Stefan Thomas, a San Francisco-based programmer who was born in Germany, is in a precarious predicament with his $240 million Bitcoin windfall. The drawback? He only has two more chances to get it correctly because he forgot the password to access it.

Thomas’s situation began in 2011 when he made the instructional film “What is Bitcoin? (v1)” for a Bitcoin enthusiast in Switzerland. In exchange for his labor, Thomas was given 7,002 Bitcoins. He had no idea that the value of this virtual money would rise over time.

A Ten-Year-Old Mystery

The Bitcoin riches he was given were kept on a password-protected encrypted IronKey hard drive. Sadly, Thomas misplaced the password and is now unable to access the enormous amount of wealth that is there. The hard drive is rumored to contain $240 million in Bitcoin at the moment, but it’s now a mysterious mystery.

The Reducing Opportunities

There are barely two guesses left to unlock the hard disk, so Thomas is under a lot of pressure and uncertainty. Failure has serious repercussions because there are only so many password guesses you can make before losing access permanently.

Thomas’s experience serves as a sobering reminder of how crucial it is to handle digital assets safely in the world of cryptocurrencies. As seen by Thomas’s $240 million Bitcoin mystery, the erratic nature of cryptocurrencies can magnify the consequences of any accidents or forgetfulness, but it can also turn little investments into large fortunes.