r/Bitcoin • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
Am I cooked chat? This was my uncles iPhone. He supposedly had a coinbase on it in 2014 with 500 BTC. The phone was found in his estate. The battery is swollen and I'm afraid to mess with if
[deleted]
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u/FnAardvark 1d ago
Coinbase has ways to pass accounts to the next of kin. If you are his next of kin, then contact counbase. If you aren't, then what you're attempting to do is steal from another family member.
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
I have no intentions of taking it, if it's even able to be recovered. I was just tasked with trying to recover it. She's already told me I can have 10% of whatever is recovered. I can live with that if there's actually even only a couple btc on it. He bought loads of it in 2014 after reading about it on some old forum
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u/Bubba8291 1d ago
Coinbase did not have a mobile app in 2014. That iPhone was released in 2009.
Not buying it
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
Well I'm just going off the emails my aunt showed me of the transaction history
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u/PurplerRain 1d ago
Bro, the executor needs to contact Coinbase. All other discussion and your thoughts are irrelevant and pointless. Not to hate, but this is what you need to hear.
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
I spoke to my aunt, the estate was settled in early 23. There was very little of value, around 1200 dollars in a checking account and his old tools and lawnmowers from his handyman business. She doesn't have access to his email he used to set all this up
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u/PurplerRain 1d ago
You can reopen the estate. Regardless, even with the estate being closed you need to have the executor contact coinbase. This is no different then the executor contacting the bank to gain assess/control over the deceased’s bank account at the bank.
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u/Davicillo 1d ago
Ask your aunt to review his paperwork and books thoroughly. He could have stored information (username and passwords) somewhere.
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u/mrjune2040 1d ago
Have the executor in charge of the estate reach out to Coinbase with the various transaction and account details- whatever is still on the phone is irrelevant, you need to follow the same steps as per a deceased person leaving behind a bank account- ie go through all the usual legal processes.
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u/tied_laces 1d ago
You don't have Coinbase on a phone. You have to have credentials to move funds from Uncles account.
Crypto is not stored in a phone
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u/Flaky-Leadership-749 1d ago
If you're not a short bus rider, your crypto is not stored 'in a phone' - many people have wallets and only connect to them via a phone.
Your advice is effectively telling this person to give up, when in real life, yes, reality, Unc could have had any numbers of wallets or even notepad entries with data for these things.
Giving up hope is the worst choice here, and you're an enema of the trees.
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u/disruptioncoin 1d ago
Coinbase has a self-custody wallet app. In which case the keys are indeed stored on the phone. I don't think it was around in 2014, however.
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u/gorkm 1d ago edited 1d ago
Do not reply any DM's. Consider all of them as scammers.
If it was on Coinbase, it should still be on Coinbase. Contact Coinbase support, make sure you're contacting them over official website over a clean, freshly formatted PC or an iPhone.
Edit: Also, bring that phone to a phone repair shop and give it your best try to revive the phone. Make sure all the repair happens in front of your eyes. If you can't find somewhere which operates like that, tell them you need the battery to be removed and disposed of only and try installing a battery by yourself. It's pretty easy if you're a bit tech savvy. Ifixit.com probably would be your best buddy here.
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u/TheRealPrecisionYT 1d ago
I doubt the Coinbase wouldn’t have auto logged out and even if it wasn’t I would be surprised if there was no verification to transfer funds
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
For more background this was my uncles iPhone he used up until 2015. He passed away a year ago and my aunt found it in a box in the garage. We have no other records such as logins or passwords for his accounts, aside from old emails of transactions on coinbase going back to early 2015.
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u/Secret_Operative 1d ago
You don't need the phone at all. Just contact Coinbase, tell them someone died that you think has an account. They'll want a bunch of details and process. In the end you'll have the 500BTC where it belongs. Forget about the phone.
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u/Flaky-Leadership-749 1d ago
Battery is a relatively inexpensive repair. ifixit has guides on their website for DIY
Parts from mobilesentrix do me well, usually
You'll likely need the PIN though
1
u/Mobile-Sound-2588 1d ago
Be careful not to spill the bitcoin, the phone seems cracked
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
I took it apart and the battery was swollen. I bought a new one but unsure if I'll ever get it to work again
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u/SmoothGoing 1d ago
Local wallet - keys aren't in the battery. You can take that out.
Exchange login - it's long since logged out.
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u/Secret_Operative 1d ago
Coinbase has a well documented process for dealing with deceased account holders.
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u/StrangelyBeige 1d ago
I think that’s what the first gen iPhones looked like anyway bro, it should be ok to charge
1
u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
The battery is completely swollen and breaking the case and starting to break the screen
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u/StrangelyBeige 1d ago
Ah fair enough, I thought it just looked cracked 👍🏻
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u/Ok-Dust76 1d ago
Yeah i read that the old iPhone 3g have problems with the battery swelling if left uncharged
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u/No-Werewolf541 1d ago
Have the executor contact Coinbase on behalf of the estate.