What We Recover
KeychainX assesses lost wallet passwords, incomplete backup phrases, legacy wallet files and damaged devices. This page explains what we can work from, how each recovery route differs, and when recovery is not practical.
How we charge. Every case is success-based: a percentage of the recovered value only if we open your wallet, and nothing upfront. We never contact you first and never ask you to type a password, seed or Wallet ID into any form.
KeychainX has recovered lost Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets since 2017. We are one of the oldest incorporated wallet-recovery companies — founded after we helped a friend recover a Ledger holding 150 ETH — and today we operate as a Swiss AG in Baar, Zug, with a presence at conferences from Miami to Singapore. What follows is exactly what we recover, how the process works, and the cases we honestly turn away.
Software wallet password recovery
The bulk of our work is decrypting software wallets where the file survives but the password is lost. Your password isn’t stored anywhere — it only derives the key that decrypts the wallet — so recovery is a targeted search for that password, built from your hints and run on dedicated offline GPU hardware. You never hand over an unlocked wallet. We have custom software that can decrypt your wallet from the password hints you deliver.
- Bitcoin Core — encrypted
wallet.datfiles; the wallet format and master-key records determine the recovery method. Legacy wallets commonly use Berkeley DB, while descriptor wallets use SQLite. - 2014 Ethereum presale — the encseed JSON (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 + AES-128-CBC), our specialty, where a “correct” password often fails on an encoding quirk.
- MetaMask — password searches against an available encrypted vault, including some cases where the seed backup was not saved. Recovery depends on the surviving data and password search.
- Blockchain.info / Blockchain.com — first and second password, and the old 15–21 word mnemonics the current site no longer imports.
- MultiBit Classic, Electrum, Mist, Geth, Armory and Jaxx — older wallet formats and discontinued apps such as MultiBit Classic, Mist and Jaxx. Geth and Electrum are still maintained.
Hardware wallet recovery
Hardware-wallet recovery depends on the exact device, firmware and the backup information that survives. We assess seed, passphrase and PIN cases individually. Older models and devices with secure elements have different protections; see Trezor’s PIN-protection guidance. We do not promise a way around every device’s security.
- Trezor — a forgotten passphrase (the optional 25th word), hidden wallets, and derivation-path confusion between the device and apps like MetaMask.
- SLIP39 / Shamir — assess the surviving recovery shares and required threshold. Fewer complete shares than the threshold do not provide a general way to reconstruct the wallet.
- Ledger — limited: an early ETH derivation-path issue (m/44’/60’/0’/index) is recoverable, but a lost PIN with no seed backup generally is not.
Seed phrase and mnemonic recovery
We assess partial or out-of-order seed phrases and correct plausible transcription mistakes. The wallet standard, missing-word count, positions and available hints determine whether the search is practical. A known receiving address helps confirm the right wallet; a valid checksum alone does not. We also assess legacy mnemonic formats that modern software may not import.
Damaged, deleted and dead devices
If the wallet lives on hardware that no longer works, the coins usually aren’t gone — they’re buried. We take a forensic image of the media and carve the wallet out of it, then recover the password from the reconstructed file.
- Dead or wiped hard drives — deleted wallet.dat files recovered from free space (note: SSD TRIM can make this impossible, so results vary by media).
- Broken or water-damaged phones — extracting the wallet from a device that won’t boot; ship it to one of our labs in Europe.
How we assess and recover wallets
We never brute-force blindly. You tell us what you remember — a length, a fragment, the language and keyboard you used, the year and the software — and we turn that into a structured search using custom masks and rules rather than an impossible exhaustive one. Those candidates run on our own in-house GPU and FPGA servers, entirely offline. We deliberately don’t use Amazon or Google cloud, because your encrypted wallet should never sit on shared infrastructure that could be compromised. We keep a copy of your file until your case closes, so nothing is lost while work is in progress, and it is deleted on request once the case is closed. Once a candidate decrypts the wallet and reproduces the known address, we can verify the result.
Why we can recover difficult wallets
Difficult recoveries often depend on the wallet version, password input or backup format. We investigate those details before choosing a search method. Our references cover early browser-wallet randomness flaws, presale password-input differences, the limits of reported MultiBit input bugs, and Trezor derivation-path forensics. These sources explain particular recovery routes; they do not establish that every affected-era wallet is recoverable.
What to expect
Start with the wallet software or device model, the approximate year and a description of what went wrong. Tell us whether a wallet file or backup survives, without sending passwords, seed words or private keys in the initial enquiry. We usually assess the next steps within 24 hours. If recovery work is practical, we agree the scope, fee and secure handling arrangements in writing first. Timing depends on the available data and the search required.
What we can’t do
We’d rather tell you upfront than take a hopeless case. We can’t help if you only have a public address and no wallet file or seed; we don’t work on wallets bought or downloaded from the web (those are usually forged); and a Trezor or Ledger with a lost PIN and no seed backup is often not recoverable. If your case isn’t viable, we’ll say so — at no charge.
Frequently asked questions
How much does recovery cost?
Free assessment; the standard fee is 20% of recovered value, payable only on success. No upfront payment. The scope and handling arrangements are agreed in writing before recovery work.
Is my wallet safe with you?
Yes. All work is done offline on our own hardware, never on cloud servers, and we keep a copy of your file until your case closes, deleted on request once the case is closed.
How long does recovery take?
Anywhere from a few hours to several months, depending on how large the password search space is. Good hints shorten it dramatically. We give you an honest estimate before starting.
What do you need to start?
For the initial assessment, describe the wallet or device, its approximate age and the problem. Tell us what types of files or backups you have. Do not include passwords, seed words or private keys in that first message; we will discuss secure handling if the case proceeds.
Which wallets do you specialise in?
Bitcoin and Ethereum software wallets, and Trezor hardware wallets, which make up the large majority of our cases. We also handle MultiBit, MetaMask, Blockchain.com and many legacy wallets.
Do you contact people first or sell recovery software?
No. We never contact you first, never ask for upfront payment, and never sell software to open wallets. Anyone doing so while using our name is a scammer.
Need crypto wallet recovery services?
Tell us what you have and what you remember. Honest assessment within 24 hours, and you pay only if we recover your funds.
Official KeychainX contact: mail@keychainx.io. Describe the problem first; keep recovery secrets out of the initial message.