One of the early investors in BTC now has $240 million on his balance sheet. Is heavenly life here? Not so simple:
Since 2011, he has been trying to remember an important password. This is a fairly common situation: probably each of us has at least once forgotten the password to one of our online accounts. However, this man, Stefan Thomas, a German programmer living in San Francisco, stands out.
He has only two attempts left to recover his password, otherwise he will lose $240 million in bitcoins. In 2011, Stefan made a video called "What is Bitcoin?" and uploaded it to YouTube.
This short video was commissioned by a Swiss Bitcoin fan who rewarded Stefan with 7002 BTC, which were then worth just $2 each. The video's profit was a modest $14,004 at the time. But as the value of Bitcoin soared to approximately $34,500 apiece, Stefan's Bitcoin holdings grew to an impressive $241,569,000 (now approximately $200 million).
Seems like a real godsend, doesn't it?
The catch? - Stefan can't remember the password to the encrypted drive in which his bitcoins are stored. And further complicating the situation is the fact that he lost the note on which he wrote down this password. After trying unsuccessfully to access the drive eight times, it is getting close to the point where the device will finally encrypt its contents after 10 failed attempts.
This password problem seriously compromised Stefan's health, causing insomnia and deep anxiety. Now, as a precaution, he keeps the wallet in a place known only to him.
It’s very sad and difficult to imagine what it would be like to be in such a situation. What would you do?
