Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2016

Blocked

Case description

A Bitcoin user who had entrusted their printed seed to a professional document storage company found in March 2016 that the company had gone into administration and shredded all stored documents as part of the wind-down. The document storage company's insurance did not cover cryptocurrency-related losses.

Custody context

Stress condition	Seed phrase unavailable
Custody system	Mobile or software wallet
Outcome	Blocked
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2016
Country	Unknown

Structural dependencies observed

Institutional cooperation required

What this illustrates

Getting access back required help from an institution — and that help wasn't available. 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=255793.0

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.