In the world of cryptocurrency, losing access to a digital wallet can mean losing a fortune—forever. But for one man who had nearly given up on recovering $2 million worth of Bitcoin, a skilled hardware hacker became his unlikely savior. This is the story of how Joe Grand, a renowned electrical engineer and hardware security expert, teamed up with fellow researcher Bruno to recover a lost Bitcoin fortune by exploiting a subtle flaw in an outdated password manager.
👉 Discover how forgotten passwords can still be recovered using advanced digital forensics.
The Lost Wallet That Started It All
Two years ago, a European cryptocurrency holder known only as “Michael” reached out to Joe Grand for help recovering approximately 43.6 BTC—worth around $2 million at the time—stored in an encrypted digital wallet on his computer. Michael had used RoboForm, a popular password manager, to generate a 20-character password, which he then saved in a file encrypted with TrueCrypt. Unfortunately, that file became corrupted, leaving him locked out of his own wealth.
“I was really paranoid about security back then,” Michael admitted with a laugh. “I didn’t want anyone hacking my computer and finding the password, so I didn’t even store it in the password manager.”
Joe Grand, better known in hacker circles by his alias “Kingpin,” is no stranger to high-stakes digital rescues. In 2022, he famously helped retrieve $2 million in cryptocurrency from a Trezor hardware wallet by bypassing its PIN protection through sophisticated hardware manipulation. Since that breakthrough, dozens of people have contacted him seeking similar help. However, due to technical limitations or ethical concerns, Grand has turned down most requests.
Initially, he declined Michael’s case too—because unlike Trezor, this was a software-based wallet. His hardware expertise wouldn’t apply directly. The only possible solution? A brute-force attack: writing code to guess millions of potential passwords until the right one emerged. But even that seemed impractical—unless there was a vulnerability in how the password was generated.
The Flaw in RoboForm’s Randomness
Grand began to suspect that RoboForm—the tool Michael used to generate his password—might have a critical weakness. Specifically, he wondered if the software’s pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) was predictable.
After months of reverse engineering the version of RoboForm likely used in 2013, Grand and his collaborator Bruno discovered exactly that: the PRNG tied password generation to the system clock. That meant the “random” passwords weren’t truly random at all. If you knew the date, time, and input parameters (like character length and type), you could reproduce any password generated on that machine.
This was a game-changer.
“If Michael could remember when he created the password and what settings he used—like including uppercase letters, numbers, or special characters—we could narrow down the possibilities significantly,” Grand explained.
Michael recalled transferring Bitcoin into the wallet on April 14, 2013, but couldn’t pinpoint when he’d generated the password. Using logs and memory, Grand and Bruno first tested passwords generated between March 1 and April 20, 2013, with standard parameters: 20 characters including uppercase, lowercase, digits, and eight special characters. No match.
They extended the window to June 1, still no success.
“I kept getting asked if I was sure about the settings,” Michael recalled. “It’s hard to remember what I did ten years ago!”
Then came a breakthrough: two other old passwords Michael found weren’t using special characters. Adjusting their model accordingly—and focusing on May 15, 2013—they finally hit gold.
The correct password had been generated on May 15, 2013, at 16:10:40 GMT, with no special characters involved.
👉 Learn how legacy software flaws can expose modern crypto assets today.
Why This Vulnerability Matters Beyond One Case
RoboForm, developed by Siber Systems in the U.S., is one of the earliest password managers still in use, boasting over 6 million users worldwide. The flaw Grand and Bruno uncovered wasn’t just theoretical—it exposed real-world risks for anyone who generated passwords before 2015.
Siber Systems confirmed to WIRED that they patched the issue in RoboForm version 7.9.14, released on June 10, 2015, noting only that changes were made to “increase randomness” in password generation. There was no public warning advising users to regenerate critical passwords after the update.
That silence could have lasting consequences.
“Most people don’t change passwords unless forced,” Grand noted. “I have 935 passwords in my manager—220 of them were created before 2015, and many are still active.”
Even today, users relying on old RoboForm-generated credentials may be vulnerable. Attackers with knowledge of this flaw could potentially regenerate passwords from that era—especially if they know approximate creation times.
And while Grand hasn’t found evidence of the same flaw in post-2015 versions, he remains cautious:
“Without knowing exactly how they fixed it, I can’t say whether recent versions are truly secure.”
From Recovery to Reward
In November of the previous year, after confirming the correct password, Grand and Bruno transferred access back to Michael. As compensation, they took a percentage of the recovered Bitcoin—valued at $38,000 per coin at the time.
Michael held on as prices rose. When BTC hit $62,000, he sold part of his stash. Now sitting on **30 BTC**, worth about **$3 million, he’s waiting for the price to climb to $100,000 per Bitcoin** before cashing out more.
Ironically, he sees his lost password as a blessing in disguise.
“If I hadn’t forgotten it,” he said, “I probably would’ve sold everything at $40,000 and missed out on this.”
“Forgetting the password turned out to be economically beneficial.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Can lost Bitcoin wallets still be recovered?
A: Yes—but only under specific conditions. If the wallet uses flawed encryption or predictable password generation (like pre-2015 RoboForm), recovery may be possible through forensic analysis or brute-force methods combined with pattern recognition.
Q: What made RoboForm’s older versions insecure?
A: Early versions tied password generation to the system clock. This made passwords predictable if an attacker knew the approximate creation time and settings—turning “random” into reproducible sequences.
Q: Should I trust my current password manager?
A: Most modern tools use cryptographically secure random number generators. However, always ensure your software is up-to-date and avoid using outdated versions for sensitive accounts.
Q: How can I protect my cryptocurrency from loss?
A: Use reputable hardware wallets, enable multi-signature setups, store recovery phrases securely offline, and avoid relying solely on software-generated passwords without backups.
Q: Did Joe Grand break any laws during this recovery?
A: No. His work was conducted ethically and with the owner’s consent. He focuses on helping legitimate users regain access—not exploiting systems maliciously.
Q: Could this method work for other lost wallets?
A: Only if similar vulnerabilities exist—such as weak randomness in password generation or accessible metadata about creation time and settings. Each case depends heavily on context.
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