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%)
Hidden wallet discovered — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A programmer who held coins in a VM on a cloud provider found in June 2016 that the cloud provider had automatically terminated the VM after a billing dispute.
Device lost — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user kept their wallet on a laptop that was left in a train compartment in July 2016. By the time they reported the loss to railway staff the laptop h
The drives were physically intact but the RAID controller had been part of the failed
Mobile or software wallet
A developer who stored their wallet on a home server experienced a catastrophic motherboard failure in August 2016. The drives were physically intact but the RA
The ransomware demanded 0.5 BTC for decryption—ironically more than the user could
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had held BTC since 2012 stored their wallet on a Windows XP machine. In September 2016, the machine was automatically wiped by a ransomware attack. T
Data recovery attempts failed because the NAND flash had been damaged by water ingress.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user stored their wallet exclusively on a tablet that suffered water damage during heavy flooding in October 2016. The device was submerged for severa
Device lost — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had relied on a single encrypted USB drive for all wallet backups found in October 2016 that the encryption software used had been discontinued and t
A Ledger Nano S user lost their device and attempted recovery using their seed.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Ledger Nano S user lost their device and attempted recovery using their seed. They discovered the 24 words they had recorded were in a different order than ex
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin enthusiast who had accumulated BTC through faucets and small purchases since 2011 found in December 2016 that their old hard drive, stored in a parent
The business closed and the landlord, claiming unpaid rent, changed the locks
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who ran a small business stored their wallet on the business desktop computer. In August 2016 the business closed and the landlord, claiming un
Device lost — hardware wallet 2016
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user inadvertently listed their hardware wallet in an online sale of miscellaneous electronics in September 2016. The device was shipped to the buyer b
The computer's power supply failed and the motherboard was damaged by the surge.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor who had been holding since 2011 stored their wallet exclusively on an old desktop computer. In January 2015 the computer's power supply faile
Destroyed in fire — software wallet (2015)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had accumulated coins since 2012 stored their wallet on a laptop that was destroyed in a house fire in February 2015. No off-site backup of
Device lost — software wallet (2015)
Mobile or software wallet
A mobile-first Bitcoin user who kept their primary wallet on an iPhone had the phone seized by police during an unrelated arrest in February 2015. The phone was
The thief gained direct access to the wallet and transferred the BTC within hours of
Mobile or software wallet
A user whose phone was stolen in March 2015 had stored their Mycelium wallet's private key only on the device with no seed backup. The thief gained direct acces
The RAID controller had not been properly configured and no redundancy existed.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user stored their wallet exclusively in a virtual machine on a home server. In March 2015 the server's RAID array failed catastrophically, with multip
Device lost — hardware wallet 2015
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user documented their experience in April 2015: their device was destroyed when coffee was spilled on it. The recovery seed had been stored in a firepr
The bag was lost by the airline.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who stored their wallet on a laptop left it in a checked bag during air travel in April 2015. The bag was lost by the airline. The laptop was never recov
The attackers demanded 1 BTC to decrypt the files—less than the wallet held—but
Mobile or software wallet
A 2015 forum case documents a user who stored their Bitcoin Core wallet on a Windows PC. The PC was infected with ransomware that encrypted all local files. The
Professional recovery was attempted but the NAND chips were corroded beyond recovery.
Mobile or software wallet
A forum post from June 2015 documents a user who kept their wallet on a USB drive that was washed in laundry. The drive was not waterproof and the electronic co
Device lost — software wallet 2015
Mobile or software wallet
A user who kept a secondary Bitcoin wallet on a work computer was made redundant in June 2015 with immediate effect. The company's IT policy meant their work co
The previous owner had sold the phone without disabling their Google account.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who maintained a secondary wallet on a second-hand Android phone found in July 2015 that the phone had been remotely wiped by its previous owner using An
The wallet was stored solely on the SSD.
Mobile or software wallet
A 2015 documented case describes a Bitcoin miner whose dedicated mining computer suffered a catastrophic SSD failure. The wallet was stored solely on the SSD. T
When they retired from freelancing in September 2015, they donated the laptop to
Mobile or software wallet
A freelancer who had received Bitcoin payments for work stored their wallet on a laptop used exclusively for work. When they retired from freelancing in Septemb
The storage unit was broken into in October 2015 and the drive was stolen along
Mobile or software wallet
A long-term Bitcoin holder stored their wallet.dat on an external hard drive kept in a storage unit. The storage unit was broken into in October 2015 and the dr
Device lost — software wallet 2015
Mobile or software wallet
A developer who had written a custom Bitcoin wallet in 2011 and kept coins in it for years discovered in 2015 that the application was no longer compatible with
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