Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Mobile or software wallet
Cases in this category involve mobile apps and desktop software wallets. Recovery depends entirely on whether a seed phrase backup was made and stored independently of the device.
Mobile and software wallets are the most frequently observed custody system in this archive, reflecting their widespread use. The structural risk is consistent: where a seed phrase backup was created and stored independently of the device, recovery was possible. Where no backup existed, loss of the device meant permanent loss of access.
572 observed cases
Blocked
405 (71%)
Constrained
44 (8%)
Survives
118 (21%)
Indeterminate
5 (1%)
Paper wallet faded — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A March 2018 forum case describes a user who had written their seed phrase in invisible ink on a card, intending to reveal it only when needed. By 2018 the invi
A Bitcoin investor lost their phone down a drain in April 2018.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor lost their phone down a drain in April 2018. The phone contained their primary Mycelium wallet. They did not have the 12-word seed recorded a
Estate access failure — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
An April 2018 probate case involved a deceased who had been an early Bitcoin adopter but had stopped engaging with the community around 2014. The estate found o
Their ISP could not provide historical IP address records going back six years.
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from April 2018 describes a user who had set their passphrase to the IP address of their home router in 2012. The router had since been replaced mu
In 2018 they found the notes file had been corrupted in a storage incident.
Mobile or software wallet
A user created their wallet passphrase using a random word generator website in 2013 and saved the passphrase in a notes file. In 2018 they found the notes file
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had tattooed their seed phrase on an inner arm in abbreviated form found in April 2018 that the tattoo had faded unevenly over three years, making fo
The attacker demanded 1.5 BTC to withhold publication.
Mobile or software wallet
A May 2018 documented case describes a Bitcoin holder threatened with exposure of personal information obtained through a data breach. The attacker demanded 1.5
Device lost — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from May 2018 describes a user who had stored their wallet backup on an old Android phone kept as a dedicated cold device. The phone's battery expa
The thief bypassed the phone lock using a vulnerability and accessed the Bitcoin wallet.
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from May 2018 describes a user whose phone was stolen at a music festival. The thief bypassed the phone lock using a vulnerability and accessed the
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in May 2018 that their password manager had auto-generated a passphrase that they had never memorised. The password manager's master password was t
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used their childhood telephone number — a rotary-dial format no longer in use — as part of their passphrase found in May 2018 that they could not
Seed unavailable — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had engraved their seed phrase on a metal plate stored in their vehicle had the vehicle stolen in May 2018. The thief took the vehicle but the metal
Destroyed by lightning — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder's home was struck by lightning in June 2018, causing a power surge that destroyed multiple electronic devices including the computer hosting th
The card was less than 1cm and was swept up during a house cleaning.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had stored a wallet backup on a micro SD card lost the card when it fell out of an adapter. The card was less than 1cm and was swept up during a hous
By 2018 they had forgotten the calendar system's conversion rules.
Mobile or software wallet
A June 2018 forum case describes a user who had encoded their passphrase as a series of dates in an unusual calendar system they had been studying at the time.
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A June 2018 forum case describes a user who had set their passphrase using a phrase from a foreign-language film they watched once in 2012. They could remember
Device wiped during repair — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user sent their computer to an IT repair shop in July 2018 for a hardware fault. The repair shop replaced the hard drive without the user's authorisat
Device lost — software wallet (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A cryptocurrency developer's backup server was decommissioned by their hosting provider in July 2018 following non-payment stemming from a billing email going t
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who used a passphrase based on their favourite sports team's championship year found in July 2018 that they could not recall the exact format —
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from July 2018 describes a user who had encrypted their wallet with a passphrase only they knew and then suffered a prolonged illness that impaired
Device lost — Bitcoin Core (2018)
Mobile or software wallet
A programmer who had kept their Bitcoin Core wallet on an encrypted external drive found in August 2018 that the encryption software had been updated and the ne
Device lost — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A user who trusted cloud synchronisation for all backups found in August 2018 that their cloud provider had silently failed to sync their wallet directory for t
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used the name of a cryptocurrency exchange as part of their passphrase in 2014 found in August 2018 that the exchange had rebranded twice since t
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2018
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor who used the same passphrase for both their wallet and a now-deleted social media account found in August 2018 that the social media platform
The ransomware encrypted the wallet file and demanded payment in Bitcoin — a payment
Mobile or software wallet
A user who maintained their wallet on an old Windows XP machine found the machine had been infected with ransomware in September 2018. The ransomware encrypted
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