Topic: I lost 14.47 bitcoins due to an error in blockchain.info iOs app (Read 6135 times)

Rule #1: All apps for all OS have bugs that can loose all your data.
-Dave

Thanks for posting all the detailed information here. I never thought that this iOs app should have this kind of bug

I'm not very sure if you have enough legal evidence to prove it but still wish you good luck getting your funds back

If someone on here knows piuk, please draw this to his personal attention.

Nobody should lose 15 btc because of a bug!

Thank you to everyone who read and listened I will update if or when things change

So you were able to contact someone at blockchain.info and they told you that the comment escaping issue is what caused your problem?

If a comment escaping issue caused the problem, you just go into the wallet file and escape the comment properly, and your private key should be recognized properly.

When you say you "searched everywhere through your backup" what does that mean? Was the backup something taken after generating the new address on your phone?

When you generated the address, did you tap "Enter" at all? (ie, did you add a line break in your label?)


That one guy got his funds restored because they were never gone. The app just couldn't read the private key because the comment the user put in was in effect "hiding" the rest of the wallet file from the app.

If you open the wallet file, you should see something like:


The is your encrypted wallet. Decrypt those contents using:

Code:

The exact AES specifications are n rounds of PBKDF2, Block Mode CBC ISO10126 padding.

PBKDF2 would be 10000 rounds in the example given above.

Code:

Crypto.AES.decrypt(enc_json, password)

Then you should get something like this:

Code:

{
"guid" : "abf66471-fe0a-6820-8877-55d7e8c1f6b2",
"sharedKey" : "5ad12271-57d5-6ad8-79ce-49785a99f539",
wallet_options :
        {
            pbkdf2_iterations : 10, //Number of pbkdf2 iterations to default to for second password and dpasswordhash
            fee_policy : 0,  //Default Fee policy (-1 Tight, 0 Normal, 1 High)
            html5_notifications : false, //HTML 5 Desktop notifications
            logout_time : 600000, //Default 10 minutes
            tx_display : 0, //Compact or detailed transactions
            always_keep_local_backup : false //Whether to always keep a backup in localStorage regardless of two factor authentication
        },
"keys" : [
{
"addr" : "1Fqdu8waAy53dFKqjBgRgbciLjHQyDrdyY",
"priv" : "HtacbtAnGRxvecHkjf3Jia5r8TZRpnwZek1aU7CApYDi",
"tag" : 2,
"label" : "Savings"
}
{
"addr" : "1Fqdu8waAy53dFKqjBgRgbciLjHQyDrdyY",
"priv" : "HtacbtAnGRxvecHkjf3Jia5r8TZRpnwZek1aU7CApYDi",
"tag" : 2,
"label" : "Savings"
}
{
"addr" : "1Fqdu8waAy53dFKqjBgRgbciLjHQyDrdyY",
"priv" : "HtacbtAnGRxvecHkjf3Jia5r8TZRpnwZek1aU7CApYDi",
"tag" : 2,
"label" : "Savings"
}
 }

The problem would occur that the user you mentioned added a line break in the label / comment...

Code:

"label" : "Savings\\n"

This is how it SHOULD look

Code:

"label" : "Savings\n"

This is the bug.

Because they forgot to add the slash in, the computer thinks that the json ends mid-string, This causes an error, and the object which it is contained: ie,

Code:

{
"addr" : "1Fqdu8waAy53dFKqjBgRgbciLjHQyDrdyY",
"priv" : "HtacbtAnGRxvecHkjf3Jia5r8TZRpnwZek1aU7CApYDi",
"tag" : 2,
"label" : "Savings\n"
}

The computer would read this, hit the "\n" and throw an error on the \ part and the entire object (from addr all the way down) would not be read properly.

IF this was your problem (I have no idea) You just need to add an extra \ in there (or delete the line break... I mean seriously... who needs a line break in their label?) and your funds would be fine.


However, I don't know if this is your problem, as I have not seen your wallet file.

So if I understand correctly...

-you created a btc address on your iphone
-you transferred 14.47btc from your mtgox account to that address
-you open your iphone app only to discover that the address you created doesn't show up (due to a bug in the app)

It's possible that the private key of that address may still be in your iphone even though the address doesn't appear. I believe blockchain.info private keys are hashed locally in your device by your password. Have you tried jailbreaking the iphone and searching the app directory for the hash?

I actually lost 0.5 BTC over a year ago due to this same "bug" and I contacted support but never received anything other than that they would try and restore it.  I completely gave up hope and decided I would never use a mobile wallet ever again.

Oh fuck this is just insane. This is why Bitcoin still needs tons of work before it goes mainstream, we can't let this happen after mass adoption, this would be too nuts. This is also why im too paranoid about using anything beyond the official Bitcoin-QT wallet even if it takes me ages to keep the blockchain files up to date (slow internet and slower computer).

Ouch, 10+ BTC is a 'lotta money.

However, from a law point of view, unless you have solid evidence that Blockchain is directly responsible for your loss of funds (some kind of logs, MtGox history maybe, etc), a lawsuit will not work. Blockchain also starts that they do not hold private keys, so if you lose your's... bye bitcoins.

I also doubt they will refund eleven bitcoins, due to that being worth $6,500+. Your best option is probably to get a response. Get them to acknowledge they had a bug, then ask for a refund...again...and again.

Next time, use the official bitcoin client. Much more reliable.

Thanks for the tip I'll look into it

From their own pocket, obviously.

How could they restore the other person's address, though? I thought they didn't have access to private keys...

You can get the info about UK ltd. on Companies House Website from the UK government, cost you about 1 GBP

Bitcoin is not blockchain.info, so only the uninformed will blame it on bitcoin.  It is like saying that "A bank losing your deposit will cause the Euro to lose reputation".

That said, I would think that blockchain.info should replace your funds since it was their bug that caused the issue.  (And they should pull or fix the App).

I have talked to one about a week ago all I have to do is figure out where to mail the letter.

Get a lawyer and let him sent a letter to blockchain.Info.
IMHO they only way to get their attention...

ah yeah I was looking at your post history and I can see you posted up asking for help in april 2013 and people pretty much dismissed your problem.....not like it would of done any good anyways... Not much anyone can do

Can only just hope you are compensated... however I imagine you are using at your own risk as is the case with all clients (right?)

Thank you.  I have posted before on a few other forums and on here it's just been awhile and I like to try and contact their help desk before I start posting all about it. But since they seem to not want to help I could atleast post and maybe someone will hear me and maybe I'll save someone else from the same problem

Open up as many support tickets s possible until they solve your problem. This will cause bitcoin to lose reputation, as the largest Web wallet can't  even make a stable,  secure wallet.

Jesus I'd be rampantly pissed

whyd it take you so long to post up here ? or did you create a new account as to not cause a scene..

best of luck getting funds back. Doesn't sound like it was your fault but unfortunately I'm just some random on the internet and not the person you need to convince

First let me say that this has been long on going process trying to figure out away to retrieve my coins I lost them sometime back in April 2013 I have been trying forever to figure out what to do. This is not my first post on the subject nor will it be my last. I also posted this on reddit which it was removed because the mod said It made no sense since mt gox has been gone for months. Now I might mention gox in this post but it has nothing to do with me losing access to my bitcoins . I only mention it because I want to give the events on what happened when my coins were lost and I know someone out there is going to ask well where did they come from.

Sorry for the long post I just wanted to get everything I could out on the first try.

I created a btc address using blockchain.info iOs app copy the new address to my clipboard and pasted it into my mt. gox account to send funds from mt. gox to my newly created address which I had done a few times now. I get the confirmation saying funds had been transferred so I check my iOs app and the address I created was gone. So i check it manually using blockchain.info website it shows the funds were in the address. I then use my PC to try and spend my bitcoins. But when I log onto my account it doesn't show the address there either. So I use a backup to try and restore my address. When I finally get my address to appear in I'm my wallet it says I do not have the private key to access the funds in that particular address. I can still access the funds in my other addresses in my wallet.

I then proceed to ask zen desk for help sometime around April I wait little while to get a reply back because I know sometime's help desk get really backed up. I never get an email back so I check zen desk and it say's this problem is considered solved and is now closed. So I open a new ticket asking how is this ticket considered solved when I can't access funds. I finally get a reply back stating that blockchain.info doesn't store private keys and there is nothing they can or will do to help. I also tried contacting piuk on bitcointalk.org but he never replied back. So I have been trying for almost a year now to try and figure out what happened, why it happened and how to access my funds.

I've searched everywhere through my backup to try and find my private key. I also searched through every file in the iOs app to try and locate the private key in a cached file. I begin to lose hope but I randomly search google to see if someone has found away to crack a private key or see if anyone has had the same problem. Which brings me to this post on  [bitcointalk.org](https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/i-got-back-my-faith-in-blockchaininfo-321047) when I read the post i realized that the person who posted it had the exact problem I had. So I keep reading and I see a reply post from piuk


So they ignore my request for help when I was experiencing the same problem. When I tried to report the same issues. Why is it that when they reported a problem they got help and their funds replaced.

Since blockchain.info finally acknowledges that their iOs app was the cause for me losing my private key. I too would like my funds back.

In case anyone is wondering the address still holds my funds, I still can't access them to spend them and there has been no activity to that address.

Blockchain.info
1E5h2Mms8y5qY14YBg1KNkqdhZ3ByYo9W6