Stefan Thomas went viral this week after a New York Times profile revealed to the world his troubling dilemma: the password to unlock his Bitcoin fortune is locked on a hard drive that gives users 10 tries before wiping it clean. Thomas has only two more tries.
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In an interview with ABC7 News on Wednesday, Thomas said it has now been nine years since he first realized he lost access to his account, which means he has had plenty of time to process it.
“There were a few weeks where I was just desperate, I have no other word to describe it,” said Thomas, recalling how he felt when he first learned he couldn’t find his password in 2012. “You kind of question your own dignity. What kind of person loses something so important?”
But “time heals all wounds,” he added, saying over the years that he “made peace” with his loss.
“It was actually a really big milestone in my life, where I realized how I was going to define my self-worth in the future,” he said. “It wasn’t about how much money I have in my bank account.”
That’s all great and altruistic, but losing $ 220 million ?! That will emphasize even the most sincere of people.
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Thomas said that since the New York Times profile, hundreds of people around the world have reached out to him with advice – some serious and others stupid.
“One person suggested, have you tried the word ‘password’?” he joked. “Some people have recommended various mediums, psychics, and prophets that I could talk to. Some people suggest nootropic memory-enhancing drugs. ‘
Until now he has not overtaken anyone on it.
Ian Sherr, Editor-at-Large at CNET News, explained that Thomas’ situation is not that unusual. “The way Bitcoin works and this technology works is that it’s all meant to be anonymous,” said Sherr. “But a lot of this data is actually hidden behind a specific password that you have to get into your account.”
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Sherr said there are a lot of people who bought Bitcoins years ago when they were very low in value, wrote down their password somewhere, “and just thought it would be nothing.”
“And now it’s worth millions,” he said, “and they are racking their heads trying to find out where that piece of paper is or what their password might be.”
So what’s the best advice for saving and remembering passwords?
“We had recommended CNET use a password manager,” said Sherr. “This is a single app on your computer or on your phone that hides behind one password, and that’s a good one.”
(Sherr, for example, said he uses a line of poetry.)
The app will then create other passwords for you that are random and intended to be difficult to crack. “It works very well because you don’t have to remember anything,” he said. “You only have one thing.”
Thomas said he decided to share his story in the hope that it will stop others from making the same mistake he did. He said that if you get a digital wallet, you have a plan to protect and remember your password.
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