<p>Without any additional information, it is tough to provide help. Bitcoin is a decentralized network, so there is no central authority that can do something like authenticate your identity and provide access to your coins again. Understand that if you lost your ability to access the coins, they are essentially unrecoverable.</p>

<p>Owning a bitcoin is equivalent to owning the private key that controls that bitcoin, (or in some cases, trusting a custodian to control that key for you). So you'll need to figure out what software or service you used to generate a receiving address (and thus, your private key). It is possible you used an online exchange and left the coins on your account, or that you used some web-wallet (eg blockchain.info), or that you stored the coins locally (eg. a paper wallet). I believe at the time of your purchase, there were very few options available for hardware or mobile wallets, but it may be worth considering these options as well.</p>

<p>I would try searching your hard drives, email inbox, financial history (bank / credit card records for that time), social media, browser history, notes, or anywhere else you may expect to find a trace of the transaction. Use keywords such as "bitcoin, address, blockchain, wallet, wallet.dat, exchange, btc, bit coin, etc", basically anything you can think of that may turn up a clue.</p>

<p>You can also search your physical space, it is possible to store bitcoin using a 'paper wallet' (a bitcoin keypair printed onto paper). You could also have a string of words written down (12, or 24 most likely), called a mnemonic seed phrase (this tech would have just been coming out at the time of your purchase iirc). If you find either of these things, <strong>DO NOT share the keypair / words with anyone!</strong> If you do, they'll have full access to your bitcoin, and can easily rob you.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-03T01:54:19.897Z
multibit hardware wallet was so popular at the time of purchase.
Tailer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-03T00:28:59.767Z
2018-07-03T00:28:59.767Z
chytrik
<p>I purchased one bitcoin back on 2/8/14 and now don't recall having any kind of account information.  I actually forgot about the purchase until recently.  My email address has not changed since I purchased the one bitcoin back in 2014.  Not sure how to access that one bitcoin in the event I would ever want to sell it or just know how to get to it.  Thanks for any guidance you can provide.  </p>

<lost-bitcoins><lost-wallet>
I own some bitcoin, but forgot how and where i stored them. How can I find my lost bitcoin?
carol castaneda
# I own some bitcoin, but forgot how and where i stored them. How can I find my lost bitcoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-02)

I purchased one bitcoin back on 2/8/14 and now don't recall having any kind of account information. I actually forgot about the purchase until recently. My email address has not changed since I purchased the one bitcoin back in 2014. Not sure how to access that one bitcoin in the event I would ever want to sell it or just know how to get to it. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

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


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-03. Score: 4

Without any additional information, it is tough to provide help. Bitcoin is a decentralized network, so there is no central authority that can do something like authenticate your identity and provide access to your coins again. Understand that if you lost your ability to access the coins, they are essentially unrecoverable.

Owning a bitcoin is equivalent to owning the private key that controls that bitcoin, (or in some cases, trusting a custodian to control that key for you). So you'll need to figure out what software or service you used to generate a receiving address (and thus, your private key). It is possible you used an online exchange and left the coins on your account, or that you used some web-wallet (eg blockchain.info), or that you stored the coins locally (eg. a paper wallet). I believe at the time of your purchase, there were very few options available for hardware or mobile wallets, but it may be worth considering these options as well.

I would try searching your hard drives, email inbox, financial history (bank / credit card records for that time), social media, browser history, notes, or anywhere else you may expect to find a trace of the transaction. Use keywords such as "bitcoin, address, blockchain, wallet, wallet.dat, exchange, btc, bit coin, etc", basically anything you can think of that may turn up a clue.

You can also search your physical space, it is possible to store bitcoin using a 'paper wallet' (a bitcoin keypair printed onto paper). You could also have a string of words written down (12, or 24 most likely), called a mnemonic seed phrase (this tech would have just been coming out at the time of your purchase iirc). If you find either of these things, **DO NOT share the keypair / words with anyone!** If you do, they'll have full access to your bitcoin, and can easily rob you.

Best of luck!

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: multibit hardware wallet was so popular at the time of purchase.  

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