Cryptocurrency is a booming industry, but it can be lost in seconds. Some people lost their Bitcoin passwords, others lost their hard drives containing the cryptocurrency, and others lost Bitcoin because they never claimed it.
This post features real people who lost all of their Bitcoin. Some of these stories are heartbreaking, but each one offers lessons investors can learn from to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to them.
James Howells – Programmer from Wales – 8,000 Lost Bitcoin
James Howells had 8,000 Bitcoin on a hard drive that he bought in 2010. Unfortunately, in 2013, he threw the hard drive in the trash can and didn’t realize what he had done for months. After that, he tried to search through the landfill with no luck.
Update: It would appear that this saga for Mr. Howells has come to an end. At least for now. After more than a decade of trying to search for himself and even buy the landfill, he walked away unsuccessful and owing the local government more than 100,000 British Pounds.
Stefan Thomas – Software Developer from San Francisco – 7,002 Lost Bitcoin
Stefan Thomas, from San Francisco, owns 7,002 Bitcoin, worth around $620 million. His Bitcoin was stored in a digital wallet, and he lost the password. He thinks he still has the password to his lost Bitcoin on an IronKey encrypted flash drive.
The IronKey flash drive gives you 10 password guesses to decrypt the data. After that, it permanently deletes all the data on it. He only has two guesses left…
There has been no update in several years. He rarely posts on X. We think he most likely recovered these funds, is being smart, and not telling anyone about it. But that’s just our best guess.
Gabriel Abed – Entrepreneur from Barbados – 800 Lost Bitcoins
Gabriel Abed lost 800 Bitcoin in 2011 after his laptop was reformatted. Today, that would be worth around $70 million.
Update: He’s now a diplomat, representing his home country in Abu Dhabi. While his BTC is long gone, he’s involved in crypto as both a proponent and holder.
MT. Gox – Bitcoin exchange – 850,000 Lost Bitcoins
In 2014, Mt. Gox was the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange. They were handling more than 70% of Bitcoin transactions. However, in February 2014, they shut down after losing roughly 850,000 Bitcoin belonging to their customers.
Reports have concluded they were stolen straight out of the MT. Gox hot cryptocurrency wallet. That’s probably one of the largest accounts of lost Bitcoin, worth around 75 billion dollars today.
Campbell Simpson – Journalist for Gizmodo – 1,400 Lost Bitcoins
Campbell Simpson purchased 1,400 Bitcoin for $25 in 2010. Unfortunately, he threw out his hard drive after breaking up with his girlfriend. A mistake that at today’s value cost him about $120 million.
Brad Yasar – EQIFI CEO – Thousands of Lost Bitcoin
Brad Yasar has lost a few thousand Bitcoin (mostly because they were scattered across wallets he forgot about) and has spent hundreds of hours trying to recover them. Fortunately, he didn’t lose all of the Bitcoin he mined back then. As a serial entrepreneur who has sold more companies than most people ever own, he’s doing quite well.
You Can Recover Your Bitcoin
Some people can recover their Bitcoin using cryptocurrency recovery services such as Professional Crypto Recovery.
The stories above provide valuable lessons for all of us in the cryptocurrency world. We should always be careful with our passwords and back up our data. And, most importantly, we should never give up on our Bitcoin and other digital assets, because there’s always a chance that they can be recovered.