Twitter has erupted into an anxiety and sympathy fest with the story of Stefen Thomas who is left with two chances to retrieve 7,002 bitcoins worth $240 million.
Thomas is a San Francisco based computer programmer who was given 7,002 bitcoins in 2011 as a reward for making a video explaining how Cryptocurrency works. It’s been a decade since then and he has lost his password- also known as a digital key to his wallet.
At the time he got them, they were valued at $2-$3. Today each bitcoin is valued at $34, 000 and his wallet $240 million.
Thomas has already tried 8 times and has failed. After the 10th wrong attempt, he would be locked out of his wallet.
Talking to the New York Times he said, “I would just lay in bed and think about it. Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”
He also mentioned how the experience has affected his mental health and put him off cryptocurrency.
Following the publicity of this incident, Alex Stamos, an internet security expert at Stanford Internet Observatory has offered to help with a 10% cut of the whole fortune.
The whole incident has garnered a lot of response on twitter. Here are some reactions