In a remarkable recovery effort, cybersecurity researchers Joe Grand and Bruno have assisted an anonymous crypto user, known as Michael, in regaining access to 43.6 bitcoins (BTC) lost 11 years ago due to a forgotten password. Michael had used RoboForm to generate a unique password for his wallet in 2013, which he stored in an encrypted file for security reasons. However, the file got corrupted, and Michael lost access to his wallet.

After initially refusing Michael's request for help in 2022, Grand and Bruno began the recovery process in June 2023. They discovered a vulnerability in RoboForm's random number generator, which linked each password to the date and time it was created. Despite the bug being fixed in 2015, the researchers believed it would have impacted all passwords created before then.

By recalling the date he transferred the bitcoins to his wallet, Michael aided the researchers in testing hundreds of passwords until they found the correct one. Upon recovery, Michael rewarded Grand and Bruno with a portion of the bitcoins. He has since sold some of his holdings when BTC reached $62,000 and plans to hold the remaining 30 BTC, currently valued at approximately $2 million, until the asset reaches $100,000.