The nightmare of the man who has two attempts to remember his password and not lose $ 200 million in bitcoins

Two more unsuccessful attempts to enter your password and Stefan Thomas will lose all the fortune he has stored in Bitcoins in the cloud, more than US $ 200 millions, according to his own calculations.

This San Francisco-based programmer of German origin is one of the investors who has seen his savings in cryptocurrency skyrocket in recent times.

Although the price of Bitcoin fell sharply this Monday, after the bull run it has maintained in the last eight months, more than a 50% higher than a month ago, when it reached a record price of around US $ 20. 000.

• The reasons that explain the spectacular appreciation of bitcoin

Years ago Thomas lost the role in which He wrote down the password with which to unlock his IronKey, the encrypted storage device that contains the keys to access the digital wallet in which he keeps 7. 002 bitcoins.

IronKey gives users 002 opportunities to correctly enter your password before forever locking and encrypting the information inside.

Thomas has already exhausted eight testing passwords that you remember using on other devices and websites. And he has no hope in the two remaining attempts.

He told the BBC why he thinks he will never get the money back.

“Bitcoin is a decentralized system, so there is no one to call to get a new password. There are some options that in the future I can recover them physically, but they are really very rare. ”

Actually, he resigned long ago.

“The first time I found out that I had lost the coins, I was shocked. I tried everything. ”

That, he says, was nine years ago. “I finally came to accept what had happened. Today I am happy that all I lost was money. ”

At a time when Bitcoin is making headlines and offers unprecedented gains to those who bet on this cryptocurrency , Thomas’ seems not to be an exceptional case.

According to the estimates of Chainalisis, a consultancy, around a 20% of the 16, 5 million existing bitcoin accounts belong to holders who They lost or forgot the keys and, consequently, they cannot access them.

And, according to the “New York Times”, the firm Wallet Recovery Services, dedicated to the recovery of digital wallets, ensures that the demand for its services has tripled in a month.

Many of those who turn to companies of this type are people who acquired bitcoins a decade ago, when not everyone trusted that crypto act ivos would end up having the success that bitcoin has recently achieved, and now they try to reap the benefits of their investment but they do not remember the keys to access it.

• How the “yuan effect” caused the richest people in the world to lose US $ 117. 000 millions in a single day

Bitcoin had never traded so high, although at the end of 2017 there was a bubble that made him reach almost US $ 20. 000, then lose a 45% of its value in just six days.

Now, the interest in this cryptocurrency and its revaluation It comes mainly from institutional investors, mainly investment funds, whose clients are familiar with electronic currencies and find in bitcoin a way to diversify the risk in their portfolios and protect their assets.

One of the reasons for this interest is that, with the crisis generated by the pandemic, central banks have intervened in financial markets through the implementation of zero or negative interest rates, the purchase of sovereign debt and currency printing.

Investors fear that this monetary policy will lead the economies to a scenario of inflation and currency devaluation.

Now you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.

• Do you already know our YouTube channel? Subscribe!