Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
Passphrase unavailable
Cases in this category involve wallets protected by a passphrase that could not be recovered. Even where the seed phrase was available, passphrase unavailability blocked access.
Passphrase unavailability differs from seed unavailability in that it often arises years after setup, when memory of an infrequently used passphrase has faded. Cases in this category frequently involve users who understood the concept of a passphrase but underestimated the precision required to reproduce it exactly. Even small variations in capitalization, spacing, or punctuation produce a different wallet.
217 observed cases
Blocked
152 (70%)
Constrained
2 (1%)
Survives
51 (24%)
Indeterminate
12 (6%)
A 2025 recovery case involved a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file from 2015.
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2025 recovery case involved a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file from 2015. The holder had encrypted the wallet with a password they were confident they remembered,
Wallets containing 0.5–2 BTC that had been uneconomical to pursue recovery services
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2025 report by Cointelegraph on wallet password recovery in 2025 noted that recovery services were seeing a wave of new cases as Bitcoin's price exceeded $100
Passphrase unavailable — Ledger Nano S (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2025 case involved a Ledger Nano S that had been used with a BIP39 passphrase—the optional 25th word—since 2020. The holder had stored the passphrase separate
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2025)
Mobile or software wallet
A 2025 case involved a Samourai Wallet user who had set a BIP39 passphrase and used the wallet's privacy features. The wallet had been on a phone that died with
The wallet contained 2.4 BTC worth approximately $240,000 at January 2025 prices.
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2025 recovery case documented by Dave Bitcoin's Wallet Recovery Services involved an Electrum wallet encrypted in 2017 with a password the holder could no lon
Passphrase unavailable — Armory (2025)
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2025 recovery case involved an old Armory wallet from 2013 where the holder had set a passphrase they were certain they remembered but which consistently fail
Passphrase unavailable — software wallet (2025)
Mobile or software wallet
A 2025 case involved a MetaMask wallet user who had set a custom password for their wallet but could not recall it after a phone factory reset and reinstallatio
Passphrase unavailable — Coldcard (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A November 2025 case involved a Coldcard hardware wallet where the holder had forgotten the device PIN after not using it for over a year. Unlike some earlier h
The price milestone converted previously small or moderate-value inaccessible wallets
Desktop Software Wallet
Bitcoin's price exceeded $100,000 for the first time in December 2024, triggering a surge in recovery service enquiries from holders who had forgotten access cr
A November 2024 case involved a MultiBit Classic wallet file from 2014.
Desktop Software Wallet
A November 2024 case involved a MultiBit Classic wallet file from 2014. MultiBit Classic had been discontinued in 2017 and its password derivation scheme was di
The Bitcoin—purchased near the 2021 high—remained inaccessible in 2024 as prices
Hardware wallet (single key)
A hardware wallet user attempted to access a Trezor Model T wallet in early 2024 after the device had been stored unused for three years. The user had set a cus
The wallet contained 3.8 BTC, worth approximately $240,000 at the October 2024 price of
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2024 recovery case described by Dave Bitcoin's Wallet Recovery Services involved a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file that had been encrypted in 2016. The holder re
The funds—approximately $18,000 in Bitcoin—were inaccessible.
Mobile or software wallet
A 2024 case involved a Trust Wallet user who had migrated to a new phone and attempted to restore their wallet using a seed phrase saved in a notes app. The see
Passphrase unavailable — Armory (2024)
Desktop Software Wallet
A long-dormant Bitcoin wallet from 2013, containing 2.3 BTC, was the subject of a recovery attempt in September 2024. The holder had used an Armory software wal
Passphrase unavailable — hardware wallet (2024)
Hardware wallet (single key)
A 2024 Keepkey hardware wallet case involved a device that had been in storage for four years. The holder had set a device PIN that they could not recall. The K
Passphrase unavailable — Bitcoin Core (2024)
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2024 guide published by KeychainX wallet recovery services updated practitioners on the landscape of forgotten wallet passwords. The guide noted that the most
Passphrase unavailable — Coinbase (2024)
Mobile or software wallet
A 2024 Coinbase Wallet user attempted to restore their wallet to a new phone after their old phone was damaged beyond repair. Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody
Passphrase unavailable — Bitcoin Core (2024)
Desktop Software Wallet
A 2024 recovery case involved a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file that had been encrypted in 2017 with a password the holder could no longer remember precisely. The
Passphrase unavailable — desktop wallet 2023
Desktop Software Wallet
A user with a multi-coin Electrum wallet created in 2019 attempted to restore it in November 2023 after a SSD failure. The seed phrase was available and correct
The user had a shortlist of potential extensions from their 2018 password habits.
Desktop Software Wallet
A user who had moved Bitcoin to an Electrum wallet in 2018 using a custom seed extension attempted to restore the wallet in September 2023 after a hard drive fa
Thomas holds 7,002 BTC (worth approximately $244 million at the time) on the drive
Hardware wallet (single key)
On 25 October 2023, crypto recovery firm Unciphered published an open letter to former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, claiming to have developed a method to bypass t
The correct variant was identified after testing approximately 400 combinations.
Hardware wallet (single key)
A user discovered in October 2023 that the passphrase they had set on their Ledger in 2021 contained a character they had typed incorrectly at setup—a common mo
A long-term Bitcoin holder attempted to recover a Bitcoin Core wallet encrypted in 2017.
Desktop Software Wallet
A long-term Bitcoin holder attempted to recover a Bitcoin Core wallet encrypted in 2017. The wallet.dat file had survived multiple computer migrations. The pass
The correct password was found after approximately 12 hours of GPU computation and 40
Desktop Software Wallet
A user contacted Wallet Recovery Services in early 2023 seeking help with an Electrum wallet encrypted in 2016. The wallet.dat file was intact. The user remembe
Passphrase unavailable — Bitcoin Core (2023)
Desktop Software Wallet
A software developer who had used a randomly generated 20-character password from RoboForm in 2016 to encrypt their Bitcoin Core wallet contacted recovery servi
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