Digital asset recovery covers the methods used to get back crypto-assets or tokens that their owner can no longer reach. It has two distinct meanings. The first is technical: restoring access when a private key or device is lost. An individual may rebuild a wallet from a recovery phrase. An institution relies on backup key shares, tested disaster recovery procedures and, with multi-party computation custody or a multi-sig wallet, the ability to replace a lost signer without moving the assets.
The second meaning is legal and investigative: pursuing assets taken by theft, fraud or mistake, or held by a failed platform. Investigators follow the funds through asset tracing on the public ledger until they reach an exchange or issuer that can be served with a court order. Courts in several countries have granted freezing orders over crypto-assets, some stablecoin issuers can freeze tokens at an address, and authorities use seizure and civil recovery powers.