He spent years with millions of euros worth of bitcoin trapped on a USB because he didn't know the password. He had 3 options to get it out.

This man even refused help from a specialized company that had the solution, because of all the options that were presented to him.

The former CTO of Ripple, Stefan Thomas, forgot a few years ago the password of an IronKey encrypted hard drive that contained the private keys of a cryptographic address where 7,002 bitcoin were stored (right now, this is equivalent to more than 600 million euros after the latest increases in the cryptocurrency; a year ago, when the story went viral, it was of much less value).

We have spoken several times about this man, while the value of the cryptocurrency grew and he did not know how to get his money back. A year ago we learned about a new chapter in his story that could have a happy ending.

More than a decade since his story was first published, Unciphered, a company that specializes in helping people like Thomas, publicly claimed to finally have a solution to his explosive security dilemma.

However, as we will see, the solution that this company proposed to give has not been the only one, and the man found himself with three options available in his hands, although when this information came to light at the end of 2023, he could only fail two more times so that his USB would not be blocked for eternity with no way back

In this 2024, there is an outcome for the story of this man who a year ago was at a crossroads.

Its reputation as being a USB with very strong encryption has expanded its interest among cryptocurrency investors. In 2021, a spokesperson for Kingston Technology, the company that makes IronKey, confirmed to TechRadar that not even they could help Thomas recover his private keys.