Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
CS-01017
Platform bankruptcy — Voyager (2022)
ConstrainedCase description
Voyager's bankruptcy court approved the payment of customer cash balances in August 2022, returning approximately $270 million in FDIC-insured funds held at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. However, crypto asset balances remained frozen. This split outcome—cash accessible, crypto blocked—illustrated how exchange custody of Bitcoin created a fundamentally different recovery pathway from cash: the FDIC framework had no equivalent for crypto, leaving holders of Bitcoin and other digital assets subject to the full bankruptcy process.
Custody context
| Stress condition | Vendor lockout |
| Custody system | Exchange custody |
| Outcome | Constrained |
| Documentation | Unknown |
| Year observed | 2022 |
| Country | United States |
Structural dependencies observed
What this illustrates
Getting access back required help from an institution — and that help wasn't available. Whether full access was ultimately possible is unclear, but significant delay or outside intervention was involved.
Outcome interpretation
Access remained possible, but only with delay, dependence, or significant difficulty.
Source
Publicly Reported
Evidence type
News article
Related cases involving vendor lockout
This archive documents observed custody survivability failures. It does not attempt to document all Bitcoin losses or security incidents.
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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.
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