cryptoglobe.com
A San Francisco-based computer programmer has only two guesses remaining to access his hard drive containing $240 million bitcoin.
According to a report by The Guardian, Stefan Thomas has two remaining chances to enter the correct password for accessing a bitcoin wallet containing 7,002 BTC ($240 million).
The report claims Thomas originally received the bitcoin as payment for his services a decade ago, when the price of each coin was trading around $5. However, he has been unable to access the funds after forgetting the password to his wallet.
The report reads,
German-born Thomas has already entered the wrong password eight times, and if he guesses wrong two more times his hard drive, which contains his private keys to the bitcoin, will be encrypted – and he’ll never see the money.
Thomas said he was frustrated with cryptocurrency over the experience of potentially losing his bitcoin fortune. He criticized the notion of “being your own bank” and likened it to a person needlessly making their own shoes.
In response to Thomas’s plight, internet security expert Alex Stamos said he could retrieve the funds for ten percent of the wallet amount.
Um, for $220M in locked-up Bitcoin, you don't make 10 password guesses but take it to professionals to buy 20 IronKeys and spend six months finding a side-channel or uncapping.
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) January 12, 2021
I'll make it happen for 10%. Call me. https://t.co/dTumE8Cw65
On-chain analytics firm Chainalaysis has estimated that one-fifth of all bitcoin is lost, due to users forgetting passwords or throwing out old hard drives.
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