Coinbase Discovers Lost Crypto Valued at $322K and Returns it to Unaware User

In a remarkable act of goodwill, a Coinbase executive has found and returned lost crypto valued at $322,873 to an unsuspecting user who was unaware of its existence.

Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s head of product, made the surprising discovery and successfully located the owner of the assets.

Grogan shared the news in a tweet, explaining that he had found the substantial sum for a stranger who had previously lost their life savings in a hack. He attached a screenshot displaying the address details and the impressive balance of Ethereum Classic (ETC).

The Coinbase exec shed light on how this lost crypto came about. In 2016, a hard fork occurred on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, resulting in the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC).

During this event, individuals holding ETH received a 1:1 airdrop of the new ETC tokens. Unfortunately, many people were unaware that they had received ETC and might have money they are completely unaware of.

Grogan emphasized that it is not uncommon for individuals to forget about funds they hold on-chain or overlook airdrops. He mentioned that he has previously found six-figure sums for other people in similar situations.

To locate the lost assets, Grogan meticulously combed through the “ETC rich list” to identify accounts with untouched ETC balances.

After discovering around 20 accounts holding balances of at least $250,000 without any recent activity, he began his search to trace the owners. Although most attempts led to dead ends, he eventually found a connection to an EOSDAC coin.

By using the amount and snapshot date, Grogan traced the EOS wallet and obtained the legal name of the person associated with the ETH address.

He reached out to the account owner, who expressed surprise at the existence of the lost crypto and confirmed that the same address was used during the airdrop period.

Grogan also alerted Justin Sun, the founder of Tron and owner of Poloniex, mentioning that several Poloniex wallets contain significant untouched ETC balances.