Hah. I stored mine in a password less local wallet; I honestly can’t remember if encrypted wallets were available when I got mine - at the time, Satoshi was still giving out coins for free if you emailed them. Really, really lucky choice, because I then completely forgot I had any for 10 years until they popped up in the public news. I’d been copying ~ from computer to new computer reflexively for that entire time… it was utter luck that, when I went to check, sure enough ~/.bitcoin was there, with a positive wallet balance. Not enough to retire, but enough to be able to retire a couple of years early.
It’s encrypted now, and I unlock it every once in a while to ensure I can, but I’m otherwise still ignoring it. As an investment, it’s done far better than any other of my $ invested in the stock market, bond, IRA, or 401k… but I think as a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s been over-rated.
I had 9 bitcoin in 2011. Still can’t remember the password.
Hah. I stored mine in a password less local wallet; I honestly can’t remember if encrypted wallets were available when I got mine - at the time, Satoshi was still giving out coins for free if you emailed them. Really, really lucky choice, because I then completely forgot I had any for 10 years until they popped up in the public news. I’d been copying ~ from computer to new computer reflexively for that entire time… it was utter luck that, when I went to check, sure enough
~/.bitcoin
was there, with a positive wallet balance. Not enough to retire, but enough to be able to retire a couple of years early.It’s encrypted now, and I unlock it every once in a while to ensure I can, but I’m otherwise still ignoring it. As an investment, it’s done far better than any other of my $ invested in the stock market, bond, IRA, or 401k… but I think as a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s been over-rated.