You have over $ 220 million in bitcoin, but you forgot your password – People – Culture


The story of an episode of fortune has become a viral tragedy on social networks.

Stefan Thomas, recently appeared among the proper names of “The New York Times” as a result of an unusual situation: you have an enviable prey in digital currency, however you could not use any “cybernetic” due to forgetting the account password.

It all happened ten years ago, when this San Francisco-based engineer began protecting his bitcoins in IronKey, a kind of hard drive from which these types of electronic resources are managed.

Thomas, at the time, wrote the IronKey password on a piece of paper that was neither too big nor too small. That leaf did not last long in his hands, because it was lost sooner rather than later.

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After that, the engineer made the first attempts to “guess” the password. However, they were not successful. One less detail is that You only have ten chances to find the key, otherwise your account will be locked.

It takes 8 so far.You only have two chances.

And how much money does Thomas have in bitcoin? Accumulate 7002 BTC, which would be equivalent to over 600 billion Colombian pesos.

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“How to make your own shoes”

During his interview with The New York Times, Thomas expressed frustration with the complications caused by what, in principle, served as a security mechanism.

“All this idea of ​​being your own bank, let me say, ‘Do you make your own shoes?’ ” The reason we have banks is that we don’t want to deal with all those things that banks do.“he pretended.

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The newspaper itself explains that, for a long time, there have been cases of cryptocurrency owners frustrated by the impossibility of accessing their digital wallets. It is worth noting that they, as well as Thomas, They began their journey into the world of bitcoin without having much hope in this new economic way.
Most have had accounts open for ten years.

The above-mentioned environment also explains that the cryptocurrency has grown considerably in recent months, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The engineer made the first attempts to “guess” the password. However, they were not successful. Of the ten available trials, only two remain

Some people, after viralizing the story on social networks, have proposed probable – although risky – solutions for Thomas and many other bitcoin owners to be able to access their digital earnings.

Alex Stamos, a professor at Stanford University, He proposed in his Twitter account the hiring of several security professionals who could find a “crack” from which to enter the blocked IronKey.

Of course: Stamos took into account the fact that for more than 180 million dollars in a bitcoin account, in a way it is possible to find great experts, given the promising amount to recover.

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Other internet users have indicated “negotiating” with Kingston, the name of the company that has owned IronKey since 2016, to give them a prudent monetary percentage in exchange for unlocking.

Will Thomas be able to remember his password? It is worth noting that at this time the third will not be the charm.

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