Stefan Thomas, a programmer from Germany living in the United States, became famous in the world of cryptocurrencies for a not very pleasant reason: he lost access to his cryptocurrency wallet with 7002 bitcoins, which according to current calculations is about $220 million.
🔒 USB flash drive
Stefan's story began in 2011, when he received bitcoins for creating an educational video about cryptocurrencies. He stored his coins on a secure IronKey USB drive, which requires a password to access. Over time, the password was lost, leaving Thomas without access to his assets.
🔑 Forgotten password
Forgetting a password was a real disaster because IronKey has a security system that locks access after ten unsuccessful attempts, and Thomas had already used most of those attempts.
🧠 Exhaustive recovery attempts
Stefan tried to regain access to his wallet in various ways, including hypnosis and hiring cryptography experts, but all attempts have so far been unsuccessful.
⚠️ Warning for all crypto investors
Thomas' story serves as a stark reminder of the importance of carefully managing keys and passwords in cryptocurrency. While technology offers significant profit opportunities, it also comes with risks.
🕊️ Lesson in humility
Despite losing millions, Stefan accepted his fate and hopes his experience will serve as a lesson to other investors, emphasizing the need to protect their investments and manage their assets carefully.
Use HITO, Ledger or other proven cold wallets, store the access recovery phrase in paper form in several copies.
