<p>If you purchased bitcoin in the past, there are likely only two ways you were storing it.</p>

<p>First, you may have been storing it on some web wallet, where the keys to use the bitcoin are managed for you.  If this is the case, you will likely have registered for the wallet with an email address.  If you think you know which email address this was, and you still have access to it, I recommend searching through your email history.  If the wallet company still exists (and hasn't lost/stolen your money), and you can prove your identity to them, then they could give you access to your bitcoin.</p>

<p>Second, you could have stored the bitcoin in your own wallet.  If this is the case, and you truly don't have your wallet file...you are out of luck.  You probably bought this bitcoin from some company, and again registered with an email, so it doesn't hurt to search for a record of your purchase.  However, if you took on the responsibility of holding onto your keys yourself, and you failed to do so, there is no way to retrieve your money.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-25T19:15:10.937Z
2017-05-25T19:15:10.937Z
Jestin
<h2>No government agency or other authority keeps track of cash you put  in the pocket of your old jeans or down the back of your sofa five years ago.</h2>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I was just hoping that maybe it would be listed under my name</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Just as there's no global registry of who currently owns every $5 bill and where they put it, there's no global registry of who owns every amount of Bitcoin. Like many other forms of cash, Bitcoin is anonymous.</p>
<p>If you can't remember where you put those 50 $100 bills you had five years ago, its unlikely random strangers on the other side of the planet would be able to tell you that you put it down the back of your uncle's piano.</p>
<p>Bitcoin is cash in your pocket not a bank account. There is no Bitcoin corporation. Bitcoin tries to be anonymous, the only public information just links amounts of money to secret numbers. You have to know that secret number to spend the money. The secret number is stored in a computer program called a wallet, either an app on a phone or a program on a PC or maybe in a website run by one of thousands of online businesses who look after money for people.</p>
<p>No international or national government agency or other organisation keeps track of your cash for you.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I'm trying to find out if I invested in bit coin years ago any ideas on how I would do that?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/53771/13866">Jestin's answer</a> covers that.</p>
<p>You need to find the original wallet, some e-mail correspondence with a bank-like business (exchange, trading platform, etc) or somewhere you wrote down the details like the secret number (private-key or seed-phrase/backup-phrase/recovery phrase) or somewhere you stored a backup file made by whichever wallet program you had used (there are many, all different).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-07T13:28:25.393Z
2020-10-07T13:33:56.953Z
2020-10-07T13:33:56.953Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>For whatever reason I remember investing in bitcoin when it first got started, unfortunately I don't have my old computer or old files anymore. If there is anything you could do to help that would be wonderful. Thank and have a great day.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-25T18:38:46.113Z
Given the information provided, what exactly do you expect anyone to do?  No service or program was listed, you don't have any files at all, don't mention any paper backups.  Is there *anything* at all that you do have?
abelenky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-26T02:20:43.577Z
I'm going to look through all my old files I was just hoping that maybe it would be listed under my name I will continue looking thank you for your info ill get back to you thanks
Justin Carlson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-24T13:13:21.867Z
Related: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/103688/i-have-lost-my-wallet-what-can-i-do
Murch
<wallet-recovery><lost-bitcoins><lost-wallet>
I'm trying to find out if I invested in bitcoin years ago, how can I find my bitcoin?
Justin Carlson
# I'm trying to find out if I invested in bitcoin years ago, how can I find my bitcoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-25)

For whatever reason I remember investing in bitcoin when it first got started, unfortunately I don't have my old computer or old files anymore. If there is anything you could do to help that would be wonderful. Thank and have a great day.

**Tags:** wallet-recovery, lost-bitcoins, lost-wallet

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Given the information provided, what exactly do you expect anyone to do?  No service or program was listed, you don't have any files at all, don't mention any paper backups.  Is there *anything* at all that you do have?  
> **username_0**: I'm going to look through all my old files I was just hoping that maybe it would be listed under my name I will continue looking thank you for your info ill get back to you thanks  
> **username_2**: Related: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/103688/i-have-lost-my-wallet-what-can-i-do  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-05-25. Score: 4

If you purchased bitcoin in the past, there are likely only two ways you were storing it.

First, you may have been storing it on some web wallet, where the keys to use the bitcoin are managed for you. If this is the case, you will likely have registered for the wallet with an email address. If you think you know which email address this was, and you still have access to it, I recommend searching through your email history. If the wallet company still exists (and hasn't lost/stolen your money), and you can prove your identity to them, then they could give you access to your bitcoin.

Second, you could have stored the bitcoin in your own wallet. If this is the case, and you truly don't have your wallet file...you are out of luck. You probably bought this bitcoin from some company, and again registered with an email, so it doesn't hurt to search for a record of your purchase. However, if you took on the responsibility of holding onto your keys yourself, and you failed to do so, there is no way to retrieve your money.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2020-10-07. Score: 3

## No government agency or other authority keeps track of cash you put in the pocket of your old jeans or down the back of your sofa five years ago.

> **I was just hoping that maybe it would be listed under my name**

Just as there's no global registry of who currently owns every $5 bill and where they put it, there's no global registry of who owns every amount of Bitcoin. Like many other forms of cash, Bitcoin is anonymous.

If you can't remember where you put those 50 $100 bills you had five years ago, its unlikely random strangers on the other side of the planet would be able to tell you that you put it down the back of your uncle's piano.

Bitcoin is cash in your pocket not a bank account. There is no Bitcoin corporation. Bitcoin tries to be anonymous, the only public information just links amounts of money to secret numbers. You have to know that secret number to spend the money. The secret number is stored in a computer program called a wallet, either an app on a phone or a program on a PC or maybe in a website run by one of thousands of online businesses who look after money for people.

No international or national government agency or other organisation keeps track of your cash for you.

---

> **I'm trying to find out if I invested in bit coin years ago any ideas on how I would do that?**

[username_3's answer](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/53771/13866) covers that.

You need to find the original wallet, some e-mail correspondence with a bank-like business (exchange, trading platform, etc) or somewhere you wrote down the details like the secret number (private-key or seed-phrase/backup-phrase/recovery phrase) or somewhere you stored a backup file made by whichever wallet program you had used (there are many, all different).


---

