The Bitcoin address was visible on the blockchain but the key was gone.

Blocked

Case description

A 2023 case described by a digital asset estate attorney involved a holder who had set up Bitcoin self-custody during the 2020-2021 bull market using a mobile app, taken a screenshot of the seed phrase, and stored it in a cloud photo album. The holder died unexpectedly and the family could access the cloud account—but had discovered that the photo of the seed phrase had been automatically deleted after 30 days under the app's backup deletion policy. The Bitcoin address was visible on the blockchain but the key was gone.

Custody context

Stress condition	Owner death
Custody system	Hardware wallet (single key)
Outcome	Blocked
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2023
Country	United States

Structural dependencies observed

Single point of failure

What this illustrates

There was only one way in. When that path was gone, so was access. Access was not recoverable.

Outcome interpretation

Access was not possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Publicly Reported

Evidence type

News article

Evidence link

https://www.ledger.com/academy/topics/crypto/how-to-find-and-recover-lost-bitcoin-wallets

Related cases involving owner death

119 cases involve owner death 274 cases involve hardware wallet (single key) View archive statistics →

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.