8 Real Examples of Lost Bitcoin

1. Stefan Thomas' IronKey Password - Lost access to 7,002 BTC ($750 million) after forgetting the password to his hard drive that only allows 10 password attempts. He's used 8 attempts already.

2. James Howells' Landfill Fortune - Accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC ($856 million) in 2013. Despite numerous proposals to excavate the landfill, city council has refused.

3. Wired Magazine's Demonstration - Deliberately destroyed keys to 13 BTC ($1.4 million) for an article in 2013, a decision they later regretted.

4. Campbell Simpson's Discarded Drive - Australian tech journalist threw away a hard drive with keys to 1,400 BTC ($150 million) in 2012 when they were worth just $4,000.

5. California Wildfire Loss - Reddit user lost seed phrase for 43 BTC ($4.6 million) when their home burned down in the 2018 wildfires. They had the seed only on paper.

6. DIY Security Failure - Bitcoin user created a "more secure" modified version of their seed phrase using a personal algorithm they later forgot, losing access to 2.5 BTC ($267,500).

7. The Brain Wallet Tragedy - User suffered head trauma and lost access to memorized keys for 250 BTC ($26.8 million).

8. Renovation Disaster - BitcoinTalk forum user had their hidden seed phrase accidentally thrown away during home renovations, losing 15 BTC ($1.6 million).