Rather than simply guessing the password, Claude helped dig through the old files and identify an older wallet.dat file that appeared to predate the password change. The user also reportedly had an old mnemonic phrase, which helped unlock the wallet once the correct file was found.

  BTCRecover, a known wallet recovery tool, is designed for cases where users already know most of a wallet password or seed but need help testing variations. Its documentation says it supports Bitcoin Core wallet recovery, among several other wallet types.

So, it didn't actually do anything to Bitcoin. He had the answer the entire time on his machine, it's just that Claude helped him search through his files.

it looks fake. claude doesn't talk like that normally.