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%)
The wallet was destroyed with no backup existing.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who maintained their wallet on a dedicated offline computer found the machine had been unknowingly infected with destructive malware that wiped the drive
When they attempted recovery in February 2016 they found the mapping table they had
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had generated their wallet passphrase using a dice-based method in 2013 had documented only the die-roll sequence, not the final passphrase output. W
They retrieved the book and found it was a different edition from the one used during
Mobile or software wallet
A user stored a BIP39 seed encoded as a sequence of page and line numbers in a specific book edition. In February 2016 they retrieved the book and found it was
The victim transferred approximately 6 BTC to avoid harm.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder in an emerging market was targeted by a criminal gang who had obtained their name from a local exchange's leaked customer list. The gang threat
A user who kept their wallet on a smartphone lost the device in a taxi in March 2016.
Mobile or software wallet
A user who kept their wallet on a smartphone lost the device in a taxi in March 2016. The phone was locked but the thief installed a screen-bypass tool widely a
A Bitcoin investor who had held coins since 2012 died in March 2016.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor who had held coins since 2012 died in March 2016. Their will referenced 'the Bitcoin wallet in the desk drawer.' The estate found a USB drive
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A developer who had generated a 'brain wallet' by hashing a personal motto found in March 2016 that the motto they remembered produced the wrong address. They b
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had emigrated from their country of birth used their original national ID number as part of their wallet passphrase. When their home countr
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used their email address as part of a wallet passphrase found in March 2016 that the email address domain had been decommissioned. They could no
In 2016 the email provider terminated inactive accounts.
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from March 2016 describes a user who had stored their seed phrase in a personal email draft folder as an obfuscated message. In 2016 the email prov
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin user who had entrusted their printed seed to a professional document storage company found in March 2016 that the company had gone into administration
Device lost — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A mobile Bitcoin wallet user upgraded their Android phone in April 2016 and assumed the wallet app would restore from a Google Play backup. The wallet app did n
The saltwater exposure destroyed the device within minutes of the fall.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had accidentally dropped their phone into the ocean while on a boat in April 2016 had their entire wallet on that device. No seed backup ex
A Bitcoin miner who had accumulated coins since 2011 died suddenly in April 2016.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin miner who had accumulated coins since 2011 died suddenly in April 2016. The estate found multiple wallet.dat files across several old hard drives. One
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user who protected their wallet with a passphrase stored only in their password manager found in April 2016 that the password manager's company had shut down
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from April 2016 describes a user who photographed their Ledger seed card on a digital camera. The camera's SD card was formatted as part of a camer
The attackers compelled them to transfer approximately 4 BTC via mobile wallet at
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder was physically assaulted and robbed in May 2016 by attackers who had identified their holdings from social media posts. The attackers compelled
During a period of civil unrest in April 2016 they attempted to relocate to Colombia.
Mobile or software wallet
A Venezuelan Bitcoin holder in 2016 faced currency controls that made it impossible to convert BTC to bolivars through official channels. During a period of civ
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user documented in May 2016 that they had stored their wallet on a USB drive that had been mislabelled and placed in a box of drives donated to a school. By t
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user discovered in May 2016 that the passphrase they had set for their Bitcoin wallet contained a special character that behaved differently across keyboard l
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used a password manager to generate and store their wallet passphrase lost access to the password manager after the company shut down and deleted
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had taken a photograph of their seed phrase on a dedicated phone found in May 2016 that the phone had been remotely wiped after it was reported stole
Device lost — software wallet 2016
Mobile or software wallet
A forum case from June 2016 describes a user whose external hard drive, containing their only wallet backup, was run over by a car when it fell from their bag i
Hidden wallet discovered — software wallet (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A programmer who held coins in a VM on a cloud provider found in June 2016 that the cloud provider had automatically terminated the VM after a billing dispute.
Multisig quorum failure — 3-of-5 multisig (2016)
Mobile or software wallet
A June 2016 forum case describes a startup that used a 3-of-5 multisig for its Bitcoin treasury. The company went through a hostile acquisition and three of the
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