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A wave of Bitcoin holders are trying to open locked crypto wallets
- Bitcoin’s resurgence has triggered a wave of wallet recovery attempts, Reuters reported.
- Companies specializing in this sector have noticed an increase in recovery requests this year.
- According to one estimate, around 20% of circulating bitcoins could be locked in blocked wallets.
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Cryptocurrency holders are quickly turning to companies offering services to help regain access to locked wallets to ensure they aren’t left behind as the industry posts huge gains in 2024.
Reuters reported that recovery requests are exploding at companies like Germany-based ReWallet and US-based Wallet Recovery Service. The first saw the peak in requests in March when bitcoin the price reached a record high of over $73,000.
ReWallet saw a 334% increase in requests from users stuck in their wallets last quarter, while WRS gained 30% this year through mid-April.
For investors, losing access to a wallet can be as simple as forgetting a password or no longer being able to complete two-factor authentication. Given the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, tokens are stored on digital blockchains, and owners often carry with them both a password and security phrases to access their holdings.
According to estimates offered by ReWallet, as much as 20% of the bitcoin supply is idle and trapped in lost wallets. As of March, that amount is worth about $237 billion.
But with bitcoin’s surge this year, some investors are trying to regain access to cash in on huge gains in the sector. While the world’s largest cryptocurrency has faltered after hitting all-time highs in March, it has risen 54% since late 2023.
As a result, bullish investors ignored the recession broader macroeconomic issuesbut don’t expect them to last.
Analysts at Standard Chartered and Bernstein continue to have expectations of a rally, and both expect the token to do so reach $150,000albeit at different times.
For wallet recovery companies, peak interest is profitable. In the event of a successful recovery, both ReWallet and WRS charge a fee equal to 20% of the wallet’s contents, Reuters said.