A German programmer has 2 chances to correctly guess the password to his hard drive or he’ll lose $220 million.
While bitcoin’s price has recorded historic growth — increasing by 92% in a month and about 340% in a year — one investor is locked out of accessing his riches because he forgot his password.
Stefan Thomas, a German-born programmer in San Francisco, told The New York Times this week that he forgot the password to his IronKey, a secure hard drive with the keys to his wallet with 7,002 bitcoins, or about $US220 million worth. IronKey gives users 10 guesses to get their password right before encrypting the hard drive’s contents; Thomas has two more tries left.
“I would just lay in bed and think about it,” Thomas told The Times’ Nathaniel Popper. “Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”
As some bitcoin investors get rich, others have had trouble accessing their investments because they have forgotten their passwords, The Times reported.
About 20% of existing bitcoins “appear to be in lost or otherwise stranded wallets,” the report said.
He should have put the money under his mattress
Bit hard to hide virtual money. But then again you might find that old playboy mag you have hidden. So all will not be lost.
I get emails from alphabet addresses almost daily telling me about the Bitcoin account in my email name that I merely need to confirm. I have “reported” them to Microsoft as junk, as phishing, and blocked them but they still keep coming.
Those and some gambling outfit, also from alphabet addresses, are a pox on the email,system. Sorry to hear about the guy short his millions but those numbers are way outside my operating orbit. If it was genuine earnt dish, I am sure keeping the password safe would have been step one.
And to think that many years ago my brother sold just under a thousand of them at 80cents each….. dang
I still have mine and the password.
Bought in when one bitcoin was $1000 nz. Now they are $50,000 !
He should try getting himself hypnotized. If it works and he remembers his password, I wouldn’t mind a small, reward (1% would do).