Good news - you are a millionaire. Bad news - you do not have access to money. Contrary to appearances, this is not a bad dream for the compulsive Lotto player. This is the reality of quite a large group of cryptocurrency owners. Estimates show that even 4 million bitcoins have simply been lost. Like gold pirates in the ocean. There is no access to them. Why? For example, by lost passwords.

From 2.5 million to almost 4 million bitcoins lost - results from the analysis of Chainalysis. This could mean that even every fourth existing digital currency is no longer available. In total, therefore, coins worth 60 billion dollars may no longer be recoverable.

By far the most lost bitcoins belong to people who bought them many years ago. They bought and forgot about them. They also forgot the password and lost access to the wallet. Some people may not even know that they are millionaires.

At the beginning of December, the network revealed a man who ... threw a disk containing access to 7.5 thousand. bitcoins. Today, the coins are worth around PLN 450 million. James Howells, a programmer from Wales in 2013, lost his hard drive. Then he did not care, because bitcoin was worth the buck. As the digital currency began to glide, Howells remembered his old wallet. And he was clearly morose.

Howells is so desperate that he has already announced the action of digging a garbage dump. You can not be surprised.

• When I stopped investing in bitcoins, I sold my laptop. I kept the hard drive because there were keys to access cryptocurrencies on it - he told the daily The Telegraph. - In 2013, the whole cabinet went to the dustbin, quite by accident. How did Howells forget about bitcoins? He reports in the media that he was distracted by moving house and family matters. Today, the Welshman is wondering how to conduct a search.

Contrary to appearances, his story is not unique. One of the editors of the Gizmodo technology service from Australia also threw a disc with keys to digital currencies into the trash. In this way, 1.4 thousand are not recoverable. bitcoins. Value? At the time of buying $ 25. Today (at the lowest prices in recent days), USD 21 million.

By the way, it is worth recalling the programmer's story Laszlo Hanyecza. Over 7 years ago he paid 10 thousand. bitcoins for two pizzas. In the network, he placed an advert that a pizza can be made or brought from a restaurant. - I like mushrooms, sausage, tomatoes, hot peppers - he explained. And he got the pancakes. Then these bitcoins were worth less than $ 25. Today? 150 million dollars. Laszlo's history has recently been reminiscent of Independent.

Recently, the network has been conquered by the history of one of the Internet users. He described it on the Reddit website. He became interested in the digital currency in 2011. As he describes himself, he knows the exact date because ... his favorite Vancouver Canucks hockey team competed for the Boston Bruins Cup.

• Basically, I was interested in bitcoin for fun. They were not worth much, but kicking them and sending them back and forth to friends was fun. Why did I mention hockey players? Because together with colleagues, this is how we described the number of bitcoins we have. The number on the player's jersey was our code. And we were talking like that. I got to 47, the Yann Sauve number. And I stopped digging - he described. Then he put the computer in the garage and moved away from his parents.

He remembered about bitcoin when he reached $ 100 for one virtual coin. - I thought then that I have five thousand in the garage, so I need to dig out the computer and make a profit. But I did not do it. At that time, my parents simply threw old equipment out of the garage. Of course I got angry, but it was not the end of the world. When I realized, all bitcoins were worth maybe a little over 8,000. dollars. A lot of money, but ... you can survive - he describes.

• Since then I've been watching this fuck ... bitcoin grows and grows. And I can not survive - describes the surfer. It is worth noting that he wrote this entry when one bitcoin was worth 7,000. dollars. In total, he would have over 300,000. dollars in your account. Today? 705 thousand dollars.

• Now I look at my "apartment" for 800 dollars, dilapidated windows and inactive heating, which will make me freeze for the next six months. And I can not survive it! - so he finished the entry.

And this is not the end of money that is no longer available. In addition, digital coins belonging to the currency maker Satoshi Nakamoto are completely lost. To this day, the identity of the person responsible for the digital currency is a mystery. Experts, however, are confident that his coins never moved, did not change the owner, were not sold. Analysts are convinced that they will not appear on the market anymore.

The market very quickly responded to the problem of "forgetting the password". At the moment, hypnotists have appeared in the US who promise to help you remember their passwords. Similar services are also provided by the Russians.