Stefan Thomas, the former CTO of Ripple, faces a challenging situation: he owns 7,002 Bitcoin valued at $244 million, but has forgotten the key needed to unlock his IronKey hard drive. Unciphered, a team of experts in technological sciences and security, claim to be able to unlock the device, which only has 10 attempts before deleting its information, and Stefan assures that he has already used about 8 unsuccessful attempts.
In a world where it is widely recognized that “If you don’t have your keys, you don’t have your coins” Thomas is at risk of losing access to his valuable investment.
However, a glimmer of hope has emerged in the form of Unciphered, a company specializing in cryptocurrency recovery.
Unciphered: An open letter to Stefan Thomas
Unciphered presents itself as a team of experts in the recovery of digital assets and private keys. The company has invested millions of dollars in technology and legal resources to address cases like Thomas’s.
In this crypto-universe, where security plays a central role, the challenge of unlocking an IronKey drive, certified to FIPS-140-2 level 3, is described as a considerably difficult obstacle.
Unciphered’s project, called “Project Everest”, is based on reverse engineering, which involves fully understanding the internal workings of the device and searching for vulnerabilities
In this mission, Unciphered has reverse engineers, cryptographers, analysts and legal experts.
The letter reveals that Unciphered has been successful in unlocking IronKey devices on multiple occasions. Although not everything was as fast as in a movie, they demonstrated their capabilities to observers, including technology journalist Andy Greenberg of Wired.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, security is paramount, and losing access to digital wallets can have devastating consequences.
According to Unciphered, the fact that so much Bitcoin is potentially lost forever is a worrying issue. An analysis by IntoTheBlock in July 2023 revealed that nearly 29% of the circulating Bitcoin supply has not shown activity in over five years.
Unciphered’s letter concludes with an offer of collaboration to Stefan Thomas, urging him to take the step towards recovering his digital assets.
After more than a decade of waiting, Unciphered is ready to help Thomas take back what is rightfully his.
So far, there has been no response from Stefan to Unciphered’s generous offer.
