Developer Has Two Tries Left to Save $777M Bitcoin
Stefan Thomas has two password attempts left to open an IronKey holding private keys for 7,002 BTC, about $777 million, before the device erases its contents after 10 failures.
Programmer Stefan Thomas has two password attempts remaining to unlock an IronKey USB drive that holds the private keys to 7,002 Bitcoin, worth about $777 million at recent prices. The IronKey is programmed to erase its contents after 10 incorrect password tries; Thomas has already used eight attempts. As of late 2025 the device was held in a Swiss vault, and by mid-2026 no recovery had been confirmed.
Thomas received the 7,002 BTC in 2011 as payment for making an educational video titled “What is Bitcoin?” He placed the wallet’s private keys on an encrypted IronKey and recorded the password on paper, which he later lost.
The IronKey’s security design enforces a hard limit on password retries and resists extraction of stored data. Kingston, the manufacturer, stated: “There is no backup password or alternative method, other than the original password that was set up by the user to retrieve the data.”
Thomas hired digital forensics firm Naxo and consulted security researcher Chris Tarnovsky. Tarnovsky’s participation was limited and he requested payment up front, saying, “I want Stefan to cough up some money up front.” Thomas declined an offer from another firm because of prior verbal agreements with his chosen teams.
Estimates of the holding’s value have risen as Bitcoin’s price increased. Past valuations put the stash at about $91 million in 2020, roughly $235 million in October 2023, around $253 million in late 2025, and about $777 million in 2026 based on a price near $111,000 per BTC.
Only two password guesses remain. If both are incorrect, the IronKey will permanently delete the private keys and the funds will be inaccessible. Thomas noted in a 2023 interview: “When you’re dealing with so much money, everything takes forever.”
No confirmed technical method has been reported to bypass the IronKey’s protections. The outcome depends on whether the correct password can be entered before the limit is reached.
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