In summary
- Lord Vinheteiro, famous Brazilian YouTube pianist, was hospitalized after losing access to more than $366,000 in BTC due to a forgotten password.
- The pianist shared his frustration on social media, stating that he tried to recover the password without success and suffered significant stress from the losses.
- Attempts to recover lost BTC have been futile and costly, with many offering help in exchange for advance payments but then disappearing.
One of the world’s most popular pianists on YouTube has apparently been hospitalized after losing access to a Bitcoin stash worth more than 2 million reais (more than $366,000).
The story has become major news in Brazil, where the classical pianist, a Brazilian known as Lord Vinheteiro (real name Fabrício André Bernard Di Paolo), has more than 7 million subscribers on YouTube.
“I lost my BTC wallet password. I think the housekeeper threw it away along with some old sheet music I donated to a second-hand bookstore,” he tweeted last week. “Does anyone know how to recover passwords for the Ledger Nano
The pianist later shared a video of him searching for the backup in his library at home. “You need to find that paper, the house is going to fall apart,” he says in the video. It is not clear whether he is telling his maid or someone else.
The incident followed a series of poor investment decisions Lord Vinheteiro said he made, including buying BTC at around $70,000 and selling his coins when BTC fell to almost $50,000. (Presumably, he bought another batch later, which he stored in the Ledger.) He also said that he invested in OIBR3 (a bankrupt Brazilian telecommunications company) after hearing a recommendation from another YouTuber, which resulted in more than $30,000 in losses.
Lord Vinheteiro’s misadventures have been a main topic of discussion on the podcast of Luan Onofre, another popular Brazilian YouTuber who specializes in financial analysis. Onofre, who said that Fabrício had personally asked him for help, shared a voice message that the pianist had left for a friend:
“…Listen, it’s getting bad. Do you know anyone who can recover my password?” Vinheteiro said weakly, referring to his losses in the stock market. “I don’t want to take another hit. I don’t know what to do, buddy, help me with this.”
During the podcast, Onofre revealed that Vinheteiro was hospitalized as a result of stress with an unknown condition after sending the voicemail. Lord Vinheteiro confirmed this information later. “I’ve been feeling pretty bad here. Things got worse on Saturday with bad headaches, probably due to stress,” he told Decrypt, “Gastritis and stress-related headaches landed me in the hospital.”
Brazilian Cryptocurrency security expert Marcello Paz described the harsh reality of hardware wallet security in a podcast with Onofre. “If you’ve lost both the PIN and the backup phrase, there’s no path to recovery,” he explained, noting that Ledger devices automatically erase all data after three failed PIN attempts. “The encryption is so robust that even knowing 23 of the 24 supporting words in the wrong order would take billions of years to decipher.”
Recovery attempts have proven futile and costly, adding even more pain to the situation. “I have not yet recovered the lost BTC. Many offered to help, but all demanded advance commission payments,” Fabrício posted on November 17. “I even paid a guy who disappeared after receiving the money. Nobody helps anyone in Brazil. Everyone is selfish. I don’t understand how this country hasn’t gone bankrupt yet. I need to take the first flight to England.”
Lord Vinheteiro told Decrypt that attempts to help have ended badly. “Many people say they are willing to help me, but no one really does. Others just want money. It’s always the same: I sign up for a service, pay the deposit, and then people disappear.”
The incident has resonated with Brazil’s cryptocurrency community, which is in the top ten for global cryptocurrency adoption, according to Chainalysis.
This article has been updated to include statements from Lord Vinheteiro.
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