There isn't an area of data recovery that generates as much hype as cryptocurrency, and that's because it has high stakes (to the penny) and high levels of desperation. Therefore, this webpage will be intentionally non-glamorous: three cases we actually recover; one case we may occasionally recover; and the ones nobody can recover, listed in plain language. Any company claiming anything greater than what follows should cause you to keep both your coins and your wallet tightly secured.
Most of the time we see "lost" wallets are just normal data recovery dressed up as high end recovery. The wallet.dat on a failed drive, in the old computer which will no longer boot or the external hard drive that has a clicking sound: this is all a hardware issue and is solved by taking a complete image of the drive, extracting wallet.dat from the image, and you're done. A deleted wallet can be recovered using deleted-file methods (i.e., until it's written over) so you need to stop writing to the computer now. The forgotten computer (i.e., "I mined a bit back in 2013 on something I had stored in my attic") is nothing but a search-and-recovery process for whatever media surfaces are available, and it succeeds more often than the mockery suggests.
Regardless of how we got your files, the deliverable is either your wallet file or keys, intact and yours. We don't require possession of, nor do we take, nor do we have control over the funds themselves.
Remembering part of a wallet's password (the "base" words, the "family" of variations, and when you last used them) creates a limited search space. Professional tools can then find all keys that fit your own possible options, very quickly. This is both valid and limited: it will find existing keys, as long as they are within what you remember. It is not, however, a code-breaking exercise: the same tool cannot be reasonably expected to break a completely unknown strong passphrase. We will clearly define the two before proceeding.
Use every single piece of information from your memories during the scoping process: patterns, old passwords, keyboard habits. These pieces of information are the search space.
Lost seed phrase with no backups and no access to a device: unrecoverable. The seed phrase is the wallet. Sent funds to a wrong/burn address: they're gone; the ledger cannot go back. Coins sent to a failed exchange: you have a potential claim but this is a legal issue, not a recovery project. Strong passphrase with no memory of the passphrase: review the maths previously presented. Any company promising success under these conditions is promoting hope, not results, usually for an upfront cost. We offer a free, honest scoping of which category you're in before any money is discussed.
Because every job is so different, we quote an individual price, in writing after you have had the complimentary assessment, prior to beginning any paid services. Every job has a free diagnostic, the figure will go in writing prior to performing any paid service and, generally speaking, if we don't recover your data, you owe us nothing. There is no time clock running. There is no evaluation charge. And there is never a percentage of what your records or other information may be worth.
Yes, this is the classic case which is truly recoverable. Your old drive is like any other failing patient; it will be carefully repaired and then have an image made of its contents. Next, the wallet file will be found and recovered. After recovery, we will verify the integrity of what was found. Regardless of how much money or "value" there is in the wallet file, the method stays the same: only our care changes. You will have custody at all times during the process; we recover files, never funds.
No, the price quote we provide is for our services and will be provided to you in writing once we have completed your no-cost consultation. Whether your wallet contains pennies or wealth beyond your wildest dreams, our price will remain the same. Charging a percentage of what the wallet holds creates the wrong incentives around exactly the wrong data, and it is a habit of the fantasy end of this market. Fixed scope, fixed figure, and your keys stay yours.
Yes. One missing word out of twelve is a very small, checkable space and potentially recoverable, as one of the few seed conditions that have some realistic chance of recovering from. Two missing words is vastly harder, and three or more is close to the "we cannot do this" category. Position information about your words also makes a difference here. If you bring exactly what you know, the scope of how we can work with what you bring will be an arithmetic problem, rather than just wishful thinking.
A good question; and we can provide more structure in how things will happen instead of what we'll say: work happens with an image of your data; we document all extraction; once we've given you back the wallet or keys to the coins, then the coins are transferred by you (preferably immediately, to a new wallet that you're the sole owner of). We advise this as standard practice. Custody never transfers to us.
Before you drop your device off or post it, please get a quote from us by phone or using the form first. Then there are two honest routes for dropping off and delivery. No vans. Hand in the device at Tay House, 300 Bath Street (right at Charing Cross, two minutes off the M8) Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm, without need of an appointment. Or wrap the device well and send by insured, tracked post from anywhere in the UK. All work is done in-house by our own engineers. We have documentation of the complete chain of custody and your data never leaves the UK.
One free initial call will separate what is potentially recoverable from just wishful thinking, before any fees are paid or courier services arranged. Cryptocurrency wallet recovery for Glasgow: real routes only, keys given back to you, funds moved by you.