Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Exchange custody
Cases in this category involve Bitcoin held on exchanges or custodial platforms. The user does not control private keys — access depends on the platform remaining operational and the account remaining accessible.
Exchange custody cases cluster around platform insolvency, account access loss, and regulatory action. Unlike self-custody failures, exchange cases often involve a recoverable path — but one that runs through legal or institutional processes that can take months or years.
512 observed cases
Blocked
135 (26%)
Constrained
181 (35%)
Survives
128 (25%)
Indeterminate
68 (13%)
Passphrase unavailable — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
A long-dormant exchange account holder attempted to access their account in April 2015, having held BTC there since 2012. The exchange had migrated to a new pla
Documentation absent — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
A social trading network for Bitcoin that allowed users to mirror expert trader portfolios shut down in May 2015. Users had deposited BTC under a terms-of-servi
Multisig quorum failure — 2-of-3 multisig (2015)
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin escrow startup that had implemented a 2-of-3 multisig for all escrows lost access to its hosted key when its cloud HSM provider underwent an emergency
Institutional lockout — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
French financial regulator AMF issued a warning in July 2015 that Bitcoin investment schemes were unregulated and potentially illegal. One French exchange suspe
Institutional lockout — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
New York's BitLicense regulations were finalised in August 2015 and took effect immediately. Several Bitcoin businesses that could not immediately satisfy the r
Institutional lockout — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
The Reserve Bank of India issued a public advisory in August 2015 warning citizens of Bitcoin risks and noting that it had not authorised any entity to operate
Institutional lockout — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
The CFTC filed its first formal enforcement action against a Bitcoin derivatives exchange in September 2015. The exchange was ordered to freeze all customer ass
Physical coercion — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
A documented 2015 case describes a high-net-worth Bitcoin holder who was kidnapped and held until they provided exchange account login credentials. The kidnappe
Owner death — exchange custody (2015)
Exchange custody
An exchange customer died in October 2015 leaving a will that bequeathed 'all cryptocurrency holdings' to their children. The exchange required each beneficiary
When those verification prompts triggered in early 2015, affected customers could not
Exchange custody
Several Chinese Bitcoin exchange customers who had relocated abroad for work found that their Chinese exchange accounts required periodic domestic ID verificati
When the platform disappeared, there was no public address to verify holdings against.
Exchange custody
Evolution Marketplace had advertised multi-signature escrow as a security feature but did not implement it in practice for the majority of transactions. Standar
A Bitcoin investment club that had pooled funds since 2012 dissolved in March 2015.
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin investment club that had pooled funds since 2012 dissolved in March 2015. The club's records of individual member contributions had been maintained on
Multisig quorum failure — exchange 2015
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin startup that used Copay multisig for treasury discovered in March 2015 that one of its three key holders had left the company and wiped their device b
Passphrase unavailable — exchange 2015
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin user attempted to log in to their exchange account in March 2015 after a long dormancy period and discovered their email provider had discontinued the
When their mainland SIM expired and was reassigned by the carrier, they could no longer
Exchange custody
A Chinese Bitcoin holder who had moved to Hong Kong for work found that their mainland Chinese exchange account required verification through a mainland Chinese
Active escrows were frozen pending a legal challenge to the acquisition.
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin payment escrow service that used 2-of-3 multisig discovered in April 2015 that its third-party key custodian had been acquired by another company. The
A Cryptsy account holder died in April 2015.
Exchange custody
A Cryptsy account holder died in April 2015. Their estate filed a claim with the exchange. Unknown to the estate, Cryptsy was already effectively insolvent at t
Partial recovery of the extorted BTC was achieved.
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin business owner was targeted by organised criminals who threatened to release damaging personal information unless 10 BTC was transferred. The victim t
Owner incapacity — exchange 2015
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin trader was involved in a serious accident in June 2015 and was unconscious for several weeks. Their exchange account contained significant holdings. F
Owner incapacity — exchange 2014
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin exchange account holder was diagnosed with a severe mental health condition in November 2014 requiring institutional care. Their family sought to acce
The remaining two shareholders could form quorum, but the departed CTO had configured
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin startup that held company treasury in a 2-of-3 multisig discovered that one of its three key holders—a former CTO who had departed acrimoniously—refus
AWS retired the specific HSM service used, without the escrow operator having prepared
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin escrow service operating in 2014 used a 2-of-3 multisig where one key was held by an Amazon Web Services HSM. In August 2014 AWS retired the specific
On dissolution, the arbiter's keys became inaccessible, leaving all open disputes
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin escrow arbitration service that had handled high-value OTC trades in 2013–14 dissolved in August 2014. The service had held arbiter keys for dozens of
Multisig quorum failure — exchange 2014
Exchange custody
A Bitcoin exchange that had adopted multisig cold storage in early 2014 experienced a quorum failure when one of its three key holders—a contractor—left under d
A 2014 estate case involved the death of a Bitcoin day trader.
Exchange custody
A 2014 estate case involved the death of a Bitcoin day trader. The deceased had accounts on four different exchanges under different email addresses. Their esta