LiteVault Web Wallet Closes

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LiteVault

LiteVault was a web wallet set up by someone named someguy123. It didn't manage private keys but rather gave users a secure way to generate them from the username and password (similar to blockchain.info). The service operated for several years before the domain name expired on January 1st, 2022. At this point, recovery of funds would require reconstructing the wallets using the source code. It's unclear what amount of funds remain stuck due to the level of technical which would be necessary to recover them.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About LiteVault

"Welcome to LiteVault - The trustless online wallet for litecoin." "Your wallet is encrypted before it touches our servers. Unlike other Litecoin wallet services, we NEVER see your private keys, and are unable to access your funds."

"Litevault is an online wallet service which uses in-browser cryptography to reduce the risk of the coin operator running with the funds. This same system is used by Blockchain.info - a well known online Bitcoin wallet (UNAFFILIATED WITH LITEVAULT)."

Litevault was made by Someguy123: "I am a trusted website developer within the Litecoin community responsible for various services including the Litecoin Block Explorer, and administrating various official Litecoin resources such as the Wiki and IRC. I feel Litecoin hasn’t had enough backing or support, so this is my contribution."

"When you login to LiteVault, your browser sends your identifier to our server, we return an encrypted version of your wallet with the AES algorithm, your browser then decrypts this using your password (which is never sent to the server) to load your private keys used to sign transactions."

"I had a bit of LTC in an old Litecoin wallet but the service is no longer available. Looks like the domain expired on 01/01/2022 and someone else has bought it. I completely forgot about it until the conversation came up and I was going to move it out today. Store your coins in hardware wallets, folks!"

"Whoever was running it has the coins, but I wouldn't use the website again if it ever comes up unless the original owner comes out to say he put it back up."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - LiteVault Web Wallet Closes

Date	Event	Description
January 2nd, 2022 6:01:26 AM	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost is unknown.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

The total amount recovered is unknown.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Prevention Policies

In general, to avoid this issue, you want to be sure that you have a full backup of your seed phrase in a standard format like BIP39.

Web wallets are generally not a good idea to secure a large quantity of funds for a wide variety of other reasons. Keep the vast majority of funds stored offline.