Number Crunch
The Billions Locked Behind Forgotten Bitcoin Passwords
That’s a big whoops
$140 Billion: That’s the estimated worth of Bitcoin holdings that can’t be accessed because owners have forgotten their passwords (or “digital keys”), according to the New York Times. This represents roughly 20% of the 18.5 billion existing Bitcoin. In some cases, Bitcoin owners can’t access holdings worth millions of dollars.
It’s a puzzling — and, let’s face it, kind of hilarious — development, given that holders of Bitcoin so often seem to present themselves as tech-savvy and financially visionary. In their defense, accessing the “digital wallet” that contains Bitcoin holdings is a little more complicated than logging onto your bank’s website; there’s no setup in place to remind you of your password, or reset it. Then again, that’s just another element of the whole no-central-authority setup that’s supposedly part of Bitcoin’s attraction. Knowing that, wouldn’t enthusiasts take special care of their magic code?
In any case, with the currency (or, really, speculative investment vehicle) on a particularly volatile streak lately, there’s keen interest among the lost-password crowd in solving this problem, and cashing out. The Times reports that Wallet Recovery Services, “a business that helps find lost digital keys,” has seen help inquiries triple to 70 a day. Perhaps that company, at least, is making some real money out of this fiasco.
Did you try “1234”? What about “password”?
