As the saying goes, goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy. The same thing happened with the cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.
Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has been recognized for this immense act of generosity. One of Coinbase’s executives made a discovery and helped the unknown user find his lost cache.
Coinbase’s head of product, Conor Grogan, recovered crypto worth $322,873 that was lost by an unsuspecting user due to a hack that took place in 2015.
Conor Grogan took to Twitter to share the story of how he came across the remarkable amount that returned the life savings of a user due to the hack. He added a screenshot to his tweet as well that showed the massive balance in the account.
When Grogan contacted the user about his lost cryptocurrency, he was surprised as he was unaware of its existence. The user had an impressive balance in Ethereum Classic.
Ethereum Classic is the unaltered, original form of Ethereum cryptocurrency. In July 2016, there was a hack in the third-party system, the DAO, which resulted in the creation of Ethereum, which is present at the moment. This creation completely erased the theft from the Ethereum blockchain network. The unaltered Ethereum was released back into the market with the name Ethereum Classic.
During this event, many of the Ethereum token holders received a ratio of 1:1 new Ethereum Classic tokens. This was airdropped to the respective token holders. However, many of the token holders were unaware of these new Ethereum Classic tokens and, hence, were oblivious to their existence.
Grogan explained that it’s common for token holders to forget about their funds on the blockchain platform, or the airdrop, for that matter. Grogan explained that this is not the first time that he has come across such a case. He has previously discovered six-figure sums for other users who were unaware that they had them as well.
Grogan found these accounts by carefully looking through the “ETC Rich List,” a list that shows the impressive balance that had not been used by the users recently.
With this list, he discovered 20 users with ETC balances of at least $250,000 worth of crypto. He took the initiative to find the users of these accounts and submit the funds to them. Most of the account owners that he tried to trace led him to dead ends, but there were a few that led him to the EOSDAC coin connection.
He then used the amount and the snapshot date to trace the EOS wallet of the user. From the EOS wallet, he found the legal name of the person that was attached to the ETH address.
He then reached out to the owner of the account, who was surprised to find out about his lost crypto. The owner then confirmed that the same address was used for the airdrop as well. Grogan informed the founder and owner of Poloniex, Justin Sun, that many users who have a Poloniex wallet have untouched ETC balances.
This act of goodwill by Conor Grogan serves as a testament to the integrity and compassion that can be found in the cryptocurrency community. It sheds light on the importance of being vigilant and being informed about one’s crypto assets. As we have seen in the above incident, it is common to miss out on a few details that could cost a fortune.
Grogan’s determination and perseverance in tracking down the owners show the potential for positive outcomes in a community that often deals with anonymity and uncertainty.
As the world delves more into cryptocurrency, incidents like these remind us of the power of technology and the power of change that it can bring about.
Disclaimer: This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
