{"id":123190,"date":"2021-02-10T11:28:34","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T16:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=123190"},"modified":"2021-02-10T12:13:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T17:13:03","slug":"20-percent-of-the-worlds-bitcoin-is-inaccessible-now-theres-a-race-to-find-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/20-percent-of-the-worlds-bitcoin-is-inaccessible-now-theres-a-race-to-find-it\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Percent Of The World\u2019s Bitcoin Is Inaccessible. Now, There\u2019s A Race To Find It."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F20-percent-of-the-worlds-bitcoin-is-inaccessible-now-theres-a-race-to-find-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=123190&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-934468608.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Authorities in Germany confirmed last week that they had seized 1,700 bitcoin, currently valued at over $79 million, from a nefarious hacker. There\u2019s only one problem: he won\u2019t hand over the password required to access it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The debacle raises some serious questions: How does Bitcoin encryption work? What<\/span> <em><span>can<\/span><\/em> <span>the police do to regulate cryptocurrency? And to what extent does digital cash render traditional governmental authority irrelevant?&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Where\u2019s the password?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>After serving a two year sentence for secretly installing malware and using other people\u2019s&nbsp; computers to \u201cmine\u201d bitcoin, the Bavarian cybercriminal is refusing to share his password with local authorities. Multiple attempts by police to crack the code have proven futile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bitcoin is stored in digital wallets, which are encrypted and entirely secure. Without a password, it is impossible to access contents, and repeated failed attempts can result in a wallet becoming irreversibly locked. \u201cWe asked him, but he didn\u2019t say. Perhaps he doesn\u2019t know,\u201d Prosecutor Sebastian Murer told<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-crypto-currency-germany-password\/police-seize-60-million-of-bitcoin-now-wheres-the-password-idUSKBN2A511T\"><span>Reuters<\/span><\/a> <span>on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With Bitcoin\u2019s price at record highs, the wallet\u2019s value has skyrocketed since the original arrest, only fueling the urgency of the search for its password and further demonstrating the strength of Bitcoin\u2019s security. It also indicates the lack of power police and local authorities hold over cryptocurrency accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Complete security comes with great risks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not just Bavarian police who have been running into difficulties accessing digital cash. While Bitcoin\u2019s encryption facilitates completely private and secure ownership, it can pose an enormous risk, even to its biggest holders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Last month, Stefan Thomas, a German programmer living in San Francisco, made headlines as he closed in on the possibility of losing 7,002 bitcoin, valued at $327 million. Thomas\u2019s wallet is locked by password, and he misplaced the paper he wrote it down on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After eight failed attempts to log in, he only has two tries left. At ten attempts, the wallet will be inaccessible, forever. \u201cI would just lay in bed and think about it,\u201d Thomas<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/12\/technology\/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html\"><span>told<\/span><\/a> <span>the<\/span> <em><span>New York Times<\/span><\/em><span>, \u201cThen I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn\u2019t work, and I would be desperate again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile in Wales, an IT engineer is in a dispute with local officials in an attempt to recover a hard drive containing over $350 million worth of bitcoin. While cleaning his home in 2013, James Howells accidentally threw the hard drive, which has since skyrocketed in value, into the trash.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bitcoin\u2019s secure storage makes accessing a hard drive\u2019s contents possible only with the physical drive in hand. Howells has been able to determine which garbage dump likely contains his hard drive, but he needs permission from the local council to excavate it. His multiple requests to the Newport City Council have all been rejected, citing environmental and funding concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Howells has gone to extraordinary lengths to overturn the decision. He has secured his own funding for the excavation, with backing from a hedge fund, and is even offering to donate 25% of the hard drive\u2019s contents to a Covid Relief Fund for his home city, but all to no avail.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/12\/technology\/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html\">According<\/a> to the New York Times<\/span><span>, 20 percent of the world\u2019s bitcoin is lost on drives or locked in wallets with lost passwords. Most appear to have been misplaced years ago when the value of Bitcoin was a fraction of what it is today. Although the stakes for recovering lost bitcoin are enormous, nothing can be done by police or Bitcoin users alike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Bitcoin\u2019s privacy and security is appealing to many, Stephan Thomas<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/12\/technology\/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html\"><span>warned<\/span><\/a> <span>of the risk that total encryption poses: \u201cThis whole idea of being your own bank \u2014 let me put it this way: Do you make your own shoes? The reason we have banks is that we don\u2019t want to deal with all those things that banks do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The dangers of cryptocurrency<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>From its inception, Bitcoin was intended to curtail governmental oversight of private transactions by giving users complete control of their assets. No identity check is required to obtain the currency which is regulated by a decentralized network of computers rather than government power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Anonymity, security, and decentralization have made Bitcoin popular with criminals. A 2019<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/dark-side-coin-extent-illegal-072631643.html\"><span>study<\/span><\/a> <span>revealed that 28 million Bitcoin users, or about 25 percent, are primarily involved in illegal activity. It also found that about half of all Bitcoin transactions are criminal in nature. This has raised concerns among investors and policymakers alike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In her January confirmation hearing, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/janet-yellen-consider-limiting-cryptocurrency\/\"><span>dubbed<\/span><\/a> <span>blockchain-based financial networks \u201ca particular threat,\u201d and pledged to \u201cexamine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that [money laundering] does not occur through those channels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The nontraditional structure of cryptocurrency also makes it potentially dangerous to investors. Both the European Central Bank and Goldman Sachs<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/bitcoin-too-volatile-medium-exchange-goldman-sachs-says-1567705\"><span>say<\/span><\/a> <span>Bitcoin is too volatile to be a medium of exchange. And, because it is not backed by any banks, they warn that investors should be prepared for the possibility of losing everything.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cryptocurrency\u2019s upside<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>Despite warnings from the financial establishment, bitcoin\u2019s price had surged to a record $47,000 by early February. Part of that surge could be attributed to Tesla, which<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/ix?doc=\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1318605\/000156459021004599\/tsla-10k_20201231.htm\"><span>purchased $1.5 billion<\/span><\/a> <span>in bitcoin \u201cto further diversify and maximize returns on [their] cash.\u201d The company also announced its intention to accept Bitcoin as a payment method, further bolstering confidence in the currency\u2019s legitimacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Public endorsements by celebrity figures from Gene Simmons to Snoop Dogg have also helped send the price soaring. Similarly, Elon Musk\u2019s recent<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1357241340313141249\"><span>tweets<\/span><\/a> <span>endorsing another cryptocurrency called Dogecoin prompted the coin to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/02\/08\/tweets-from-elon-musk-and-celebrities-send-dogecoin-to-a-record-high.html\"><span>rally 37%<\/span><\/a> <span>in just 24 hours. As a result, disruptive cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more mainstream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1357241340313141249\"><span>touted<\/span><\/a> <span>Dogecoin as \u201cthe people\u2019s crypto,\u201d reflecting its ability to provide financial access to any individual. Gabriel Abed, an entrepreneur from Barbados echoes this sentiment. Though he found himself in a similar situation to Stephan Thomas when he lost 800 bitcoin in 2011, he is still an outspoken champion of cryptocurrency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Before Bitcoin, most citizens of Barbados were unable to access even the most basic financial resources, such as bank accounts or credit cards. Cryptocurrency afforded locals the power to take control of their financial destiny \u2014 and even enabled Abed to buy a $25 million property on his home island.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Abed<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/12\/technology\/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html\"><span>refuted<\/span><\/a> <span>Thomas\u2019 warnings about cryptocurrencies, telling<\/span> <em><span>The New York Times<\/span><\/em><span>, \u201cThe risk of being my own bank comes with the reward of being able to freely access my money and be a citizen of the world \u2014 that is worth it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Some cryptocurrency figureheads have even sought to create a sovereign state on the foundation of a free market and libertarian ideals. The<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freesociety.com\"><span>Free Society Foundation<\/span><\/a><span>, founded by Olivier Janssens, is in the process of \u201cpurchasing sovereignty from a government to create the world\u2019s first free society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But there are more tangible examples of how cryptocurrencies are already promoting civil liberties. For instance, Bitcoin has the power to financially liberate individuals living under authoritarian governments such as Venezuela and China, both of which wield the authority to seize assets held by citizens in traditional bank accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Situations like the one in Bavaria serve as a reminder of Bitcoin\u2019s power to disrupt traditional governmental authority. While cryptocurrencies may represent a volatile risk to investors today, they have the power to disrupt the very foundation of traditional finance. They may also hold the key to individual financial liberation, a true free market, and realization of the libertarian ideal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">&nbsp;<em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in Germany confirmed last week that they had seized 1,700 bitcoin, currently valued at over $79 million, from a nefarious hacker. There\u2019s only one problem: he won\u2019t hand over &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893084,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4254,6159,6157,5069,5126,6158],"class_list":["post-123190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bitcoin","tag-inaccessible","tag-percent","tag-race","tag-theres","tag-worlds"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}