Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Device loss
Cases in this category involve devices that were lost, destroyed, or otherwise became inaccessible. Where no independent recovery path — seed phrase, wallet backup, or documented recovery procedure — existed, access could not be recovered.
Device loss is one of the most common Bitcoin custody stress conditions in this archive. Across observed cases, the outcome depends primarily on whether an independent recovery path existed at the time of loss. Where a seed phrase or wallet backup was stored separately from the device, custody typically survived the loss event. Where no independent backup existed, access was permanently blocked.
188 observed cases
Blocked
133 (71%)
Constrained
5 (3%)
Survives
49 (26%)
Indeterminate
1 (1%)
The wallet app had no PIN protection separate from the device lock.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who kept their Bitcoin wallet on a smartphone left the device in a taxi. By the time they reported the loss, the device had been factory-reset and resold
A developer had their laptop stolen from a coffee shop in May 2017.
Mobile or software wallet
A developer had their laptop stolen from a coffee shop in May 2017. The machine contained the only copy of a wallet holding Bitcoin accumulated through developm
Device lost — software wallet 2017
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user stored their wallet backup exclusively on a cloud service that suffered a data loss incident in May 2017. The service provider acknowledged the l
The USB drive's NAND flash was damaged and could not be read.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user who had stored their wallet backup on a USB drive kept in a drawer found in June 2017 that the drawer had been exposed to a strong magnetic field
Device lost — software wallet (2017)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor sent their old PC to a refurbisher in July 2017 without wiping the drive. The wallet.dat file on the drive contained funds from 2012. The ref
Device lost — software wallet 2017
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder whose primary wallet was on an older Android phone found in August 2017 that the phone had been permanently damaged by water while at the beach
The wallet had been stored in the user's home directory without a Time Machine backup
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor's MacBook failed in September 2017 due to a GPU failure that also corrupted the SSD. Apple confirmed the SSD was unrecoverable. The wallet ha
Destroyed in flood — software wallet (2017)
Mobile or software wallet
An early Bitcoin miner's old desktop computer, which had sat powered off in a storage unit since 2013, was discovered in October 2017. The storage unit had floo
A forum case from October 2017 describes a user whose phone was stolen during a mugging.
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from October 2017 describes a user whose phone was stolen during a mugging. The thief was able to bypass the phone's PIN using a known Android vuln
The Ledger device melted and the seed card was burned.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Ledger Nano S user had their device and backup seed stored together in a small safe that was damaged in a house fire in November 2017. The Ledger device melte
No backup had been made since the wallet was created in 2014.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had kept their primary wallet on a dedicated air-gapped laptop found in November 2017 that the laptop's hard drive had failed silently. When they att
Device stolen while travelling — hardware wallet (2017)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A hardware wallet user travelling over the Christmas 2017 period had their carry-on bag stolen at an airport. The bag contained their Ledger device, their seed
Border confiscation — software wallet (2017)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder had their mobile wallet device confiscated by customs officers at an international crossing in January 2017. The officials suspected the device
Device lost — Trezor (2017)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user dropped their device into a drain while walking in a city centre in March 2017. The device fell into a storm drain and was unrecoverable. The seed
The luggage was lost in transit by the airline.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user relocated internationally in March 2017 and packed their hardware wallet in checked luggage. The luggage was lost in transit by the airline. The T
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor sent their old laptop for recycling in January 2016 without wiping the drive. They realised weeks later that the wallet was still on the hard
The Bitcoin price had risen to above $400 by the time of the theft, making the loss
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder whose primary wallet was on a laptop had the machine stolen from their car in February 2016. The laptop contained the only copy of the wallet.d
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user who kept their primary wallet on an iPad had the device taken by an airport security officer at an international checkpoint in February 2016. The device
The wallet was destroyed with no backup existing.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who maintained their wallet on a dedicated offline computer found the machine had been unknowingly infected with destructive malware that wiped the drive
The safe was destroyed in a house fire in March 2016.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user had their device and the envelope containing their seed phrase both stored in the same home safe. The safe was destroyed in a house fire in March
A user who kept their wallet on a smartphone lost the device in a taxi in March 2016.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who kept their wallet on a smartphone lost the device in a taxi in March 2016. The phone was locked but the thief installed a screen-bypass tool widely a
Device lost — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A mobile Bitcoin wallet user upgraded their Android phone in April 2016 and assumed the wallet app would restore from a Google Play backup. The wallet app did n
The saltwater exposure destroyed the device within minutes of the fall.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had accidentally dropped their phone into the ocean while on a boat in April 2016 had their entire wallet on that device. No seed backup ex
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user documented in May 2016 that they had stored their wallet on a USB drive that had been mislabelled and placed in a box of drives donated to a school. By t
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from June 2016 describes a user whose external hard drive, containing their only wallet backup, was run over by a car when it fell from their bag i
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