加密貨幣警示故事：數位財富的高潮與低谷

加密貨幣的世界充滿了高潮和低谷，對某些人來說，低谷非常陡峭。從硬碟遺失到忘記密碼，這些故事提醒我們在處理加密資產時保持謹慎和準備的重要性。

The world of cryptocurrency is a double-edged sword. While some have experienced incredible gains, others have faced devastating lows. Misplaced hard drives, forgotten passwords, and lost private keys have become common stories in the crypto realm, highlighting the importance of caution and preparedness when handling digital assets.

加密貨幣世界是一把雙面刃。雖然有些人取得了令人難以置信的成就，但有些人則面臨毀滅性的低谷。硬碟遺失、密碼忘記和私鑰遺失已成為加密領域的常見問題，這凸顯了處理數位資產時謹慎和做好準備的重要性。

One of the most well-known tales is that of James Howells, an IT worker from Wales who made a tragic mistake in 2013. After mining 8,000 bitcoins in the early days of the cryptocurrency, the hard drive containing his private key was accidentally thrown away by his girlfriend, Halfina Eddy-Evans.

最著名的故事之一是來自威爾斯的 IT 工人 James Howells，他在 2013 年犯了一個悲慘的錯誤。他的女友哈菲娜·艾迪·埃文斯(Halfina Eddy-Evans) 創作。

When Howells realized the hard drive had been discarded, he traced it to the Docksway landfill, which contained over 1.4 million tons of waste. Howells attempted to retrieve the disk by proposing an excavation operation, offering a portion of the potential Bitcoin windfall to the local community, but authorities refused, citing environmental concerns.

當豪厄爾斯意識到硬碟已被丟棄時，他追蹤到 Docksway 垃圾掩埋場，那裡含有超過 140 萬噸廢物。豪厄爾斯試圖透過提議挖掘行動來取回磁碟，並向當地社區提供部分潛在的比特幣意外之財，但當局以環境問題為由拒絕了。

In January 2025, the High Court rejected his case, marking a dismal conclusion to his long battle to recover what could have been a $750 million fortune.

2025 年 1 月，高等法院駁回了他的案件，標誌著他為收回本可達到 7.5 億美元的財富而進行的長期鬥爭以慘淡的結局。

Another high-profile Bitcoin story involves U.S. programmer Stephan Thomas, who encountered a similar nightmare. In 2011, Thomas was paid 7,002 BTC for creating an animated Bitcoin video, which he stored on a hardware wallet, an IronKey USB device.

另一個備受矚目的比特幣故事涉及美國程式設計師史蒂芬·托馬斯(Stephan Thomas)，他也遇到了類似的噩夢。 2011 年，Thomas 因製作比特幣動畫影片而獲得了 7,002 比特幣的報酬，他將影片儲存在硬體錢包（IronKey USB 裝置）上。

However, disaster struck when he lost the paper containing the password, and the IronKey locked the wallet after ten failed attempts. Despite hiring cryptography experts and even trying hypnosis to crack the code, Thomas was unable to access his Bitcoin fortune.

然而，當他丟失了包含密碼的紙張時，災難降臨了，IronKey 在十次嘗試失敗後鎖定了錢包。儘管聘請了密碼學專家，甚至嘗試催眠來破解密碼，托馬斯仍無法取得他的比特幣財富。

Today, the Bitcoin he mined is worth millions, but his fortune remains locked away, serving as a harsh lesson in the importance of securely storing crypto keys.

如今，他開採的比特幣價值數百萬美元，但他的財富仍然被鎖起來，這為安全儲存加密金鑰的重要性提供了慘痛的教訓。

Peter Schiff, a well-known Bitcoin critic, also shared his own cautionary tale in 2020. The Europac chief economist posted a screenshot of his crypto wallet, which he could no longer access due to a forgotten password.

著名比特幣評論家 Peter Schiff 也在 2020 年分享了他自己的警示故事。

Despite assistance from Bitcoin enthusiasts and even tech CEOs, Schiff admitted that he had failed to back up his seed phrase. Although he claimed the lost Bitcoin wasn’t a significant issue for him, the incident serves as a stark reminder to carefully manage crypto access information.

儘管得到了比特幣愛好者甚至科技執行長的幫助，希夫承認他未能支持他的助記詞。儘管他聲稱丟失的比特幣對他來說並不是一個重大問題，但這一事件強烈提醒人們要仔細管理加密存取資訊。

Mark Frauenfelder, a writer for Wired and co-founder of BoingBoing, faced his own crypto disaster in 2017. After purchasing 7.4 BTC for $3,000 in 2016, he stored the coins on a Trezor hardware wallet and wrote the 24-word seed phrase on an orange piece of paper, placing it alongside the wallet's PIN code.

《連線》雜誌撰稿人兼BoingBoing 聯合創始人馬克·弗勞恩菲爾德(Mark Frauenfelder) 在2017 年面臨著自己的加密貨幣災難。這些比特幣存放在Trezor 硬體錢包中，並在一個密碼上寫下了24 字的助記詞。

When the paper was accidentally thrown away during a cleaning session, Frauenfelder found himself unable to access his coins after the BTC price surged. After several failed attempts to recall the PIN, Frauenfelder reached out to a hacker for help. While he eventually regained access, the experience highlights the importance of securely storing backup information.

當這張紙在清潔過程中被意外扔掉時，Frauenfelder 發現在 BTC 價格飆升後自己無法取回他的硬幣。在多次嘗試回憶 PIN 碼失敗後，Frauenfelder 向駭客尋求幫助。雖然他最終重新獲得了訪問權限，但這次經歷凸顯了安全儲存備份資訊的重要性。

Finally, there’s the story of Alexander Halavais, a professor of social technology at Arizona State University, who bought Bitcoin in 2010 for just $70 as part of an educational exercise. However, he didn’t take the investment seriously and eventually lost access to his wallet.

最後，還有亞利桑那州立大學社會技術教授 Alexander Halavais 的故事，他在 2010 年以 70 美元的價格購買了比特幣，作為教育活動的一部分。然而，他並沒有認真對待這筆投資，最終失去了錢包。

Seven years later, in the midst of the 2017 crypto boom, Halavais joked about trying to ignore the soaring Bitcoin price to avoid the sting of his lost coins. Although his investment was modest, this story underscores how easily crypto assets can be forgotten, even by those who once believed in their potential.

七年後，在 2017 年加密貨幣熱潮中，Halavais 開玩笑說，他試圖忽略不斷飆升的比特幣價格，以避免失去比特幣的痛苦。儘管他的投資不多，但這個故事強調了加密資產是多麼容易被遺忘，即使是那些曾經相信其潛力的人也是如此。

These stories serve as cautionary tales for anyone involved in cryptocurrency. Whether it's through misplaced hardware, forgotten passwords, or inadequate backups, the loss of Bitcoin can happen in many ways. The key lesson is to treat crypto assets with the same care and attention as any other valuable asset, ensuring secure storage and backup measures to avoid devastating losses.

這些故事對於任何參與加密貨幣的人來說都是警示故事。無論是因為硬體放錯地方、忘記密碼或備份不充分，比特幣的遺失都可能以多種方式發生。關鍵的教訓是像對待任何其他有價值的資產一樣對待加密資產，確保安全的儲存和備份措施，以避免毀滅性的損失。