Unable to see my coins

[m_arch]

Hey guys,

So feb 2014 i bought into bitcoins. I just put a small sum of money in, and then the market crashed and I kind of just forgot about it.


I've changed computers since then too, so I don't have the wallet program I was using. I do however have the .dat file - is this enough to get my coins back? I believe i had quark coin and the normal bitcoin.

I've downloaded bitcoin core after reading this article: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/commen ... walletdat/

Spent about 5 days with my PC on syncing it up, then put the wallet file in the directory (and renamed it wallet.dat) however it says i have 0 coins. It did, however, load a previous transaction from 2014 saying i purchased coins.


Is this something to do with the bitcoin cash thing? Is it something to do with some of my coins being quark coins too? I'm pretty out of the loop with this stuff, help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[nandibear]

Hey guys,

So feb 2014 i bought into bitcoins. I just put a small sum of money in, and then the market crashed and I kind of just forgot about it.


I've changed computers since then too, so I don't have the wallet program I was using. I do however have the .dat file - is this enough to get my coins back? I believe i had quark coin and the normal bitcoin.

I've downloaded bitcoin core after reading this article: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/commen ... walletdat/

Spent about 5 days with my PC on syncing it up, then put the wallet file in the directory (and renamed it wallet.dat) however it says i have 0 coins. It did, however, load a previous transaction from 2014 saying i purchased coins.


Is this something to do with the bitcoin cash thing? Is it something to do with some of my coins being quark coins too? I'm pretty out of the loop with this stuff, help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Hi m_arch, did you get this figured out? Sorry I don't have answer that will help 100% specifically with what you're asking.

However, even if it says you have 0 coins (for whatever reasons it says 0, I'm not sure exactly) I think you still might be able to export/dump your private keys. You could then sweep the private keys into a lightweight client (e.g. Bitcoin.com wallet) and you wont need to download the blockchain transaction history nor store it.

Moreover, since you've had these bitcoins since 2014 you should also have the same amount of Bitcoin Cash. If you sweep the private key into a Bitcoin.com wallet you should get both BTC and BCH.

I haven't used Bitcoin-Qt since 2015 and I don't remember where to go to export, or dump, the private keys. I have version 0.11.2 (I'll try to open it but it will be a while) and have no idea how newer versions look.

In any event, if you search around I'm sure that you can find information for exporting/dumping the private keys.

If anyone disagrees with any of the foregoing, or has other suggestions and information, please jump in. Thanks.

[m_arch]

Hey guys,

So feb 2014 i bought into bitcoins. I just put a small sum of money in, and then the market crashed and I kind of just forgot about it.


I've changed computers since then too, so I don't have the wallet program I was using. I do however have the .dat file - is this enough to get my coins back? I believe i had quark coin and the normal bitcoin.

I've downloaded bitcoin core after reading this article: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/commen ... walletdat/

Spent about 5 days with my PC on syncing it up, then put the wallet file in the directory (and renamed it wallet.dat) however it says i have 0 coins. It did, however, load a previous transaction from 2014 saying i purchased coins.


Is this something to do with the bitcoin cash thing? Is it something to do with some of my coins being quark coins too? I'm pretty out of the loop with this stuff, help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Hi m_arch, did you get this figured out? Sorry I don't have answer that will help 100% specifically with what you're asking.

However, even if it says you have 0 coins (for whatever reasons it says 0, I'm not sure exactly) I think you still might be able to export/dump your private keys. You could then sweep the private keys into a lightweight client (e.g. Bitcoin.com wallet) and you wont need to download the blockchain transaction history nor store it.

Moreover, since you've had these bitcoins since 2014 you should also have the same amount of Bitcoin Cash. If you sweep the private key into a Bitcoin.com wallet you should get both BTC and BCH.

I haven't used Bitcoin-Qt since 2015 and I don't remember where to go to export, or dump, the private keys. I have version 0.11.2 (I'll try to open it but it will be a while) and have no idea how newer versions look.

In any event, if you search around I'm sure that you can find information for exporting/dumping the private keys.

If anyone disagrees with any of the foregoing, or has other suggestions and information, please jump in. Thanks.

by "private keys" do you mean the transaction ID?

what i see on bitcoin core is a transaction ID of when i received the coins.

i actually have written a key down in an old notebook that i have, but i'm not sure what this is lol. perhaps a private key. where do i enter it on bitcoin cash?

[nandibear]

by "private keys" do you mean the transaction ID?

what i see on bitcoin core is a transaction ID of when i received the coins.

i actually have written a key down in an old notebook that i have, but i'm not sure what this is lol. perhaps a private key. where do i enter it on bitcoin cash?

To answer your first question, private keys and transaction IDs are not the same thing.

Second, that's excellent if you already have a private key (if that's what it is) written down. However, there's good chance it might be something else you've written down. In any event, please NEVER post your private key online or share it with anyone.

1. You also state that you can see transaction ID. Does it also show the receive address for the transaction? If not, you can look up here: explorer.bitcoin.com/btc Do you see any bitcoins at the receive address? Even if you don't, you might still have the bitcoins but just at a different address.

2. To get the private key(s) please see this video (you'll need the receive address though):

https://youtu.be/OX71C9DP3NE

Its the same here (although the video might be a little more helpful) in the first answer: bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/4203/how-can-i-export-the-private-key-for-an-address-from-the-satoshi-client

3. There's also another method if you don't have the receive address. I'll look for it.

4. Once you have the private key(s) for the receive address(es), and if those addresses have a bitcoin balance, you could then generate a QR code(s) and then scan the QR code(s) with the Bitcoin.com wallet to sweep both BTC and BCH into your new wallets.

5. I'm a little apprehensive about explaining how to generate a QR code because, while it will 100% work, it's also not 100% secure unless maybe you were to do the following on the computer that has never been online. Proceed at your own risk:

To generate a QR code please visit: https://www.bitaddress.org/

a. Rather than use the site itself please click the zip of GitHub Repository (zip) to automatically download the standalone.

b. After you download it restart your computer.

c. disable internet (and if using an ethernet cable please unplug it

d. unzip the file

e. open a browser (e.g., Firefox)

f. drag the bitaddress.org.html file into your browser.

g. click on "Wallet Details" (it's in the green colored part)

h. paste in your private key

i. click "View Details"

j. You should see several QR code generated. Please scan (with your Bitcoin.com wallet) the one that says "Private Key WIF Compressed52 characters base58, starts with a 'K' or 'L'"

k. When you're done using the standalone in your browser please clear your browser cache and restart your computer.

If anyone disagrees with any of the foregoing, or has a more efficient method (or any method really), please jump in. Thank you.