Satoshi's Plebs on Nostr: 8 Real Examples of Lost Bitcoin 1. Stefan Thomas' IronKey Password - Lost access to ...
8 Real Examples of Lost Bitcoin
1. Stefan Thomas' IronKey Password - Lost access to 7,002 BTC ($750 million) after forgetting the password to his hard drive that only allows 10 password attempts. He's used 8 attempts already.
2. James Howells' Landfill Fortune - Accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC ($856 million) in 2013. Despite numerous proposals to excavate the landfill, city council has refused.
3. Wired Magazine's Demonstration - Deliberately destroyed keys to 13 BTC ($1.4 million) for an article in 2013, a decision they later regretted.
4. Campbell Simpson's Discarded Drive - Australian tech journalist threw away a hard drive with keys to 1,400 BTC ($150 million) in 2012 when they were worth just $4,000.
5. California Wildfire Loss - Reddit user lost seed phrase for 43 BTC ($4.6 million) when their home burned down in the 2018 wildfires. They had the seed only on paper.
6. DIY Security Failure - Bitcoin user created a "more secure" modified version of their seed phrase using a personal algorithm they later forgot, losing access to 2.5 BTC ($267,500).
7. The Brain Wallet Tragedy - User suffered head trauma and lost access to memorized keys for 250 BTC ($26.8 million).
8. Renovation Disaster - BitcoinTalk forum user had their hidden seed phrase accidentally thrown away during home renovations, losing 15 BTC ($1.6 million).
Published at
2025-05-21 18:26:01Event JSON
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"content": "8 Real Examples of Lost Bitcoin\n\n1. Stefan Thomas' IronKey Password - Lost access to 7,002 BTC ($750 million) after forgetting the password to his hard drive that only allows 10 password attempts. He's used 8 attempts already.\n\n2. James Howells' Landfill Fortune - Accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC ($856 million) in 2013. Despite numerous proposals to excavate the landfill, city council has refused.\n\n3. Wired Magazine's Demonstration - Deliberately destroyed keys to 13 BTC ($1.4 million) for an article in 2013, a decision they later regretted.\n\n4. Campbell Simpson's Discarded Drive - Australian tech journalist threw away a hard drive with keys to 1,400 BTC ($150 million) in 2012 when they were worth just $4,000.\n\n5. California Wildfire Loss - Reddit user lost seed phrase for 43 BTC ($4.6 million) when their home burned down in the 2018 wildfires. They had the seed only on paper.\n\n6. DIY Security Failure - Bitcoin user created a \"more secure\" modified version of their seed phrase using a personal algorithm they later forgot, losing access to 2.5 BTC ($267,500).\n\n7. The Brain Wallet Tragedy - User suffered head trauma and lost access to memorized keys for 250 BTC ($26.8 million).\n\n8. Renovation Disaster - BitcoinTalk forum user had their hidden seed phrase accidentally thrown away during home renovations, losing 15 BTC ($1.6 million).",
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