You know they owned crypto but cannot find the keys

Start with what you already have

Before you open anything, sit down with a pen and a notebook. Write down every device they used: phone, laptop, tablet, old desktop in a cupboard. Note where each one is and whether you can unlock it. Do not factory reset anything and do not wipe a device to sell it. A locked phone or laptop may hold the only copy of a recovery phrase, and once it is erased that copy is gone.

If the phone is locked, read phone passcode first before you try anything. It explains the careful order to try, and why guessing can make things worse.

Learn the words before you search

Crypto is held by whoever controls the keys. There are two common shapes. A wallet app or hardware device holds the keys on the device itself, and a recovery phrase of twelve or twenty four words can restore it. An exchange account is more like a bank login: a username, a password and usually a second code from their phone. Families often find one and not the other, so look for both.

A recovery phrase is the whole wallet. Anyone who reads those words can move everything, anywhere, with no undo. Treat a written phrase the way you would treat cash left on a table.

Where to look

Go through the house slowly, one room at a time, and write down what you find and where. People hide recovery words in ordinary places. Check:

• Paper in a desk drawer, a folder marked with something dull like receipts, or the back of a notebook
• A small metal plate or stamped tags, which some people use for recovery words
• Inside a book, a photo frame, a filing box, or a home safe (see home safe combination)
• A hardware wallet: a small device that looks like a USB stick or a key fob, often with a PIN
• Email drafts, notes apps, cloud storage and password managers on their computer
• A sealed envelope given to a relative or friend, or left with other papers

Then look at money. Bank and card statements show regular payments to an exchange, and those names are a good lead. Search their email for words like wallet, recovery, seed, exchange and the names of well known crypto companies. If you cannot get into the email, read locked out of their email.

What to avoid while you search

• Do not move coins to test whether a phrase works. A wrong move can lose them.
• Do not post details of what you found in a group or forum.
• Do not let a friend of a friend who knows crypto take the phrase away to check it.
• Do not reset, wipe or trade in any device until the search is finished.
• Do not throw out paper that looks like a random list of words.

If you find a phrase and you are not sure what it opens, stop and keep it somewhere safe and private. Deciding what to do next can wait a few days.

Exchange accounts and their second step

If they had an exchange account, the company will have a process for families. Rules and forms change, so check the company's current help page for the exact steps and what they ask for. You will usually need proof of the death and proof that you are the person entitled to act, so keep certified copies of the death certificate together. Death certificates: how many helps you plan copies.

The second code sent to their phone is often the sticking point. Keep the phone charged and the SIM in place while you sort out the account. If the phone is gone, say so clearly when you contact the company.

What can wait

Nothing here has to be solved this week. Crypto does not expire because you have not found the keys. The urgent things in the first days are the funeral, the immediate bills and telling the people who need to know. Read first 48 hours for that list, and come back to the crypto search when you have space.

Keep a single sheet of paper with everything you have found so far: device names, account names, where each item is stored, and who else knows. Add to it as you go. If more than one person is searching, agree who holds each item and tell each other before moving anything.

If you find nothing

Some people kept their crypto in a way that leaves no trace at home, or owned none by the end. If the search comes up empty after a careful pass, write down what you checked and when. That record helps if a company or an estate later asks. Our checklist has a wider list of places people keep important things.

You are doing careful work in a hard week. Go slowly, keep the paper trail, and leave the devices alone until you know what is on them.