Millions of dollars in crypto assets lie unclaimed in DeFi bridge contracts: Arkham Intelligence

Millions of dollars in crypto assets remain unclaimed in various bridge contracts, according to a recent report from Arkham Intelligence. As noted by the firm, DeFi whales, NFT collectors, and even prominent entities have left significant sums in these contracts, potentially unaware of their existence.

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There are dozens of accounts with 6-7 figures stuck in bridge contracts, forgotten about.

These include prominent DeFi whales and even an account connected with @vitalikbuterin.

If you’re on this list, you may have misplaced a few million dollars.

Don’t worry – it happens. pic.twitter.com/YaLb5pjtzF

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024

According to Arkham Intelligence, one striking example includes the owner of the ENS domain name thomasg.eth, who has not retrieved $800,000 from the Arbitrum bridge for nearly two years.

thomasg.eth @thomasg_eth

Amount stuck: $800K
Time stuck for: ~1 year 10 months
Transaction: https://t.co/8CVkzluq27

Think you might have $800K in the Arbitrum bridge. Happens to everyone. pic.twitter.com/EXxmqqZPdn

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024

Similarly, Bofur Capital investment fund has overlooked 27 wrapped BTC in the same bridge for over two years, with their wallet containing tokens worth up to $14 million.

Bofur Capital

Amount stuck: $1.8 Million
Time stuck for: 2 years 3 months
Address:https://t.co/meGmbHhxmp

Bofur Capital’s 27 Bitcoin has been sitting in the Arbitrum bridge for over 2 years now, and is now worth almost $2M. pic.twitter.com/IPe4PNQt6O

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024

The firm also identified an NFT collector who also left $117,000 from a CryptoPunks sale unclaimed for five months.

Connected to @Mike_Macdonald (receives proceeds from sales of his Cryptopunks)

Amount stuck: $117K
Time stuck for: ~5 months
Transaction: https://t.co/mxUoQBh0CR@Mike_Macdonald if you own the account that you sent 5 cryptopunks to, then you might also own the account that… pic.twitter.com/nRgVjXfQIP

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024

Another notable case is a wallet connected to Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The wallet, which previously received 50 ETH from vitalik.eth, has yet to claim over $1 million in the Optimism bridge.

Connected to @vitalikbuterin (receives 50 ETH from vitalik.eth)

Amount stuck: $1.05 Million
Time stuck for: ~7 months
Address:https://t.co/0m6w8bQ5o0

Vitalik, if you own this address, PSA: you have a million dollars of ETH in the Optimism bridge. pic.twitter.com/AWMUbCKGJ5

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024

Additionally, Arkham Intelligence found that Coinbase’s wallet address bridged 75,000 USDC to ETH but did not complete the transaction to receive the ETH in the Optimism bridge six months ago.

Coinbase

Amount stuck: $75K
Time stuck for: ~6 months
Address: https://t.co/xRbBZ1qE5n

Seems like @coinbase tried bridging $75K USDC to ETH – for now it’s still in the Optimism bridge contract, waiting to be claimed on L1. pic.twitter.com/Pt9qCxU8Ot

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 22, 2024