Re: Having issues recovering Mycelium seed from iOS in a different wallet

[Obdmageek]

Here is one of the emails and summary I sent to support@mycelium.com concerning the issue on Mycelium wallet and some of the possible solutions I tried, anyone with similar problems or solution should please share:

Hello

I am writing to express my deep frustration and disappointment regarding the ongoing issue with my Mycelium iOS wallet, which has remained unresolved for over six(6) months.

Every 13th of the month, the app prompts me to verify my account using my 12-word master seed phrase. I have entered the correct backup phrase—separated by spaces—as required. Despite this, the app repeatedly states that the phrase “does not match this wallet.” I still have access to the account, which confirms that the seed phrase I’m using is correct.

Additionally, when I attempt to send funds, the transaction ID returns an “Invalid BTC Transaction” message on the blockchain. This suggests a serious issue, either with access integrity or wallet functionality.

More alarmingly, when I use the recovery seed on the Android version of your app, it displays transactions from four years ago and a significantly different account balance—completely inconsistent with my current account.

All evidence points to a serious breach or malfunction on your end. At this point, I no longer believe this is a technical glitch. It appears I have been locked out of my wallet, and I have reason to believe that my funds have been misappropriated.

Let me be clear: I will not allow this matter to be brushed aside. My legal representatives are already reviewing the situation, and your organization will be hearing from them shortly. I intend to pursue this until I recover my funds in full—and more if necessary.

The lack of support and transparency from your customer service team is unacceptable. I urge you to take this seriously and respond promptly with a resolution.
Sincerely,

[hosemary]

Have you tried importing your seed phrase into other wallets like electrum and see if it works?
You can download electrum from its official website.

Just note that electrum is not available for IOS and if you want a wallet supporting IOS, you can try bluewallet instead.

[Obdmageek]

I tried both but it keeps showing the wrong balance and transaction history of 5 years ago even before I started using the account.

[hosemary]

I tried both but it keeps showing the wrong balance and transaction history of 5 years ago even before I started using the account.

Both electrum and bluewallet display the correct balance of your wallet.


There are two possibilities.

• You have more than one wallet and you imported the seed phrase of the wrong wallet.
• You don't have more bitcoin at all.

[nc50lc]

I tried both but it keeps showing the wrong balance and transaction history of 5 years ago even before I started using the account.

Mycelium has an "Accounts" tab on the left, check if it has more than one entry aside from your main HD account.

If there are more entries there, its recovery will be based on its type.
If it's under "Bitcoin HD": You will need to specify the correct derivation path - account_index when restoring it to another wallets like Electrum. (or use Detect Existing Accounts)
If it's under "Bitcoin SA": It can't be recovered by your seed phrase, but you should be able to export its private key with "Export Account Keys" option.
You can then Sweep/Import that to other wallets. (but do not do it without DYOR first)

But take note that restoring the seed/prvKey to other wallet is just a solution if that send transaction issue is caused by Mycelium's server/client side error or the transaction's structure.
If it has something to do with the actual transaction (input availability), that wont solve the issue.

[Obdmageek]

I tried both but it keeps showing the wrong balance and transaction history of 5 years ago even before I started using the account.

Both electrum and bluewallet display the correct balance of your wallet.


There are two possibilities.

• You have more than one wallet and you imported the seed phrase of the wrong wallet.
• You don't have more bitcoin at all.

I only have one bitcoin wallet and account and it is with Mycelium iOS wallet, where I can see my correct balance. However, I can't send or receive funds on it due to some technical glitch reported by Mycelium. I tried importing my seeds into the Mycelium, blue wallet and Electrum but shows a very low balance which is different from what I have on iOS Mycelium wallet.

[Obdmageek]

I tried both but it keeps showing the wrong balance and transaction history of 5 years ago even before I started using the account.

Mycelium has an "Accounts" tab on the left, check if it has more than one entry aside from your main HD account.

If there are more entries there, its recovery will be based on its type.
If it's under "Bitcoin HD": You will need to specify the correct derivation path - account_index when restoring it to another wallets like Electrum. (or use Detect Existing Accounts)
If it's under "Bitcoin SA": It can't be recovered by your seed phrase, but you should be able to export its private key with "Export Account Keys" option.
You can then Sweep/Import that to other wallets. (but do not do it without DYOR first)

But take note that restoring the seed/prvKey to other wallet is just a solution if that send transaction issue is caused by Mycelium's server/client side error or the transaction's structure.
If it has something to do with the actual transaction (input availability), that wont solve the issue.

Thank you so much for your response. I only have one account, I tried it on different wallet including the Mycelium Android app and they keep showing the same balance different from what I have on the iOS app. I have tried everything possible, Mycelium will tell you your funds are safe but you can't access your funds with the seed you were given. This is so frustrating.

[nc50lc]

Mycelium has an "Accounts" tab on the left, check if it has more than one entry aside from your main HD account.

Thank you so much for your response. I only have one account, I tried it on different wallet including the Mycelium Android app and they keep showing the same balance different from what I have on the iOS app. I have tried everything possible, Mycelium will tell you your funds are safe but you can't access your funds with the seed you were given. This is so frustrating.

This complicates the issue.
It seem as the wallet has been showing addresses that aren't derived from your BIP39 recovery phrase.
And the send issue could mean that it doesn't even have the private keys to properly sign the transaction when you're trying to send.

You could still try Electrum's "Detect Existing Account" button during BIP39 wallet restore to see if it's somehow in your second+ 'account_index' but it's failing to show it in the original client.

If no other result but the first one with transactions 5 years ago, it could be a bug in their outdated IOS client.

[Obdmageek]

Thank you once again for your response. I tried importing on my electrum and did the detecting account after entering the 12 master seed and it confirmed it was for the BIP39 but I still got the same result.

This technical glitch has been reported by some customers to have been happening for some years back but I actually started experiencing it early this year. This is the 7th month and they haven't rolled out a new updated version yet. How long will that take, I'm not sure what to think anymore. I just feel I have been unfortunate to be caught in this dilemma as I can't access my funds anymore which is quite frustrating.

Once again, thank you. I will be open to trying more options if there are some.

[nc50lc]

Thank you once again for your response. I tried importing on my electrum and did the detecting account after entering the 12 master seed and it confirmed it was for the BIP39 but I still got the same result.
-snip-
Once again, thank you. I will be open to trying more options if there are some.

Then it means that the newer transactions aren't included to your seed phrase's other account_index derivations.

There's one last thing to try, after this, it's mostly guesswork of what could've happened since there's nothing to reference it from.

My last suggestion is:
It may have been caused by overshoot of address_index resulting with the newer private keys/addresses that you have used to be outside of other wallet's default gap limit (e.g.: Electrum = 20)
For that, you may try to manually derive thousands of receiving and change addresses in that restored wallet in Electrum (with old transactions).
To do that, open the 'Console' tab ("View->Show Console" to enable the tab)
Then type these commands (Electrum will resync with each command):

Code:

[wallet.create_new_address(False) for i in range(5000)]

Code:

[wallet.create_new_address(True) for i in range(5000)]

The former creates 5000 more receiving addresses and the latter does the same but with change addresses.
You may edit the range but don't set it too high or the server that you're using may enforce DDOS protection against your client/IP.

[logfiles]

The mycelium wallet app hasn't been maintained in a long time, and the issues have been known for a long time. Even on App Store there is a warning about the issue, and I am not sure why they just take the app down ---> https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mycelium-bitcoin-wallet/id943912290

[nc50lc]

Since this is bumped,
I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.
That should be a good indication if the wallet has some sort of corruption if its showing a standard derivation path. e.g.: m/84'/0'/0'/........
If this is the case, there's a great chance that it's unrecoverable.

Otherwise, he can just copy it (up to the account' index: m/purpose'/coin'/account'/chain/address) when restoring to other wallets like Electrum.

@Obdmageek You may reply if you're not familiar with derivation paths.

[Obdmageek]

Since this is bumped,
I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.
That should be a good indication if the wallet has some sort of corruption if its showing a standard derivation path. e.g.: m/84'/0'/0'/........
If this is the case, there's a great chance that it's unrecoverable.

Otherwise, he can just copy it (up to the account' index: m/purpose'/coin'/account'/chain/address) when restoring to other wallets like Electrum.

@Obdmageek You may reply if you're not familiar with derivation paths.

Once again, I appreciate your kind suggestion. When recovering via Electrum I used the detect account option which said it was a bip32 m/44h/0h/0h derivation pathway and since I only have one account with Mycelium. However, it still displays the wrong account balance and history of 5years ago.

[Obdmageek]

The mycelium wallet app hasn't been maintained in a long time, and the issues have been known for a long time. Even on App Store there is a warning about the issue, and I am not sure why they just take the app down ---> https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mycelium-bitcoin-wallet/id943912290

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/06/30/S7v95.png

You are right and do not think they are going to be doing anything about it. It has taken too long for the management to fix the "technical issues"

[nc50lc]

I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.
That should be a good indication if the wallet has some sort of corruption if its showing a standard derivation path. e.g.: m/84'/0'/0'/........

Once again, I appreciate your kind suggestion. When recovering via Electrum I used the detect account option which said it was a bip32 m/44h/0h/0h derivation pathway and since I only have one account with Mycelium. However, it still displays the wrong account balance and history of 5years ago.

The option that I've instructed to enable is in Mycelium,
That's to check if the derivation path displayed in your latest address in Mycelium is the default derivation path of that first account which should have been restored in Electrum.
So, in case it's showing the standard derivation path but displaying a different address than its counterpart in Electrum, the wallet has some sort of corruption.

And I have another reply above it instructing to pre-generate more addresses in Electrum, you may have missed it.

[Obdmageek]

I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.
That should be a good indication if the wallet has some sort of corruption if its showing a standard derivation path. e.g.: m/84'/0'/0'/........

Once again, I appreciate your kind suggestion. When recovering via Electrum I used the detect account option which said it was a bip32 m/44h/0h/0h derivation pathway and since I only have one account with Mycelium. However, it still displays the wrong account balance and history of 5years ago.

The option that I've instructed to enable is in Mycelium,
That's to check if the derivation path displayed in your latest address in Mycelium is the default derivation path of that first account which should have been restored in Electrum.
So, in case it's showing the standard derivation path but displaying a different address than its counterpart in Electrum, the wallet has some sort of corruption.

And I have another reply above it instructing to pre-generate more addresses in Electrum, you may have missed it.

Thanks for your follow up response. I did try most of your suggestions for trouble shooting this problem, below is what I tried and found out.

First off, the Mycelium iOS app where I have the correct account balance and transaction history hasn't been able to send or receive BTC for some years now but I started experiencing these challenges 7 months ago. However, on the 13th of every month Mycelium apps pops up a notification to verify the account where I need to enter 12 words master seed after inputting these words, it tells me the seed doesn't match the wallet despite been sure of the master seed as I still have the wallet and I tried to back up again just to confirm if I have the right phrases which corresponds with the phrase I have had since I opened the wallet.

Secondly, I import these master seeds into the Mycelium Android wallet but shows a different/wrong account balance and transaction history of 5 years ago. I only have one account on Mycelium iOS wallet but still tried to use the "Add Accounts" on Mycelium Android wallet but those revealed O BTC and no transaction history.

It's worthy to note that Mycelium iOS wallet only provide public address but does not export master seeds or private keys and no where on the wallet could you know which derivation pathway but I know for sure it is a Legacy account because the BTC address starts with "1P1S". So I went back to I check for the derivation pathway for the account I imported into the Mycelium Android wallet with the low account balance and transaction history from 5 years ago. I discovered the Legacy(P2PKH) account on there had "1GPG" address and derivation pathway of m/44'/0'/0'/0/15.

Subsequently, I have tried importing this seeds into Electrum, with the BIP39 and detected derivation pathway and gave me the same account balance and transaction history I got on Mycelium Android wallet. I tried playing and trying different pathways but they all brough 0 balance.

I also tried to scan and link my pub address on Trezor Suite Lite and that gave me the accurate account balance and transaction history as I have on Mycelium iOS wallet but it's more of a watch only wallet or a wallet to track your BTC.

At this point I have tried all I could but do not know what else to try and hoping I can find a solution to these challenges.

Once again, thanks for your guidance and assistance.

[nc50lc]

At this point I have tried all I could but do not know what else to try and hoping I can find a solution to these challenges.

Yeah, all points strongly suggest a corruption in the wallet's derivation of the latest private keys and address (after the 5-year-old transactions)

Your only chance of recovery is if it's somehow associated with the other backups that you might have used in Mycelium.
If it's caused by random flipped bits due to the app/unreliable storage or hardware, it's as good as lost.

[Obdmageek]

At this point I have tried all I could but do not know what else to try and hoping I can find a solution to these challenges.

Yeah, all points strongly suggest a corruption in the wallet's derivation of the latest private keys and address (after the 5-year-old transactions)

Your only chance of recovery is if it's somehow associated with the other backups that you might have used in Mycelium.
If it's caused by random flipped bits due to the app/unreliable storage or hardware, it's as good as lost.

Thank you for your response.

I understand your point, but I want to emphasize that I have been extremely careful with my backup. I have cross-verified my 12-word seed phrase multiple times from the Mycelium iOS app before the issue started, and it is exactly what I have been using for recovery attempts.

Given that the correct public address still shows the accurate balance when I import it into Trezor Suite, I believe the seed phrase is intact — but the issue seems to be with the derivation path or how Mycelium generated the wallet internally.

Is there any way I can determine the exact derivation path used by Mycelium iOS around the time I created the wallet (approximately five years ago)? This would greatly help me locate the correct address using a tool like Sparrow Wallet. Have you heard of Sparrow wallet and what do you think about it.

I’m committed to recovering access, and I’d appreciate any specific technical guidance you can provide.

Best regards, 

[nc50lc]

Is there any way I can determine the exact derivation path used by Mycelium iOS around the time I created the wallet (approximately five years ago)? This would greatly help me locate the correct address using a tool like Sparrow Wallet. Have you heard of Sparrow wallet and what do you think about it.

I've suggested this a while back.
Problem is, the iOS version is outdated and the said option may not be available.

The difference in the latest address and the old address should only be the address_index at the end of the derivation path.
The higher level index should be the same for all of your receiving addresses of the same script type.

Quote of my post:

I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.

Given that the correct public address still shows the accurate balance when I import it into Trezor Suite, I believe the seed phrase is intact — but the issue seems to be with the derivation path or how Mycelium generated the wallet internally.

You mean import to Trezor device and it's available in its Trezor Suite client?
In that case, you should check the address' derivation path in Trezor Suite instead.
Try the first option in this post (from their official forum): forum.trezor.io/t/how-to-find-derivation-path/15159

The derivation path that you should copy to Electrum or Sparrow is up to the "account_index" only, the rest will be automatically filled by those wallets.
e.g.: If the address' derivation path is m/44'/0'/0'/0/19, the derivation path to put in Electrum/Sparrow should be m/44'/0'/0'
In both wallets, the correct script type should be selected first before editing the derivation path.

Or perhaps you're actually using a seed phrase Extension/BIP39 passphrase?
In Trezor and Mycelium, you may have used a passphrase but not in Electrum, because that changes the wallet's Master Private Key and thus, addresses.

[Obdmageek]

Is there any way I can determine the exact derivation path used by Mycelium iOS around the time I created the wallet (approximately five years ago)? This would greatly help me locate the correct address using a tool like Sparrow Wallet. Have you heard of Sparrow wallet and what do you think about it.

I've suggested this a while back.
Problem is, the iOS version is outdated and the said option may not be available.

The difference in the latest address and the old address should only be the address_index at the end of the derivation path.
The higher level index should be the same for all of your receiving addresses of the same script type.

Quote of my post:

I would like to ask @OP to enable "Show Address Path" option in the settings to check the latest address' derivation path in the 'Balance' tab.

Given that the correct public address still shows the accurate balance when I import it into Trezor Suite, I believe the seed phrase is intact — but the issue seems to be with the derivation path or how Mycelium generated the wallet internally.

You mean import to Trezor device and it's available in its Trezor Suite client?
In that case, you should check the address' derivation path in Trezor Suite instead.
Try the first option in this post (from their official forum): forum.trezor.io/t/how-to-find-derivation-path/15159

The derivation path that you should copy to Electrum or Sparrow is up to the "account_index" only, the rest will be automatically filled by those wallets.
e.g.: If the address' derivation path is m/44'/0'/0'/0/19, the derivation path to put in Electrum/Sparrow should be m/44'/0'/0'

In both wallets, the correct script type should be selected first before editing the derivation path.

Or perhaps you're actually using a seed phrase Extension/BIP39 passphrase?
In Trezor and Mycelium, you may have used a passphrase but not in Electrum, because that changes the wallet's Master Private Key and thus, addresses.

Thanks for your message and the helpful suggestions.

Yes, I’ve already imported my seed into Electrum and tested multiple derivation paths, including m/44'/0'/0', m/49'/0'/0', and m/84'/0'/0' with the correct corresponding script types. Unfortunately, none of these have produced the correct public key or account balance I see on the Mycelium iOS app.

The only wallet that correctly reflects the balance and transaction history is Trezor Suite when I import the public key manually, it is worthy to note that this only a watch only wallet so I can't send or do anything on the wallet. I’ve also used BTCRecover to scan derivation paths and compare them, but again, the xpubs do not match the one in Mycelium.

As for a BIP39 passphrase, I’m fairly certain I did not set one up, but I also recognize that Mycelium might have handled things differently in the background. If there's a way to determine if a passphrase was used — or another method to extract or match the original derivation path from the current xpub — I'd really appreciate any guidance.

Thanks again for your time and support.