The professional service had been wound down in 2023 and was no longer operating.

Survives

Case description

A 2024 estate case involved a 3-of-5 multisignature wallet where the deceased holder had held two of the five keys, a trusted friend held one, and two further keys were held by the deceased's brother and a professional co-signing service. The death meant two keys were immediately inaccessible—the deceased's two—and quorum (3 of 5) could only be reached with the friend's key, the brother's key, and the professional service's key. The professional service had been wound down in 2023 and was no longer operating. The estate was able to reach quorum using the three remaining available keys, but only after extensive effort to confirm that the defunct service's key was definitively unavailable rather than recoverable.

Custody context

Stress condition	Multisig quorum failure
Custody system	Hardware wallet (single key)
Outcome	Survives
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2024
Country	International

Outcome interpretation

Access remained possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Privately Reported

Evidence type

News article

Evidence link

https://anthonyspark.com/estate-planning-for-bitcoin/

Related cases involving multisig quorum failure

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This archive documents observed custody survivability failures. It does not attempt to document all Bitcoin losses or security incidents. Submit a case

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Framework references

Where Bitcoin Custody Intersects Legal and Fiduciary Authority

Where custody creates gaps in estate planning, fiduciary duty, and professional responsibility.

Professional Scope Boundary Matrix

What each professional or product covers, what they do not, and where gaps form between them.

The Independent Assessment Layer in Bitcoin Custody

How independent diagnostic layers emerge when multiple parties depend on shared infrastructure.