$586M LOCKED BEHIND A PASSWORD.
In 2011, programmer Stefan Thomas received 7,002 BTC from a Bitcoin enthusiast as payment for creating an educational video called “What Is Bitcoin?”
At $83,700 per BTC, that payment is now worth $586.1 million.
The catch? He stored his wallet’s private keys on an encrypted IronKey USB drive, lost the password, and has only 2 attempts left after 8 failed guesses.
Cybersecurity firm Unciphered later claimed it could crack a similar device, but Thomas’s Bitcoin remains inaccessible.
Imagine making an educational video and accidentally earning the hardest money in the world to recover.
Would you risk the final two guesses?
In 2011, programmer Stefan Thomas received 7,002 BTC from a Bitcoin enthusiast as payment for creating an educational video called “What Is Bitcoin?”
At $83,700 per BTC, that payment is now worth $586.1 million.
The catch? He stored his wallet’s private keys on an encrypted IronKey USB drive, lost the password, and has only 2 attempts left after 8 failed guesses.
Cybersecurity firm Unciphered later claimed it could crack a similar device, but Thomas’s Bitcoin remains inaccessible.
Imagine making an educational video and accidentally earning the hardest money in the world to recover.
Would you risk the final two guesses?