Topic: So in the life of Me...Here is what happened to my bitcoin (Read 122 times)

That’s only one story which made international news.  /r/Bitcoin and this forum are perpetual witnesses to a stream of people who lost fortunes small and large.

There are also “Bitcoin destruction” addresses which people deliberately use to make coins permanently irretrievable.  Do not send coins to these addresses:  1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE currently holds a balance of 13.1785403 BTC, currently worth over $250,000.  1111111111111111111114oLvT2 (Hash160 of all zeroes) now has 65.22316743 BTC, currently worth over $1.2 million.  1QLbz7JHiBTspS962RLKV8GndWFwi5j6Qr (Hash160 of all ones) now has 0.01249511 BTC, currently worth about $238.  Never again can these coins be touched.

Bitcoin is merciless.  Logical, emotionless, governed solely by mathematical cause and effect.  That is one of the things I love about it!  In that aspect, it is alike to a force of Nature.

With Bitcoin, only you have the power over yourself; with Bitcoin, only you have responsibility for yourself.  Those two principles are inseparable; and it is impossible to have freedom if there exists any higher authority who has override powers.  Nobody can freeze or seize your bitcoins; likewise, if you mess up, nobody can help you.  To handle one’s own coins is not for the weak or the stupid, nor for those who care not for their own freedom.


.2 BTC is currently worth over $3800!  Fees would certainly not be prohibitive of “cashing in” (exchanging to dollars).  However, I would suggest that you should hold it.  Make multiple redundant secure backups of your private keys, and hold it tightly.  Nowadays, few people have a whole 1.0 BTC; I personally do believe there will come a time when anybody with 0.2 BTC will be considered quite wealthy.

If you’re “shaking your head” over however much Bitcoin you had in 2012–13, don’t make the same mistake now.  You likely could have been by far the richest person you’ve ever met.  If you ignored it till now, your residual old Bitcoin is something you can think of almost as if it’s free money.  Unless you’re starving, just keep that 0.2 BTC and see where it goes!  Better still, earn more Bitcoin to add to it.  (For receiving new coins, to cut down on your future sending fees, create a new Segwit wallet—and back up your wallet seed, a common theme here.)

Aside, I always find it curious when I see old, long-dormant accounts resurface.  Most of the time, it is a matter of a sold or hacked account; but your post history makes it evident that you’re the same “claire”.  If it would not compromise your privacy, perhaps you may consider writing up a post telling (some appropriately abbreviated version of) why you left Bitcoin, and why you returned to Bitcoin.

Now that you’re back, I think you have a chance to be one of the people not having regrets ten years hence.  Having used Bitcoin in 2012–13 is like having used the Web in 1995!  The present time is—a few years after 1995, by analogy.  Now, consider the trajectory the Web took thereafter.  As happened with the Web, I predict that Bitcoin will see continued explosive growth, turmoil with fortunes made and lost, rapid technological advancement—and ultimately, like the Web, Bitcoin will become a mainstream part of everyday life.  Now is really the last chance to get (back) in before that happens.  Such is my opinion.

HTH.

OMG I don't know what I would do if I threw away all those bitcoins! That is so sad.

Thanks for the response. I don't think I made anything more than I already see in the wallet I'm resurrecting right now so it's probably ok. I just shake my head seeing all the ones I used on servers and how many had slipped through my hands. I really think I only have like .2 or something like that when all is said and done. Not even worth the fees of cashing in. I'll probably just back it up and put it away again.

This is a Technical Support question.  If you could be helped, then you would probably get more help over there.  I was recently involved in a thread which pertained to an erased drive.  The owner of the drive was looking into professional data recovery services.

But, no; alas, I don’t think you can be helped here.  If you cannot recover a copy of your wallet file newer than your last backup, than you cannot recover the money in addresses newer than your last backup.  For older-style, non-HD wallets, you should consider that to be an absolute rule.  (Tech note:  What you really need is not the addresses, but the private keys associated with the addresses.  Private keys control all in Bitcoin.)

If and only if you still have the drive, there may be a chance here.  Has the drive been heavily used since then, or sitting on a shelf?  Even if the drive was “erased”, even if it was reused, there is a chance that your 2013 wallet file could be found using data recovery methods.  It would be not unlike a forensic examination of the drive.  This would require a large effort, gambled on the possibility of recovering useful data.  Whether that be worthwhile, is a question of how much Bitcoin you lost.  If it was a sufficient amount, I or others may be willing to help for a fee (payable only upon successful recovery).  If you have the drive and you’d be interested in discussing this, feel free to PM me.

For future reference, this is why you should always use an HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallet.  A single backup of an HD wallet will allow restoration of all money in current and future addresses.  This is neither magic, nor time travel:  As its name implies, the HD wallet generates new addresses deterministically from a single high-entropy “seed” value.  Then, you only need to back up the seed value.  A backup of your new wallet file will contain the seed.  Alternatively, certain clients permit backup up the seed as a mnemonic phrase of random words; some people write the seed words on a piece of paper locked in a safe, or even write it into a Last Will and Testament.  Ever thereafter, all their coins can be recovered from the magic words.

HD wallets were invented for this reason:  Many people lost money the same way as you did.  Old-style wallets absolutely must be backed up each and every time you generate a new address, and that’s just not practical.


Yeah, right.  Good luck with that.  As of this writing, each BTC1.0 is worth $19,042.40.  How famous does his band need to be, for him to be able to repay you?

At least you didn’t throw 7500 bitcoins in the garbage (currently worth over $142 million).  Look on the bright side!

I have the backup from 2012. It is working, open and retrieving all of my info. What I don't have are any receiving addresses stored after that date. I'm thinking that anything I received with a new address is probably lost. 

When his band is famous I'm going to make him repay me hahaha

Yes, once you lost your login or address, there is no way to back up your account

I used to get paid via bitcoin. I used it for online necessities such as webhosting and domain names. Then I made a backup in 2012 and a few others. Then my friend used my machine and erased my hard disk accidentally (sure) so years later here I am knowing that I have transactions from 2013 trying to resurrect my wallet.dat file from my backup. Unfortunately, I can only find my 2012 wallet so I don't have my new addresses that I had been putting out there for fun. I'm sure no one paid anything and I probably have very little bitcon if any, but since it's an older backup I'm pretty sure I no longer have that info and its lost. Or maybe I'm wrong? Thanks