Technology
A German-born programmer living in San Francisco can't remember the password to access his extraordinarily valuable Bitcoin account. He still has only two chances to break the deadlock
ShareIt can happen to anyone to lose or forget a password, but what is happening to Stefan Thomas, a programmer of German origin who lives in San Francisco, is certainly an extraordinary case, especially for the value and the impossibility of recovering otherwise what is defended by that keyword. In fact, Thomas risks not being able to access Bitcoin for a value of about 220 million dollars.
Two attempts left
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Cryptocurrencies, do you really risk losing everything?
After eight failed attempts choosing the wrong password, Thomas two remain to find the keyword that will allow him to unlock a small hard drive, known as an IronKey, which contains the private keys to a digital wallet with its precious 7,002 Bitcoins. The problem is that years ago he lost the sheet in which he wrote down that password for his IronKey, which gives users 10 attempts before crashing. And if it may come automatically to think of a password recovery service, however, we must bear in mind that this does not happen for Bitcoin: the cryptocurrency does not have a company to supply or store passwords. Interviewed by the "New York Times" Thomas said: “I'll get on the bed and try to think about it, then I'll go to the computer and make the ninth attempt. If it doesn't work, I'll fall into despair again."
Password lost for 10 years
Thomas said he bought his first Bitcoin in 2011 when he lived in Switzerland. That year, however, he also lost the digital keys to his wallet without ever getting his hands on the money. In 2012, he joined a start-up, called Ripple, operating precisely in the Bitcoin sector. He was rewarded with Ripple's native currency, known as XRP, which has increased in value over time.
The situation of Bitcoin
The cryptocurrency experienced significant growth in 2020 and, despite a sharp slowdown recently, its current value still corresponds to more than 50% more than last month, when it exceeded 20 thousand dollars. Bitcoin has made many of its owners very rich in a short time, but the nature of this digital currency has also meant that many people are barred from their assets due to lost or forgotten passwords. Around 20% of existing Bitcoins, which would currently be worth around $140 billion, would in fact be in lost or locked wallets. Wallet Recovery Services, a company that helps find lost digital keys, said it recently received 70 requests a day from people asking for help recovering their wealth, three times the number just a month earlier.