XRP Wallet secret key not valid

[Bornstellar]

I created a wallet with Rippex Desktop Wallet, created a file wallet file and secret key, and put some XRP in it sometime in 2017, around October or so.  Since then, I have lost the program, but still have both the file and the wallet.

 

When I tried to use the secret key with Toast and Gatehub, both said that the key was invalid.  What should I do?  Any chance that the Rippex wallet is still available or that another wallet uses the same file type?

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Bornstellar said:

I created a wallet with Rippex Desktop Wallet, created a file wallet file and secret key, and put some XRP in it sometime in 2017, around October or so.  Since then, I have lost the program, but still have both the file and the wallet.

 

When I tried to use the secret key with Toast and Gatehub, both said that the key was invalid.  What should I do?  Any chance that the Rippex wallet is still available or that another wallet uses the same file type?

Try yxxun Ripple Client Desktop on page 2, or or the Ripple Client Desktop on page 1, at

https://www.xrpchat.com/links/category/6-wallets-and-storage/

They use the same wallet format (wallet.txt), so if you have your wallet password and that wallet.txt file, you should be able to open the wallet. Choose the "select account file"  option.

Your secret key is a long string, starting with an "s". If you only have that, and not your wallet.txt and password, choose "Create new account", then "Create account with secret key".

If that does not work, can you tell what operating system you used to create the wallet?

[Bornstellar]

So that worked, but strangely enough my entire balance is missing.  I had a significant amount of XRP in this account, too, unfortunately.  It was created with windows.

[at3n]

Just now, Bornstellar said:

So that worked, but strangely enough my entire balance is missing.  I had a significant amount of XRP in this account, too, unfortunately.  It was created with windows.

Do you know if the public wallet address generated this time is the same as the one you were using in 2017?

Is the wallet empty or with 20 XRP?

[Bornstellar]

I don't know about the public address, if it was the same or not, but it is completely empty.  No 20 XRP, nothing.

[at3n]

17 minutes ago, Bornstellar said:

I don't know about the public address, if it was the same or not, but it is completely empty.  No 20 XRP, nothing.

It's almost definitely not the same wallet that you deposited into in 2017 then. If you put the public address into Bithomp, can you see any past history?

When you deposited XRP into the wallet in 2017, if you sent it from an exchange, there should be logs on the exchange with details of what was sent and where. You should be able to retrieve the old address from those. Then check if that address still holds the XRP, at least then you'll know where it is, if not how to access it yet.

[Bornstellar]

Unforunately I sent through Changelly.  I don't think there is any way I can find the old public address, and at the time, I didn't think I'd have a reason to note it down.  I'll try to think of a way, perhaps there is a transaction I'm forgetting about I can look back to.  I vaguely remember funding the account with two buys, though I don't recall if both were Changelly or one came from elsewhere.

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, Bornstellar said:

So that worked, but strangely enough my entire balance is missing.  I had a significant amount of XRP in this account, too, unfortunately.  It was created with windows.

If the wallet does not even contain 20 XRP, it has never been activated, which means you've never deposited money on that address. Because once you've activated a wallet (simply by sending XRP to it), you cannot withdraw the last 20 XRP (this is the  minimum account reserve). Double check that you've actually opened your old wallet, and not created a new one.

[Bornstellar]

I selected "create a new account" then "create a new account with a secret key" to backup my old account.  When I try to open my account by entering in the password I wrote down with my old wallet, it says the wallet file or password is wrong.  (24 characters long)

Edited December 22, 2018 by Bornstellar

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Bornstellar said:

I selected "create a new account" then "create a new account with a secret key" to backup my old account.  When I try to open my account by entering in the password I wrote down with my old wallet, it says the wallet file or password is wrong.  (24 characters long)

The password of the wallet is something that you had to enter yourself, when you created the wallet. Are you sure you've come up with a 24 character password? That seems a bit unlikely to me. Try your passwords that you use for your regular stuff like email.

[Bornstellar]

I used a random number generator to do so, but yeah, I used definitely used a 24 character string.  I did so with all my crypo assets, and wrote them all down twice along with saving them by copy and pasting.  3 ways to verify that it was right, all 3 had the same 24 characters.  

 

I'm so lost, no idea how this happened, but not quite ready to call it an L.

[at3n]

3 hours ago, lucky said:

If the wallet does not even contain 20 XRP, it has never been activated, which means you've never deposited money on that address.

Actually it's possible to reduce the balance below 20 by burning it as a transaction fee. This is why I suggested checking for historical transactions on the new wallet, just in case it reveals that an attacker did that deliberately.

[Bornstellar]

No history at all.  It literally appears like a wallet that hasn't been activated.

[at3n]

@Bornstellar did you find anything else?

If you'd like to do some detective work to at least locate your missing XRP, I'd suggest something like the following:

Identify Changelly's outgoing hot wallet (the wallet that Changelly sends XRP from). For example by making another trade with them.

Identify as accurately as possible, a time period during which you made one of the 2017 purchases from Changelly. For example by using credit card/bank statements, or transaction logs from exchanges/wallets for other cryptos.

Work out using the exchange rate of the time approximately how much XRP you would have bought.

Find all outgoing XRP payments from the Changelly wallet within that time period, and identify the ones that are approximately the right amount of XRP that you bought.

Look through the wallets receiving these transactions and try to work out which was yours.

At least then you'd know where you sent them, maybe it would help to piece the puzzle together.

 

This is assuming that Changelly only uses one wallet to send XRP from, and that today's wallet is the same as the 2017 wallet.

 

[Bornstellar]

No updates, but I'll try to take those steps.  Obviously it's worth trying to find, but I'm so confused as to how this happened.