Finance

Kevin Durant’s Bitcoin Fortune: How a Forgotten Password Turned into a $117,000+ Win

Durant’s lost Bitcoin password resulted in a massive gain; coins grew from hundreds to over $117,000 each.

September 19, 2025, 10:15 AM

A businessman points to a digital chart and virtual coins representing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

As a businessman analyzes the trajectory of digital currency, the future of finance shifts with every transaction. By MDL.

Executive Summary

NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s Bitcoin, bought in 2016 for hundreds of dollars, grew to over $117,000 per coin because a lost password prevented him from accessing his Coinbase account and selling it.

This unintended “HODL” strategy resulted in an astounding 11,000% return on investment for Durant.

Durant’s experience underscores a common issue in cryptocurrency, with other high-profile cases like Stefan Thomas and James Howells also involving substantial digital fortunes locked due to forgotten passwords or lost hardware.

The Story So Far

Bitcoin has seen massive price appreciation since 2016, transforming initial investments from hundreds of dollars into significant fortunes, a trend often amplified by the common issue of investors losing access to their digital assets due to forgotten passwords or lost hardware, inadvertently enforcing a long-term “HODL” strategy in a volatile market.

Why This Matters

Kevin Durant’s unwitting “HODL” of Bitcoin due to a forgotten password, which resulted in an astounding 11,000% return, serves as a compelling anecdote about the unpredictable nature of cryptocurrency investments. This incident underscores both the potential for extraordinary, albeit sometimes accidental, financial gains in volatile digital markets and the critical, often high-stakes, challenge of managing access to digital assets, where forgotten credentials can inadvertently secure a fortune or lead to its permanent loss.

Who Thinks What?

Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant’s agent, views the forgotten password to Durant’s Coinbase account as an unintentional yet highly lucrative “HODL” strategy, leading to an 11,000% return on investment due to the inability to sell.

Coinbase clarified that users can typically reset their passwords using self-service tools and confirmed that Durant eventually regained access to his account.

The experiences of others, such as Stefan Thomas and James Howells, highlight that forgotten passwords or lost hardware often lead to significant, unrecoverable losses of cryptocurrency, contrasting with Durant’s fortunate outcome.

NBA superstar Kevin Durant inadvertently turned a lost password into a lucrative investment, as his inability to access a Coinbase account holding Bitcoin purchased in 2016 led to significant gains. His agent, Rich Kleiman, revealed on September 18, 2025, at CNBC’s Game Plan conference in Los Angeles, that the forgotten login details meant the cryptocurrency was never sold, allowing its value to skyrocket from hundreds of dollars to over $117,000 per coin.

An Unintended Profit

Durant began investing in Bitcoin following a dinner with his 2016 Olympic teammates, where cryptocurrency was a frequent topic of discussion. Kleiman recounted hearing the word “bitcoin” 25 times that evening, prompting them to start their investment journey the very next day.

At the time of Durant’s initial purchase in 2016, Bitcoin was trading in the hundreds of dollars. The current valuation of over $117,000 represents an astounding 11,000% return on investment, a gain Kleiman noted was purely beneficial due to the inability to sell.

Regaining Access and Broader Context

While Durant had reportedly been unable to access his account for years, a representative from Coinbase later informed Business Insider that he had regained access. Coinbase clarified in a statement to CNBC that users can typically reset their passwords using self-service tools.

Durant’s situation, though fortunate, is not unique in the volatile world of cryptocurrency. Many individuals have found themselves locked out of substantial digital fortunes due to forgotten passwords or lost hardware.

Other High-Profile Access Issues

One notable example is Stefan Thomas, who is reportedly struggling to unlock a digital wallet containing more than 7,000 Bitcoins, now valued at over $1 billion. He has only two password attempts remaining before the hardware erases itself forever.

Another case involves James Howells, who in 2013 inadvertently discarded a hard drive believed to contain nearly $800 million worth of Bitcoin. Howells has since been engaged in legal battles to search a landfill for the device and has even announced plans to purchase a landfill site to aid his search.

Key Takeaway

Kevin Durant’s experience with his lost Bitcoin password serves as a compelling anecdote about the often-unpredictable nature of cryptocurrency investments. It highlights how an unintentional “HODL” strategy, enforced by forgotten access, can sometimes lead to extraordinary financial gains in a rapidly appreciating market.