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%)
Device lost — software wallet 2013
Mobile or software wallet
A user who maintained their wallet exclusively on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer found in September 2013 that an SD card failure had corrupted the operati
The attacker threatened to reveal personal information unless the user sent Bitcoin
Mobile or software wallet
In November 2013 as Bitcoin crossed $1,000, a reported forum case described a user who disclosed their Bitcoin holdings publicly on social media and was subsequ
James Howells, an IT worker from Newport, Wales, accidentally discarded a hard drive
Mobile or software wallet
In November 2013 James Howells, an IT worker from Newport, Wales, accidentally discarded a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC he had mined in 2009. The drive was d
All accessible BTC was transferred by the attacker before police arrived.
Mobile or software wallet
The December 2013 Bitcoin price peak above $1,200 triggered reported home invasion robberies targeting known Bitcoin holders. In at least one documented forum c
Owner death — software wallet (2013)
Mobile or software wallet
A 2013 Bitcoin holder who died after Ulbricht's arrest had been an active Silk Road vendor. Their estate included a substantial Bitcoin balance across several w
Multisig quorum failure — software wallet (2013)
Mobile or software wallet
An early experiment with Bitcoin multisig in 2013 used a 2-of-3 configuration shared between three parties in different countries. One key holder became unconta
Device stolen — 2-of-3 multisig (2013)
Mobile or software wallet
An early Bitcoin investment cooperative in 2013 implemented a 2-of-3 multisig arrangement across three geographically distributed members. One member disappeare
Laptop stolen — Bitcoin-Qt (2013)
Mobile or software wallet
A user's laptop containing the only copy of their Bitcoin-Qt wallet.dat was stolen in 2013. The hard drive was encrypted but the theft meant the wallet was phys
A user's laptop containing a Bitcoin Core wallet file was stolen.
Mobile or software wallet
A user's laptop containing a Bitcoin Core wallet file was stolen. No backup of the wallet.dat file had been made. Without the private keys, the user had no mean
The user reported the loss on Bitcoin forums.
Mobile or software wallet
A user's hard drive failed and the wallet.dat file was not recoverable. No backup had been created. The user reported the loss on Bitcoin forums. The funds were
Device lost — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user recovered a wallet.dat backup file after hardware failure but could not remember the encryption password. The wallet had been encrypted as a security mea
Device lost — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user sent a computer for repair and the technician reformatted the drive, overwriting the wallet.dat file. The user had not backed up the wallet before sendin
An early Bitcoin miner's primary mining computer experienced hard drive failure.
Mobile or software wallet
An early Bitcoin miner's primary mining computer experienced hard drive failure. The accumulated mining rewards, stored in a wallet on the same drive, were lost
A user reinstalled their operating system and lost access to their Multibit wallet.
Mobile or software wallet
A user reinstalled their operating system and lost access to their Multibit wallet. The wallet data directory was not backed up before the reinstall. After rein
Device lost — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user had backed up their wallet.dat to an external drive, but the backup was from several months prior. After the primary drive failed, only a partial wallet
Documentation absent — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user set up an Armory offline signing arrangement involving two computers. When one of the computers was replaced, the user could not recreate the setup from
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user running an early version of Armory wallet had set an encryption passphrase they later could not recall. The wallet file existed and the software was func
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user installed Electrum on a new computer but did not record the seed phrase generated during setup. When the original computer became unavailable, the user c
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user wiped a computer running an older pre-HD Bitcoin wallet without first exporting the private keys or backing up the wallet file. Because older wallets did
Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2012
Mobile or software wallet
A user had generated a brain wallet by hashing a memorable phrase, storing no written backup under the assumption they would remember it. After several months t
Seed unavailable — Electrum (2012)
Mobile or software wallet
An early Electrum user generated a new wallet to receive mining proceeds but did not record the seed. Several months later the operating system was reinstalled.
A Bitcoin-Qt user made over 100 transactions without ever making a fresh wallet backup.
Mobile or software wallet
A Bitcoin-Qt user made over 100 transactions without ever making a fresh wallet backup. The original wallet backup held only the first 100 pre-generated keys. K
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