Estonian banker Rain Lõhmus claims that because he lost his private key, 250,000 Ether has been 'permanently locked up', with the current market value of the wallet approaching $1.2 billion. (Background: Bitcoin surged 10 times but was unattainable! A Taiwanese netizen lost 1.5 BTC due to a lost private key and offered a reward of 360,000 for a solution) (Additional background: Cold wallet Trezor warns: hackers impersonate official communications to conduct phishing attacks, do not share your wallet's private key) This is actually old news, but as the price of Ethereum returns to its peak, let's revisit the tragedy of Estonian banker Rain Lõhmus. He publicly stated that he spent $75,000 during the Ethereum presale phase in 2014 to purchase 250,000 ETH, and now that the ETH price has returned to its 2021 high, it is worth about $1.2 billion. However, due to the loss of the private key, this large amount of Ethereum has become an unredeemable 'on-chain stone'. The lost Ethereum private key Lõhmus publicly stated in 2023 that the private key has long been out of his hands, and he admitted that he 'often loses passwords'. I often forget passwords. Today I just went to update my ID's password; if that were cryptocurrency, I would be in a major crisis again. According to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, the wallet where he stored Ethereum had never transferred large amounts of ETH apart from sporadic test transactions. On August 14, when ETH surged to $4,700, the value of his wallet suddenly soared to $1.2 billion, but no one could access it. If he were an ordinary office worker of modest means, he might have considered ending it all. The case of Rain Lõhmus has become a collective lesson for crypto investors; losing a private key is not just a personal tragedy, but it quietly rewrites the price structure in terms of supply and demand. In the face of the freedom brought by decentralization, investors not only hope for price increases but must also bear the full responsibility for safeguarding their keys, because on-chain, there is no customer service and no 'forgot password' button to remedy the situation. Related reports: $240 million BTC suspected of theft 'lost 4,064 bitcoins' who is the victim? Analysts: Crazy money laundering underway. Guizhou female official 'Big Data Director' secretly mined 327 bitcoins! The official's denial is merely about corruption. 'Estonian banker Rain Lõhmus is once again heartbroken! 250,000 ETH private key is lost, now worth $1.2 billion' this article was first published on BlockTempo (Blockchain Dynamics - the most influential blockchain news media).

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