The cryptocurrency world sounds so safe given the fact that we are dealing with the internet (rolls eyes), but as they say, there is nothing perfect. Digital currencies are also faced with challenges that the user needs to take precautions and be ever alert. The level of carefulness does not rule out unfortunate incidents from happening, things like losing your digital currency wallet is a reality, but a very rare occurrence. But just in case it happens to you, there are several procedures that you can follow which will depend on how the wallet disappeared.
Major digital currencies including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and the Popular coin will always emphasize the importance of you securing your wallet file. This is because, in a real sense, there are instances that make the lost file a gone case, especially if you did not have any backup. But then, in case of any problem with your digital currency transactions, you need to get answers for from your service provider. The good thing is that you will never face a case that is so new in the world of cryptocurrency, there are reviews all over on the issues like this from people who experienced such that you will find useful.
You are obviously going to use an endorsed wallet for any given coin including the Popular coin. Remember, we have stated that the loss of a wallet file might be an accident; there is no need to punish yourself unless you are sure you were careless about it.
Here are the several ways one can lose their wallet file:
- Forgetting your backup seed of where you stored your purchased or transacted digital coins. For those using phones, this is the most common way of losing your wallet when the phone gets lost, or it resets its factory settings.
- Hacking, this is a famous problem with everything that can be accessed through the internet. Hackers have several means of making you fall into their trap like sending you emails, tweets, or messages posing as your dealers and asking you to update your account. Once you oblige, they will be standby ready to get your information, and that is how you will find yourself back to the starting point. Apart from that, they also have other ways of tricking you into sending money to the wrong wallet or asking for help from you in pretense.
- When moving, you can lose your wallet file if your hard copy backup gets misplaced the same time your computer lost the encrypted wallet. Also, when you are formatting the pc you might reset it hence losing all the data including your wallet file.
It is so heartbreaking to lose something you have been so enthusiastic in, sometimes files in the computer are destroyed by single mistaken click.
What to do when you find out that you have lost your wallet file
- Go to your back up seed; if you were lucky enough to have used a backup seed in encrypting your wallet, you could easily access the lost file.
- Find a recovery service company most of whom are readily available on the internet; they specialize in recovering your wallet password for a fee which varies with the service provider. However, note that such a service will only be useful if you are dealing with a lost or forgotten password or seed. Be careful not to fall for scams here that might end up getting through your account and disappearing with it all together.
- There is also an individual software architect who hacks cryptocurrency passwords with your permission using brute force decryption. If you miss out on a trustworthy company, you can get yourself an individual with a distinguished background services. I have also heard about commercial software for recovering deleted wallets, but there is no evidence of how it works. Ensure that the person has a website that you can prove he does a good job. There are apparently so many blockchain wallet recovery services out there; all you have to do is look for an affordable one.
- Search for reviews on cryptocurrency sites, here, you will get experiences from people who might have gone through the same misfortune, and you will know whether you can retrieve your wallet or not.
- In case you lost your wallet through a broken hard disk, it can be easily retrieved through forensic techniques, but as you guessed it right, this is a very expensive method.
The most important thing to know in trying to recover your lost wallet file is that there is a possibility of it not working out at the end of the process. It is worse when you can’t remember your password as it could take an eternity for the experts to try and crack into the system. Remembering the password gives you hope as the brute force can check into it. There is also an option of forgetting the lost wallet and starting the coins collection afresh.
Measures to prevent wallet file loss
- Do not keep more currency than you need in one file mainly if you use that data frequently. Keeping several copies of the wallet will improve your chances of remaining with something in case one gets lost
- Back up your wallet file with encryption and private keys only familiar to you. You can use CDs and keep the records in a fireproof safe. Thumb drives also come in handy as they increase your chances of having a hard drive storage income the online one goes missing.
- Apply the Security recommended including the Google authenticator which gives you layers of protection.
- Keep your computer up to date so that you won’t be in a rush to update it someday and flash out our wallet file by mistake.
- Download safe files, as I said, dealers like those of Popular coin will always avail adequate information to their users. Make great use of this advice.
In conclusion, losing your wallet file is an accident that can happen, getting it back involves some risks and choices that will cost you a considerate amount. If you didn’t have many coins in the wallet, you could just start afresh with a more secure wallet. The baseline is, back up your wallets to avoid this kind of stress.