Quote from: LoyceV on May 24, 2024, 02:04:23 PM

TL;DR
Years ago, I sent some Bitcoin to an address without any physical backup, to see if I could find it back years later. Now, I can't find them back. Lol.

Long version
I combined a brainwallet with BIP38 encryption to make it very hard to crack. A bit like this proposal, but my own version. I kept notes of what I did:

Code:

1. Passphrase > brainwallet > uncompressed privkey
2. BIP38 compress this key with passphrase2
3. Take this 6P encrypted key, add -1, use this as brainwallet and fund the compressed addy

I don't remember the address.
I remember the amount on 2 addresses used to fund it.
I don't remember the transaction fee.
I don't remember the year I did all this. I guess it was somewhere between 2017 and 2020.
I'm pretty sure all addresses involved were legacy.
Blockchair's transaction search gives thousands of potential transactions. I can narrow it down to less than a thousand by making some assumptions. I can't select all search options I'd need for a lower number of transactions.
I do remember the passphrases used. I won't say I'm 100% certain, so let's say I'm 99% certain those are correct. That makes it likely there's something in my method that I can't reproduce.
I am 100% certain nobody brute-forced my private key. The passphrase was too long for heavy BIP38 encryption, and the setup was too complicated (so automated searches (which are used to attack all regular brainwallets at once) can't be used.

Questions
Why did I do step 1 and 2? That could have been done in one step, unless I'm missing something now.
Does BIP38 encryption always produce the same encrypted key, or could the same privkey and passphrase produce a different encrypted string if I use different software? I probably used bitaddress.org or the other (now scamming) paper wallet site from back in those days.
The annoying part: to try anything, takes me several manual actions on an air-gapped system. I can't quickly test a lot of options.

How much?
I wasn't dumb enough to use a large amount, but I'd still like to find it back. I won't lose sleep over the amount, but I already know if I can't recover it, it's going to torment me for years. I rarely lose data, and I don't like it.

No spam
Self-moderated to prevent spam. Discussion is of course allowed. I already know I was stupid, but feel free to rub it in Tongue

Telling me "I told you so" is allowed too Tongue

Hello.
Can you simulate the process step by step?
For example.
let's say you chose brainwallet Passphrase ‘mamu’ in the first step. can you write each step and share the result of each step? I need to understand the process you are doing, then I can write suggestions for you.