Even more likely: what happens if somebody steals the hardware wallet or it gets lost? E.g. It's in a backpack that is left behind. Does the screen display the private key that you can write down on paper (hopefully correctly) as a backup?
Edit: Apparently on first use the device displays a list of recovery codes which would cover it being lost and the inheritance issue (assuming the manufacturer is still around). I'm a bit concerned the recovery is through a web based tool though:
Speaking of Trezor: "a recovery seed is generated when the device is initialized. In case TREZOR gets lost or stolen, all its contents can be recovered using this seed (private keys, bitcoin balance and transaction history) into a new device or another BIP 0039/BIP 0044 compatible wallet." [1]
See also the "Security threats" chapter from the official documentation. [2]
I gave my brother a Trezor and with approximately $1.5k USD worth of bitcoin on it as repayment for money he lent me. I'm fairly certain he hasn't touched it and has lost the pin/seed.
I think I have his seed written down somewhere, I certainly gave him a written copy when I gave him the trezor, but if I can't find it his BTC will be lost.
Your Bitcoin lives on the ledger. You can recover your wallet with your private keys under most circumstances (unless the Bitcoin network itself dies). Hardware failure is not relevant.
As far as the addresses goes, it’s the same thing as sending a wire transfer to the wrong account in a different country. You won’t get it back.
Luckily he hadn't updated the firmware so the vulnerability wasn't patched on his device, but despite that, it took a long time and was not easy. But like this newer vulnerability, it would almost be impossible if he had also used a strong passphrase, as Trezor recommends.
If you give someone access to your bank or brokerage account, you can lose money that way too. That's all that happened here.
Stealing a hardware wallet wouldn't help a burglar. They'd get three PIN attempts and then the device wipes itself. It's important to keep the seed words too but those can go in a safe deposit box.
First thought that sprang to my mind when I read the headline, which wasn't addressed by reading the article, was "ebay ledger nano scam"[0]. I don't see how you can be sure strangers don't have copies of your keys. Unless the keys are generated and coins transferred automatically somehow when you first plug in the stick, which would be cool.
According to some estimates, as much as 20% of the entire supply of bitcoin might be lost and irretrievable.
Oftentimes, it can be impossible to find or recover lost bitcoin. That’s why it’s important for users who choose to hold their own private keys, a 256-bit string of numbers, to have a backup seed phrase stored safely. The best way to deal with this problem might be to make sure it never happens in the first place.
That being said, there are some ways to try and recover an old bitcoin wallet. The best approach methods–and whether or not it will work–depends on how you lost the wallet. Read on for a guide that could help you find lost bitcoin in cases, when possible.
Some developers have created programs that help recover the private keys to a bitcoin wallet. That this only works in cases in which the loser has deleted some or all of their keys. A program usually can’t help those who have forgotten their passwords, PIN numbers, or backup seed phrases. But if the user mistakenly deleted files with the relevant information, they may be able to recover them. If a user has a portion of the private key, it may be possible to find the rest of the key.
DARK TRACER DIGITAL is up for the Task to recover All stolen Asset
Try to steal my Trezor HW wallet. It is protected by a proper pin and passphrase and there are multiple accounts on it. So even if you force me to unlock it, I won't show them all. So I am actually more worried about my physical gold than Bitcoin.
Trezor advertises itself as the most secure way to store bitcoins, yet he lost all his bitcoins. Not sure how you concluded I'm blaming the victim here.
According to some estimates, as much as 20% of the entire supply of bitcoin might be lost and irretrievable.
Oftentimes, it can be impossible to find or recover lost bitcoin. That’s why it’s important for users who choose to hold their own private keys, a 256-bit string of numbers, to have a backup seed phrase stored safely. The best way to deal with this problem might be to make sure it never happens in the first place.
That being said, there are some ways to try and recover an old bitcoin wallet. The best approach methods–and whether or not it will work–depends on how you lost the wallet. Read on for a guide that could help you find lost bitcoin in cases, when possible.
Some developers have created programs that help recover the private keys to a bitcoin wallet. That this only works in cases in which the loser has deleted some or all of their keys. A program usually can’t help those who have forgotten their passwords, PIN numbers, or backup seed phrases. But if the user mistakenly deleted files with the relevant information, they may be able to recover them. If a user has a portion of the private key, it may be possible to find the rest of the key.
DARKTRACER DIGITAL IS up foe the Task to recover all online transaction
The device holds a private key that can be regenerated from 12 seed words.
The device itself doesn't really matter if you know these 12 words.
The key is what lets you update ownership information on the public block chain. The wallet doesn't hold any coins on the device, just a key that let's you update the chain of public ownership.
For example:
- You live in Russia and see the writing on the wall for invasion and currency collapse
- Prior to the invasion you move 90% of your wealth into a BTC wallet.
- The invasion happens and the currency collapses.
- You want to escape the country, but the border exits are guarded by corrupt guards that will steal any money/valuables you try to cross with.
- You memorize the 12 seed words of your wallet and cross the border with nothing.
- On the other side you recreate your wallet and restore access to your wealth in a safe country.
Not sure that solves he upthread probem. If I give you a Treznor hardware wallet containing a private key to $150million worth of bitcoins - would you trust me not to have anther copy of that key? Or would you transfer them immediately to a wallet with a private key I could never possibly have known?
Suppose you have the Bitcoin on a local wallet, and your computer crashed, losing all the private keys (perhaps presenting the requisite Apple Store receipts when you took it down to the store to get repaired). A bit like losing your cash in a fire; computers do crash quite a bit. Not a lawyer, but I think something like that might be difficult to disprove in court. On the other hand, subsequent spending from those addresses would then be monitored. So perhaps best to report that computer lost/stolen.
> Your computer can have spyware that can snoop on the key and steal your coins.
So could a hardware wallet. [0]
[0] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Hardware_wallet - see under "Security Risks", both the "compromised production process" and "compromised shipping process" items are places where this could occur.
There are people who have lost the key to wallets. For most of them, that is the same as not owning the cryptocurrency, but a small number might get lucky and remember where they put it, or remember enough of it to eventually recover it, at some point in the future. I haven't looked in detail, but do the rules address this scenario?
Yes, in the case of the Ledger Nano S for example when you set it up for the first time it gives you a 24 word recovery seed that you write down and keep in the safe place. The seed is created according to a Bitcoin standard (BIP39) If anything happens to your hardware wallet you just buy a new hardware wallet that supports BIP39 and you are back in business.
If you want to be really secure you can engrave your recovery seed into a piece of metal that won't melt in typical house fire temps like brass.
and the bulk of it should be on a paper wallet, in the vault of a bank or another real world institution. the hardware used to generate this key should be wiped out. so if he followed best practices, he didn't lose this money
edit: just found out that the btc was stolen from a dedicated server on ColoCrossing. this makes no freaking sense. no server connected to internet should have access to the keys to your btc (or access to any keys that could be used to later on grab cryptocurrency keys). hot wallets should be hardware wallets, cold wallets should be acid free paper
Thinking it through, if they find other wallets with this problem, I wonder what the fix is?
They could generate a new key + wallet, which could probably then be made to work for the running instance.
All the backups though, would probably need to be opened with the current (missing) key+wallet in order to re-encrypt them.
Might be doable with the current key+wallet that's in memory, but also it might not be. eg might not be able to change the software on the running system, in which case ouch... places that need historical backups (eg for legal purposes) would be in bad place.
Edit: Apparently on first use the device displays a list of recovery codes which would cover it being lost and the inheritance issue (assuming the manufacturer is still around). I'm a bit concerned the recovery is through a web based tool though:
http://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-user/recovery.html
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