Lost 12 word phrase

Yeah with a seed wallet you literally have one job. I had mine written down and hidden in multiple places and still misplaced it. Or rather, I had hid a seed from an irrelevant wallet

Sorry it happened, hopefully it wasn’t much money

If he cannot access his account via password, and cannot restore the wallet via 12 words, he is out of luck

From my buddy ChatGPT:

If your son has lost access to his Coinbase Wallet recovery phrase (seed phrase) and didn't back it up in any way (not in a secure cloud, not written down, not stored in a password manager), then unfortunately yes, he may be locked out permanently. Here's a detailed breakdown:

First: Important Clarification
There are two different Coinbase apps:

Coinbase (centralized exchange): Sign-in with username/password and 2FA. Funds are recoverable if he can log in.
Coinbase Wallet (decentralized): Self-custodied, access is solely via the recovery phrase (12 or 24 words). No one at Coinbase can help recover it.
Please confirm which one he was using. Based on your mention of the recovery phrase, it sounds like Coinbase Wallet.

If it was Coinbase Wallet:
No recovery phrase = no access. Even Coinbase support cannot recover the wallet.
Screenshots of the phrase without the actual words visible won’t help — it’s like having a picture of a blank password field.
If the original wallet was deleted from the old phone and not backed up (e.g., manually saved to iCloud, Google Drive, or a password manager), then the assets are effectively lost.

Double-Check These Before Giving Up:
Google Photos/Drive: Check if any auto-backup was enabled and if the screenshot with the actual phrase is stored there.
iCloud or Google Account Backups: On the old phone, was app data being backed up? (Unlikely to include the phrase, but worth checking.)
Email / Password Manager: Did he maybe store the phrase in a notes app or somewhere less secure?
Old phone recovery: If the phone hasn’t been overwritten or reset beyond recovery, a forensic data recovery might be able to retrieve the screenshot — but this is expensive and not guaranteed.
If it was just Coinbase (the exchange app):
Then he might be okay — he just needs to:

Reinstall Coinbase
Log in with email and password
Pass 2FA (and maybe ID verification)
Final Notes:
If he can’t recover the phrase and it was Coinbase Wallet, then:

The assets remain on the blockchain, but no one can access them without the phrase.
It’s a hard lesson in self-custody. Many crypto users have faced similar situations.
Let me know which app he used, and I can tailor further advice.

Thanks for suggestions. He’s able to login into Coinbase. Wallet is the issue. I still have the phone he wiped. Gonna see if there is anything to recover. At this point I know it’s probably a list chase but still going to try.

??. No it’s pretty recent

It's lost. About 15-20% of Bitcoin is lost, more will be lost. This is considered a feature, not a bug, by the Bitcoin advocates as it can increase the value of the non-lost coins and future mined coins.

This is part of the beauty of "being your own bank" - some folks will make a mistake along the way and it benefits the others (until they too make a mistake).

Also increasingly you can be held at gunpoint or beaten into submission for your Bitcoin which can't happen with traditional bank transfers https://www.politico.eu/article/france-crypto-entrepreneur-extra-security-kidnapping-attempt/

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My son changed phones this week. Screenshotted his Coinbase wallet phrase (for security it doesnt show it). He has no idea what it is. Is he screwed? Other phone was erased and doesn’t see anything in cloud. Google doesn’t seem optimistic. Any ideas?

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Part of being a red-blooded ‘merican male is making expensive mistakes.

Life lessons come hard, fast, and often times expensive.

quote:

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It's lost. About 15-20% of Bitcoin is lost, more will be lost. This is considered a feature, not a bug, by the Bitcoin advocates as it can increase the value of the non-lost coins and future mined coins.

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Do they have any response to the point that since the supply is finite, and a lost bitcoin is unrecoverable forever, all the bitcoin will inevitably eventually be lost?

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Screenshotted his Coinbase wallet phrase

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This is considered bad practice. The seed phrase should be handwritten and stored in a safe place the moment the wallet is created.

Sorry, but his funds might be lost.

R/CoinbBase

They have support reps on their Reddit page, or so I am led to believe.

Also, dont trust anyone on there.


ETA read the pinned message on the top of the page.