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😱 Lost password of million-dollar Bitcoin wallet found after 10 years 😱
The lost password of a wallet containing 43.6 BTC, purchased in 2013 and now worth around $3 million, has been recovered years later by two hackers specializing in this field.
He could not access his Bitcoins when the encrypted file was corrupted
Michael (name changed for anonymity) set up his wallet in 2013 using RoboForm to generate a 20-character password, but due to security concerns, he stored it in an encrypted file rather than on RoboForm. When the file became corrupted, he lost access to his Bitcoins.
How the password was found
In 2022, Michael contacted Joe Grand, a well-known hacker who had previously recovered lost Bitcoins from a Trezor wallet. Grand, along with his friend Bruno, discovered a vulnerability in RoboForm's password generator related to the date and time the password was created. Despite the company closing this vulnerability in 2015, they could still access passwords created earlier. By identifying the wallet's creation date (April 13, 2013), they tried numerous passwords until they succeeded.
Outcome
After opening the wallet, Grand and Bruno took a portion of Michael's Bitcoins as their fee. Michael also sold some of his holdings but retains Bitcoins worth $2 million. He plans to hold onto them until the price reaches $100,000.
