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%)
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A July 2024 review of documented physical cryptocurrency attacks by CryptoSlate noted that the pattern of attacks in 2024 was shifting from opportunistic street
Seed unavailable — Ledger Nano X (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 case involved a Ledger Nano X where the seed phrase had been stored in a safety deposit box at a bank branch that subsequently closed. The holder was not
Device discarded — Ledger Nano X (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 case involved a Ledger Nano X user who discovered that the notebook in which they had written their seed phrase had been accidentally thrown away during
Documentation absent — Coinbase (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 case involved a Florida holder who had purchased Bitcoin on Coinbase in 2017 and transferred it to a paper wallet using bitaddress.org, then laminated th
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A US gang was convicted in 2024 for a series of home invasions specifically targeting cryptocurrency holders across multiple states. The gang's operations were
Owner incapacity — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 case involved a Bitcoin holder who had been in a coma following a traffic accident for three months. The holder had self-custody Bitcoin on a hardware wa
Hidden wallet discovered — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 estate case involved the family of a deceased Bitcoin holder who had used a paper wallet created in 2015. The wallet's public address was known—it appear
Destroyed in fire — BitBox02 (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 recovery attempt involved a BitBox02 hardware wallet where the seed phrase backup had been stored in a home safe that was destroyed in a house fire. The
Documentation absent — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 estate case involved a Shamir Secret Sharing scheme where a deceased holder had split their seed phrase into three shares distributed among family member
Owner incapacity — Coldcard (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 case involved a Bitcoin holder who was diagnosed with early-stage dementia and sought to establish a succession plan for their self-custody holdings befo
Hidden wallet discovered — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 estate case involved a husband and wife who had jointly purchased Bitcoin in 2017. When the husband died, the wife—who had relied entirely on her husband
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Jameson Lopp's physical bitcoin attacks list documented multiple UK incidents in 2023, including street robberies targeting crypto holders identified via social
The recipient had legal ownership of the Bitcoin but no technical access to it, and no
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Bitcoin holder discovered in 2023 that a hardware wallet purchased as a gift in 2021 had been initialized by the gift-giver, who had generated and retained th
The wallet device was still operational and the PIN known.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A hardware wallet user who had stamped their seed phrase on a metal backup plate discovered in 2023 that the plate had been stored in a box that was accidentall
Thomas holds 7,002 BTC (worth approximately $244 million at the time) on the drive
Hardware wallet (single key)
On 25 October 2023, crypto recovery firm Unciphered published an open letter to former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, claiming to have developed a method to bypass t
The correct variant was identified after testing approximately 400 combinations.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A user discovered in October 2023 that the passphrase they had set on their Ledger in 2021 contained a character they had typed incorrectly at setup—a common mo
Recovery required a systematic search through the 2,048-word BIP39 list for each of
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Bitcoin holder discovered in October 2023 that a metal seed storage plate they had purchased and stamped in 2021 had a transcription error: one word had been
Hidden wallet discovered — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A North Carolina family in 2023 sought to access Bitcoin held by an incapacitated relative who had a self-custody setup. They had a durable power of attorney (P
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Bloomberg investigation into crypto home invasions described a gang that in 2023 conducted multiple home invasions across the southeastern United States targe
Paper wallet faded — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 estate case involved a deceased Bitcoin holder who had used a paper wallet format popular in 2014–2015. The family found a printed page with a QR code bu
Tax returns confirmed significant Bitcoin holdings, but no seed phrase could be found.
Hardware wallet (single key)
An estate executor in New York in 2023 located a Ledger Nano S in a desk drawer of a deceased holder. Tax returns confirmed significant Bitcoin holdings, but no
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
In 2023, Rocelo Lopes—a Brazilian Bitcoin entrepreneur—received a call from captors who had kidnapped his wife after she dropped their daughter at school in Flo
Documentation absent — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 report from Unchained Capital estimated that up to 3.8 million Bitcoin—roughly 19% of the total supply—are in lost or stranded wallets. The report catego
Destroyed in flood — Ledger Nano S (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A hardware wallet user in 2023 discovered their Ledger Nano S had been damaged by a household flood. The device was non-functional. The owner had written the se
The Bitcoin address was visible on the blockchain but the key was gone.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 case described by a digital asset estate attorney involved a holder who had set up Bitcoin self-custody during the 2020-2021 bull market using a mobile a
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