Ether.li is a web service that was discontinued in 2017. It had been quite popular since its inception, partly due to the fact that it was a so-called multi-signature Ethereum wallet, thereby providing an additional layer of security.
However, you can still recover your Ether.li Ethereum wallet today, provided you have the necessary credentials. Here, we’ll guide you through the process of ethereum wallet recovery with Ether.li.
How Does the Ether.li Ethereum Wallet Work?
The Ether.li wallet is a multi-signature wallet, where two out of three signatures are always required to authorize a transaction. The three possible instances are:
Your user account
The so-called recovery account
The Ether.li signature
When the service was still in operation, you could initiate transactions by logging in and signing the transaction with your user account. After that, you were sent an SMS with a pin, which, when entered correctly, triggered the Ether.li Ethereum wallet’s signature.
Since the service has been discontinued, you don’t get any SMS any longer, and accordingly, you can’t send any ETH transactions anymore. But this is where the combination of the other two accounts or signatures come into play.
Essentials for Your Ether.li Wallet Recovery
In order to make it more convenient for users, Ether.li provided a so-called recovery sheet at the time. There you should find all the information you need for recovery. The prerequisite for this is that you have filled out the sheet properly back then.
The recovery can be done with these accounts or keys:
The private key of the user account. On this sheet, this is the user key.
The (encrypted) private key of the recovery account. On this sheet, this is the backup key.
Since Ether.li has encrypted the private key for the accounts with an unusual standard, it is recommended to decrypt the key with the BitGo SDK.
Steps to Recover Your Ether.li Ethereum Wallet
After you have decrypted the keys, you have the “bare” secret or access to the assets in your hands. Now you have to make sure that you export the keys to another Ethereum wallet software to be able to initiate transactions again:
Download and install Geth
Import the user key
Make sure that there is enough ETH on the user key for transaction fees
Initiate transaction with the user key
Import the decrypted backup key
Confirm the transaction with the backup key
After that, the transaction is processed by the network and its duration depends on the selected fees. For this reason, you should not only make sure that the coverage is sufficient, but also increase it if necessary. You can do this by simply sending Ether to the address. Note, however, that you will not be able to get this amount back until the wallet is restored.
Need Help with Ether.li Wallet Recovery? Contact ReWallet
Ethereum has risen dramatically in price over the past few years and many investors who have an old wallet find themselves in a difficult situation. On the one hand, you want to ensure access, on the other hand, many technical aspects are not understandable on their own.
If you could not recover your wallet with the described method you still have the option to seek wallet recovery services. ReWallet is known beyond the borders of Germany for its unique service offering:
IT professionals with many years of experience in the crypto space.
Down-to-earth company based in Berlin.
Our processes guarantee the security of your wallet, before and after decryption.
No empty promises: We evaluate your case and the chances of success based solely on the information you provide.
We are in the same boat together. We earn our commission only if we can recover the wallet.
If the data is irretrievably lost, no. However, if you only have problems decrypting the keys or another intermediate step does not succeed you are welcome to contact our wallet recovery service because then there might still be a chance for successful recovery.
Unfortunately, no. The service is no longer available although the website is still partially working. But this could also change in the future, so it is recommended to back up your wallet as soon as possible.
Of course, after the wallet has been restored in another software, it can be used normally. However, it is naturally not recommended to send assets to the address before regaining full access.
No, unfortunately this is impossible. For this reason, the rightful owner ideally holds his account for recovery and can use the associated key to recover the wallet together with the user account and the corresponding private key.
In principle, you can store the two necessary private keys, and, provided you follow the best practices for storage, you will always have a backup. However, other wallet solutions are easier to handle for many users. This includes hardware wallets and therefore a transfer of all assets to a completely new wallet may be desirable or make more sense. Note, however, that you also have to secure the new wallet with appropriate backups. We recommend you to take a look at our article on secure passwords and backups for more information.
Want to Learn More About Ethereum Wallet Recovery?
If you’re interested in learning more about Ethereum wallets, we suggest reading our detailed guide on Ethereum presale wallet recovery, which discusses the first Ethereum wallet in existence and how to recover it.
Co-founder and CTO Bruno is a crypto native. Long before the public hype around Bitcoin, Ethereum & Co, Bruno was already active in the crypto field. The idea for ReWallet came to him a few years ago when he lost access to his own wallet.
Bruno Krauss
