Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2013

Blocked

Case description

An early miner who had stored a wallet backup on a single CD-ROM found in 2013 that disc rot had made the backup unreadable. The wallet.dat had been written to disc in 2011 and stored in a desk drawer without a secondary digital backup. Recovery software could not reconstruct sufficient data from the degraded disc.

Custody context

Stress condition	Seed phrase unavailable
Custody system	Mobile or software wallet
Outcome	Blocked
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2013
Country	Unknown

Structural dependencies observed

Hardware device required

What this illustrates

The wallet existed only on that device. When the device became inaccessible, there was no other way back in. Access was not recoverable.

Outcome interpretation

Access was not possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Publicly Reported

Evidence type

Forum post

Evidence link

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=22697.0

Related cases involving seed phrase unavailable

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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.