MultiBit wallets after a death

MultiBit was a Bitcoin desktop wallet from 2011 until 2017, in two generations: the original MultiBit and the later MultiBit HD. Both were discontinued, which is exactly why estates find them today, and why the age of the software matters.

What a MultiBit wallet actually is

• It lives on a computer as wallet files: .wallet and .key files for the original MultiBit, and mbhd.wallet.aes for MultiBit HD, usually protected by a password.
• MultiBit HD wallets were also backed up by a seed phrase, which can restore the wallet without the files.
• Development stopped in 2017. Modern software no longer opens these wallets, so a wallet that “shows nothing” proves very little, the empty screen is not evidence that no bitcoins existed.

What finding one means

Finding a MultiBit installation or wallet file is strong evidence that bitcoins existed. What matters after that is the same as every software wallet: the file, the password and the seed are the access path, and the wallet can look empty when opened incorrectly or in the wrong software version.

How to preserve it

• Leave the wallet files, the MultiBit folder and the device exactly as found.
• Do not open MultiBit, do not update it, and do not click “repair”, “rescan” or “restore” prompts.
• Never send the wallet files to anyone, and do not upload them to a service that offers to “check” them, you open them yourself, in the official program, after authority is confirmed.
• Record only that a MultiBit wallet exists, where, and when.

What to do with it

• Access is the wallet file plus its password (MultiBit HD also used a seed phrase).
• When the estate is ready: the wallet is restored with compatible software for its era. MultiBit was discontinued in 2017, so the correct software version matters, the wrong version shows nothing.
• Discontinued software: do not download anything on a guess. MultiBit is no longer updated or distributed by its developers. Do not download “MultiBit”, “MultiBit HD” or tools that claim to “open” or “repair” MultiBit files from random websites, app stores, messages or search ads; fake copies are common. Use verified original software with someone who knows what they are doing, or a professional with verified experience in old wallets. Never type your password or seed into anything you have not verified.
• The classic mistake: concluding “there is nothing” because an old wallet looks empty in modern software.
• If the wallet has no password, the file opens directly. If it is password-protected and the password or the seed is missing: read what is realistically possible in wallet recovery.
• Until authority is confirmed, leave the files exactly as found.

What happens next

1. Confirm what else exists: passwords, seed phrases, backups, notes. See wallet passwords and passphrases and what is a seed phrase.
2. Confirm legal authority before anyone touches the wallet, see legal authority vs technical access.

For the general identification flow, start at what did you find, or return to the wallet format library.