According to Atherium co-founder Vitallic Butterin, while theft is often discussed in crypto security, many people are also lost in significant amounts of crypto due to negligence and accidents, and the wallet solution should also address these risks.
In Recent posts on XVitallic Butterin brought attention to the Crypto community that many people lose their crypto through real disadvantages (due to forgotten passwords, software bugs, or lost equipment) instead of theft. While negotiations about Crypto fraud have prevailed, especially in view of the theft of $ 1.5 billion from the bibit (although the exchange covered the damage through loan, whale deposits and ether purchasing), Balnen stressed that Crypto security has been ignored in discussions. He said that strong wallet security solutions should only be responsible for all types of damage to hacking.
One of the most notable and tragic examples of crypto’s loss is James Havals, which has a hard drive with 8000 bitcoins (BTCs), which is now worth hundreds of crores of pounds, was accidentally released by its east-partner in 2013. Hard Drive ended at a landfill site owned by Newport City Council. Despite taking legal action, Havals failed to recover the device. Now, with the closure of the landfill site in the next two years, Howels is weighing its options: he can either pursue a case in the appeal court or try to buy a site with the help of investors. For Havals, recovering his digital wallet has become the mission of his life. “This fight is my 9 to 5 – I will not stop until I have back £ 620 meters of bitcoin,” Said Hell.
The position of Havals is an extreme case, but it outlines a large issue. Losing crypto due to negligence or accidents is far from unusual. As 2020 report by ChenlisisAt that time, about 20% of the mined bitcoins were considered “lost” because it was trapped in the purse that did not see any movement in the years (recent figures are not easily available).
It is said that there are rare examples of recovery. Such an example consists of Stephen Thomas, who, after forgetting the password, spent 11 years unable to reach his iron hard drive, including 7002 BTC. However, the hacker who was able to recover it with the help of Grand and Security Researcher Bruno Revio Dr. Kunha developed a novel approach to crack the password by analyzing the software used to generate it.
Sometimes despite success stories, reality is that crypto recovery is difficult. As Vitallik said, the industry should not only focus on stopping hack, but should also ensure that users can recover their crypto in case of loss due to accidents or human error.
