Approximately $2M in Ethereum had been frozen for nearly 10 years. But a renowned developer found a way to fix it. We explain what happened to the “almost lost” ETH▼$1,665.45.
A developer under the handle Florent (0xflorent) helped return 1,003.62 ETH, worth approximately $2M, to investors of the HongCoin project whose funds had been locked in a smart contract for nearly 10 years.
Hot topic: Satoshi-Era Bitcoins Worth $1.47M Wake Up After 16 Years
Contents
The Story of Ethereum Stuck in a Smart Contract
HongCoin conducted an ICO in 2016 as a decentralized venture capital fund. The project did not raise the required amount, and the contract was supposed to automatically return Ethereum (ETH) to investors. However, due to a bug in the return function, an error in balance verification and the global counter, the funds became frozen.
Florent discovered that in the old version of Solidity, the smart contract was vulnerable to integer overflow. He used an administrative function intended for issuing bonus tokens, which allowed resetting user balances and passing the return verification.
More Important Details
- Florent acted purely as a whitehat—without compensation, out of curiosity and a desire to study old contracts.
- He contacted the HongCoin team, tested the solution on a network fork, and provided instructions.
- The team independently signed 41 unlock transactions via multisignature.
- Now 48 early investors can retrieve their funds. Two have already withdrawn 96.5 ETH and voluntarily sent Florent a reward.
Read more: Why Is Ethereum Price Still Dropping? ETH Technical Analysis & Market Outlook
How Florent Acted to Return the ETH
The developer created his own scanner for Ethereum contracts that searches for addresses with balances above 100 ETH. He uses Claude Code for analysis, though he notes that AI often mistakenly labels old contracts as “impossible to unlock.”
Earlier, on May 24, Florent helped return 19,329 ETH, about $40,600, from two other old contracts, including a failed 2018 ICO and expired atomic swaps from Liquality Wallet.
What This Story Means for the Crypto Market
This case is a rare positive example in an industry that has recently been dominated by major hacks. Florent emphasized that there was no way to steal funds from this contract—only to return them to their rightful owners. Such whitehat actions show that even very old contracts can sometimes be revived with the right approach and cooperation.
Learn more: Ethereum’s Glamsterdam — A Complete Guide to Ethereum’s Upcoming Upgrade
