Topic: How to get BTC from bit address.org paper wallet into Coinbase? (Read 47 times)

Blue wallet option:

(Before proceeding make sure your device is secure. Check that it has up to date antivirus software and is free from malware to protect your wallet and personal information)

- Launch the Blue wallet app on your device.
- Tap on the "+" sign to add a new wallet.
- Select the option “Import Wallet”.
- You’ll be prompted to enter the key in your case compressed WIF<52 characters long> Type it in carefully to avoid any mistakes.
- Once you've entered your WIF click on “Done”.
- After importing you may need to choose the type of wallet, select "Legacy (P2PKH)" from the options available.
- Click on “Import” to confirm and complete the process.

Now that your wallet is imported you should have access to your coins

If you want to transfer your coins to your Coinbase account find your Coinbase Bitcoin receive address and use the Blue wallet app to send your coins there.

Before sending all in one transaction consider a test transaction with small amount this way you can ensure everything is working correctly without risking a lot of money.

If you encounter any errors during the process please share the error message you see (without revealing any private information) so others can assist you.

There is no IOS version of electrum, but that's available for macOS and you can use it on your Mac.
You can see the list of operating systems supported by electrum on its official website.

Thank you to the 3 folks who have responded so far. Apparently we have done some dangerous/stupid things without realizing it. Appreciate your warnings and wise council.

Each of you mentioned ELECTRUM. Is this a program/app/utility that can be downloaded on an iPhone (to make things easier for my father)? Or can it be downloaded on a Mac (I/we only use  Mac computers, no PCs/windows machines at all ever)? Or is this a PC/Windows computer mandate type thing?

Thanks again for the responses.

Stop messing around with private keys on hot wallets! Your computer may be safe, but are you really willing to risk $100k on that? If there's malware on your system, your Bitcoins are gone the moment you enter your key. Don't take any risks, keep your keys offline.

Sending the entire balance of the paper wallet to a Trezor sounds like a good option. This is what I would do:
Make sure to take your time. Don't rush things! Make sure to understand what you're doing before you're doing it. And don't trust any one who sends you a PM to "help"!

With importing your private key into multiple softwares, you are risking the security of your fund. Stop it.

As suggested above by OmegaStarScream, you can use electrum to get access to your fund and I just want to add that it's recommened to import your private key into an offline device (preferably to be airgapped), especially if you have a big amount of bitcoin.
Take note that any online device is prone to hacking and you should be very cautious with sensitvie data like your private key.

You can follow the following guide to sign your transaction offline.
How to spend from an offline paper wallet using Electrum.

MEW? That doesn't support Bitcoin, does it? It only supports Ethereum.

1. Install Electrum from electrum.org
2. Follow this guide: https://bitcoinelectrum.com/importing-your-private-keys-into-electrum/
3. Send the Bitcoin to your coinbase receiving address.

It should be a straightforward process. But I'm wondering what errors were you getting in BlueWallet case for example? Can't remember if trustwallet actually support doing that but bluewallet should.

I am familiar with BTC/crypto and Coinbase but by no means an expert (or even very well educated). My elderly father and I both have Coinbase accounts with minimal amounts of various cryptos contained there. I signed up for this forum today to ask this question. I apologize if this or a very similar question has been asked before on this forum (I'm sure it has). I thought it more expedient to ask my specific Q with my specific set of circumstances rather than try to slog thru hundreds of other posts trying to find an exact match to the answer I need.

Here is the problem...

My father has a couple BTC stored on a single paper wallet. It is an OLD paper wallet created by a friend of his in 2019 or 2020 on bitaddress.org and printed out on a piece of paper. There is a QR code, a public key, and a private key. The private key is 52 characters long (not 64) and it starts with the letter L.

We have tried several different ways of getting this paper wallet imported into Coinbase so my father can have liquid access to the funds by doing withdrawals out of Coinbase into his linked checking account. We have been unsuccessful in getting the BTC paper wallet imported into Coinbase (or into ANY other type of wallet for that matter, be it MyEtherWallet (MEW), BlueWallet, TrustWallet, etc, having been informed that Coinbase cannot accept paper wallet imports directly, which seems ridiculous). When we try to scan the QR code on the paper wallet with his iPhone into one of these online wallets the "transaction" or "import" is rejected. When we tried to type in the full 52 character private key into MEW, the transaction simply never materialized as if it had never been attempted. When we got in touch with MEW customer service they said that the "format" or "style" of paper wallet we had was not supported by their system and the attempted import of the wallet was unsuccessful/ignored.

We have been told that we need to import the paper wallet into an intermediary wallet like TrustWallet or MEW so that we can get the BTC into a Trezor/Ledger cold wallet and then we can import the contents of the Ledger cold wallet into Coinbase. Is this accurate? We would rather not do this if not totally necessary, preferring to simply go from paper to intermediary online wallet to Coinbase if possible.

How can my father and I transfer the ALL of the BTC from the 52-character bit address.org paper wallet into some other intermediary wallet and then into Coinbase all at one time with with one set of transfers/transactions so that my dad can have his BTC in Coinbase liquid and ready to cash out? Because literally what the hell good is BTC even if it's worth a million a coin if you cannot gain access to the money to actually spend it on real life?? (It's like a $100,000 pre-paid credit card frozen in a block of ice... worth $100k and worthless at the same time.)

Please help this Gen X crypto novice help his Boomer dad gain access to this desperately needed financial asset that he owns but cannot use. THANKS!