Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Institutional custody
Cases in this category involve Bitcoin held through institutional custody providers. Access depends on the continued operation of the custodian and the ability of authorized parties to complete the required procedures.
10 observed cases
Constrained
2 (20%)
Survives
4 (40%)
Indeterminate
4 (40%)
Hidden wallet discovered — institutional custody (2025)
Institutional custody
A 2025 Bitcoin custody service consolidation saw two mid-sized collaborative custody providers merge. During the merger integration period, customers of the acq
Multisig quorum failure — institutional custody (2025)
Institutional custody
A 2025 case involved a Unchained Capital vault customer whose co-signing arrangement required periodic identity re-verification. After an extended period of non
Multisig quorum failure — 3-of-5 multisig (2024)
Institutional custody
A 2024 institutional Bitcoin custody case involved a family office that had established a 3-of-5 multisignature arrangement using a custody service. One of the
Multisig quorum failure — institutional custody (2024)
Institutional custody
A 2024 exchange infrastructure case involved a Bitcoin lending platform that used multisignature cold storage for customer funds with signing keys distributed a
Customer withdrawals were suspended for 36 hours while the hardware failure was
Institutional custody
A crypto custody provider that used a distributed key management system experienced a quorum failure in September 2023 when a key server in one of three geograp
Multisig quorum failure — 2-of-3 multisig (2023)
Institutional custody
A corporate treasury that had held Bitcoin in a 2-of-3 multisignature arrangement since 2021 encountered quorum failure in 2023 when one key holder—a board memb
Sanctions lockout — 3-of-5 multisig (2023)
Institutional custody
A US-based investment fund that had established a 3-of-5 multisignature Bitcoin custody arrangement in 2021 encountered signing complications in 2023 when two k
The attorney died unexpectedly, leaving the family with access to only two of three
Institutional custody
A family-run Bitcoin holding entity had established a 2-of-3 multisignature wallet with keys held by two brothers and a family attorney. In April 2022, the atto
Platform bankruptcy — FTX (2022)
Institutional custody
Multiple institutional custody arrangements that had relied on FTX as a co-signer or custodian in multisignature wallet configurations lost access to funds when
Multisig quorum failure — 2-of-3 multisig (2022)
Institutional custody
A crypto investment fund using a 2-of-3 multisignature custody arrangement lost effective access to its Bitcoin holdings in June 2022 when one key holder—a co-f
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