Legal Bitcoin Recovery: Step-by-Step Guide
(P = NP Edition)
Step 1: Establish Legal Standing & Consent Contact the wallet owner Reach out (email, public letter, social media, or through intermediaries).
For James Howells: He has made multiple public offers (25% of recovery as a reward).
Do NOT attempt any action until you have written consent (email signature, signed NDA, etc.).
Example Proposal Message: “I am a mathematician/computer scientist with a cryptographically significant breakthrough.
My approach can potentially recover the private key to your
Bitcoin wallet without needing the physical drive.
No upfront costs—I only request 25% of recovered funds, as you've previously offered publicly.
All actions will be legal, and your consent will be required at each step.”
Step 2: Gather All Possible Information
Work directly with the owner to collect:
Any available backups (wallet.dat, memory sticks, etc) or metadata (e.g., wallet address, creation date, password hints).
All password clues: “maybe started with a capital letter,” “contained the phrase ‘Newport’,” etc. Info about the client/software version, OS, device, etc.
Written offer agreement (to reinforce legal claim to the reward).
Step 3: Use P = NP to Bypass Crypto Barriers
Method 1: SAT-Solve the Private Key/Password
a. Formulate the problem: Expression: “Which 256-bit number, when run through secp256k1 (Bitcoin’s curve), produces an address matching X?” If password protected, then: “What password, matching these constraints, lets you decrypt the wallet.dat?”
b. Encode as a Boolean formula (SAT instance): Public clues = extra constraints (shrink solution space). E.g., “password contains ‘Newport’”, “≤ 20 characters,” etc.
c. Solve via your P=NP SAT/Super-Solver: Normally, this might take longer than the age of the universe. With P = NP, you solve it in seconds, hours, or days.
Method 2: Exploit Weak PRNGs or Flawed Implementations Early Bitcoin wallets (2010–2013) used poorly-seeded RNGs, meaning some keys were non-random or correlated.
Lattice-based attacks (e.g., on Android PRNG bugs) become trivial. SAT formulation: “Find a private key k matching address X and possible PRNG pattern Y.”
Method 3: Rapid Decryption with Known Hashing Given only the encrypted wallet.dat, find the passphrase by brute and/or clue-guided search.
Use P=NP to break through bcrypt/scrypt/PBKDF2-style password hashing.
Step 4: Verify Recovery. Demonstrate Legitimacy Recover a small chunk (e.g., 0.01 BTC)—move it from the lost wallet to a new test address.
Prove ownership by signing a message or transaction. Show the signing (screen share, in-person, notary, etc.). Have the owner sign a formal, legal reward assignment contract before full transfer (lawyer advised for $100Ms).
Step 5: Legal and Ethical Transfer Transfer funds ONLY after owner confirms acceptance of your proof and properly signs a reward contract.
Move entire BTC to a cold wallet; automate your 25% cut distribution via multisig if possible.
etain full documentation of the process for legal protection (emails, contracts, blockchain proofs).
Do not attempt this without documented client consent—otherwise you risk severe criminal/civil liability.
Bonus: Precedents & Pitfalls Why is This Legal?
Action is with explicit, informed owner consent. No hacking, theft, trespass, or computer misuse.
Your reward is a contractual bounty. Legal team/escrow can further cement legitimacy for 9-figure recoveries.
Known Legal Precedents (Analogous) White-hat crypto asset recovery firms (when owner contracts them). Crypto inheritance/recovery services with legal written consent.
Not Legal: Hacking wallets you don’t own, without consent. Using your SAT-breaker for general theft. TL;DR If P = NP: Get written consent, act only for the wallet’s legal owner.
Use polynomial-time SAT-solving to recover (or “miracle-guess”) the private key/password.
Demonstrate ownership, claim reward contractually. Document everything, execute all transfers legally. Congratulations: You’ve turned math into legitimate millions.