Quote from: seoincorporation on June 17, 2025, 02:47:48 AM

Quote from: 0btc_holder on June 16, 2025, 01:24:13 PM

If I install a really old Bitcoin Core on old pc with Windows XP (offline), set the system clock to 2010, could it trick the software into generating the same address/private key as an early miner's wallet (e.g., one that mined 50 BTC in 2010 and lost his wallet Grin

)?

I the addresses were generated only with the date that would be possible, but since other factors are involved, then the chance to generate an address that has been used is the same chance than doing it with the current date.

You could even try to bruteforce and generate millions of addresses but the odds of creating a used address is still really low. It doesn't even worth trying it.

This reminds me of a guy I met on telegram recently who claims of scanning the blockchain for seed phrases of lost wallets. I did not even waste another second with him knowing that seed phrases are not stored on the blockchain, rather it is only a means of unlocking wallets to give you access to your funds on the blockchain through your wallet addresses.

OP is on another delusional joke because bitcoin wallets generates private keys using random number generations, so it is computationally impossible to get the same randomness that was used in generating those private keys and more impossible to get the exact inputs used (if even the old wallets relied on easy and predictable entropies) in those private key generations. It is good to know that even in 2010, bitcoin keys were generated from entropy sources and not limited to system clock.

Old wallets are still very much secure since the cryptographic principles behind bitcoin has not been altered and private key generations are not dependent on predictable or user-defined inputs. OP should know that even older wallets depended on a broad 256- bit private keys which literally means a 2¹²⁸ security, thereby making bruteforcing attack almost impossible.