Missing USBs Leave $230M in Venezuelan Oil Crypto Inaccessible

About $230 million in cryptocurrency intended to pay for Venezuelan oil shipments became inaccessible after the private keys for several wallets were stored on USB drives that later went missing.

Venezuelan state oil entities, trading intermediaries and overseas buyers arranged payments in crypto to speed settlement and to work around banking restrictions. Payments were consolidated into a set of non‑custodial wallets, and private keys were exported and saved to multiple USB drives that officials and intermediaries relied on as the only copy, according to people familiar with the matter. The drives went missing while in the possession of people handling the transactions.

Without the private keys or a secure backup, the wallets cannot be controlled and the cryptocurrency cannot be moved. Blockchain records show the wallets held large sums at the time the keys were exported; subsequent on‑chain activity in many of the addresses has been minimal or absent, a pattern that participants and third‑party analysts say is consistent with loss of access rather than immediate theft.

Investigations are ongoing by trade participants and independent blockchain analysts to determine whether any portion of the funds was moved before the keys became unavailable and whether copies of the keys exist elsewhere. Forensic firms continue to trace on‑chain flows for signs of post‑transfer movement.

A blockchain security specialist warned, “If the private keys are lost and there are no secure backups, the coins are effectively gone.” The specialist added that encrypting key files and using hardware wallets with seed phrases stored in multiple secure locations are standard safeguards reportedly not followed in this case.

Participants in the transactions have declined to identify themselves while they attempt to recover access and while investigations continue. Some buyers reported shipment delays or invoices left unsettled because operators could not access the wallets. Counterparties are reviewing contractual remedies and whether any insurance arrangements apply.

Venezuelan oil has increasingly been traded using cryptocurrency and alternative payment arrangements after financial sanctions and banking restrictions limited traditional routes. Market participants involved in the affected transactions say they will review custody arrangements and adopt more formal key‑management practices as efforts continue to locate any remaining backups of the missing USB drives and to trace the funds on public ledgers.