Lost Bitcoin fortune recovered after 11 years of failed password attempts

A Bitcoin investor has finally regained access to a lost fortune after being locked out of their account for over 11 years. The user, known online as @cprkrn, forgot their password in 2015—shortly after buying five bitcoin for just $245 each. Now, with the cryptocurrency’s value soaring, those same coins are worth around $300,000. The ordeal began on April Fools' Day in 2015, when @cprkrn purchased five bitcoin. At the time, each coin cost roughly $245. But after changing their password while under the influence of drugs, they lost access to the account. For years, they tried countless recovery attempts, joking that they had tested 'like 7 trillion passwords' without success.

As a final effort, the user turned to Anthropic’s AI model, Claude. The AI helped locate an old wallet file buried on a college computer. Once decrypted, it unlocked the long-lost account.

The timing of the recovery proved fortunate. With Bitcoin now trading at around $60,000 per coin, the user’s 5 bitcoin have surged in value. Their once-small investment is now worth over 1,200 times its original purchase price. The recovered funds will go towards a personal celebration. The user plans to hire electronic artist Deadmau5 to perform at their wedding. After more than a decade of failed attempts, the lost bitcoin are finally back in their hands.