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Crypto wallet recovery help in Kansas City: what is recoverable, and what is not

By John Alewine, founder of Crypto Guidance (LinkedIn) · Updated 2026-10-30

Published October 30, 2026 · Updated October 30, 2026

Educational only. Not legal, tax, or investment advice. Crypto Guidance is a trade name of Crypto Boutique LLC.

Crypto wallet recovery help in Kansas City: the short answer

Whether a crypto wallet can be recovered depends on what you still have. If you have the seed phrase, the coins are almost always recoverable, even when the app shows zero. The usual problems are a wrong derivation path, the wrong app or network, a forgotten passphrase, or one word written down wrong. If the seed phrase is gone and there is no other backup, nobody can recover it: not the wallet maker, not me, not a "recovery expert" who messaged you. I am John Alewine. I sit with people in Kansas City, by phone or on video, and hunt through the obvious places before anyone panics, with the seed staying in your hands the whole time. I do not sell fund recovery, because nobody honest can. A seed phrase is 12 to 24 words from a fixed list of 2,048, with a checksum built in. The standard that defines it, BIP-39, says that with an optional passphrase "every passphrase generates a valid seed (and thus a deterministic wallet)" but "only the correct one will make the desired wallet available." Wrong passphrase, empty wallet, coins still there. (github.com)

Key points

A seed phrase is 12 to 24 words from a fixed list of 2,048, with a checksum built in. The standard that defines it, BIP-39, says that with an optional passphrase "every passphrase generates a valid seed (and thus a deterministic wallet)" but "only the correct one will make the desired wallet available." Wrong passphrase, empty wallet, coins still there. (github.com)
Ledger's own guidance on passphrases: "If you forget your passphrase, access to the associated hidden wallet is permanently lost, as Ledger does not store or back up passphrases." (ledger.com)
Recovery scams are their own industry. The FBI counted 10,516 recovery scam complaints and $1.4 billion in losses in 2025 (FBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report, ic3.gov).
Chainalysis counted 158,000 personal wallet compromise incidents in 2025 affecting at least 80,000 victims, with $713 million taken (chainalysis.com). Lost and stolen are different problems. This page is about lost. For stolen, see crypto scam help.

What decides whether a wallet can be recovered?

Start here. Find your row.

What you still have	Outlook	What we do
The seed phrase (12 to 24 words), wallet shows a balance	Fine. Nothing to recover.	Test a restore on a spare device so this never becomes a problem.
The seed phrase, restored wallet shows zero	Very good. The coins are almost certainly in a different "hallway."	Check derivation path, network, app, and whether a passphrase was ever set. Details below.
The seed phrase with one or two words unreadable or doubtful	Good. The checksum narrows the candidates.	Work through candidates offline on a wiped device. Never on a website.
The hardware wallet and its PIN, but no seed phrase	Workable right now.	Move funds to a new wallet with a new seed before the device fails. Then write the new seed down properly.
An encrypted wallet file (wallet.dat, keystore) and a partial memory of the password	Sometimes.	Legitimate password-cracking services exist and work on the file, not your seed. See the section on hiring a service.
An old exchange login	Often.	Email search, account recovery with the exchange, identity checks. Slow, not hopeless.
No seed phrase, no device, no file	Not recoverable.	I will say so in the first ten minutes rather than bill you to hear it slowly.

Why does my restored wallet show zero?

This is the call I get most. Someone restored from paper, sees $0.00, and assumes theft. Usually it is one of four things.

Wrong derivation path. One seed can produce many address sets. Bitcoin wallets alone use several standard paths; a native SegWit wallet (addresses starting with bc1) usually sits at m/84'. Restore into the wrong path and you are standing in the right building on the wrong floor. The glossary entry on derivation paths explains it; Sparrow is the desk I use to hunt Bitcoin paths.
Wrong app or network. An Ethereum seed restored into a Bitcoin-only app shows nothing. The same seed restored into MetaMask, Rabby or Phantom shows the accounts for that chain. Read the network name out loud, the way we do before any send.
A passphrase was set and forgotten. BIP-39 allows an optional passphrase, sometimes called a 25th word or hidden wallet. Every passphrase opens a valid, empty-looking wallet. Only the exact one opens yours. Ledger does not store passphrases and says access is "permanently lost" without it, and the same is true for every other wallet. If you ever set one, the hunt is for the passphrase, not the coins.
A word is wrong. The 2,048-word list has look-alikes, and a checksum catches most errors, which is why the app sometimes refuses the phrase outright. When the phrase is accepted but the balance is zero, the word order is the next suspect.

What not to do: do not paste the words into a website that offers to "validate" or "check balance." Your wallet already validates the checksum. Pasting the seed online is how a lost wallet becomes a stolen one.

What if I lost the seed phrase entirely?

Then the question is what else exists.

The hardware wallet still works and you know the PIN. You can send from it today. Do that: create a new wallet with a fresh seed, write the seed on paper, test the restore, then move the funds. The old device without a backup is a single point of failure.
A phone or laptop still has the wallet app open. Same answer. Move the funds to a properly backed-up wallet now, while the session lasts.
An encrypted backup file exists. See the next section.
The exchange still has the coins. An exchange account is an IOU with a login, not a seed. Account recovery runs through the exchange's identity process and nothing else.
Nothing exists. Then there is nothing to recover, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you a second loss.

How do I find old bitcoin from years ago?

The afternoon version of my work. We go through the obvious places in order:

Email. Search every account you have ever used for "Coinbase," "Kraken," "Gemini," "Cash App," "Mt. Gox," "Blockchain.info," "wallet," and "BTC." Exchange statements and sign-up confirmations tell you where accounts existed.
Old devices and drives. Wallet files (wallet.dat for Bitcoin Core, keystore files for Ethereum), browser extension data, and notes apps. Do not format anything yet.
Paper. Printed paper wallets, cards with twelve or twenty-four words, backup sheets from hardware wallets, safe deposit boxes.
Watch-only first. Before moving anything, we confirm a balance with a watch-only view so no key is exposed while we look. Then we plan the move with a small test send.

If the amount matters and the first pass finds nothing, that is a consulting hour, not a YouTube evening. Bring the device, not a photo of the words.

Should I hire a wallet recovery service?

Sometimes, for one narrow job: brute-forcing a forgotten password on an encrypted wallet file you already possess. Legitimate services work on your file, often charge a percentage only if they succeed, and never need your seed phrase, because if you had the seed you would not need them.

Everything else sold as "recovery" is suspect:

Nobody can recover a lost seed phrase. There is no central party. The wallet makers do not hold a copy. Ledger does not store passphrases; no honest company stores seeds.
Nobody private can reverse a transfer or "trace and return" stolen coins. The FBI's 2023 warning describes companies that "charge an up-front fee," then either go silent or produce "an incomplete or inaccurate tracing report," and that "claim affiliation with law enforcement or legal services to appear legitimate" (ic3.gov).
The scale: 10,516 recovery scam complaints and $1.4 billion in losses reported to the FBI in 2025, with the IC3 noting an "increase in complaints reporting impersonation of government officials and recovery firms" (ic3.gov).

My rule: if a helper found you, instead of you finding them, it is the second scam. If they ask for the seed "to verify," hang up.

How do I avoid recovery scams while looking for help?

Never type or read the seed to anyone. Not support, not a recovery firm, not me. "Legitimate support will never ask for your seed phrase," as the Security page says, and I will not either.
Never pay first for a promise. Legitimate file-cracking services can explain exactly what they need (the file, your best password guesses) and what happens if they fail.
Ignore anyone who messages you. Recovery firms, "blockchain analysts," and fake exchange support find victims on Telegram, WhatsApp, X and in comment sections.
Do not install remote-access software for a stranger.
Work offline where you can. A restore test belongs on a spare, wiped device in airplane mode, as the seed restore guide describes.

What does a session with me look like?

Bring the device, the paper, or the file. Not a photo of the words. I never see, type, or hold your seed.
We figure out which row of the table you are in, in plain words, before any money is discussed.
If it is a path, app, network or word-order problem, we work it live on your device, offline where possible, until the balance shows or the options are exhausted.
If it is a lost passphrase, we build the candidate list from your memory and habits and test offline.
If it is a file with a lost password, I help you pick and vet a legitimate cracking service and keep your seed out of it.
If nothing can be recovered, I say so, and we spend the rest of the time making sure the next wallet does not end the same way: paper backup, restore test, instruction letter for your family.

Sessions are one on one, by phone, on video, or in person in Kansas City when practical. Consulting is paid per session. The fixed-price Secure Your Stack review, $997, covers the written setup audit plus a 60 to 90 minute session, and it is the right follow-up once a wallet has been found. Prices are on the consulting page. If a free page already answers your question, I will send you there instead of billing you to read it aloud.

Call or text (816) 631-2604, or email [email protected]. Say what you have and what you lost, in a sentence or two.

What if the coins were stolen rather than lost?

Different problem, different page. If a wallet was drained, the seed is burned and the job is to secure what is left, document everything, and report it. Chainalysis counted $713 million stolen from personal wallets across 158,000 incidents in 2025 and says "the true number of compromises is likely far greater." Read crypto scam help in Kansas City for the first hour, where to report in Missouri and Kansas, and what I can and cannot do.

Who this is not for

Anyone whose seed phrase is gone and who wants it cracked or guessed. I cannot do that, and nobody honest promises it. Also not a fit: anyone who wants me to hold the seed or move funds for them. The seed stays in your hands.

Frequently asked questions

Can you recover my wallet if I lost the seed phrase?

No, and nobody can. A seed phrase is the key itself, not a password someone can reset. If you still have the device with its PIN, an open app, or an encrypted file, there may be a path, and we will find it together. If none of those exist, I will tell you plainly.

My Ledger or Trezor shows zero after I restored it. Is my crypto gone?

Probably not. The common causes are a different derivation path, the wrong app or network, a passphrase you set years ago, or a mistyped word. Check those before you assume theft. The Ledger and Trezor reviews and the derivation path glossary entry walk through it.

Is a wallet recovery service legitimate?

Only the narrow kind that brute-forces a password on a wallet file you already own, charges on success, and never asks for your seed. Anyone promising to recover a lost seed or reverse a transfer is running the recovery scam the FBI has warned about since 2023.

Do you charge if nothing can be recovered?

Consulting is paid per session, and I will tell you within the first minutes if your situation is the unrecoverable row. If a free page answers it, you get pointed there for free. I do not charge a percentage of recovered funds, because I do not sell recovery.

Will you ever need my seed phrase?

No. Not on a call, not in a screenshot, not "just to check." Anyone who asks for it is the red flag this practice exists to prevent.

How do I make sure this never happens again?

Write the seed on paper, store it offline, test a restore on a spare device and wipe the spare, write an instruction letter for your family, and never set a passphrase you have not also backed up. The Security page and the seed restore guide are the free versions of that conversation.

Sources

BIP-39: Mnemonic code for generating deterministic keys (wordlist indices 0 to 2047, 12 to 24 word sentences, checksum, passphrase behaviour): github.com
Ledger Academy, Passphrase: Ledger's Advanced Security Feature ("access to the associated hidden wallet is permanently lost, as Ledger does not store or back up passphrases"): ledger.com
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report (recovery scams: 10,516 complaints, $1.4 billion): ic3.gov
FBI PSA I-081123-PSA, Increase in Companies Falsely Claiming an Ability to Recover Funds Lost in Cryptocurrency Investment Scams, August 11, 2023: ic3.gov
Chainalysis, 2025 Crypto Theft Reaches $3.4 Billion, December 18, 2025 (personal wallet compromises: $713 million, 158,000 incidents, at least 80,000 victims): chainalysis.com

How I put this together

Every number on this page was read from the source linked next to it on October 30, 2026. Prices are the published prices on this site. I tested every source link on October 30, 2026. Where a source could not be opened, the claim was left out.

What changed in this guide

2026-10-30: First published. Sources checked the same day.

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