Reported by COINOTAG via Afrotech on September 18, Rich Kleiman, the agent for NBA star Kevin Durant, disclosed that he assisted Durant in acquiring Bitcoin in 2016 by setting up a Coinbase account. Kleiman said the access credentials were subsequently misplaced and, to his knowledge, the Bitcoin holdings associated with that account have not been liquidated.
The episode underscores well-known custody risk in the crypto market: mismanaged passwords or private keys can effectively render digital assets inaccessible. Given that Bitcoin has experienced material appreciation since 2016, this case highlights the importance of rigorous key-management practices and institutional-grade custody solutions to mitigate counterparty and operational risk for high-net-worth individuals and athletes considering crypto allocations.