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Owner of Bitcoin claims to have "made peace" with the possible loss of $220 million His story went viral after he lost the password to his wallet


Table of Contents
    • As Insider earlier reported, Stefan Thomas had 7,002 bitcoins stored on a secure hard drive.
    •  The German programmer now says "time heals all wounds" and that he is at peace, reports KGO-TV.
    • Thomas told previously told The New York Times he had been left questioning his self-worth. 
    • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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    German-born programmer Stefan Thomas made headlines this week after a lost password rendered his bitcoin stash worth $220 million inaccessible. 

    As Insider earlier reported, the secure hard drive, on which 7,002 bitcoins were stored, was an IronKey device. It gives owners 10 chances to guess their password before encrypting the contents. Thomas only had two attempts left to guess correctly before this situation occurred. 

    The New York Times initially reported Thomas' plight and quoted him as saying:  "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."

    A potential loss of that magnitude makes "you sort of question your own self-worth," he added.  On Saturday, the stash was worth about $220 million, but as bitcoin prices surged this year, it had been valued above $240 million.

    Read more: Bitcoin slides back below $35,000 in volatile trading week 

    After his story went viral, he gave another interview to KGO-TV, telling the station "time heals all wounds" and that he had made peace with his potential loss.

    Sources


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