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+--- Thread: 1 Year Trying to Crack My 2013 Bitcoin Wallet — Need Expert Advice (/thread-13600.html)
1 Year Trying to Crack My 2013 Bitcoin Wallet — Need Expert Advice - hsc_learner - 04-29-2026
Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some guidance from those with experience in password recovery/cracking.
For nearly a year, I’ve been trying to recover access to an old Bitcoin wallet (wallet.dat from 2013). I extracted the hash and have been attempting to crack it using an RTX 3060, but haven’t had any success so far.
Recently, I discovered Vast.ai and was able to run jobs on more powerful GPUs (including an RTX 5090). I was hopeful this would make a difference, but unfortunately, I still haven’t had any luck.
So far, I’ve tried:
- Variations of old passwords I may have used
- Brute force with numeric ranges (0–10 digits)
- Short brute-force masks (1–5 characters, all character sets)
- Large wordlists (including weakpass and similar sources)
At this point, I’m considering expanding brute-force attempts to longer character lengths, but I’m concerned about cost vs. benefit.
I’d really appreciate advice on:
- The most efficient GPU(s) for this type of workload
- Cost-effective strategies (especially when using rented compute like Vast.ai)
- Smarter approaches beyond pure brute force (mask strategies, rule-based attacks, etc.)
Any tips or insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!