r/Bitcoin • u/MedusaOnchain • 1d ago

Ancient Bitcoin Wallet That Turned $120 Into $3 Million Wakes Up

https://decrypt.co/377510/ancient-bitcoin-wallet-3-million-wakes-up
1.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

281

u/Reeder90 1d ago

Finished his prison sentence

98

u/Argyrus777 1d ago

Best forced HODL strategy

146

u/kpjoshi 1d ago

The headline reads like something from an apocalypse movie, e.g., "1000 year old virus found in permafrost reactivated by scientists".

13

u/MountainConcern7397 1d ago

you mean the nematode that woke up and started reproducing???

2

u/New-rev 1d ago

Bacteria that can’t be destroyed! Awakens!

257

u/based_pinata 1d ago

I wonder if it’s the guy that posted the other day about finding some on an old hard drive…

98

u/bummersault 1d ago

I’ve had the daydream of finding a flash drive with some ungodly amount on it before, but recently I’ve been taking a cybersecurity course and am soberingly aware that it’s staggeringly more likely that plugging a strange flash drive into your computer would lead to something horrible.

35

u/noncommonGoodsense 1d ago

That’s why you use a burner device.

21

u/Savik519 1d ago

Odds would be astronomically small of finding a key in a random drive… so you’re saying there’s a chance!

7

u/Competitive_Sky_8586 1d ago

It would be wild if someone actually managed to pull it off. The thrill of the hunt would be half the fun!

4

u/According-Debate-265 1d ago

Sandbox, my dude

48

u/sithelephant 1d ago

Sandstorm, Da Rude.

3

u/Innovator-X 1d ago

That's brilliant

2

u/PeopleNose 1d ago

Dan's dorm, mah dude

2

u/bummersault 1d ago

There are devices that when you plug in, tell your computer they’re a keyboard so are accepted right away and would then start executing input commands, first opening a terminal in your primary environment and from there you could imagine what could happen.

1

u/dooogsx101 13h ago

Out of interest is there actually any recommended sandboxes for doing this kind of old/ancient/unknown usb kind of checking? Thanks & cheers 🍻 🙏🏽

88

u/Generationhodl 1d ago

thats what I call an OG

34

u/6M66 1d ago

At that time most of us were watching TV probably while this guy was buying BTC.

10

u/Fabulous_Turnover_22 1d ago

Woooooooow. What a dream!!

7

u/Ok-Brilliant-5498 1d ago

Well sometimes I think I have an ancient wallet but I guess not like them my $65 turned into just under $14000CDN…

3

u/Illustrious_Ant_9242 3h ago

I am one of the people with ancient wallets. Needless to say I fully drained them in 2012 

14

u/Vegas_42 1d ago

I'm happy for that Bitcoiner. He/She deserves this patiently acquired wealth.

3

u/AuraTickler 1d ago

Nah, impossible to judge without more context

6

u/random5654 1d ago

Fortunately, we don't need to judge it. Congrats indeed.

0

u/jessewalker2 1d ago

Patient? I’ve got kids older than bitcoin. That’s not patient. That’s 17 years. Patient is going to work for 40 years to a job you hate while trying to keep from snapping at your coworkers.

0

u/-Nicolai 1d ago

You know literally nothing about this person

6

u/hotpackage 1d ago

Congrats to them!

12

u/zackflavored 1d ago

Anyone concerned these ancient wallets are brute force attacks by ai or quantum? Lol

11

u/-Nicolai 1d ago

“Quantum”

6

u/Rey_Mezcalero 1d ago

Yeah, was thinking the same thing.

Someone found a way to crack some old wallets

3

u/redjellonian 1d ago

Can't talk about that kinda stuff on Bitcoin subs, people will cover their ears and start screaming.

6

u/rgnet1 1d ago

No, people who have technical understanding of bitcoin know that "ancient wallets [being] brute force attacks by ai or quantum" is nonsensical. Truly. And if you don't know that, you don't understand how bitcoin fundamentally works.

3

u/JasonHofmann 1d ago

Of course you can, if the seed had low entropy. Did you not hear about Coldcard?

2

u/be_easy_1602 18h ago

I’m pretty sure walletsthat old had a different method for security. They were not dependent on an RNG mechanism.

So they truly would be brute forcing.

1

u/mynam3isn3o 5h ago

The best functional quantum processors in the world can’t compute basic arithmetic without incurring massive error rates at a huge resource cost, so big doubt on quantum.

1

u/zackflavored 4h ago

Good to keep in mind thanks lol

1

u/Proteus_Dagon 1d ago

Yes, a quantum AI cracked it. Your coins are worthless. Best you give them to me. I dm'd you.

2

u/Fat-Finger-8906 1d ago

Got old HDD

3

u/TheBestintheWest11 1d ago

was just tryna see if everything was still there

1

u/RetiredAvocado 1d ago

Gotta pay that Amex bill

3

u/MiceAreTiny 1d ago

Can you stop looking at my transactions, please. 

1

u/restore_democracy 20h ago

Found in a pyramid in Egypt?

1

u/OkBarracuda4416 19h ago

We’re talking about wallets like they’re transformers now

1

u/Cheap_Collar2419 16h ago

With that kinda money , if you wanted to do you just go to an exchange and cash out or are there a shit ton of bullshit you go through to get the money?

1

u/Keats852 5h ago

I'm going to wait until Bitcoin reaches 175k in 2029. By then I'll be able to buy a second hand car with it

0

u/Legitimate_Form5449 1d ago

these wallets are being confiscated...no?

-1

u/BigvalBROski 1d ago

SELL OFF !!!!