Bitcoin is one of the better cryptocurrencies out there. When you have access to your wallet, there is nothing to worry about, but when you happen to lose your bitcoin wallet keys, what do you do?

This is a question that many are asking, especially those who have wallets that they left idle before the bitcoin boom. There are many who have a few fractions of bitcoin that are now worth tens of thousands of dollars, which they are now keen to cash in, but can’t access their wallets as they have lost or forgotten the wallet keys. 

Why does losing wallet keys stop you accessing your bitcoin?

Bitcoin uses cryptography in order to carry out transactions. The cryptography systems uses to keys to authenticate messages &#; a public key and a private key. 

The Public Key and The Private Key

The public key is a key that is used to identify the sender or recipient of a bitcoin transaction. These are not private and can be shared with others. The private key is, as it says, a secret code that should never be shared with anyone else. When it is used in tandem with the public key, it creates a message signature that cannot be forged. 

The private key for bitcoin is an integer (whole number) between one and  

If I forget my bitcoin wallet keys, what happens?

Keeping the Bitcoin network secure is the reason that private and public keys play such a vital role, especially with the network being as big as it is. Private keys are, for the most part, encrypted, and because they should be kept secret, if you forget your wallet keys, there is only one way that your private key can be deciphered. A password. This password is set up during the encryption process when you get your private key.

Transactions are basically messages that the private key is used as a signature on to authorize them. This helps to prevent forgery. Transactions are impossible to fake if the correct private key isn’t being used. Wallet software generates a digital signature when carrying out transactions by mathematically processing the transaction with the right private key. 

Message Tampering

Unlike a signature on a cheque, a transaction signature changes if a transaction changes, no matter how slight the change might be. These changes are unpredictable, so only the person who has the private key can give the correct signature. 

So is my bitcoin lost forever?

If you have forgotten the wallet keys to your bitcoin account, then you lose all access to your bitcoin. They bitcoin doesn’t go anywhere, but there is a potential risk that your bitcoin could be stolen, especially if you haven’t kept your private key or password secret. The private key should also be one that cannot be easily guessed by other people. 

A lot of software wallets support sweeping. Sweeping is the process that ends up creating a new transaction by paying one of the software wallet’s existing addresses. This also means that you should be careful as to which addresses you have registered to your software wallet. 

The best way to stop you from losing your wallet keys is to create a backup of your Bitcoin wallet. 

If all else fails, you can also approach your company to use their recovery process, if one exists.

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