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%)
Documentation absent — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 analysis by estate planning attorneys found that Bitcoin holders who had set up self-custody during 2020–2021 represented a new cohort of undocumented ho
Owner incapacity — hardware wallet 2023
Hardware wallet (single key)
A family in 2023 sought to access a hardware wallet belonging to a relative who had suffered a severe stroke and was in a long-term care facility with no prospe
A blockchain explorer search on addresses visible from old emails showed a wallet
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 estate case involved a deceased Bitcoin holder whose will stated 'I leave all my property to my children' with no digital asset specifics. The estate att
Hidden wallet discovered — Trezor (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A UK executor in 2023 found a Trezor hardware wallet and a hand-written list of 24 words among the belongings of a deceased relative. Three months into attempti
Device lost — hardware wallet 2023
Hardware wallet (single key)
A user who had purchased a hardware wallet in 2019 reported in 2023 that the device had been stolen in a home burglary. The thief had access to both the hardwar
Destroyed in fire — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 estate case documented by a digital asset recovery professional involved a holder who had used Shamir's Secret Sharing to split their seed phrase across
The minimum threshold for the specific Shamir scheme used was 2-of-3.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 case involved a Bitcoin holder who had set up a complex custody arrangement using Shamir's Secret Sharing across three trusted contacts in 2020. By 2023,
Criminals in Richmond, British Columbia, posed as police officers to gain entry to
Hardware wallet (single key)
In early 2023, criminals in Richmond, British Columbia, posed as police officers to gain entry to a victim's home, stealing approximately CAD $10 million in cry
Passphrase unavailable — hardware wallet 2023
Hardware wallet (single key)
Trezor forum moderators published a reminder in early 2023 that the most common support case they received involved passphrase-locked hidden wallets—often set y
Investigation by the community revealed that a firmware change had altered how
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor user reported on the Trezor forum in early 2023 that a passphrase they had used reliably for 18 months had stopped working after a firmware update. Inv
The holder was eventually able to recover the device after three weeks through a formal
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Bitcoin holder reported in 2023 that their Trezor One had been seized by customs officials at an international border as part of a search. The customs officia
The recovery took eleven days of GPU computation.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A user reported in early 2023 that they had successfully recovered a forgotten Trezor passphrase through a brute-force service after providing approximately 30
The wallet held Bitcoin that had not been demonstrated to be connected to any illegal
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 civil forfeiture case involved US authorities seizing a hardware wallet from an individual as part of a broader financial investigation. The wallet held
The device was operational and the PIN was known, but no seed phrase backup existed.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A user who had purchased a hardware wallet in 2020 discovered in mid-2023 that the paper seed phrase backup they had stored had been discarded by a family membe
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2023 FBI report noted increasing reports of 'crypto mugging'—a form of street robbery targeting mobile phone users transacting on crypto exchange apps in publ
Multisig quorum failure — 3-of-5 multisig (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A family holding entity using a 3-of-5 multisignature wallet encountered quorum failure when two key holders died within six months of each other in 2023. The d
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Canadian police in 2023 documented a pattern of robbery crews targeting Bitcoin ATM users in Toronto. Victims were approached immediately after completing ATM t
Seed unavailable — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A hardware wallet user discovered in June 2023 that a seed phrase stored on a stainless steel backup plate had been stored behind a radiator for three years—the
Forced relocation — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Nigerian citizens who had adopted Bitcoin as protection against naira devaluation encountered a new constraint in 2023 when the Nigerian government banned the u
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Jameson Lopp's physical bitcoin attacks database recorded 18 physical attacks against Bitcoin and cryptocurrency holders in 2023 globally, including home invasi
Passphrase unavailable — Trezor Model T (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A Trezor Model T user attempted to access a wallet after switching devices in early 2023. The passphrase had been set using a keyboard layout on a device that u
Forced relocation — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Ukrainian displaced persons who had managed to carry their seed phrases out of Ukraine in 2022 encountered a different set of access challenges in 2023 as they
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Lopp's physical bitcoin attacks list documented a 2023 case in Thailand in which a foreign national who had publicly discussed their Bitcoin holdings at an expa
Sanctions lockout — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
Afghan Bitcoin holders who had fled to third countries following the 2021 Taliban takeover continued in 2023 to face access barriers rooted in the transition. S
Physical coercion — hardware wallet (2023)
Hardware wallet (single key)
According to Bloomberg's 2023 reporting on crypto home invasions, a gang operating across the southeastern United States conducted multiple home invasions in 20
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