February 19, 2025

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that became available to people back in 2009. It is in fact the world’s first cryptocurrency. It is “stored and exchanged securely on the internet through a digital ledger known as a blockchain. Bitcoins are divisible into smaller units known as satoshis – each Satoshi is worth 0.00000001 bitcoin.” That statement may make sense to you, but it doesn’t to me. Keep in mind that Bitcoin is not an actual coin that you hold or that is made. It is an electronic form of currency. You only accumulate them on-line, but not in person. The process of acquiring Bitcoin is called mining, but you do not do any literal digging. You do not store them in an actual physical vault or under your mattress. Bitcoin is stored in an electronic vault that you set up and hopefully have access to.

15 years ago, about a year after Bitcoin hit the market, a software developer named Stefan Thomas created a video about Bitcoin. For his work, he was paid in Bitcoin (7,002 of them) which at the time was a little bit of money, but not all that much. Stefan kept his Bitcoin in a secure IronKey USB drive on-line that serves as his electronic wallet or electronic bank vault. His account, of course, is password protected. He chose the IronKey USB drive program because it is super secure from hackers. But that security is now a rather big problem. Stefan cannot remember his password. He is allowed 10 password attempts before the IronKey system locks out access forever. At this point Stefan has tried 8 times with no success. He has only 2 chances left. Currently, his Bitcoins are currently worth around $665,000,000.00. But unless he can remember his password, he will never get access to it.

I’ve had more than a few experiences of forgetting a password and having to go through the hassle of either recovering it or resetting it, but Stefan’s dilemma is beyond crazy. His situation made me think of what Jesus said:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (or where passwords are lost). For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

There’s only one place where your treasure is safe and where your investments will pay dividends forever.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s text: Luke 11:1-2