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Just wondering how I could check to see if I own any bitcoins. How can you do this? I'm retired military and just returned from overseas contracting in Afghanistan. Thanks.
How do I know if I have ever registered a bitcoin account?
Answers
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There are a few different ways you can store bitcoins, there isn't just one place you can log in to and check your balance, like you may be used to with online banking. So if you don't remember having a specific wallet with coins stored in it, then you'll have to go on a bit of a hunt.
For example, there are desktop full node wallets (eg bitcoin core), litewallets (eg Bread, or Jaxx), paper wallets (a piece of paper with a keypair on it), hardware wallets (eg Trezor or Ledger), web wallets (eg blockchain.info), and 3rd party wallets/exchanges (eg Gemini, Binance). Each one of these is a different method for storing the cryptographic keypairs that are used to generate a bitcoin address, and interacting with the network. Each one will have different levels of security/ease of use, usually a user will select a method of storage based on their personal needs for security/usability.
If you don't remember specifically what sort of wallet you may have used, then try searching your computer for bitcoin-related files (eg search terms: wallet, bitcoin, btc, etc), as well as your email inbox. Search anywhere you think may hold a clue, such as old hard drives/backups, your internet browsing history, or your social media accounts.
Good luck!
1And, possibly old bank or credit card statements for BTC purchase transactions. – Willtech – 2018-02-08T21:03:52.240
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Bitcoin does not work in terms of accounts, just key pairs, usually created and stored by various types of bitcoin wallets. You can go and see if you can log into any of your past wallets if you had any. Other than that you can check your account on bitcoin exchanges you've used.
Did you ever have bitcoins? Do you have a wallet or bitcoin address? – Yitzchok – 2018-02-08T18:57:19.163
1I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because military and retirement has nothing to do with bitcoin, one might even think the opposite. And if it is unknown, wether bitcoin was ever used, then there is for sure no bitcoin, as bitcoins are not linked to names or definitions like "ex military". – pebwindkraft – 2018-02-13T08:33:39.490
Welcome to Bitcoin.SE! Your question statement is clear, however, it may be that some of the question detail is irrelevant. Servicepersons certainly have my respect, but this has nothing to do with Bitcoin. It would be helpful if you could edit your question to provide additional detail as to why you think that you may have had some Bitcoin and, remove any off-topic references. Thank you. – Willtech – 2018-02-14T09:30:46.593