Cryptonews Stefan Thomas Faces Final Password Attempts for $777 Million Bitcoin Fortune
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- •Stefan Thomas has only 2 password attempts left to access $777 million in Bitcoin.
- •The IronKey USB drive will permanently delete its contents after 10 incorrect attempts.
- •Thomas has sought help from digital forensics experts but has not yet recovered the keys.
In 2011, programmer Stefan Thomas received 7,002 BTC as payment for an educational video, now valued at approximately $777 million. The private keys are stored on an IronKey USB drive, which will permanently delete its contents after 10 incorrect password attempts. Thomas has already made 8 attempts and has only 2 guesses left. He has engaged digital forensics firm Naxo and security researcher Chris Tarnovsky for assistance but has not yet succeeded in recovering the keys. The IronKey remains in a Swiss vault as of mid-2026, with no confirmed recovery efforts. Kingston, the manufacturer, has stated there are no backup options for password recovery. This situation highlights the risks associated with self-sovereignty in cryptocurrency management.
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