Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Hardware wallet (single key)
Cases in this category involve single-key hardware wallets. The device holds the private key offline. Recovery depends entirely on whether an independent seed phrase backup exists.
Hardware wallets appear in a large share of device-loss cases. The device itself is replaceable — the seed phrase restores access to any compatible wallet. Cases that resulted in blocked access share a common factor: no seed phrase backup existed, or the backup was stored with the device and lost alongside it.
274 observed cases
Blocked
100 (36%)
Constrained
45 (16%)
Survives
86 (31%)
Indeterminate
43 (16%)
The estate value at 2025 Bitcoin prices was approximately $2.3 million.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 estate case involved a Bitcoin holder who had purchased a significant amount of Bitcoin in 2013 and held it continuously in a self-custody wallet. The es
The specialist was able to identify the correct derivation path and successfully
Hardware wallet (single key)
A September 2025 Bitcoin estate case involved a California holder who had stored their seed phrase in a physical vault at a bank branch. The vault had been open
Multisig quorum failure — hardware wallet — United States 2025
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 estate case involved a 2-of-3 multisig wallet where the deceased holder had kept one key, a professional fiduciary firm held the second, and a hardware k
The Coldcard's encrypted backup on the card was unreadable.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 recovery case involved a Coldcard hardware wallet whose seed phrase had been stored on a microSD card kept inside the device. The microSD card had physic
A BIP39 brute-force specialist was able to narrow the search space using the 18 known
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case documented by a Bitcoin custody specialist involved a holder who had stored their 24-word seed phrase on a steel plate but had been using an electro
The holder wanted to migrate the funds to a new wallet but required 2-of-3 signatures
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case involved a 2-of-3 multisig arrangement where one of the three hardware keys had been manufactured by a company that went out of business in 2024. Th
Documentation absent — hardware wallet 2025
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 estate case involved a deceased holder who had created a multi-location backup strategy for their seed phrase, storing individual groups of words at diff
A Turkish national who had travelled to Hong Kong to conduct a cryptocurrency OTC trade
Hardware wallet (single key)
In March 2025, a Turkish national who had travelled to Hong Kong to conduct a cryptocurrency OTC trade involving €5 million in cash was attacked at knifepoint n
Owner death — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 report by Ledger estimated that between 2.3 and 4 million Bitcoin—representing 11–18% of total supply—had been permanently lost, with owner deaths withou
The analysis noted that attacks were no longer the exclusive domain of
Hardware wallet (single key)
A comprehensive year-end analysis by TRM Labs described 2025 as 'a record year for wrench attacks' with approximately 60 documented physical assaults on cryptoc
Europe accounted for over 40% of global incidents, with France alone recording 19
Hardware wallet (single key)
CertiK's 2025 Wrench Attack Report documented 72 verified physical coercion incidents targeting cryptocurrency holders worldwide—a 75% increase over the 41 inci
The case was cited by CertiK's 2025 Wrench Attack Report as one of the year's most
Hardware wallet (single key)
In late 2025, Russian cryptocurrency figure Roman Novak and his wife were murdered in Dubai after being lured to a villa in the Hatta region by men posing as po
His body was found in the burned car in Vienna's Donaustadt district.
Hardware wallet (single key)
On approximately November 26, 2025, Danylo Kuzmin—a 21-year-old Ukrainian student and son of the deputy mayor of Kharkiv—was murdered in Vienna in a targeted cr
The device had approximately $450,000 in Bitcoin on it.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case involved a Bitcoin holder who had passed away leaving behind a hardware wallet in working condition with a documented PIN but no documented seed phr
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Ugandan Bitcoin holder was kidnapped near Kampala in May 2025 by five armed individuals, some dressed in military-style uniforms, who surrounded his car and a
Forced relocation — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Venezuelan Bitcoin holders continued to use Bitcoin as a primary savings vehicle in 2025, amid sustained economic instability and hyperinflation. The Maduro gov
Approximately $340,000 in Bitcoin remained on-chain and inaccessible.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case involved a Bitcoin holder who had deliberately obscured their cryptocurrency holdings from family members for privacy reasons. Following the holder'
Forced relocation — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Palestinian Bitcoin holders in Gaza experienced a second consecutive year of severe infrastructure disruption. Banking systems remained non-functional across la
Passphrase unavailable — Ledger Nano S (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case involved a Ledger Nano S that had been used with a BIP39 passphrase—the optional 25th word—since 2020. The holder had stored the passphrase separate
Owner death — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 German estate case involved a holder who had stored their Bitcoin seed phrase using a proprietary splitting scheme that divided the 24 words into three g
Legal authority constraint — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
The GENIUS Act, signed into law in 2025, established the first federal stablecoin framework. While the Act did not directly restrict Bitcoin ownership or custod
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 analysis by Chainalysis found a statistically significant correlation between Bitcoin price movements and the frequency of physical wrench attacks, sugge
Owner incapacity — hardware wallet (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 incapacity planning case involved a Bitcoin holder with a traumatic brain injury sustained in 2024 who had regained significant cognitive function but re
A family member later discovered that the holder had been posting about Bitcoin on
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 UK estate case involved a holder who had purchased Bitcoin through Coinbase in 2018 and subsequently transferred all of it to a self-custody hardware wal
The third device had been destroyed in a vehicle fire months before the holder's death.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 estate case involved a 2-of-3 multisig where the deceased had held all three keys personally—a configuration that negated the quorum safety benefits beca
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