A Norwegian student spent $26 on Bitcoin in 2009 and forgot the password. He “cracked” it 4 years later. His $26 was worth $886,000.

In 2009 Kristoffer Koch was a 22-year-old student in Norway writing his thesis on encryption and digital privacy.

He stumbled across Bitcoin while researching. Almost no one outside forums had heard of it.

He spent 150 Norwegian kroner about $26.60 and bought 5,000 Bitcoin at less than half a cent each.

Then he forgot about it entirely.

Four years passed.

In April 2013 Bitcoin was suddenly everywhere on the news. The price had exploded past $100.

He vaguely remembered buying some once. He could not find the password.

He spent weeks trying to crack it.

When he finally got in he stared at the screen for a long time.

His 5,000 Bitcoins were now worth $886,000.

He sold exactly one fifth of them 1,000 coins for around $177,000.

He used the money to buy an apartment in Toyen, one of Oslo's most sought-after neighbourhoods.

He kept the other 4,000 Bitcoin.

He told reporters: "It said I had 5,000 Bitcoin and I just thought oh wow."

He had written a university thesis on encryption. His reward for understanding it slightly earlier than everyone else was a free apartment.

The $26.60 he spent in 2009 would be worth over $450 million today.