An Argentinian (@marcebit) is offering a bounty of 0.5 BTC to anyone who can crack the password of an inaccessible wallet that's been locked for years. This initiative aims to recover access to the funds through external collaboration.
The Bitcoin Core wallet has been encrypted for over 12 years; the bounty has increased from 0.23 to 0.5 BTC after a year without results. Marcelo R. Bianchi, an Argentinian specialist in cryptocurrency wallet recovery, known on social media as @marcebit, posted an open call offering 0.5 BTC —equivalent to about USD 31,000— to whoever can decipher the password of a Bitcoin Core wallet created in 2013.
According to Bianchi, the owner of the funds encrypted the wallet without paying attention to the process and, when attempting to withdraw the accumulated funds, couldn’t remember setting a password. According to Bianchi's post, the version of Bitcoin Core in use in 2013 suggested at the time of encryption to use a phrase of ten or more random characters, or eight or more words, although this requirement was not mandatory. The specialist indicates that the owner believes the password could contain the words "wallet" or "billetera," which narrows down the search space for those attempting a brute-force recovery.
This isn't the first time Bianchi has made this call public. In May 2025, he launched a similar call with a bounty of 0.23 BTC —around USD 20,000 at that time— without any results. In the current call, according to his post, he has increased the bounty to 0.5 BTC and warned that those who contribute significantly, even if they don’t crack the case, could receive smaller donations.
$BTC #BTC☀️
The Bitcoin Core wallet has been encrypted for over 12 years; the bounty has increased from 0.23 to 0.5 BTC after a year without results. Marcelo R. Bianchi, an Argentinian specialist in cryptocurrency wallet recovery, known on social media as @marcebit, posted an open call offering 0.5 BTC —equivalent to about USD 31,000— to whoever can decipher the password of a Bitcoin Core wallet created in 2013.
According to Bianchi, the owner of the funds encrypted the wallet without paying attention to the process and, when attempting to withdraw the accumulated funds, couldn’t remember setting a password. According to Bianchi's post, the version of Bitcoin Core in use in 2013 suggested at the time of encryption to use a phrase of ten or more random characters, or eight or more words, although this requirement was not mandatory. The specialist indicates that the owner believes the password could contain the words "wallet" or "billetera," which narrows down the search space for those attempting a brute-force recovery.
This isn't the first time Bianchi has made this call public. In May 2025, he launched a similar call with a bounty of 0.23 BTC —around USD 20,000 at that time— without any results. In the current call, according to his post, he has increased the bounty to 0.5 BTC and warned that those who contribute significantly, even if they don’t crack the case, could receive smaller donations.
$BTC #BTC☀️