Mom Passed the day after Thanksgiving in Kona Hawaii. Luckily I had enough saved to get on a plane immediately after getting the same day Covid test for $250 at Seattle airport. I still had to wait at Kona airport for six hours for the results to come in. so much to do, out of nowhere I have to make all these decisions about my mothers life etc. I hate it. I have all sorts of numbers and identifiers etc. that she wrote down for bitcoin. I have my birth certificate mommy‘s birth certificate we are waiting for death certificates. I am her only daughter. Before she passed away she had to change her email to match her new iPad which I have. I don’t have her cell phone but I have two iPads and all of her bitcoin information. Mommy told me this was mine when she passed but of course didn’t give me information on how to get it. Any help would be appreciated.
1 Answers
I have two iPads and all of her bitcoin information.
Bitcoin money is controlled by Bitcoin wallets. In your context there are two sorts:
The original type of wallet where each person ran their own wallet app or program on their own device. They didn't use any kind of website or managed service. This is still a very common type of wallet and is safer than the other sort of wallet:
A so-called custodial wallet where your money is controlled by a bank-like business and you have a log-in account to a website run by that business. The business acts as a custodian of your money. This is the least safe kind of wallet but it is popular because they make everything seem easy. Many people fall victim to fraudulent websites and many seemingly genuine businesses go bust and lose all their customer's money.
If your mother had the first kind, she will have written down either a "private key" or a "recovery phrase" (also called a "seed phrase"). You need to know the name of the app she used (e.g. "Electrum", "Bread Wallet" and so on) in order to re-create her wallet, which you should do on your own separate device and will then be able to see her total amount of Bitcoin and have control over it.
If your mother had the second kind, she will have written down the website URL and her account name and account password. You can use that to log in from your own device and take control of her Bitcoin money.
I suggest you don't use her iPads but keep them safely locked away until you have either recovered control over her Bitcoin or run out of options.
Never give those devices or any passwords, pass-phrases, recovery phrases or "private keys" to any helpers. Never give helpers any access to your own devices and never install or use any remote control apps for helpers. If you are not careful your helpers will steal the money and tell you there is no money. Or they might ask you to pay invented unlocking fees or other costs. Once they have bled you dry you will not hear from them again.
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Yes I have her 12 word phrase she wrote that down also not sure how that helps I’m not a tech kind of a person. – Hulagirl Dec 10 '20 at 13:02
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@Hulagirl. Take your time over this. I suggest learning a bit more about Bitcoin when other pressures on your time allow. All you need is that 12 word phrase. Anyone who knows that can spend all your mother's money without access to the iPads or anything else. Your mother may or may not have added an extra self-chosen passphrase onto the 12 auto generated words. You might find this out later. I suggest keeping everything safe under lock and key until you personally are confident you have a good enough understanding of Bitcoin. Beware sharks. – RedGrittyBrick Dec 10 '20 at 13:08
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Thank you very much. I was able to access via the address in block chain explorer and it shows a balance I just don’t know how to get it from there into my bank..I’ll take my time and figure it out. Thanks again. – Hulagirl Dec 11 '20 at 15:26
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We found a "Bitstamp" client ID in her notebook but the "Temp password" which i cant really read wont give us access.....Also see an entry "Bitcoin wallet" which goes to her yahoo account which we dont have a password for,,,Tried all her usual passwords..... – Hulagirl Dec 12 '20 at 22:00
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UPDATE...I found a "bitcoin wallet" address in her ledger and signed in...BINGO...If I understand it correctly I need to sell on another site like COINBASE to sell it and move the cash to my bank? – Hulagirl Dec 12 '20 at 22:23
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@Hulagirl, there's some other questions here about best way to exchange Bitcoin for dollars (or other currencies). But yes one way is through Coinbase. – RedGrittyBrick Dec 12 '20 at 22:51