The original holder died in 2024.

Survives

Case description

A recurring pattern documented by recovery firms in 2024 involved early Bitcoin holders who had stored a seed phrase by splitting it—giving some words to family members, storing others separately. The original holder died in 2024. The family succeeded in assembling all portions of the seed phrase but discovered that different family members had recorded different numbers of words, and when combined the total was 11 words rather than 12. The missing 12th word was a BIP39 checksum word that could be systematically recovered: there were 128 possible valid 12th words. A recovery service tested all possibilities and identified the correct combination.

Custody context

Stress condition	Documentation absent
Custody system	Hardware wallet (single key)
Outcome	Survives
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2024
Country	International

Structural dependencies observed

Single point of failure

Outcome interpretation

Access remained possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Privately Reported

Evidence type

News article

Evidence link

https://rewallet.com/blog/bitcoin-core-forgotten-password/

Related cases involving documentation absent

193 cases involve documentation absent 274 cases involve hardware wallet (single key) View archive statistics →

This archive documents observed custody survivability failures. It does not attempt to document all Bitcoin losses or security incidents. Submit a case

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Framework references

Where Bitcoin Custody Intersects Legal and Fiduciary Authority

Where custody creates gaps in estate planning, fiduciary duty, and professional responsibility.

Professional Scope Boundary Matrix

What each professional or product covers, what they do not, and where gaps form between them.

The Independent Assessment Layer in Bitcoin Custody

How independent diagnostic layers emerge when multiple parties depend on shared infrastructure.