Recovery Firm Offers to Unlock Hard Drive with 7,000 Bitcoin for Former Ripple CTO
A crypto recovery firm called Unciphered has petitioned former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas to unlock a hard drive that contains over 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC), which he has been unable to access for years. In an open letter, Unciphered offered to crack the IronKey hard drive and access the BTC keys stored on it. Thomas forgot the password and has used eight out of his ten attempts to unlock it. Unciphered claims to have developed a method to bypass the ten-attempt restriction on the drive and access the data safely. The company has successfully cracked a similar IronKey in the past.
The Solution from Unciphered
Unciphered CEO Eric Michaud stated that the company accessed data from a similar IronKey by extracting some information from the drive and using offline servers, allowing their team multiple attempts to guess the password. Michaud did not disclose what Unciphered would ask for in return but mentioned that they have created a sustainable business helping people recover lost crypto assets. Unciphered is hopeful that Thomas will work with them but is prepared if he chooses not to.
Other Stories of Lost Crypto Assets
There have been many stories like Thomas’ where users have lost access to their crypto assets. In one case, a Redditor regained access to 127 BTC after over ten years by finding the private keys on an old computer. In another instance, James Howells mistakenly threw away a hard drive with approximately 7,500 BTC and has unsuccessfully tried to locate and recover it from a landfill. It is estimated that around 20% of Bitcoin’s supply may be lost or inaccessible, representing billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
Hot Take: Unciphered Offers Hope for Lost Crypto Assets
Unciphered’s offer to unlock Stefan Thomas’ hard drive containing 7,000 Bitcoin brings hope to those who have lost access to their crypto assets. With their claimed method to bypass the ten-attempt restriction on the IronKey drive, Unciphered has demonstrated their ability to recover lost data successfully. The increasing number of stories about lost crypto assets highlights the need for recovery services like Unciphered. As the crypto industry continues to grow, it is essential to have solutions in place for users who find themselves locked out of their valuable digital assets.
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