I am seeking advice on whether KYC regulations or Blockchain.com are preventing access to my assets in both their passive reward program and custodial service.
I contacted the exchange and informed them that I have the private key and should be able to access my account using only my ID, as this was what I was told when I signed up. However, they requested a list of information such as ID, which I had already provided during registration. There were two additional pieces of information required were missing : the account creation date and the email address used to create the account.
In their next response, Blockchain.com stated that my account could not be accessed without the creation date and the verified email address. The problem is that I was advised to create a new email address when I registered, and I have since forgotten it as it has not been used for anything else.
Blockchain.com also informed me that the wallet has been discontinued and that I would need to import the key to access it. The issue is that I do not know anyone who is both capable and trustworthy to perform this task for me.
Recently, I was able to get my bank to search their archives for the transaction,which provided the creation date, so now the only missing information is the email address.
The Asset:
* Passive Reward: 1,000 bitcoins
* Custodial Service: 2,000 bitcoins
Where I First Learned About Bitcoin:
In May 2009, a few newspapers were discussing the world’s first virtual currency, Bitcoin. At first, the name meant nothing to me. I browsed through 5-6 newspapers daily to learn how I could start investing. Around June 2009, I found an article titled register your interest to join Bitcoin. I visited the website, which only had a form asking for your name, contact information, and country. I was contacted the next day by a person who introduced himself as an agent promoting Bitcoin. When I asked which country they were based in, I was told either Switzerland or Sweden.
I received the white paper via email and was encouraged to read it. However, after the agent explained the concept, I was confident I wanted to proceed. An appointment was made, and the agent guided me through the entire setup process, staying on the line for over 1.5 hours until the setup was complete.
About the Key:
I have a mini private key consisting of 22 characters. It’s Base58 in uncompressed format. The mini key was generated from a long private key, which I no longer have. The long key came from a file that was downloaded to my desktop. Another thing I did was create the QR code manually.
Seeking Legal Representation:
I am currently based in the UK, and there seem to be very few law firms that handle crypto disputes. Most firms I contacted said they only deal with corporate clients or government cases, or they stated that the amount involved is below the threshold for cases they would represent.
Has anyone on this forum bought bitcoins in the way I described above or heard of someone that did? If so, I would appreciate any advice on finding the right legal representation for this case.
What is the most secure wallet software you would recommend for importing the private key? I understand I may be overly cautious, but it is frustrating to see how the system is being exploited in so many ways by scammers it scares me.
I believe that accessing my wallet would really test the integrity of Blockchain.com because the wallet was last accessed in November of 2009.
Surely I will reward generously all assistance that helps with accessing my discontinued wallet.
