<p>Here's one way I found.</p>

<p>Get <code>pywallet</code> (<a href="https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet</a>) and run</p>

<pre><code>python pywallet.py --dumpwallet --wallet=/foo/bar/wallet.dat
</code></pre>

<p>Look in the output for a field called <code>names</code>.  This will contain a list of addresses in the coin's own format, and by looking at the first character you can try to identify the coin by its version byte.  See <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_address_prefixes" rel="nofollow">here</a> for a list of some common ones.  For example, <code>1</code> is Bitcoin, <code>L</code> is Litecoin, etc.</p>

<p>Note that you will see a number of other fields named <code>defaultkey</code>, <code>addr</code>, etc.  These will appear to be in Bitcoin address format (starting with <code>1</code>), <em>no matter what the actual coin is</em>.  The reason is that for these keys, the <code>wallet.dat</code> file only contains the private key, and <code>pywallet</code> has to do the conversion to the public key and address.  In  particular, <code>pywallet</code> has to fill in the version byte, and it always picks the Bitcoin version byte unless told otherwise on the command line.  So you always get a Bitcoin-style address in these fields, so for purposes of identifying the coin, you should ignore them.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-10T10:36:07.890Z
i write a similar but much simpler script: https://gist.github.com/nlitsme/b3102191c2dc14c587e7. and look for 'name'  in the output
Willem Hengeveld
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T17:30:56.763Z
2014-05-13T17:30:56.763Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>look at the 'name' field mentioned by nate, here is a list of what addresses of several alt coins look like:</p>

<pre><code>example address                   version   coin
17DxjJ9Uf3nqMPAtcBMcs2wUdoUBnJit1V  00  bitcoin
9ZKdQaQXZqXEXV6i7zMK3fezrPszj9zErr  15  catcoin
XguoZYoNcm1RWKmUU4fqiZdGU93skcxKkn  4c  darkcoin
DBN4GZ67xTh7tPMVLmMBQo75WwCV7ppTgD  1e  dogecoin
LRSuzWTJji2tcBs3nKLv941Er1qTq9jMnW  30  litecoin
4KvncAXnLVVqtrHaoY2Ak37mfqXjPDzfCP  08  novacoin
PEp8tGYKhyH2LDqexFg9XvukFYe4ty6DMu  37  ppcoin
AMzqNo16zCSzAMNtAq1x1vCa7QPt8metCh  17  primecoin
mmjv2METU5E68VeWKkKzgx9oVo4thkSw5x  6f  btccoin testnet
mmjv2METU5E68VeWKkKzgx9oVo4thkSw5x  6f  litecoin testnet
</code></pre>

<p><code>version</code> is the version byte prepended to the hash before base58 encoding it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-10T11:17:19.877Z
2014-07-10T11:17:19.877Z
Willem Hengeveld
<p>That is not possible because just looking at the file you can't say whats in there until you have saved these wallet.dat files in different folders second thing is you cannot read content of a .dat file. So its not possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T04:02:05.077Z
I don't understand this answer. What does saving files in folders have to do with anything? And of course you can read the content of wallet.dat given the right tools to interpret it. It's just a question of whether and how that content contains the information you want.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T15:05:57.880Z
A .da file cannot be read by a human that I know for sure, if you are familiar with a program which can do that please let me know
Khan Shahrukh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-13T17:11:33.757Z
https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet for example.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-12T23:16:23.507Z
2014-01-12T23:16:23.507Z
Khan Shahrukh
<p>I have a number of wallets. Is it possible to detect the type of (alternative) coin it contains?</p>

<alternatives><wallet.dat>
How to determine what type of coins a wallet.dat contains?
Sammy
# How to determine what type of coins a wallet.dat contains?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-30)

I have a number of wallets. Is it possible to detect the type of (alternative) coin it contains?

**Tags:** alternatives, wallet.dat


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-05-13. Score: 4

Here's one way I found.

Get `pywallet` (<https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet>) and run

```
python pywallet.py --dumpwallet --wallet=/foo/bar/wallet.dat

```

Look in the output for a field called `names`. This will contain a list of addresses in the coin's own format, and by looking at the first character you can try to identify the coin by its version byte. See [here](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_address_prefixes) for a list of some common ones. For example, `1` is Bitcoin, `L` is Litecoin, etc.

Note that you will see a number of other fields named `defaultkey`, `addr`, etc. These will appear to be in Bitcoin address format (starting with `1`), *no matter what the actual coin is*. The reason is that for these keys, the `wallet.dat` file only contains the private key, and `pywallet` has to do the conversion to the public key and address. In particular, `pywallet` has to fill in the version byte, and it always picks the Bitcoin version byte unless told otherwise on the command line. So you always get a Bitcoin-style address in these fields, so for purposes of identifying the coin, you should ignore them.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: i write a similar but much simpler script: https://gist.github.com/nlitsme/b3102191c2dc14c587e7. and look for 'name'  in the output  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-07-10. Score: 1

look at the 'name' field mentioned by username_1, here is a list of what addresses of several alt coins look like:

```
example address                   version   coin
17DxjJ9Uf3nqMPAtcBMcs2wUdoUBnJit1V  00  bitcoin
9ZKdQaQXZqXEXV6i7zMK3fezrPszj9zErr  15  catcoin
XguoZYoNcm1RWKmUU4fqiZdGU93skcxKkn  4c  darkcoin
DBN4GZ67xTh7tPMVLmMBQo75WwCV7ppTgD  1e  dogecoin
LRSuzWTJji2tcBs3nKLv941Er1qTq9jMnW  30  litecoin
4KvncAXnLVVqtrHaoY2Ak37mfqXjPDzfCP  08  novacoin
PEp8tGYKhyH2LDqexFg9XvukFYe4ty6DMu  37  ppcoin
AMzqNo16zCSzAMNtAq1x1vCa7QPt8metCh  17  primecoin
mmjv2METU5E68VeWKkKzgx9oVo4thkSw5x  6f  btccoin testnet
mmjv2METU5E68VeWKkKzgx9oVo4thkSw5x  6f  litecoin testnet

```

`version` is the version byte prepended to the hash before base58 encoding it.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-01-12. Score: -4

That is not possible because just looking at the file you can't say whats in there until you have saved these wallet.dat files in different folders second thing is you cannot read content of a .dat file. So its not possible.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I don't understand this answer. What does saving files in folders have to do with anything? And of course you can read the content of wallet.dat given the right tools to interpret it. It's just a question of whether and how that content contains the information you want.  
> **username_3**: A .da file cannot be read by a human that I know for sure, if you are familiar with a program which can do that please let me know  
> **username_1**: https://github.com/jackjack-jj/pywallet for example.  

---

