<blockquote>
<p><strong>There are a bunch of +'s and /'s.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>That strongly suggests it is data in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64#Base64_table" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Base64 encoding</a>. Note that, in this case encoding does not mean encryption, just a specific printable representation of binary data.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Does anyone have any idea what I could try to see if this is it?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It seems several different wallets might use Base64 encoding, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/cx3zd1/found_a_2014_file_on_my_computer_called_bitcoin/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Blockchain.info backup using AES encrypted JSON</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin-wallet/bitcoin-wallet/issues/367" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bitcoin Wallet for Android (Schildbach wallet)</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/13482/13866">Print wallet.dat with base64</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Of those, I'd guess the first is most likely. But that's just a guess. There are probably numerous other possibilities.</p>
<p>I think I'd try the Blockchain.info recovery process first then, if that didn't work, try decoding the file from Base64 into binary and using a hex editor to look for patterns that might give some clues to the software that produced it. If the file is encrypted using a wallet password this probably would not be fruitful.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-18T00:56:35.953Z
2021-03-18T01:03:32.650Z
2021-03-18T01:03:32.650Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>You can try this &quot;dirty&quot; trick to figure out what the data corresponds to type of wallet.</p>
<p>Get Python, john the ripper and hashcat.
put your text in a file called wallet.json</p>
<p>With the run tools in JTR try the following on the strings:</p>
<p>python bitcoin2john.py wallet.json &gt; bitcoinhash.txt
python blockchain2john.py wallet.json &gt; blockchainhash.txt
python electrum2john.py wallet.json &gt; electrumhash.txt</p>
<p>now with the hashes try your password with hashcat. if it accepts the hash and your password then you know which one it is.</p>
<p>for blockchain check if the wallet version is 1 or 2, they use different mode and if its v1 it will most likely fail to decrypt as both hashcat and btcrecover does not cover all v1 wallets correctly.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-27T05:05:25.450Z
2021-03-27T05:05:25.450Z
KeychainX
<p>Basically I made a purchase with bitcoins back in ~2014 and I remember that I had a little bit leftover. However all documentation I have is a file labelled wallet with a huge string of characters. But when I try and access it on any application I get the non base-58 character error. There are a bunch of +'s and /'s. Does anyone have any idea what I could try to see if this is it? Sorry for not having more advance knowledge.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-16T04:13:51.120Z
How are you trying to open this wallet? What software are you using? The wallet is likely not just a base58 string. It is probably binary data containing a lot of information including private keys and transactions. It needs to be opened by compatible software, preferably the one that created it.
Ava Chow
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-16T04:40:07.353Z
I've tried exodus, bitcoin wallet, blockchain explorer (to see if it were a public key), and bitaddress.org. I can keep trying other programs that were around in 2014. Do you think you could glean any info if I posted the code (with letters and numbers changed, but the format the same)?
Dirkson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-16T18:35:49.957Z
+ and / sounds like it is base64 encoding. No idea what it could be, though.
Pieter Wuille
<wallet-recovery><error><base58>
Keep getting non base-58 character error when trying to recover my old wallet. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this?
Dirkson
# Keep getting non base-58 character error when trying to recover my old wallet. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-16)

Basically I made a purchase with bitcoins back in ~2014 and I remember that I had a little bit leftover. However all documentation I have is a file labelled wallet with a huge string of characters. But when I try and access it on any application I get the non base-58 character error. There are a bunch of +'s and /'s. Does anyone have any idea what I could try to see if this is it? Sorry for not having more advance knowledge.

**Tags:** wallet-recovery, error, base58

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: How are you trying to open this wallet? What software are you using? The wallet is likely not just a base58 string. It is probably binary data containing a lot of information including private keys and transactions. It needs to be opened by compatible software, preferably the one that created it.  
> **username_0**: I've tried exodus, bitcoin wallet, blockchain explorer (to see if it were a public key), and bitaddress.org. I can keep trying other programs that were around in 2014. Do you think you could glean any info if I posted the code (with letters and numbers changed, but the format the same)?  
> **username_2**: + and / sounds like it is base64 encoding. No idea what it could be, though.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-03-18. Score: 1

> **There are a bunch of +'s and /'s.**

That strongly suggests it is data in [Base64 encoding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64#Base64_table). Note that, in this case encoding does not mean encryption, just a specific printable representation of binary data.

> **Does anyone have any idea what I could try to see if this is it?**

It seems several different wallets might use Base64 encoding, including:

* [Blockchain.info backup using AES encrypted JSON](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/cx3zd1/found_a_2014_file_on_my_computer_called_bitcoin/)
* [Bitcoin Wallet for Android (Schildbach wallet)](https://github.com/bitcoin-wallet/bitcoin-wallet/issues/367)
* [Print wallet.dat with base64](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/13482/13866)

Of those, I'd guess the first is most likely. But that's just a guess. There are probably numerous other possibilities.

I think I'd try the Blockchain.info recovery process first then, if that didn't work, try decoding the file from Base64 into binary and using a hex editor to look for patterns that might give some clues to the software that produced it. If the file is encrypted using a wallet password this probably would not be fruitful.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-03-27. Score: 0

You can try this "dirty" trick to figure out what the data corresponds to type of wallet.

Get Python, john the ripper and hashcat.
put your text in a file called wallet.json

With the run tools in JTR try the following on the strings:

python bitcoin2john.py wallet.json > bitcoinhash.txt
python blockchain2john.py wallet.json > blockchainhash.txt
python electrum2john.py wallet.json > electrumhash.txt

now with the hashes try your password with hashcat. if it accepts the hash and your password then you know which one it is.

for blockchain check if the wallet version is 1 or 2, they use different mode and if its v1 it will most likely fail to decrypt as both hashcat and btcrecover does not cover all v1 wallets correctly.


---

