Man Forgets His Password For His Bitcoins

German programmer, Stefan Thomas, has forgotten his password to his $220 million bitcoins. He has 10 tries to figure out his password and has already tried 8 different passwords, none of them being the right one. 10 years ago, Stefan was given 7,002 bitcoins for making an explainer video about cryptocurrency. 

Stefan had written the password for the harddrive on a piece of paper almost a decade ago. Now that he has forgotten the password, he has looked everywhere for the paper and can’t find it. Thomas told a NY Times reporter, “I would just lay in bed and think about it. Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”

Stefan isn’t the only one to forget his password. Brad Yasar, an entrepreneur in LA, has a few computers with thousands of Bitcoins and has also forgotten his password. Yasar had purchased the Bitcoins years ago when they weren’t worth as much. He has now put the harddrives containing the hundred of billions of dollars in a vacuumed sealed bag somewhere safe. Yasar told a NY Times reporter, “Through the years I would say I have spent hundreds of hours trying to get back into these wallets, I don’t want to be reminded every day that what I have now is a fraction of what I could have that I lost. ”

Many people who purchased Bitcoins years ago have gone through this problem. Bitcoin doesn't have a company to store all the passwords people have created, so there is no way for people to get their password from Bitcoin. Usually with a traditional bank account or online wallets, the bank company can provide the person with their password or allow them to reset their password.