Coinspeaker
Coinbase Exec Finds and Returns $322K Worth of Lost Crypto to User Unaware of Its Existence
A Coinbase exec has surprised a lucky person with lost crypto they never knew existed. Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s head of product, revealed that he found lost crypto worth hundreds of thousands and successfully found the owner of the assets.
In a tweet posted on Wednesday, Grogan said he “found 322K for a stranger who previously lost their life savings in a hack”. He attached a screenshot showing address details and the $322,873 balance in Ethereum Classic (ETC).
The Coinbase exec then explained how the lost crypto came about. Back in 2016, a hard fork occurred on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain and created Ethereum Classic. At the time, anyone with an ETH balance received a 1:1 airdrop of the new ETC. According to Grogan, many had no idea they received ETC tokens and likely have money they don’t know exists.
“Forgetting you have funds onchain (or not keeping track of airdrops) is common. I’ve found 6+ figures for people previously,” said he.
Coinbase Exec Grogan Provides Details on Locating the Lost Crypto
Grogan then explained how he found the assets. The Coinbase exec said he combed the “ETC rich list” to find accounts with unmoved ETC balances. This process resulted in about 20 accounts holding balances of at least $250,000 without any corresponding activity. Although he began trying to trace them, Grogan said he ran into dead ends.
The saving grace for the one he eventually found was a connection to an EOSDAC coin. Apparently, EOS holders received an EOSDAC airdop via Ethereum back in 2018, using their registered ETH addresses. Grogan then used the amount and snapshot date to find the EOS wallet. He then used this information to find the legal name of the person who owns the ETH address and reached out. The Coinbase exec ended the thread with a screenshotted reply from the account owner, who didn’t know the lost crypto existed and didn’t know the same address applied at the time of the airdrop.
As part of the thread, Grogan tagged Tron founder and Poloniex owner Justin Sun, informing that several Poloniex wallets have “significant untouched ETC balances”.
Lost Assets are not Uncommon
Crypto investors may regularly lose access to their assets for different reasons. In many cases, crypto assets are lost due to user mistakes. A user may send crypto from one wallet to another and mistype the receiving wallet address. In other cases, users may mistakenly choose a different network as the receiving address, forgetting to confirm that the sending and receiving networks are the same. According to a 2018 Chanalysis conclusion referenced in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, 20% of all Bitcoin is lost, with most unrecoverable.
However, hacks are responsible for most lost crypto. Since its inception, the crypto industry has suffered its fair share of hacking attempts, many of which are successful for hackers. According to blockchain security firm Beosin, hacks and other types of schemes and scams account for $656 million in lost crypto for Q1 of 2023.
Coinbase Exec Finds and Returns $322K Worth of Lost Crypto to User Unaware of Its Existence
