Lost password worth approximately $25,000 :(

alexw

I use a service called blockchain.info to store some bitcoin. Back in November of 2013 I had created a new wallet there and stored approximately 40 bitcoin in it (worth about $25k today).

Blockchain.info encrypts the wallet using AES with a given passphrase. I generated the passphrase using the OSX version of onepassword (which I purchased in June of 2013 from the appstore).

For some reason, the password is no longer in my password database but I have these notes regarding it:
20 character length, upper case and lower case letters, digits.

I have the encrypted wallet file, but obviously brute forcing the 20 char passphrase is not feasible.

Further bummer: the laptop I used at the time has been sold on ebay so I don't think hard drive recovery is an option. Password database is stored in a shared folder between my osx and windows computers.

Any ideas?

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1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

ag_kevin

Hi @alexw,

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear you've lost such an important item. I can't see how the item would simply go missing. I don't recall us ever having a case of items deleting themselves, but I do have some suggestions:

1. Check the trash in 1Password on both Windows and Mac. You may have accidentally trashed it a while ago and it's still there.
2. 1Password will keep backups going back 24 months. You could restore to an older backup and check to see if it is there. Here's the procedure I recommend:

Go to Preferences -> Backups and click Backup Now. This will create a current backup.
Scroll to the oldest backup in the list (or the one Dec 2013, if they go back further) and click Restore. 1Password will then quit.
After starting 1Password again, search for the blockchain item. When you find it, export it to a 1pif on your desktop (this will be unencrypted).
Go back to the Backup Preferences and Restore the latest backup.
Start 1Password again and import that 1pif file you just saved containing the blockchain item.
Delete the 1pif item from your desktop.

I hope this helps. If you don't have backups going back that far, try the oldest one. Failing that, you can check Time Machine (if you use it) for older backup files, or check on your windows machine for older backups as well.

If you check Time Machine, your backups are stored in
~/Library/Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword-osx-helper/Data/Library/Backups

Good luck,
Kevin

alexw

Ok thank you so much for the advice. I will try this and write back. Cheers!

Vee_AG

We look forward to hearing how it goes, @alexw! :)