How to recover stolen crypto

Hacked crypto account: do this now

If your wallet or exchange account has been compromised, treat it like a live fire. Act in this order:

1. Disconnect and isolate. Take affected devices offline immediately. Toggle airplane mode and unplug from Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth. Then use a clean, uncompromised device to continue the steps below.
2. Move what’s left. If any balance remains, sweep it to a brand‑new wallet you control. Generate fresh keys on a hardware wallet and never reuse exposed seed phrases.
3. Rotate credentials and keys. Change exchange passwords (unique, 16+ characters, random) and enable a hardware second factor (FIDO2 key). Disable SMS‑based codes. Revoke dApp and token approvals using tools like Etherscan/Polygonscan token approvals. For non‑custodial wallets, migrate to new seed phrases and derivation paths.
4. Lock down email and devices. Secure the email that controls exchange logins with a new password and hardware‑key 2FA. Update OS, browser, and wallet extensions; run a reputable malware scan from a clean USB or recovery environment.
5. Create a paper trail. Record transaction hashes, timestamps, addresses, IP/login logs, chat handles of scammers, and any phishing sites or ads you interacted with. Screenshots help.
6. Notify the right parties fast. Submit theft reports to your exchange(s), wallet provider, and blockchain analytics partners via their abuse or security portals. File a local police report and (when applicable) a cybercrime report, request a case number. 

Rapid escalation improves the odds when you’re figuring out how to recover stolen cryptocurrency.

Pro tip: don’t communicate with the attacker. Ransom “recovery” offers usually deepen losses.

Will I get my money back?

It depends, and speed, documentation, and cooperation are everything. The likelihood that you can recover stolen crypto rises dramatically when you act within hours, because exchanges and off‑ramps may still flag and freeze inflows before they disappear into mixers, privacy chains, or cross‑chain bridges. 

Cases are strongest when on‑chain tracing shows funds touching KYC and AML venues. With a clear evidence bundle (transaction graph, case summary, police report), compliance teams are more willing to preserve balances while investigators obtain legal orders. 

Jurisdiction matters too: some courts issue freezing or disclosure orders quickly, while others move slowly and force you to lean on civil remedies in parallel with police reports. Asset design also plays a role: certain stablecoins or wrapped assets can sometimes be frozen by issuers, whereas UTXO‑based coins typically rely entirely on tracing and exchange cooperation. 

Finally, the root cause influences outcomes: where device malware or shared seed phrases are involved, platforms often point to user negligence and deny reimbursement.

Expectation‑setting is critical: full restitution is uncommon, but partial recovery does happen, especially when funds pass through centralized, KYC-verified platforms. Even if money isn’t returned immediately, thorough documentation improves your chances should the same infrastructure be reused later.

Approaches to dealing with stolen crypto

Recoveries begin with a story the evidence can tell. Investigators start by following the money on‑chain, tracing transactions from your compromised address through services, hops, and bridges until they touch places where human identities exist. This map isn’t guesswork; it relies on heuristics such as co‑spending, peel chains, and change outputs, plus entity labeling and cross‑chain correlation. 

The goal is to identify potential cash‑out points (typically KYC exchanges or custodians) and assemble a narrative that compliance teams and courts can act on. For those wondering how to retrieve stolen Bitcoin, the process is similar across chains: every transaction is a breadcrumb, and enough breadcrumbs can lead to a wallet that interfaces with a regulated venue.

Parallel to tracing, you build a persuasive evidence file. That file should clearly lay out the incident timeline, the victim and attacker addresses, transaction hashes, links to block explorers, screenshots of phishing messages or spoofed websites, and any exchange notices you’ve received. Strong documentation shortens review times and raises the odds of rapid freezes when funds finally touch a KYC endpoint. With that packet in hand, victims or their counsel submit preservation requests to the platforms identified by the tracing. In many jurisdictions, civil tools (such as freezing or disclosure orders and injunctions against unknown persons) can be sought in parallel with police reports, giving exchanges the legal comfort to hold suspect balances while identity information is preserved for investigators.

How to avoid theft in the future

Prevention is the only dependable path when you’re searching for how to get stolen crypto back after a breach. Treat your long‑term holdings as savings that should rarely, if ever, be exposed to the internet. Non‑custodial hardware wallets are ideal for this role: they generate fresh seed phrases offline and sign transactions in a sealed environment, putting distance between your private keys and everyday malware risks. For convenience, maintain a separate “hot” wallet with small, spendable balances; the rest should live in cold storage isolated from your browsing device.

Key hygiene matters as much as device choice. Seed phrases belong on durable, non‑digital media (preferably metal backups stored in separate locations) and should never be typed into a website, photographed, or synced to cloud notes. For larger treasuries, multisignature schemes spread trust across multiple keys and locations, turning single‑point failures into non‑events. 

Day to day, reduce exposure by using a dedicated browser profile for crypto activity, keeping firmware and extensions updated, and protecting exchange and email logins with a hardware security key rather than SMS codes. 

Finally, make a habit of reviewing token approvals and dApp connections so dormant permissions can’t be abused later. These habits dramatically lower the odds you’ll ever have to ask how to recover stolen bitcoins again.