Two researchers helped a man recover the lost password to a 2013 crypto wallet that contained 43.6 BTC, worth nearly $3 million.
An anonymous man named Michael set up a cryptocurrency wallet in 2013 and then used RoboForm to create its unique password. Michael saved the password in an encrypted file, which he chose not to store in RoboForm for security reasons. However, when the encrypted file became corrupted, Michael was left without the 20-character password needed to access the wallet.
In 2022, Michael contacted Grand, a hardware hacker who had previously discovered lost Bitcoins from Trezor wallets, for help. Grand explained in a video that they had discovered a vulnerability in RoboFarm's so-called "random number" generator, which connects passwords to a specific date and time on the user's computer when creating them. The issue was fixed in 2015, but the bug should affect passwords created before then.
Michael transferred part of the Bitcoin to two researchers, and then sold a small part of it. In the end, he now owns 30 BTC, worth about $2 million. Michael told Wired magazine that he plans to hold these Bitcoins until their price rises to $100,000. (The Block)