Anthropic's Claude AI recovers 5 Bitcoin from 11-year locked wallet
Claude cracked a wallet that stumped commercial services for over a decade, recovering $400k.
Anthropic's Claude AI achieved a stunning cryptocurrency recovery: a user (cprkrn) lost access to a Bitcoin wallet containing 5 BTC for over 11 years. After failing with commercial recovery services (at $250 per attempt), they uploaded old college computer files to Claude. The AI identified an encrypted wallet file and, using the open-source tool btcrecover, discovered that the decryption logic incorrectly concatenated a shared-key value with the user password. By correcting that logic, private keys were decoded on the first try, converting them into wallet import format to recover the funds. A mnemonic phrase found weeks earlier also helped.
The story went viral on X, surpassing 1 million views within hours. Crypto journalist Laura Shin and Base founder Jesse Pollak praised the result; venture capitalist Nic Carter called it "unbelievable." The case highlights the potential for AI to unlock billions in dormant crypto—Glassnode data shows ~1/3 of Bitcoin supply hasn't moved in years. While success depends on salvageable old files and clues, the method offers hope to holders. cprkrn advises checking all old devices before giving up. This showcases Claude's practical value beyond standard LLM tasks, blending file analysis, code logic review, and recovery guidance.
- Recovered 5 BTC (~$400k) from a wallet locked for 11 years using Anthropic's Claude AI.
- Claude found an encrypted wallet file in old college data and corrected btcrecover's decryption logic.
- User had paid $250 per failed attempt with commercial services before trying AI.
Why It Matters
AI can now recover long-lost crypto assets, potentially unlocking billions in dormant wallets globally.