Estate access failure — Coinbase (2024)

An Australian estate case in 2024 involved a deceased holder whose Coinbase account was identified by their executor but who had used a mobile phone number for two-factor authentication that was associated with a pre-paid SIM card no longer in service. Coinbase's estate access process could not proceed without either SMS-based 2FA verification or a lengthy alternative identity verification process involving notarised documents submitted to Coinbase's trust and safety team. The process, while ultimately successful, required approximately 12 weeks—during which the Bitcoin in the account appreciated substantially, highlighting how 2FA phone dependency creates a post-death access barrier even when all other credentials are available.