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Everyone has ever forgotten a password

, but fortunately, the vast majority of digital services have procedures to recover the information or account blocked.

This does not happen with bitcoins and that is why the programmer

Stefan Thomas

is pulling his hair out.

As The New York Times reports in an interview, after eight unsuccessful attempts to unlock his bitcoin balance, he has only two chances left before the wallet he encrypted with his unique and non-transferable keys is locked forever.

The balance:

7,002 bitcoins that go to waste

, or what is the same, more than 180 million euros (220 million dollars).

The forgetful protagonist of this story

got his bitcoins in 2011

, when he made an explanatory video for one of the first big fans of cryptocurrencies.

At that time, his balance was barely equivalent to about 5,000 euros, but 10 years later, and after the popularization of cryptocurrencies, his bitcoin is worth 44,000% more.

How is this possible?

Bitcoin, which is currently equivalent

to more than 28,000 euros per currency

, is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, a virtual currency that is not linked to any country and is very volatile, so much so that

in a month it has increased its value by 50%

, although since Monday it has already lost 10% of what it had increased.

The world of bitcoin is a world of speculation where a lot of money can be made or lost.

The digital nature of the currency means that there are many security mechanisms around it, but in the end it all depends on your ability to remember or

have saved the password that unlocks everything

.

In Stefan Thomas's case, his carelessness keeps him awake at night more times than he would like.

This is something that is impossible to happen with a traditional bank, as it is always possible to obtain a new password if you have forgotten the old one.

But with bitcoin, no one stores your password or can give you a new one.

Far from being a disadvantage of technology, it is one of its most important hallmarks.

The structure that supports the bitcoin is totally delocalized

and is made up of a network of computers with certain programs installed and running.

These programs create unique and private addresses and keys with which you not only access your balance and can make purchases or transfers, but suddenly eliminate the financial entities that normally protect transactions, funds and balances from the equation.

But if you forget your password, goodbye forever to that balance: as

the system does not know if it is you who is trying to access an intruder

.

That is one of the reasons why so many illegal internet trading activities have turned to bitcoin to proceed: it is totally anonymous and impossible to link to a person.

With just two more chances to regain his access to the funds, it doesn't look like Stephan Thomas is going to be able to enjoy the fruits of

the wild speculation that underpins bitcoin's stratospheric growth

in recent years.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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