That is a terrible, terrible, wonderful story.
From the NYTimes
Worth noting that the guy has a bunch of other crypto that has made him fabulously wealthy, so it ain't like the rest of us sitting on a $220 mil hard drive.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
That is a terrible, terrible, wonderful story.
Look at the bright side. In ten to twenty years, computing power will
have advanced to break the encryption. The wallet may be worth billions (or zero.) It’s like an IRA.
And this is why my password for software that I very rarely had to use at work was 0hsh1t! - as in oh sh*t I have to do this today and I can't remember my password. Another person's password for it was 0hDamn! - as in I forgot my password.
Tell him to try "password". Works great for me!
Talking about a living hell.
“Coach said no 3s.” - Zion on The Block
Seriously though. Wouldn’t you write it down and lock it up somewhere? Maybe a safe deposit box. Sheesh.
“Coach said no 3s.” - Zion on The Block
I wonder if he could sell it to someone else - what is the value of 2 guesses for $220m?
That's a really interesting idea. Auction it off - see what crypto-tech geniuses might be able to pony up for a try (with or without others' backing).
From what little I understand, though, if the original paper or any other copy of the password cannot be found, you just can't get in, unless you can backdoor the entire crypto-coin system, which probably would destroy its value (if it became known).
I can see how that might be attractive if your cost was only 10%. But if I had just 2 guesses left, I'd want strong reason to believe (POC) that the person making the offer is going to succeed. I'm sure many people would line up to make a guess for 10%. Even many who work in security. Your remaining tries are a limited resource, one that should be allocated very carefully.
I don’t think you can just let people try for a share - that keeps all the risk but limits the upside so you would never do it. My thought was to transfer the risk - if someone thinks they can crack it, would you sell the drive for some amount? Right now the owner has a binary outcome - either it’s worth $0 or $220m. The expected value is something greater than $0 but the owner can’t access it. But someone might want to pay $1m or $5m or whatever they think the expected value to the owner is for it if they think they can crack it, so it introduces a new monetization option for the current holder.
This is reminiscent of "Deal of No Deal." You are down to two suitcases. One of them has $750K in it and the other has 5 cents. The "banker" than makes you an offer. There is an algorithm that mathematically produces the offer.
I think this is a good idea. And the owner would be wise to take the offer, which would probably be in the neighborhood of, say, $50 million or so, maybe even slightly higher. Contestants on Deal or No Deal almost always reject the offer and go away with a nickel, or a buck, or whatever. People are generally pretty irrational when it comes to assessing probabilities.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust