// FAQ

Frequently asked
questions.

Honest answers about wallet recovery, our process, pricing, and security.

Do you guarantee recovery?

No, every recovery is different and there is no guarantee of recovery. If we think your recovery is feasible we will demonstrate our tailored recovery plan to you before we attempt recovery.

Will you have control of my wallet?

We never want or take control of your crypto wallet.

Will you ever see my recovery seed phrase?

No, we take every effort not to see your recovery seed phrase. You will be requested to enter your recovery seed phrase in a file where each word is indexed 1 to 24 (or 12 or 18 depending on your wallet). Our software then only displays the indexes, not the words themselves. If a recovery word is wrong, the process identifies the affected index so it can be corrected and the correct word is displayed - all other words remain secret. For added assurance we prefer to have an observer with us at all times. That way you see what we see. We are happy to discuss further measures to protect the confidentiality of your recovery phrase - please ask.

What crypto wallets do you support?

For "invalid seed" recovery and passphrase recovery we support BIP-39 deterministic wallets. This includes Ledger, Trezor, Electrum, Bitcoin Core and MetaMask. There are lots of others that we support provided they are BIP-39 compliant.

For password recovery we support the following desktop wallets: Bitcoin wallet, Ethereum wallet and MetaMask wallet and Exodus wallet.

What coins do you support?

For "invalid seed" recovery and passphrase recovery it is critical that we know the crypto address we are recovering. Without this we are unable to know when we have successfully achieved recovery. We can handle Bitcoin, Terra Station, Litecoin, Electrum, Ethereum and Exodus, plus most BIP-39/BIP-44 compatible wallets such as Ledger and Trezor. Do not worry if your specific coin is not in this list. We simply need some time to add the capabilities to our suite of software used for recovery.

Can you repair hardware wallets?

No, we are not hardware specialists which means we are unable to repair hardware wallets.

What is BIP-39?

The wallets we recover are sometimes called deterministic wallets. That means that all the keys in the wallet are derived from a root value which is represented by the recovery seed phrase that you are asked to record. For older wallets it was comprised of 12 words, some are 18 words but 24 words are significantly better in terms of security. Some owners of crypto do not realise that their wallets already contain all the crypto addresses they will ever create because their wallets are deterministic.

What is KYC and KYB?

Before any recovery attempt can be made it is essential that KYC (Know Your Client) and KYB (Know Your Business) checks have been carried out.

For individual clients, the Company requires:

  • Full legal name and date of birth
  • Government-issued photographic identification (e.g. passport)
  • Proof of residential address
  • Verification of ownership of assets (for recovery services)
  • Explanation of the origin of funds/assets
  • Purpose and nature of the engagement

For corporate entities, the Company performs Know Your Business (KYB) checks, including:

  • Company name, registration number, and registered address
  • Verification via official company registries (e.g. Companies House)
  • Identification of directors and senior management
  • Identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) holding >=25% ownership or control
  • Nature of the business and operating activities
  • Mandatory proof of ownership of assets
  • Supporting documentation (e.g. transaction history, legal evidence)
  • Intended purpose of engagement
  • A Government-issued photographic identification (e.g. passport) for the main contact

What is AML?

AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering. AML is the set of checks and safeguards we uses to ensure we do not assist in recovering, handling, or legitimising funds linked to crime. In addition to KYC and KYB checks we also undertake sanction checks against the UK Sanctions List (OSFI) and require verification of ownership of assets including but not limited to transaction history, exchange statements and legal documents. If we are unable to confirm the source of the assets or the risk is determined to be above our risk appetite, we will not proceed with recovery.

Do you support due diligence?

Yes, we do. With over 20+ years' experience working in financial entities we are well versed in due diligence. We are more than happy to support your due diligence steps and can join video calls where required whether it is covering compliance, cyber security or the steps to support recovery.

Do you do things differently for medium and large companies?

Yes, when it comes to medium and large companies there are additional avenues of investigation that could assist us in recovery. We have extensive experience carrying out security investigations and supporting e-discovery searches for legal and regulatory purposes. This means we can use our cyber and security investigative skills to identify information that may help with your recovery. Our mix of skills in terms of cyber, cryptanalysis and resilience make us ideal for this type of work.

Why use an air-gapped system for recovery?

Digital money is target for hackers, organised crime and nation state actors (specifically North Korea). It is critical that when you process seed phrases, passwords, passphrases and private keys that they cannot be accessed by unauthorised parties. This means taking measures to either prevent direct compromised of the system or the execution of compromised code that has managed to make its way on to the recovery system. One of the key controls is to air-gap the system by switching off and disabling all networks both wired and wireless. While no control is 100% safe it is an extra step that we take to keep our services protected. It is also why we do not use cloud compute even though it would be very useful.

How long does recovery take?

From minutes to several weeks depending on the problem you have. We will give you the realistic range before any recovery attempt is made. Seed phrase recovery usually takes a day or two whereas password and passphrase recovery can take days or weeks given the heavy processing required and the workstation being used.

Can you recover from "invalid seed"?

This depends on the problem being solved. If you have all the words (and almost all of them are correct) and mostly in the right order then we should be to help with recovery. Our feasibility assessment will help determine if recovery is worth the time and effort to attempt. Our specialist software can correct for common failure-modes when recording seed phrases. If you have recorded the wrong word or mixed up the order of two words or even recorded your seed phrase on multiple pieces of paper and failed to record their order then our software can help with that.

Can you recover a passphrase?

Using your valid seed information as the basis of our testing we run through common passphrases to identify your lost passphrase. For the best chance of recovery we require a list of common passwords that you use. We will then undertake an analysis of your password selection, its meta data and its composition to derive numerous variants to test for the actual passphrase used. In our experience most people have a preferred password method or construction which can be used to help predict future or previous password selection.

Can you recover lost or unknown password?

From our perspective this is the highest risk service we offer because we are directly circumventing a security control and you do not have the associated recovery seed phrase. This service is only available to clients that are considered very low risk as part of our compliance testing procedures or are requesting this service through an SRA registered solicitor in the UK. This service is ideal to support probate services.

The service requires access to the software wallet where we will need to extract the encrypted password. We then attempt to brute force the password either on site or using our in-house NVIDIA GPU based systems.

Your cryptocurrency isn't gone!
It's locked.

Tell us what you've got. We'll tell you, honestly, whether it can be recovered and what it would take.

We aim to reply within one UK business day. We may ask for more time if it's complex or we need to acquire new skills to help!