Archive Glossary
Definitions of terms used in the Bitcoin Custody Incident Archive. These definitions reflect how terms are used within the archive — they are not universal definitions for the Bitcoin industry.
Stress condition
The structural factor that caused or enabled the access failure. The primary classification dimension in the archive. Examples: passphrase unavailable, seed unavailable, device loss, owner death, vendor lockout, coercion.
Custody system type
The type of custody arrangement involved in the case. Examples: hardware wallet (single key), hardware wallet with passphrase, software wallet, exchange custody, multisig self-managed, institutional custody.
Outcome state
The documented result of the custody failure. One of four values: blocked, constrained, survives, or indeterminate.
Blocked
No path to authorised access was found or succeeded under the documented conditions. Blocked does not mean recovery is impossible under all circumstances — it means no recovery was documented in the available record.
Constrained
Access was eventually possible, but only with significant effort, outside assistance, legal proceedings, or time not built into the original setup.
Survived
Access was recovered without structural barriers preventing it, or was never lost despite the stress event.
Indeterminate
The custody failure is documented but the final outcome is not known from available sources. The access barrier existed; whether it was overcome is unclear.
Structural dependency
A property of the custody arrangement that creates a single point of failure. Examples: single-person knowledge, passphrase dependency, device-specific access, institutional cooperation required.
Single-person knowledge
A structural dependency where only one person held the operational knowledge required to access the Bitcoin. When that person became unavailable, no alternate recovery path existed.
Passphrase dependency
A structural dependency where recovery required a BIP39 passphrase or wallet encryption passphrase that was not stored independently of the device or seed phrase.
Documentation absent
A stress condition where no documentation existed describing the custody setup or recovery procedure. Heirs or executors had no starting point for access or recovery.
Vendor lockout
A stress condition where a custodial platform or exchange became inaccessible — through insolvency, regulatory action, account freeze, or platform closure.
Recovery path
The mechanism used or attempted to restore access. Examples: password bruteforce, seed phrase recovery, estate process, bankruptcy claims, legal proceedings, technical recovery.
Determinate outcome
A case where the outcome is classified as blocked, constrained, or survived — as distinct from indeterminate cases where the final outcome is unknown.
Seed phrase
A sequence of 12 or 24 words generated by a Bitcoin wallet that encodes the master private key. The seed phrase can restore access to the wallet on any compatible device. Its loss is structurally irreversible.
BIP39 passphrase
An optional additional word or phrase appended to the seed phrase to generate a distinct wallet. The seed phrase plus the passphrase produce one wallet; the seed phrase alone produces a different, empty wallet. Loss of the passphrase blocks access even when the seed phrase is available.
Cold storage
A Bitcoin custody arrangement where private keys are stored on a device that is not connected to the internet, reducing exposure to remote attack. Hardware wallets and offline computers are common cold storage implementations.
Hot wallet
A Bitcoin wallet or exchange account that is connected to the internet and used for active transactions. Hot wallets are more accessible but more exposed to online attack and platform dependency.
Multisig (multisignature)
A custody arrangement requiring signatures from multiple private keys to authorise a transaction. Provides protection against single-key compromise but introduces coordination requirements that can become access barriers.
Quorum failure
A multisig scenario where insufficient signers are available to reach the required threshold. Access cannot be completed even when some signers are available.
Executor
A person named in a will or appointed by a court to administer an estate. Executors have legal authority over estate assets but may lack the technical credentials required to access Bitcoin held in self-custody.
Authority–access gap
A structural condition where legal authority to access Bitcoin exists — through probate, power of attorney, or court order — but no technical path to access is available. The legal system and the Bitcoin network operate independently.