In 2011, German programmer Stefan Thomas, living in San Francisco, received 7,002 Bitcoins for creating an educational video about cryptocurrencies. Today the coins are worth over $500 million, but Thomas cannot touch them because of a lost password. His story, similar to the saga of James Howells, shows how a single lapse of attention can cost a fortune and has become a warning for the entire crypto community.
Thomas, an early Bitcoin enthusiast, received his payment when one coin was worth less than a dollar. He secured them on a super-solid IronKey drive, which allows only 10 password attempts – after which the data is irreversibly encrypted. He wrote the password on a piece of paper, which he… lost. „I tried to regain access eight times, without success. I have two attempts left, and the stakes are hundreds of millions” – said Thomas in an interview with the „New York Times” in 2021, when his BTC was worth 220 million. By 2025, with Bitcoin’s price rise, the fortune had grown to over 500 million, but the drive remains untouched.
For years Thomas ignored the problem, thinking Bitcoin was just a hobby. But when the price skyrocketed, he began searching for solutions – from hypnosis to offers from hackers who claim they can break the IronKey (such as the firm Unciphered in 2023). He rejected them, fearing the risks. The story went around the world in 2021, when Bitcoin was breaking records, and became viral – memes about „forgotten passwords” and discussions about crypto security drew millions of reactions.
The lesson from this story is simple: in the world of cryptocurrencies, security is the foundation. Thomas advises: „Always back up your passwords in several places and use password managers”. It is estimated that 20% of all Bitcoins are lost forever – stories like this one show why. Will Thomas ever recover his fortune? Time will tell, but his case is a warning for all investors: a single piece of paper can change everything.
