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 Learn a story: A $ 240 million Bitcoin wallet, it only had two possibilities to access

It is known that Bitcoin wallets require a private key in order to be able to move and perform transactions with what the wallet holds.

If the key is lost or forgotten, then it is very difficult to access the wallet, if not impossible.

Digital wallets differ from one wallet to another according to the nature of their work. Some of them, for more security, add other layers of security, such as two-step verification, adding a password, or using a fingerprint or iris ...

Stephen Thomas has a digital wallet that has 240 million dollars worth of Bitcoin inside, but unfortunately he forgot the password.

Here is the full story of "Thomas" and his digital wallet of $ 240 million.

Stephen Thomas and his digital wallet:

Thomas is a San Francisco-based computer programmer who won 7002 Bitcoins a decade ago as a reward for making a video explaining how cryptocurrencies work.

The video below that Thomas made in exchange for Bitcoin:

At the time he got paid, Bitcoin was between $ 2 and $ 6, and he didn't want to spend it, rather he stored it in a digital wallet and forgot it.

Now each Bitcoin is valued at more than $ 34,000, meaning the contents of the wallet are estimated at $ 240 million.

Unfortunately, "Thomas" forgot the password that would open the door to his fortune.

He has already entered the wrong password eight times, and if he guesses wrong two more times, the hard drive with the keys to his Bitcoin will be encrypted.

Bitcoin reached more than $ 40,000 last week, after doubling in less than a month.

Then the bitcoin price has declined since then, but it is still high by more than 700% since the Corona virus was first announced in March of last year.

Thomas stated that he had tried the eight most used passwords to access the hard drive, but all turned out to be wrong.

Note that the device automatically encrypts all contents after the inaccurate tenth guess.

Thomas told the New York Times:

I was lying in bed and thinking about it.

Then I go to the computer with some new strategies, and it doesn't work, and then I feel hopeless again.

 Thomas said that the experience kept him away from cryptocurrencies, as he stated the following:

I oppose being your own bank.

Let me describe it this way, do you make your own shoes?

The reason we have banks is that we don't want to deal with all of the things that banks do.

 After announcing the story of "Thomas", Mr. "Alex Stamos" told the Internet security expert at "Stanford" Internet Observatory, that he could crack the password within six months if "Thomas" gave him 10% of his digital wealth.

As Alex stated on Twitter:

For $ 220 million in reserved Bitcoin, you can't make 10 password guesses, but you can take them to a pro to buy “20 IronKeys” and spend six months finding or deselecting a sidecar channel. 

I'll get it for 10%. 

talk me

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.

I'll make it happen for 10%. Call me. https://t.co/dTumE8Cw65

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) January 12, 2021 

 According to cryptocurrency data company Chainalysis, about 20% of current bitcoins of 18.5 million bitcoins appear to be lost or stuck in inaccessible wallets.

In 2013, in a story no less exciting than the story of our current article, James Howells threw a hard drive containing keys around 7,500 Bitcoin.

The bitcoin that Howells disposed of is now estimated to be worth over $ 250 million.