<blockquote>
<p><strong>I think I found a bitcoin private key</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So far as I know, a private key is 64 characters long in Hexadecimal (a mix of digits 0-9 and letters A-F only) or 51 characters long in WIF/Base58 (which includes a mix of any uppercase and lowercase letters as well as digits). There's also a mini format that is 22 characters long.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>It's 33 letters long</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>That's likely to be an address. If it starts with a 1 or a 3 then it is almost certainly an address.</p>
<p>You can't recover control over money if you only know an address.</p>
<p>If you are sure you have an address and not a private key, you can safely enter the address into any <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=blockchain+explorer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">blockchain explorer</a> to see if there is unspent money at that address.</p>
<p>Obviously you should never enter a possible private key into any website.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>from 2013</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In late 2013 BIP39 was published - which defined seed-phrases (also called recovery phrases or backup phrases). These consist of a list of 12, 18 or 24 words from a standard list. If you have a set of such words you may be able to use it to recover control.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, at least one wallet, Electrum, had a different seed-phrase system earlier (maybe a year earlier). So if you find 12 random seeming words, you could try them in Electrum.</p>
<p>Many people startr in Bitcoin without finding out about custodial and non-custodial wallets. If you had an account with a custodial service, you might have old email that might help you recover access to money in and account with some business. However quite a few such businesses are no longer around.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-06T23:03:25.283Z
Thanks for the answer. It doesn't start with a 1 or 3. It's not a address. It doesn't have any numbers in it. It's all CAPS?
Bert
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-06T22:54:31.717Z
2021-02-06T23:07:32.113Z
2021-02-06T23:07:32.113Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I was searching through my email today and I think I found a bitcoin private key from 2013. I think it's a BTC private key because I bought 1 BTC that day. It's 33 letters long but I don't know the wallet it's too! Can someone help? Thanks</p>

<bitcoin-core><bitcoind><client>
Found old 'key' to bitcoin wallet but don't know which wallet?
Bert
# Found old 'key' to bitcoin wallet but don't know which wallet?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-06)

I was searching through my email today and I think I found a bitcoin private key from 2013. I think it's a BTC private key because I bought 1 BTC that day. It's 33 letters long but I don't know the wallet it's too! Can someone help? Thanks

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, bitcoind, client


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-06. Score: 1

> **I think I found a bitcoin private key**

So far as I know, a private key is 64 characters long in Hexadecimal (a mix of digits 0-9 and letters A-F only) or 51 characters long in WIF/Base58 (which includes a mix of any uppercase and lowercase letters as well as digits). There's also a mini format that is 22 characters long.

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> **It's 33 letters long**

That's likely to be an address. If it starts with a 1 or a 3 then it is almost certainly an address.

You can't recover control over money if you only know an address.

If you are sure you have an address and not a private key, you can safely enter the address into any [blockchain explorer](https://www.google.com/search?q=blockchain+explorer) to see if there is unspent money at that address.

Obviously you should never enter a possible private key into any website.

---

> **from 2013**

In late 2013 BIP39 was published - which defined seed-phrases (also called recovery phrases or backup phrases). These consist of a list of 12, 18 or 24 words from a standard list. If you have a set of such words you may be able to use it to recover control.

If I remember correctly, at least one wallet, Electrum, had a different seed-phrase system earlier (maybe a year earlier). So if you find 12 random seeming words, you could try them in Electrum.

Many people startr in Bitcoin without finding out about custodial and non-custodial wallets. If you had an account with a custodial service, you might have old email that might help you recover access to money in and account with some business. However quite a few such businesses are no longer around.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the answer. It doesn't start with a 1 or 3. It's not a address. It doesn't have any numbers in it. It's all CAPS?  

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