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%)
Owner death — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A February 2021 estate case involved a deceased who had been an early employee at a technology startup paid partly in Bitcoin. The Bitcoin had been kept in a wa
In the chaos of the move they misplaced a USB drive containing a wallet backup.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder's house was demolished as part of an urban development project in February 2021. They had 30 days to vacate. In the chaos of the move they misp
The passphrase had been in daily use for one year in 2017–2018 then completely unused.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder who had purchased during the 2017 peak found in February 2021, with BTC near its ATH, that they could not recall the passphrase to a wallet con
Multisig quorum failure — 4-of-7 multisig (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A DeFi protocol's 4-of-7 multisig treasury was paralysed in May 2021 when two key holders — both anonymous pseudonymous developers — disappeared after a governa
Owner death — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder died in May 2021 leaving a handwritten note directing the estate to a hardware wallet in a specific drawer. The note described a 25-word passph
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A June 2021 case describes a user who had set their passphrase to the name of a deceased parent combined with a birth year. They were certain of the parent's na
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had transferred their passphrase responsibility to a password manager with biometric entry found in March 2021 that biometric data from a reconstruct
The original image file was lost when a web hosting service was discontinued.
Mobile or software wallet
A user's wallet passphrase was embedded as a watermark in a digital image file they had created in 2013. The original image file was lost when a web hosting ser
Owner death — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A July 2021 estate case involved a deceased who had diversified Bitcoin across 15 different wallets on 8 different platforms. The estate spent six months assemb
They discovered that all three locations had been affected by the same renovation
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder had distributed their seed phrase across three physical locations. In March 2021 they discovered that all three locations had been affected by
Device lost — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who stored their Bitcoin wallet exclusively on a Chromebook found in April 2021 that Google had remotely wiped the device following a policy change regar
Paper wallet faded — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
An August 2021 forum case describes a user who had used the first line of a private poem they wrote in 2013 as their passphrase. The poem existed only in their
The Tweet had referenced a specific date and 'the usual' — an ambiguous hint
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in April 2021 that they had created a passphrase hint in a now-deleted Tweet from 2013. The Tweet had referenced a specific date and 'the usual' —
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user whose seed was stored in a handwritten note inside a book found in April 2021 that the note had been removed when they had loaned the book to a friend in
Documentation absent — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A September 2021 estate case involved an estate attorney who had been appointed to manage a Bitcoin inheritance. The attorney found the deceased had maintained
The victim transferred the accessible funds — 3.2 BTC — and was released unharmed.
Mobile or software wallet
A May 2021 case describes a Bitcoin miner who was kidnapped in an industrial area and driven to a remote location. The kidnappers had researched the miner's ide
A Bitcoin investor's vehicle was broken into in May 2021.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin investor's vehicle was broken into in May 2021. Their laptop was in the car. The laptop contained an Electrum wallet. The laptop had been left unlocke
Forced relocation — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
China's Bitcoin mining ban created a sudden massive influx of mining equipment into Kazakhstan in May 2021. The Kazakhstani electricity grid became strained. Lo
Device lost — software wallet (2021)
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin developer lost their primary development laptop in a coffee shop in November 2021. The laptop contained a test wallet with real funds. The finder retu
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had used a formula from a textbook they studied in 2013 as their passphrase found in May 2021 that the textbook had multiple editions with slightly d
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user found in May 2021 that their passphrase had been written in a private diary that a family member had accidentally donated to a charity shop. The diary ha
Mining ban, thousands of Chinese Bitcoin miners were forced to physically relocate
Mobile or software wallet
Following the May 2021 mining ban, thousands of Chinese Bitcoin miners were forced to physically relocate their equipment to Kazakhstan, the United States, Russ
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin holder's passphrase was derived from coordinates they had taken at a specific location during a trip in 2013. They could not recall which specific poi
The app went out of business in June 2021 and permanently deleted all user data without
Mobile or software wallet
A user's wallet seed was stored in an app specifically designed for secure notes. The app went out of business in June 2021 and permanently deleted all user dat
Device lost — software wallet 2021
Mobile or software wallet
A user who had purchased Bitcoin during the April 2021 ATH discovered in July 2021 that their old desktop PC, which they had given to a relative, still containe
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