(WHDH) — A San Francisco man who invested in 7,000 Bitcoins that are now worth more than $250 million has one major problem — he can’t access it.
Stefan Thomas bought the Bitcoins back in 2012 and today each Bitcoin is worth about $37,000.
He has since lost the password to gain access to his Bitcoins.
Thomas saved the password on an old hard drive but that drive only allows 10 wrong password attempts before it locks forever.
He only has two attempts left and says he’s heard from plenty of people who are trying to help.
“A lot of people are offering various solutions,” Thomas said. “Everything from the silly, for example one person suggested, ‘Have you tried the word password?’ So that was one.”
Since Bitcoin is an anonymous cryptocurrency, the only way to access it is with a password the buyer set themselves.
Forgetting that password isn’t uncommon.
According to the New York Times, about $140 billion worth of Bitcoin appears to be stranded in digital wallets.
As for Thomas, he says he’s moved on from his dilemma and judges his self-worth on things other than money.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)