CustodyStress
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Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
CS-01233

Multisig quorum failure — 3-of-5 multisig (2024)

Survives
Case description
A 2024 institutional Bitcoin custody case involved a family office that had established a 3-of-5 multisignature arrangement using a custody service. One of the five keys was held by the custody service itself. The custody service was acquired by a larger entity in 2024, and during the transition, the custody service's key management infrastructure was migrated to a new system. The migration created a two-week period during which the custody service could not produce a valid signature in a timely manner. The family office's Bitcoin was technically accessible but the signing workflow was broken during the transition, delaying a planned large transaction.
Custody context
Stress conditionMultisig quorum failure
Custody systemInstitutional custody
OutcomeSurvives
DocumentationUnknown
Year observed2024
CountryInternational
Structural dependencies observed
Multi-party coordination
Outcome interpretation
Access remained possible under the reported conditions.
Source
Publicly Reported
Evidence type
News article
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Framework references
Terms guide
Survives
Access remained possible under the reported conditions.
Constrained
Access remained possible, but only with delay, dependence, or significant difficulty.
Blocked
Access was not possible under the reported conditions.
Indeterminate
There was not enough information to determine the outcome.
Single-person knowledge
Recovery depended on information or capability held by one individual who was unavailable.
Institutional dependence
Recovery depended on a third-party institution or service that was inaccessible or uncooperative.
Documentation gap
Recovery depended on instructions that were missing, incomplete, or unclear.
Authority mismatch
The person with legal authority to act did not have operational access, or vice versa.