<p>First, confirm that you did indeed receive a private key.  On Bitcoin mainnet, private keys are almost always distributed in a format that starts with either a K or an L (capitalized in either case) and are usually 52 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphanumeric" rel="nofollow noreferrer">alphanumeric</a> characters long.  Here's an example:</p>

<pre><code>L3SD2fM9hzVJyr4zxoHqXHDqHTVfQpbLuWDVm6b6W7PTCSYpkujd
</code></pre>

<p>If you instead received a code starting with a <code>1</code>, a <code>3</code>, or <code>bc1</code>, then what you received was an address.  If you received a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">hexadecimal</a> code that was 130 characters long and started with <code>04</code> or 66 characters long and starting with <code>02</code> or <code>03</code>, then what you received was a public key.  None of those are private keys, and there's no way to get the private key from an address or a public key.  Here are some examples of addresses and public keys:</p>

<pre><code>1GWLEdJRaMTQSe7NkPAfBCZaR1XdTz4dct
3DXNLK83EiMsseHTfGySGvDL64CKpRTf6G
bc1q4gtqryu6dhs4vzwqwp9fjxegc4rmxcx6shn3qs
03d8f40442a837693820c4ca35bff30036af4df79c5563375200313462086b6d31
</code></pre>

<p>If you have any other type of information, that's probably also not a private key and it may have nothing specific to do with Bitcoin.</p>

<p>If you do indeed have a private key, you can import it into most Bitcoin wallets.  See the documentation for your specific wallet for instructions (if you can't find the documentation for importing private keys, feel free to ask a separate question).</p>

<p>You don't need any special information to "unlock a private key".  In addition, the normal way to receive mining profits is by a normal Bitcoin payment to one of your addresses; I've never before heard of any mining pool paying profits by distributing private keys as that has all the same costs plus a large additional security risk.  It seems likely to me that the person you're communicating with is attempting to steal money from you, so be careful in your dealings with them.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-17T11:39:40.190Z
2018-05-17T11:39:40.190Z
David A. Harding
<p>If you have the private key you do not need to pay to unlock it.</p>

<p>First you need a wallet and then you need to import the private key.</p>

<p>You can see my previous answer <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/73522/75001">here</a> for some information on choosing a wallet.</p>

<p>Importing the private key will be a different procedure depending on what wallet you choose.</p>

<p>For example, importang a private key in Electrum for an address starting with 3 is <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/73172/i-need-to-import-a-private-key-what-is-the-entire-process-electrum?s=2|60.6128">here</a> (not the key, the address that the key makes) - it is slightly different if the address where the payment was sent is starting with either a 1 or bc1. If you do not know which address is correct you can import the private key multiple times. You can ask an additional question if you need to, it may have already been answered if you <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/search?q=">search</a>.</p>

<p>But, the private key may not be a raw private key and may already be formatted for the address type.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-06T12:35:43.020Z
2018-04-06T12:35:43.020Z
Willtech
<p>I received Some mining profits to my Blockchain. However the person who sent them to me send them to me with a private key. They then wanted me to send them money to unlock the private key. Does anyone know of a way that I can get that private key unlocked so I can recoup my profits from them without paying them to do so?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-06T12:29:57.593Z
You are almost definitely being scammed. Private keys do not need unlocking. They are either lying about what they sent to you, or are just plain trying to scam you
Raghav Sood
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-06T15:38:40.273Z
Thank You that is what i believed as well.  I have not a d will not give them money.  It shows up in my block chain as watch only.
J posh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-07T16:07:06.717Z
Agreed, sounds like a scam to me! Do not send any more money to them
chytrik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-10T23:30:07.263Z
Possible duplicate of [I need to recover private key?,](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/84215/i-need-to-recover-private-key)
chytrik
<private-key><mining-profitability><private-key-import>
Unlocking a Private Key from watch status
J posh
# Unlocking a Private Key from watch status

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-06)

I received Some mining profits to my Blockchain. However the person who sent them to me send them to me with a private key. They then wanted me to send them money to unlock the private key. Does anyone know of a way that I can get that private key unlocked so I can recoup my profits from them without paying them to do so?

**Tags:** private-key, mining-profitability, private-key-import

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You are almost definitely being scammed. Private keys do not need unlocking. They are either lying about what they sent to you, or are just plain trying to scam you  
> **username_0**: Thank You that is what i believed as well.  I have not a d will not give them money.  It shows up in my block chain as watch only.  
> **username_2**: Agreed, sounds like a scam to me! Do not send any more money to them  
> **username_2**: Possible duplicate of [I need to recover private key?,](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/84215/i-need-to-recover-private-key)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-05-17. Score: 2

First, confirm that you did indeed receive a private key. On Bitcoin mainnet, private keys are almost always distributed in a format that starts with either a K or an L (capitalized in either case) and are usually 52 [alphanumeric](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphanumeric) characters long. Here's an example:

```
L3SD2fM9hzVJyr4zxoHqXHDqHTVfQpbLuWDVm6b6W7PTCSYpkujd

```

If you instead received a code starting with a `1`, a `3`, or `bc1`, then what you received was an address. If you received a [hexadecimal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal) code that was 130 characters long and started with `04` or 66 characters long and starting with `02` or `03`, then what you received was a public key. None of those are private keys, and there's no way to get the private key from an address or a public key. Here are some examples of addresses and public keys:

```
1GWLEdJRaMTQSe7NkPAfBCZaR1XdTz4dct
3DXNLK83EiMsseHTfGySGvDL64CKpRTf6G
bc1q4gtqryu6dhs4vzwqwp9fjxegc4rmxcx6shn3qs
03d8f40442a837693820c4ca35bff30036af4df79c5563375200313462086b6d31

```

If you have any other type of information, that's probably also not a private key and it may have nothing specific to do with Bitcoin.

If you do indeed have a private key, you can import it into most Bitcoin wallets. See the documentation for your specific wallet for instructions (if you can't find the documentation for importing private keys, feel free to ask a separate question).

You don't need any special information to "unlock a private key". In addition, the normal way to receive mining profits is by a normal Bitcoin payment to one of your addresses; I've never before heard of any mining pool paying profits by distributing private keys as that has all the same costs plus a large additional security risk. It seems likely to me that the person you're communicating with is attempting to steal money from you, so be careful in your dealings with them.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-04-06. Score: 0

If you have the private key you do not need to pay to unlock it.

First you need a wallet and then you need to import the private key.

You can see my previous answer [here](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/73522/75001) for some information on choosing a wallet.

Importing the private key will be a different procedure depending on what wallet you choose.

For example, importang a private key in Electrum for an address starting with 3 is [here](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/73172/i-need-to-import-a-private-key-what-is-the-entire-process-electrum?s=2|60.6128) (not the key, the address that the key makes) - it is slightly different if the address where the payment was sent is starting with either a 1 or bc1. If you do not know which address is correct you can import the private key multiple times. You can ask an additional question if you need to, it may have already been answered if you [search](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/search?q=).

But, the private key may not be a raw private key and may already be formatted for the address type.


---

