Nearly 10 years after buying Bitcoin on Coinbase, NBA superstar Kevin Durant has regained access to his holdings thanks to a completed account recovery.
The news was announced via an X post by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on Thursday evening. “We got this fixed. Account recovery complete!,” Armstrong wrote.
Durant, a 15-time NBA All-Star who will suit up for the Houston Rockets this season, shared the story of his lost Bitcoin (BTC) on Tuesday at the annual Gameplan Summit in Santa Monica.
Appearing alongside his agent, Rich Kleiman, Durant told the host Andrew Ross Sorkin that sometime around 2014 or 2015, he discovered Bitcoin by watching YouTube videos, and gave his agent “a little nudge.”
Kleiman recounted how, afterward, the two called their business manager, who “shut it down.” But about a year later, after hearing the word “Bitcoin” several times at a party hosted by Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of venture capital firm a16z, they began investing the very next day.
“And fortunately,” Kleiman added, “We’ve yet been able to track down his Coinbase account info, so we’ve never sold anything, and his Bitcoin is just through the roof.”
Losing your Coinbase password means you get locked out of your account, and without recovery details like two-factor authentication codes or your email, you can’t access the crypto stored there.
Neither Durant nor his agent, who were early investors in Coinbase through their joint business venture Thirty Five Ventures, have disclosed how much Bitcoin they purchased at the time.
In 2016, the price of Bitcoin fluctuated between roughly $400 at the start of the year and $1,000 at the year’s end, according to data from CoinGecko. Since the end of 2016, when Bitcoin traded at $998, its price has skyrocketed by more than 11,470%, currently sitting at $115,480 as of writing.
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Coinbase customer service in the crosshairs, again
Durant’s account recovery drew responses from users who reported facing similar issues, but with contrasting resolutions.
Some pointed out that they’ve been locked out of their account for years and have had no luck recovering them. “You have thousands of people that are locked out of their accounts, Brian. The same people who your CS team sold out & gave their data away,” said X user Erik Astramecki.
On Friday, Armstrong addressed user complaints by reposting a thread from one of its customer support team leaders that outlined improvements being made.
“We’re putting a big focus on getting better at customer support at both ends — improving products so fewer people need support, and providing a faster, higher quality experience when you do,” Armstrong said.
