Trezor One - Funds are not showing

Tek · November 21, 2024, 7:21pm

Hi Trezor Forum,

I’m hoping I can get assistance from other members here as I’m having difficulties getting information or support from Trezor support themselves. I have opened Ticket ID: 13676, however I’ve been following up for days and not getting any feedback so i’m hoping someone else can help who has been in a similar position.

I bought a Trezor One 2 years ago in 2022. I set up the device, wrote down the wallet backup, installed Trezor suite from the verified source. I transferred the majority of my bitcoin into my Trezor One account. I made sure to confirm the funds go through in Trezor Suite and once confirmed, I put my Trezor One along with the written wallet back-up in a physical safe that only I could access and did not touch until the last few days.

Fast forward to today, I went to look at my funds. Plugged in with the original USB cable to my Trezor One and the suite has requested me to update the firmware and suite software. I updated the firmware, then updated the software and then all of a sudden my balance is 0 with no recent transactions or history.

I’ve followed each step in their “I don’t see my crypto” support page and can confirm the following steps:

Ensure coins are enabled
Performed a wallet backup check successfully (and its a match)
No passphrase was set at the initial set up of the account, however I tried to enter in a blank passphrase just to be sure. Nothing shows up as its empty and not used (as predicted)

I’ve reached out to support and created ticket 13676 and all they did was direct me to the support page I have already followed and performed already. I have been trying to follow up with support and am not getting any responses unfortunately. I am growing more and more concerned that my funds are gone after carefully researching and taking the time to ensure I am setting this up correctly. At this point, the only option I have not done was perform a factory reset, but I’m unsure how this will solve anything as the wallet back up has been confirmed to match.

If anyone out there is experience a similar situation please reach out as I would be forever grateful. At this time, i’m weighing my options in what else I can do to pursue action on my funds. I will need to look into what actions I can take if I cannot recover my funds. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this and hoping someone can help.

Tek · November 21, 2024, 8:46pm

As an update, I performed a factory reset and successfully entered my seed. Still have a balance of 0.

Trezor One Device: Version 1.12.1
Trezor Suite: Version 24.10.1

Any other solutions I should try? I also tried a different computer, but still showing a balance of 0. I’m starting to get very concerned.

xavyuh · November 22, 2024, 7:54am

I also have the same problem…

dk_SL · November 22, 2024, 7:59am

Hi @Tek @xavyuh ,

If you do not see your coins and there are no unauthorized transactions in the desired account(s), it’s likely that you are checking a different wallet.

To find a correct wallet, you need to use the same combination of wallet backup (recovery seed) - 12, 24, or 20 words) + passphrase as was used in the past.

Your situation is fully described in this guide and I advise you to perform all steps one by one:

If you are accessing a standard wallet and there is no transaction history and you have a correct wallet backup loaded in your device, then it means that you must have used a passphrase wallet in the past.

Just to clarify, a passphrase is an additional word selected by the user to provide extra security to their funds. By entering the passphrase, you can access what is called a “passphrase wallet.”

Every passphrase you enter will open an unique passphrase wallet. To further expand on this point, if you enter a passphrase you think is the original but mistype one tiny detail, or add a space at the start or end, it will create an entirely new passphrase wallet. The crucial step is to find the passphrase wallet where your funds are stored.

In Trezor Suite, you can enter the passphrase by selecting the wallet type (Step 1) and then clicking on “+ Passphrase wallet” (Step 2):

You can learn more about passphrases, including a video tutorial, in the article here: Passphrases and hidden wallets on Trezor hardware wallets

Passphrases typically consist of a word that holds personal significance to the user. It could be a term that first comes to your mind when you see the prompt to enter the passphrase. Sometimes, users use their Trezor PIN as a passphrase, or it might be a password used for other services. It could also be the name of a loved one or a pet, a place you have traveled to, or an important date in your life.

It is important to note that passphrases are case-sensitive, so be mindful of uppercase and lowercase letters. Passphrases can also contain spaces, including at the beginning or end of the word.

The only way to find your funds is to try as many combinations as possible. I understand it may seem like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the more combinations and options you try, the higher the chance of finding your wallet.

Summary and Checklist:

• Double-check for typos or misspellings in the passphrase.
• Ensure the correct use of uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Check for any spaces at the beginning or end of the word.
• Consider variations that hold personal significance (e.g., names, dates, places).
• Try using passwords or PINs you use for other services.
• Test multiple combinations and variations.

I kindly ask you to try as many phrases as possible.

Tek · November 22, 2024, 8:58pm

Hi dk_SL,

It looks like you have NOT read my first post, but I would highly suggest reading it before providing the same link every customer support representative I’ve interacted with has given me.

I have already entered my backup wallet key numerous times with success. I am 100% certain I am in the wallet with the seed recovery phase provided to me at the initial set up of this device. I’ve already gone through the link you’ve provided numerous times as well and can confirm I did NOT set up a passphrase during the set up of my Trezor One. My funds were in a standard wallet with NO passphrase. I’ve ensured the appropriate coin is enabled and I’ve went as far as performing a factory reset 3 times with the initial recovery seed provided. Before I’m told to carefully review the seed words, I can assure you that I have provided it correctly with the Trezor One through the standard recovery.

I can tell you two years ago, I am 100% certain my funds were in a standard wallet. I disconnected, put my recovery seed that I WROTE down along with my Trezor one in a physical safe. 2 years later, it asks me for a firmware update and software update, and then all my funds are gone!!

What I’m asking for support is for additional steps on what else to do. Please can you look into this as I have no other options left to explore.

matejcik · November 23, 2024, 4:15pm

There is 1 in 256 chance that, if your seed is written down wrong, it will still register as valid and open a wallet (a different empty one).

Typically this works the other way around: the seed may be written down right, but a mistake in the recovery process (such as writing a word in a different position) will wrongly succeed and recover an incorrect wallet.
However, if you tried to recover 3 separate times, it’s unlikely that you would repeat the same mistake, and very low chance that you’d randomly open three different wrong wallets (1 in 256^3 to be specific).

So if this is the problem, it would indicate that your seed backup is written down wrong. You could try looking up similar words going one by one and see if a substitute word would work.
(there are automated tools to do this, but of course that risks exposing the seed)

In general Suite will not just up and forget your funds, especially if it could see them before the firmware upgrade. Problems that may arise are generally either:

failing to query the balance (which you will see with an error message)
not querying the account in question (disabled coins, funds in account #2 sent using some 3rd party integration)
seed or passphrase mismatch.

If you know the address with your funds on it, you can see whether it matches the receiving address (of the same account type) that you see in Suite. If not, that means that you are either using a wrong passphrase or a wrong seed.

Tek · November 25, 2024, 7:03pm

Hi Matejcik,

Thanks for your comments. Although I agree that there’s a possibility of the seed written down is incorrect, I would highly argue that stance considering I understand the importance of these seed (which is essentially the key to my wallet/funds). That said, I took every careful approach to ensure every word was written appropriately and in the right order. I went as far as writing it on 2 different pieces of paper and stored it in a lockbox.

As for entering it incorrectly, I would also argue that this is highly unlikely as I’ve done the recovery process more than 3x, each time carefully reviewing and confirming the word is correct and accurate before proceeding.

I have looked at the address with my funds on it, the only relief I get is that there hasn’t been any transactions or movements since I transferred the funds 2 years ago. But that relief is no good if I am unable to access the funds due to issues with Trezor.

I understand that there is an element of user error here, but again I would like to argue that its VERY unlikely user error is not the case here. I feel like the between the time my funds went through and with the firmware and software updates, something got lost in translation and my account is no longer tied to the same account I had previously used. I would highly suggest Trezor looking into the impact of the firmware and software updates to users who have been with Trezor for years and now just having issues accessing their funds. I have realized that I am NOT the only person who is having similar issues and I just want to understand the root cause of this issue so that I could potentially help others as well.

IF you have any other suggestions, please let me know what other steps I can take to recovering my account. Again, seed is correct, NO passphrase was used. Please look into what may have affected older accounts with the firmware/software updates.

Nic1 · November 25, 2024, 9:37pm

Hi

I am in the exact same situation. It looks like a problem with Trezors that haven’t been used for a while. After firmware update: brand new wallet with no transactions.Before update: All fine.
I even checked my seed phrase via suite before I did update, and it was 100 % correct.

I am very exact with all my passwords, phrases etc. and double and triple check them before doing updates. I always did a backup check before firmware updates. So my seed phrase is 100% correct.

Costumer Support is very disappointing. Its as if they dont want to accept the problem. If I didnt have a hidden wallet with passphrase before firmware update, why would I have one after firmware update? It doesn’t make any sense.

I always had access to my wallet without passphrase.
But they give me the same repetitive answer again and again: you have a hidden wallet with passphrase.

WTF!

There are soooo many others with the same problem. I assume they cant do anything else but blaming costumer because its such a disaster. So many lost funds. They can close their doors if they take responsibility for the bug.

I have found a comment from sbdy with the exact same problem - brand new wallet after upgrade, no funds, no transactions.

He tried for 3 years to access his funds again. After downgrading his firmware to a version from 2021 he finally had access to his funds.
I will try that too if I cant find any other solution.
If you try that too and it works, please let me know!

We need to support each other. Trezor support wont. I know that for sure now.

Tek · November 25, 2024, 10:48pm

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I feel somewhat at ease knowing that there are MANY MANY people with the same problems we are facing. There is power in numbers and I hope more and more people will shed light into this issue especially with the bull market. This is just totally unacceptable to me, especially with the LACK of communication from customer support.

With that said, I have tried to download the firmware version for the Trezor One that was released a couple years ago, however Trezor is making it hard for me to do so because every time I load a legacy firmware version, the device will say “Hardware Fault” or “Unrecognized Firmware” and will fail to load EVEN though the source file is from Trezor themselves through the github they provide when installing different firmwares. It’s almost as if they are restricting you from installed previous firmware versions.

If anyone has any luck installing previous firmware without encountering this issue, please let me know.

matejcik · November 26, 2024, 1:42pm

Hello @Tek,

I totally understand your concerns and I really don’t want to call it “user error”. This whole industry is in its infancy, and while we try our best, things still fall through the cracks. I’d love to help you recover your funds, and if your seed phrase is indeed correct, you will be able to get at them again.

With that said, you’re assuming that there is one single “this issue”, a singular “root cause”, some kind of bug that a lot of users are hitting.

Please trust me when I say that this is not the case. There are dozens of possible underlying problems, whose result is the same: zero balance displayed in Suite.
(More than 90 % of those instances are wrong passphrase, which is why you’re getting canned responses to that effect).

Here, I could go on expounding on how impossible it is that an “”“update”“” caused this, but this will not get your funds back. So let’s not focus on that.

So let’s look at your case. Assuming the seed is correct, and that passphrase is not involved here, you should be getting the same addresses from your Trezor.

There is a relatively simple way to test that, given that you know your address and you checked it on the blockchain.

First, determine the account type that you used:

if your address starts with 1, your account type is Legacy
if your address starts with 3, your account type is Legacy SegWit
if your address starts with bc1q, your account type is SegWit, which is the default.
if your address starts with bc1p, your account type is Taproot. That is probably not it, if you created it in 2022.

Go to Suite and open the corresponding account from the left pane.
If it’s not there, you need to add it: Click the (+) icon next to “Seach”, select Bitcoin, then pick the account type matching the above.

Now, when you select the account, you probably see “No transactions yet” screen?

Go to “Details” tab and select “Show public key”.

Copy the resulting string and go to https://btc1.trezor.io/, then paste the XPUB into the search bar and hit Enter.
Then click on the link “Show all derived XPUB addresses”.
Your address should be somewhere on that list.

If the address is there and shows your balance → your funds are 100% safe. Trezor Suite is glitching out for whatever reason. Try uninstalling and reinstalling, try an older version, try a different wallet software, e.g., Exodus or Electrum.
If the address is there but with zero balance → our blockchain explorer thinks that your money doesn’t exist? That is a problem that we want to know about and investigate.
If the address is not there, it is the wrong account. You may try adding another account of the same type and try again with the new xpub. (This could in theory happen if you used account #2 back when you received the money). If that doesn’t help, and you confirmed the xpub on Trezor screen, then your seed or passphrase is incorrect. You can try recovering into a competitor wallet, or a hot wallet, but the result is going to be the same.

matejcik · November 26, 2024, 1:59pm

We are, yes! This page lists the downgrade options at the end.

The reason is security. Sometimes there is a problem that could be exploited by an attacker like so:

they grab your Trezor while you’re out having lunch
downgrade to a vulnerable firmware version
run an attack that steals your seed or sends away your money
upgrade back to where you were

For this reason, especially in Trezor One, we make certain upgrades irreversible.
In your situation, this is unfortunate – there is no good way for you to test that reverting the firmware would help you.

(You could try build a “custom” firmware identical to your previous version. This omits certain checks that make the old firmwares inoperable. It would register as “unofficial” on your unit, but you could recover your seed into it, knowing that you built it at home and so it’s not malicious. However, I realize that this is only for technically inclined users.)

The good news is, a different firmware is extremely unlikely to be the source of the problem.

Hi @Nic1, I granted you basic privileges so you should be able to post links. Please link to the post you mention, where someone claims to have restored access by downgrading their firmware.