<p>You could be dealing with a format from a Blockchain.com wallet. The Base64 string you're referencing, around 3000 characters in length, is a reasonable length for a wallet backup, which would contain multiple keys and transaction metadata</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-25T00:26:07.193Z
2024-10-25T00:26:07.193Z
cryptorecovery.io
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>Some years ago (2017) I must have found a way to 'serialise' my wallet, because I stored the following in my password manager:</p>
<ul>
<li>Name: &quot;Bitcoin wallet&quot;</li>
<li>Password: (typical generated password)</li>
<li>Generation seed: (<a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BIP39 mnemonic</a>)</li>
<li>Receiving address: (typical bitcoin address)</li>
<li>Notes: (looks like base64 data, about 3000 characters in length)</li>
</ul>
<p>I vaguely remember having the Bitcoin-Qt client installed.</p>
<h2>Question</h2>
<p>What method did I use to serialise (or export, or back-up) my wallet in 2017?</p>
<h2>Extra information</h2>
<p>What I tried so far:</p>
<ul>
<li>Copied the data to text file</li>
<li>Ran bitcoin-cli importwallet &quot;/path/to/file.txt&quot; (via Bitcoin-Qt's console). Got the error &quot;Only legacy wallets are supported by this command (code -4)&quot;.</li>
<li>Decoded the text file using <code>cat /path/to/file.txt &gt; base64 -d &gt; /path/to/file.dat</code> and ran bitcoin-cli importwallet &quot;/path/to/file.dat&quot;. Got the error &quot;Only legacy wallets are supported by this command (code -4)&quot;.</li>
<li>In Bitcoin-Qt selected File, Restore Wallet..., and selected the .dat file. Got &quot;Wallet file verification failed. Failed to load database path '~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/Test'. Data is not in recognized format.&quot;</li>
<li>Ran <code>file /path/to/file.dat</code> and got <code>file.dat: data</code> (I was hoping it would be identified as Berkeley DB, since I read <a href="https://bitcoin-doc.io/blog/bitcoin-wallet-dat-file/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> that wallet.dat files are BerkeleyDB database files).</li>
<li>Checked the links in the answer to <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/2476/what-is-the-wallet-export-format">this question about the 'wallet export' format</a>, but it looks like that is just a way to encode a private key, which would not result in the kind of data I have stored in my password manager.</li>
</ul>
<p>What I did not do yet:</p>
<ul>
<li>Install the version of Bitcoin-Qt current in 2017, and attempt to restore the .dat file.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-14T12:15:04.710Z
Does your "generation seed" use only words from [the BIP 39 list](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt) ?
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-14T12:51:51.803Z
Bitcoin Core has never had support for mnemonic seed phrases which likely indicates that this is not a Bitcoin Core wallet that you are trying to recover.
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-14T19:09:30.167Z
@Murch Thanks for sharing that information. I was using OS X at the time, I thought I used Bitcoin Core, but I'll look at some other contemporary clients to see if they look familiar.
Michiel van Oosterhout
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-14T19:16:03.593Z
@RedGrittyBrick Yes, thank you for asking! I've updated my question, and I'll look into what that is exactly.
Michiel van Oosterhout
<wallet-recovery>
What format is this wallet stored in?
Michiel van Oosterhout
# What format is this wallet stored in?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-06-14)

## Background

Some years ago (2017) I must have found a way to 'serialise' my wallet, because I stored the following in my password manager:

* Name: "Bitcoin wallet"
* Password: (typical generated password)
* Generation seed: ([BIP39 mnemonic](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki))
* Receiving address: (typical bitcoin address)
* Notes: (looks like base64 data, about 3000 characters in length)

I vaguely remember having the Bitcoin-Qt client installed.

## Question

What method did I use to serialise (or export, or back-up) my wallet in 2017?

## Extra information

What I tried so far:

* Copied the data to text file
* Ran bitcoin-cli importwallet "/path/to/file.txt" (via Bitcoin-Qt's console). Got the error "Only legacy wallets are supported by this command (code -4)".
* Decoded the text file using `cat /path/to/file.txt > base64 -d > /path/to/file.dat` and ran bitcoin-cli importwallet "/path/to/file.dat". Got the error "Only legacy wallets are supported by this command (code -4)".
* In Bitcoin-Qt selected File, Restore Wallet..., and selected the .dat file. Got "Wallet file verification failed. Failed to load database path '~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/Test'. Data is not in recognized format."
* Ran `file /path/to/file.dat` and got `file.dat: data` (I was hoping it would be identified as Berkeley DB, since I read [here](https://bitcoin-doc.io/blog/bitcoin-wallet-dat-file/) that wallet.dat files are BerkeleyDB database files).
* Checked the links in the answer to [this question about the 'wallet export' format](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/2476/what-is-the-wallet-export-format), but it looks like that is just a way to encode a private key, which would not result in the kind of data I have stored in my password manager.

What I did not do yet:

* Install the version of Bitcoin-Qt current in 2017, and attempt to restore the .dat file.

**Tags:** wallet-recovery

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does your "generation seed" use only words from [the BIP 39 list](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt) ?  
> **username_2**: Bitcoin Core has never had support for mnemonic seed phrases which likely indicates that this is not a Bitcoin Core wallet that you are trying to recover.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thanks for sharing that information. I was using OS X at the time, I thought I used Bitcoin Core, but I'll look at some other contemporary clients to see if they look familiar.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Yes, thank you for asking! I've updated my question, and I'll look into what that is exactly.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-10-25. Score: 0

You could be dealing with a format from a Blockchain.com wallet. The Base64 string you're referencing, around 3000 characters in length, is a reasonable length for a wallet backup, which would contain multiple keys and transaction metadata


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