Estate access failure — Electrum (2015)

Survives

Case description

A 2015 probate case involved a user who had created an Electrum wallet in 2013 and stored the 12-word seed in a safety deposit box at a bank. When the user died, their family discovered the bank had been acquired and the safety deposit box records were in an archive pending transfer. Access was delayed for eight months.

Custody context

Stress condition	Seed phrase unavailable
Custody system	Mobile or software wallet
Outcome	Survives
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2015
Country	Unknown

Structural dependencies observed

Legal process requiredInstitutional cooperation requiredSingle point of failure

Outcome interpretation

Access remained possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Publicly Reported

Evidence type

Forum post

Evidence link

https://medium.com/@wayne_huang/rsa-2015-panel-bitcoin-s-future-threats-expert-s-roundtable-based-on-150-case-studies-92cc35e68e30

Related cases involving seed phrase unavailable

146 cases involve seed phrase 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.