The hero of the story lost access to his old bitcoin wallet 11 years ago and tried many methods to recover his password. Claude analyzed old files and found a backup.
A user under the handle cprkrn regained access to an old bitcoin wallet using Anthropic’s Claude AI model. The value of the recovered 5 BTC▼$62,757.00 at the time of recovery was approximately $395,000 to $400,000.
Hot topic: Bitcoin Price Rally Lacks Conviction, Analysts Say
At the time of publication on May 14, bitcoin (BTC) trades at approximately $79,600. Its price has fallen 1.6% over the past 24 hours.
Contents
How It Happened
The wallet owner, under the handle cprkrn, had been unable to access his funds for more than 11 years. He tried brute-forcing 3.5 trillion password combinations using btcrecover and Hashcat, spending only about $15 on GPU servers.
As a final attempt, he uploaded the contents of an old student laptop, notes, and email data into Claude. The AI found a backup file of the wallet from December 2019. The password, “lol420fuckthePOLICE!*:)“, was written down in a paper notebook.
Read more: Bitcoin Rally Hits Resistance as US Demand Stays Weak
Important Clarification!
Claude did not break bitcoin’s cryptography. The model only analyzed a large volume of old files and helped locate the necessary backup.
How the Crypto Community Reacted
The story quickly went viral and garnered millions of views. Many interpreted it as proof that AI can already “hack” crypto wallets. However, experts emphasize that this is classic forensics, not a breakthrough in cryptography.
Claude and Anthropic
Claude is the flagship AI model line from Anthropic, a company founded by former OpenAI employees. The company is known for its focus on safety, ethics, and “constitutional AI.”
Recently, Anthropic released its powerful Claude Mythos model, which developers claim can find thousands of software vulnerabilities. The model proved so powerful that the company had to restrict access to it.
Learn more: What Is Crypto Cybersecurity? The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Digital Assets
