The researcher is unlocking to recover $3 million worth of bitcoin that had been stuck in a crypto wallet for a decade.
Back to 11 years ago, electrical engineer Joe Grand discovered that the password, long since lost, led to the locking of the $3 million Bitcoin wallet, rendering it inaccessible.
During a decade, the $3 million Bitcoin wallet remained locked.
However, recently, security researchers successfully cracked a password that had kept over $3 million worth of Bitcoin inaccessible for 11 long years.
In 2013, electrical engineer Joe Grand, who goes by the handle ‘Kingpin, was hired to hack into an encrypted file holding 43.6 BTC.
The password, reportedly created by Roboform, was a formidable combination of 20 upper- and lower case letters and numbers.
However, the owner's computer became corrupted, and he lost access to it, leaving the bitcoin stranded for over a decade.
The $3 million Bitcoin wallet was locked for more than a decade.
At the time, Bitcoin's value was modest, but little did the owner know that it would skyrocket over the next decade.
As the value of bitcoin surged, the owner sought the expertise of Joe Grand to retrieve the inaccessible funds. Leveraging a tool developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA), Grand embarked on a meticulous process to crack the elusive password.
As Bitcoin's price surged by more than 20,000%, the wallet's owner faced a dilemma. The onwer sought the expertise of Joe Grand to retrieve the inaccessible funds.
Leveraging a tool developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA), Grand embarked on a meticulous process to crack the elusive password.
Luck has arrived as Grand employs an ingenious approach to break the unyielding password and unlock the dormant wealth.
Grand successfully unlocks the $3 million Bitcoin wallet with the assistance of the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Grand's ingenious strategy involved manipulating the time settings back to 2013, when the password was generated.
After numerous failed attempts, he successfully recreated the password. Collaborating with his colleague Bruno, they generated millions of potential passwords until they struck gold.
Together, they generated millions of potential passwords, meticulously testing each one.
The right parameters and timing aligned, leading to the password's resurrection. Had they been even slightly off, the mystery might have remained unsolved. As Grand put it, "We ultimately got lucky."
After extensive effort and perseverance, Grand and his team managed to crack the code. The wallet's owner could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Grand said: “We ultimately got lucky that our parameters and time range was right. If either of those were wrong, we would have … continued to take guesses/shots in the dark.”
In short, the $3 million Bitcoin wallet was finally unlocked after being forgotten for 11 years. The owner can finally enjoy the fruits of a decade-long waiting game.
Watching the video below:
