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With the removal of the feature to import ages.json files to MultiBit in 5.18, are there any other ways to take my backup and access my bitcoins in the event BlockChain.info ever dies?

Edit: Just saw this question which partly answers my question, but I would still like to know if MultiBit is the only client that can read these files.

Thanks in advance for the help

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  • The code you need should all be at github.com/blockchain/My-Wallet. I don't know if anyone's made a tool besides MultiBit that can read it, but as long as people have that source available (you can make a copy of it if you like), someone will be able to either use that JS directly, or write an equivalent app that can convert encrypted aes.json files to unencrypted private keys for import anywhere.
    – Tim S.
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 20:42
  • So probably no. Ok, write that an an answer? There seems be a lack of good accepted answers here, gotta fix that :-) good to see its open source.
    – Drazisil
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 21:31

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Blockchain.info's wallet is based on the code at https://github.com/blockchain/My-Wallet. (no license is specified that I can see, but it seems apparent that they wish you to have the right to use it to own your keys) But let's take the worst-case view we can regarding this: Blockchain.info is suddenly offline, and their My-Wallet code with all of its forks on github are removed. You have a backup (encrypted or double-encrypted) and you wish to restore it.

pinheadmz has created an open source blockchain.info wallet decryption tool, based on a tool that blockchain.info has temporarily removed.

I have downloaded the existing Import Wallet page and tweaked it to dump the private keys in an alert window. This works with all of the encryption schemes that blockchain.info currently supports. It's quite unpolished, but does the job. It outputs each private key in the format in the backup (usually base58, which is somewhat unusual) and hex. You can download it at this link.

To ensure that you can easily make use of the above output, you might also want to have an offline copy of the (open source, public domain) Brainwallet site, which I've made a copy of here.

You and I are hardly the only ones to think of such things. This thread offers some good tips on using your Blockchain private keys offline (e.g. enable the option for automatic backups to be emailed to you when your wallet changes). I think it's quite safe to say that (as long as you have a good backup and know the password(s)), with a little help from the Bitcoin community, you will always be able to recover your Blockchain.info private keys for use elsewhere.

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  • well researched, detailed and extreamly helpful. thank you
    – Drazisil
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 20:10

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