Part of the CustodyStress archive of observed Bitcoin custody incidents
CS-01329
Estate access failure — Coinbase (2025)
ConstrainedCase description
A 2025 industry survey found that cryptocurrency estate access requests had become a significant operational category for major exchanges, with Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini each processing thousands of estate-related access requests per year. Average processing times ranged from four to twelve weeks depending on documentation completeness and jurisdictional complexity. The survey found that the most common cause of delay was incomplete documentation—specifically, executors providing a death certificate but not yet having letters testamentary, or providing letters testamentary from a jurisdiction not recognised by the exchange's compliance team without supplementary documentation.
Custody context
| Stress condition | Vendor lockout |
| Custody system | Exchange custody |
| Outcome | Constrained |
| Documentation | Unknown |
| Year observed | 2025 |
| Country | International |
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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