Lost Bitcoins Aren’t Always Gone : Here’s How To Recover Them

Lost your bitcoins, but don’t know if you can ever recover them? Then this guide is for you. In this article, we’ll be talking about how to recover your lost bitcoins. 

A bitcoin is considered lost in two ways: either you send it to the wrong wallet address, which is not under your control, or when you lose or forget the private key to your wallet. We will explain the methods of retrieving your coins in both scenarios, as losing bitcoins is not a trivial matter.

How Much Bitcoin Is Lost?

Blockchain analysts report that over 10% of all bitcoin mined is lost. Experts consider the BTCs that haven’t moved in more than 10 years as lost, including Satoshi Nakamoto’s one million bitcoin reserve. According to the estimates, around 2.3 to 3.7 million bitcoins are lost forever. 

While not every lost bitcoin can be accessed, some of them can be retrieved.  One thing that makes it hard to recover cryptocurrencies is that there is no way to reset the lost password, nor a support line that can help you recover them, due to the decentralized nature of blockchain. 

Can Lost Bitcoins Be Recovered?

The high-level security of Bitcoin and other coins like Ethereum or Dogecoin prevents hackers or cybercriminals from stealing your crypto stash, and sometimes you, too, from accessing your own wallet. This security feature of the coins makes the transactions irrevocable, leading to the person receiving your coins keeping them. 

But Chris and Charlie Brooks, a father-son duo, founders of Crypto Asset Recovery, have been recovering lost crypto coins and other digital assets since 2017, helping people who lost their wallet passwords, despite the tight security. According to them, about 2.5% of the lost coins could be recovered, totalling almost $11 billion in recoverable assets. 

Though not all crypto coins or digital assets can be recovered, according to Crypto Asset Recovery, there is a chance that you might be able to retrieve them if you have the encrypted keys, even if you forgot your password or a failed hard drive with private keys. Also, there are chances that even if the wallets are opened, in many cases, the wallets might be empty. 

What Makes A Bitcoin Wallet Lost

Understanding the reason for losing a Bitcoin wallet is important in preventing future losses, as well as to see if there are any possible recovery options. The common instances where a Bitcoin wallet  is said to be lost are:

Losing The Private Keys

Private keys are the unique strings of characters that are used to access the digital assets. Losing these keys makes it impossible to reach the wallet’s contents. The reason for this private key loss can be anything from simple forgetfulness to hardware failure or data corruption. Also, the decentralized nature of the blockchain means there is no central authority to help in key recovery. 

Coins Getting Stolen

Bitcoin wallets are not exempt from the threats of hackers and cybercriminals, as they employ various methods to gain access to your wallets. Once they get access to your wallet, they’ll transfer assets to accounts they have control over. 

Wallets Frozen By The Centralized Wallet Providers

Noting any suspicious activity in your custodial wallets offered by the centralized exchanges can lead to the denial of access to the account. However, if the credentials are compromised or mistakenly flagged, the legitimate owners can also be locked out of their own wallets. 

Death Of The Wallet Holder

If the Bitcoin wallet owner passes away without proper planning and transfer of private key information, the account becomes permanently inaccessible. The crypto offers various “dead man switches” where the access for the trustee is managed through a smart contract.

Bitocoin Burn Wallet

An inaccessible wallet is referred to as a burn wallet, to which the coins are usually sent intentionally, to sometimes reduce the supply of available bitcoins. This is done to increase the demand through reduced bitcoin supply.  Coins once sent to a burn wallet are unrecoverable and would be removed from circulation. 

Transferring Bitcoins to the Wrong Address

An easy mistake, transferring bitcoins to the wrong address, is a common cause of loss. Due to the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions, a coin once sent cannot be retrieved. Hence, it is always suggested to double-check the details before making a transaction. 

Dormant Bitcoin Wallets

A wallet that has not engaged in any transaction for an extended period can turn into a dormant wallet. There are various reasons for a wallet being dormant, including the owner losing interest in bitcoin, forgetting about the wallet’s existence after making an investment. Though the coins in a dormant wallet are not essentially lost, they will be removed from active circulation, creating scarcity in the coins’ availability.

How To Find The Lost Bitcoin

Being honest, if you send the coins to an address that is not under your control, then consider them gone forever. However, the advancements in technology have given birth to sites that can track the transactions, to see where the coins have ended up. 

In cases of misplaced access details, rediscovering a forgotten wallet, or finding yourself locked out of the wallet after a hardware failure, it is possible to recover them, though it may take a significant amount of effort and advanced technical knowledge. But there are several services that help you recover them, making the recovery process a  little easier for you. 

Here’s how you can try to recover access to your wallet:

Remember The Wallet Type You Were Using

Work out which type of wallet you used to store your Bitcoins. Try to figure out if it was a web wallet, mobile wallet, hardware wallet, or paper wallet. You can get clues about the wallet type, address, and even the platform used through reviewing the last transaction. 

Looking up any known addresses related to your Bitcoin transactions can also sometimes offer clues about your wallet or how to access it. Each type of wallet has a unique recovery path; hence, identifying the type of wallet is highly important.

Attempting Recovery Of A Lost Bitcoin Wallet

As we mentioned above, each wallet has a different method of recovery:

• Paper Wallet: For a lost paper wallet, there aren’t many recovery options, and the only way is to find a copy of the details of the private keys. 
• Custodial Bitcoin Wallets: Identifying the custodial wallet service is the first step in retrieving the access. Once the exchange is identified, they will often allow you to log in via email address and password. You can always search your email inboxes for any login credentials. However, in the case of a frozen account or if your account is operating on an older platform that has been discontinued, you may not be able to recover the account. 
• Hot Bitcoin Wallet: First thing you have to do to recover a software Bitcoin wallet is to find the device you were using the wallet on. Search for anything that is capable of storing data, including USB drives, CDs, or DVD-ROMs. If you can find the seed phrase, you can restore the wallet with the help of an HD wallet provider. And in cases where you have the device but not the seed phrase, technical experts can help you find and extract the seed phrase from the device.
• Hardware Wallet: There are a few options to recover a hardware wallet. It includes 3 attempts to enter the PIN code. If you don’t have the PIN code, then try to remember the wallet’s seed phrase. If all these fail, you can take the hardware to a service provider who might be able to hack your hardware wallet. However, for a Ledger signer, this method won’t work due to the most sophisticated security features. 

Secure Access To The Wallet

Once you have located the wallet and regained access, move the assets into a wallet you use more frequently. Also, create a backup for your seed phrase in case you might lose it again. The best type of wallet to keep your assets safe is a hardware wallet, as it can keep your keys offline and protect them from the threats faced by internet-connected devices. 

How To Prevent Your Bitcoin Wallet From Being Lost

There are certain measures you can take to avoid losing your wallet, such as:

Self Custody

Choose a non-custodial wallet, so that you will be the only one who will have access to your digital assets. Also, non-custodial wallets are more likely to offer seed phrase recovery options. 

Backup Options For Seed Phrase

Make sure you have a recovery plan for your seed phrase, such as storing it in an encrypted digital form or having a hardware wallet backup. This helps in minimizing the chances of losing your Bitcoins.

Physical Storage

Store your seed phrase in a physical form. But make sure you store the wallet password in a spot that is resistant to any kind of damage, such as a solid steel case. 

Backup Device

If you are using a hardware wallet, you can create a backup device so that you can access your account from two different devices without compromising on security. 

Ledger Recover

In case you are using a Ledger signer, you can use Ledger Recover, a paid, optional service, to create a backup for your seed phrase. 

Key Takeaways On Recovering Your Crypto

• Make sure you have more than one copy of your seed phrase, stored securely.
• Double-check the address before transferring the coins. Also, you are advised to send coins only with trusted or known accounts.
• Avoid hand-typing the entire alphanumeric address and instead, use QR codes or copy-paste them.
• Check that you are sending coins to the relevant blockchain. 
• Avoid keeping all your coins in one wallet. Store your hardware wallet in a safer place. 
• Ensure not to fall for scams that are posing as recovery services, and remember that if you don’t have your seed phrase, no one can help you. 
• Even the safer exchanges are prone to getting hacked. Therefore, choose if you really want to rely on exchanges or want self-custody.