What to Expect When Expecting (to Work with a Crypto Recovery Expert)

Nobody wants to lose access to their crypto assets. But for those that choose to use non-custodial wallets, it's an ever-present risk. A single mistake, like forgetting your wallet’s password or losing the seed phrase, might lock you out of your wallet forever.

This is because non-custodial wallets have no “forgot my password” button or customer service that will email you a reset link. Instead, if someone loses track of their password, pin, or seed phrase, it's up to them to find a solution.

This DIY approach works in some cases. But in other more complex cases, it’s not enough. And as a result, you might end up seeking the services of a crypto recovery expert.

“The most common reasons for clients coming to me are problems with their seed phrase, passphrase, old wallet versions, corrupt data, and transactions sent on the wrong network," says Julia Burlingham, recovery expert and CEO of Professional Crypto Recovery.

Julia has been helping people recover their crypto for more than a decade. According to her, recovering lost cryptocurrency is a hands-on process. It requires consistent corporation and communication between the client and the recovery expert.

Here’s what to expect when going through one.

The Recovery Process

Estimates suggest that around 20% of circulating Bitcoin are locked and out of reach due to lost private keys. This amounts to billions of dollars at its current valuation, and that can’t feel good for those who’ve lost access to their wallet. You can find a number of different DIY guides on how to recover your wallet, but in some cases, it may be best to work with a professional.

Initial Review

Crypto recovery starts with an initial review of the problem. When you first contact a professional crypto recovery service, the recovery expert will review the problem with you. This can happen over email, phone, or video chat.

The goal here is to determine whether recovery is possible. This is because even with the most advanced tools, lost cryptocurrency isn’t always retrievable.

For instance, if you accidentally sent the money to the wrong address or your hackers cleaned out your wallet, recovery is impossible.

This is because blockchain transactions are irreversible. And even if they were, recovery services can only legally help you retrieve funds associated with your crypto wallet. Once those funds have been moved to a wallet address that’s not yours, they’re not allowed to get them back; at least not legally.

Committing to the Process

If the recovery expert judges that recovery is possible, you should have another discussion. During this meeting, the recovery expert takes you through an overview of the recovery process. They’ll discuss the process, expected fees, and the timeline.

According to Julia, this is a good moment to judge the quality of the recovery company before committing.

“Always make sure you can speak with a real person on the phone before trusting a recovery service, “ she says. “They should be knowledgeable about your situation, be willing to explain the recovery process,  and be able to answer any questions you have.”

Paperwork

If the client is satisfied with the proposed recovery process, it's time to sign the paperwork. The recovery service will send you a contract that, among other things, states you are the owner of the assets being recovered. This is important because to stay on the safe side of the law, recovery services only recover wallets that belong to the client.

"Expect to sign a contract when working with a recovery company. The contract states that you are the owner of the asset being recovered. It is common for recovery services to be contacted by individuals trying to break into wallets that don't belong to them, " says Julia Burlingham.

You’ll also be required to provide personal identification documents and a new wallet address. The new address is where the funds will be transferred after a successful recovery.

Fees

Recovery experts, like all service providers, charge a fee for their services. The size of the fee doesn’t matter as much as when the fee is charged.

Generally, it's never a good idea to pay any fees upfront. According to Julia, the charge should only be made after the recovery process has been completed.

This is because despite what the initial review process may suggest, a successful recovery process is not a guarantee. Therefore, any ‘expert’ that demands upfront payment for their services is in all likelihood a scam.

Julia says, "When looking for a cryptocurrency recovery service never pay any fees upfront. Legit recovery companies will work off a percentage of recovered funds."

Recovery Techniques

Once all the paperwork has been signed, the recovery expert can begin their work. The recovery process varies depending on the problem at hand.

Take an invalid seed phrase. This is a seemingly complete seed phrase that refuses to work for some reason. It can be due to typing errors or wrong words in the sequence. In this case, you’ll have to send the seed phrase to the recovery expert, who will also ask some questions to understand the problem better.

The recovery expert will then use tools, usually specialized software running on very powerful hardware, to try different possible combinations. Depending on the extent of the issue, this process will take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.

For a lost password or passphrase, the recovery company requires all ideas of what it might have been. They’ll also want to know your pattern of creating passwords.

What kind of dates and names do you use? Do you use numbers, capital letters, etc. Overall, if you have a decent idea of what your password might have been, the recovery process will be much quicker.

Deleted data and hardware requires data recovery experts to tinker with the device to reconstruct the data. Therefore, you will have to mail the device or hard drive to the recovery company.

Success

After the recovery company retrieves the assets, they should send a small amount to the new wallet address you provided. After you confirm that you received the crypto, the company will send the remaining assets minus the recovery fee.

Takeaway

Crypto recovery is one of the most crucial services in the cryptocurrency space. While not every case or situation is solvable, it can significantly increase the odds of recovering your cryptocurrency wallet.

Unfortunately, crypto recovery services aren’t an all-in-one solution. Completely losing a seed phrase or wallet file may mean that recovery is just about impossible. Additionally, cryptocurrency stolen from you via a scam or hack is almost entirely out of reach unless law enforcement can get involved.

So while this type of “crypto customer service” can help with a variety of situations, it’s still imperative that we practice due diligence and safety when managing cryptocurrency and the wallets it resides in.