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HongCoin Investors Recover $2 Million in Locked Ethereum After Nine Years

HongCoin Investors Recover $2 Million in Locked Ethereum After Nine Years

According to the source, researcher 0xFlorent worked with HongCoin’s original multisig to reopen a broken 2016 refund path, making 48 investors eligible to claim about 1,003.62 ETH trapped for nine years.

ETH

Fact Check
Florent's own X post (the originator) and two independent crypto news outlets (The Block, Crypto Briefing) all report the same figures: ~1,003 ETH (~$2M) recovered, 48 investors, nine years locked, HongCoin 2016 ICO contract. The Crypto Briefing piece additionally cites the on-chain contract address 0x9fa8fa61a10ff892e4ebceb7f4e0fc684c2ce0a9 and references the 41 unlock transactions executed May 26–30, 2026.
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Summary

A white-hat recovery led by researcher 0xFlorent has made 1,003.62 ETH from HongCoin’s failed 2016 Ethereum ICO claimable again after nine years, with the recovered amount valued at about $1.99 million using a June 1 ETH price of roughly $1,983. The source says the recovery relied on HongCoin’s original multisig and a still-valid admin function, mgmtIssueBountyToken(), whose pre-Solidity-0.8 arithmetic behavior could be used to reset blocked holders’ balances so the broken refundMyIcoInvestment() check would pass. The issue affected larger holders because earlier refunds reduced the global tokensCreated counter below some users’ token balances, causing refund attempts to fail. The recovery involved 41 signed transactions for blocked holders, while seven smaller holders could refund directly, making 48 original investors eligible to claim funds. A May 29 on-chain transaction showed a successful refundMyIcoInvestment() call and an internal transfer of 96 ETH.

Terms & Concepts
  • ETH: The native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, used for value transfer and to pay transaction fees on the network.
  • ICO: Initial Coin Offering, a fundraising method where a blockchain project sells tokens to investors, often through smart contracts.
  • multisig: A multi-signature control system that requires approval from multiple parties or keys before a transaction or admin action can be executed.