum and then Electrum will let you sign the message from that address.


2) As above, using the address won't work, you need the PRIVATE KEY.


3) Unfortunately, b.info don't provide an easy way to export private keys if it was a key from your "default" wallet in b.info, but it IS possible to get. You would need to use https://iancoleman.io/bip39/

WARNING: You should do this OFFLINE (there are instructions at the bottom of Ian Coleman page that shows how to create an offline copy of the tool)

Put your 12 word b.info recovery phrase in where it says BIP39 Mnemonic, click the "BIP44" tab and then you should see your b.info addresses and private keys listed at the bottom. Find the address you sent FROM, it should be shown in the transaction details... then you can get the matching private key and import that private key to Electrum, and then you should be able to sign the message.

Thanks for all replies - I'm relieved there is a way this might work.  I've had a support ticket with Coinbase for nearly 36 hours now on this - no answer.  I also spent an hour trying to get through on their phone support number (to talk it over, I know I cannot do more than get reassurance from this)

Anyone have recent experience of when they might reply?

I also have a request from Blockchain.info from 48 hours ago with no reply

Specific responses to HCP and Thirdspace

HCP  
 - very helpful thankyou.  in preparation for needing to prove this you are suggesting I export some BTC to electrum from b.info then send a sum of BTC from Electrum to Coinbase ensuring I follow a process like https://www.cryptocompare.com/wallets/guides/how-to-sign-a-message-with-electrum/  

OK, so I can prove ownership of an address from this but can you explain - presumably I'm trying to prove ownership of the b.info address I sent the BTC from, by sending to my coinbase wallet from it.  

1) Are you saying electrum will know that I sent from the same one since I will have sent to electrum from it, so I can 'forward' proof ?
2) I have a B.info wallet ID which I'm not supposed to share with anyone - are you saying I will recognise THIS ID in electrum once I 've sent some BTC to it?
.... I'm trying to get clear which ID I sign to prove ownership and send to Coinbase given the ones I see are mostly public changing ones

sorry for what may be silly questions

>>> UPDATE .. I'm attempting to follow the cryptocompare guide above to sign a message.
1) I have the address there that I got money from b.info.  I guess this is the one I want to sign with ??
2) If I copy it and try to create a sign I get "Cannot sign message with this type of address... you should sign with the corresponding private key..... your address does not have a unique public key...
3) When instead of copying an address I right click .. Private Key... I get as a result .. "Invalid bitcoin address"
SO... how do I sign referring to the address I got from b.info ?


Thirdspace
Yes it is confirmed.  is there still a question of some way you suggest you might help?

In general - proving / pursuading coinbase seems the clear approach

Thankyou all and there will be a reward I'll div out if/when I get this back

sharing public address and/or txid only damage your privacy
since your tx was on Jan 1st, has it been confirmed yet? you haven't said anything about its status.
if it hasn't been confirmed there is a good chance you can double spend your bitcoin and less hassle contacting coinbase
it's your choice... are you willing to share the address and its txid?

That's just not how Coinbase operate... they will give you a unique deposit address... any coins sent to that address will be "credited" to your account balance... but the coins themselves generally get aggregated into "holding" bitcoin addresses...

When users request a withdrawal... coinbase batch them all up and then send the individual amounts from one (or more) holding address(es)... debiting each users account balance by the appropriate amount. The holding addresses are not "linked" to any particular user, they're just a giant pool of coins.

By sending the coins back to the holding address, you've made it impossible for Coinbase to identify who the coins should be credited to. If you're super lucky, they might agree to credit them back to your account if you can provide sufficient evidence that you were the one who deposited the coins... perhaps they'll accept a signed message from the address you just sent from?

From what I understand, b.info don't provide a way to directly sign messages from b.info wallet addresses any more... but you can probably export it to another wallet like Electrum or use the BIP39 Mnemonic Code Convertor (https://iancoleman.io/bip39/) and your b.info 12 word seed to get the private key for the address you used to send the coins.

Contact Coinbase and ask them nicely if they'll help out. That is pretty much your only option at this point.

I didn't mean your Coinbase account, I mean the Bitcoin address Coinbase used for your withdrawal. The same address you used to send your payment to again.

The coinbase account I sent FROM last July had 1.75 BTC and a roughly equivalent at the time $ value of ethereum

do you think that counts as a very high balance that would use their address or possibly a lower  balance that means they might have used someone elses address?

Was the address that sent you the coins 1 address with a very high balance? If so, it's likely to be one of Coinbase's own addresses, and in that case they should be able to give you back your coins (if they're willing to do so).

Another possibility is that Coinbase sends funds from other user's deposit addresses. If that's the case, your funds were credited to someone else's account, and in that case it's unlikely they can give it back to you.
It depends on the way Coinbase handles withdrawals.

In order for Coinbase to have sent you coins from that address, they would have to control the private key for that address. So yes.