CustodyStress
Archive › Passphrase unavailable
Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
CS-01278

The funds—approximately $18,000 in Bitcoin—were inaccessible.

Blocked
Case description
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 seed phrase restored successfully, but the wallet appeared empty. The user had set a BIP39 passphrase on the original wallet during initial setup—a step they had not recalled taking. The wallet balance existed on the passphrase-derived derivation path, not the default path. Without any memory of setting a passphrase, recovery was impossible. The passphrase could have been any string of any length. The funds—approximately $18,000 in Bitcoin—were inaccessible.
Custody context
Stress conditionPassphrase unavailable
Custody systemMobile or software wallet
OutcomeBlocked
DocumentationUnknown
Year observed2024
CountryInternational
Structural dependencies observed
Technical specialist required
What this illustrates
The seed phrase was there, but the passphrase that unlocked it was gone. Both are required. Access was not recoverable.
Outcome interpretation
Access was not possible under the reported conditions.
Source
Privately Reported
Evidence type
News article
Evidence link
https://keychainx.medium.com/how-to-recover-lost-bitcoin-passwords-c34c42ee6f17
Related cases involving passphrase unavailable
A 2025 recovery case involved a Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file from 2015.
Desktop Software Wallet · 2025 Survives
Wallets containing 0.5–2 BTC that had been uneconomical to pursue recovery services
Desktop Software Wallet · 2025 Constrained
Passphrase unavailable — Ledger Nano S (2025)
Hardware wallet (single key) · 2025 Blocked
217 cases involve passphrase unavailable 572 cases involve mobile or software wallet 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.
Terms guide
Outcome terms
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.
Structural terms
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.
Original text
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