A crypto trader’s simple mistake has led to a $25 million nightmare as he mistakenly sent funds to the wrong address on the blockchain, where they sit completely out of reach.
He is now offering a $2.5 million reward for any successful attempt to recover his funds.
The trader, who goes by qklpj.eth and declined to share his real name, told DL News he feels “desperate” over his predicament.
“I wish someone can find a bug,” he told DL News, referring to the possibility of a vulnerability in the smart contract that could unlock his funds. He clarified that the funds are not company assets but personal ones.
The incident occurred on Sunday when the pseudonymous trader accidentally transferred $25 million in cryptocurrency to a safe module — a restricted holding account — rather than to their main safe, a primary wallet that allows full access to funds.
Because blockchain transactions are irreversible and lack a middleman to fix errors, the funds are now trapped unless someone comes up with a magical solution.
“To all skilled hackers and white hats out there: I’ve lost a significant sum of funds in a contract and urgently need help recovering it,” the trader wrote Sunday on X.
“I’ll immediately offer a 10% reward, which is approximately $2.5 million at the current price.”
As of Monday evening London time, the trader told DL News that nobody had come up with a solution yet.
Upgradable contracts
One possible solution for the trader is for the DeFi protocol Renzo to modify the code in its smart contract. Although many Ethereum smart contracts are immutable and cannot be altered by their developers, Renzo’s contract is designed to allow updates, which means a fix is theoretically possible.
“Due to compliance, they can’t help,” the trader told DL News.
In the past, courts have forced DeFi protocols — or rather the companies associated with them — to upgrade their contracts.
In February, a UK court ordered crypto company Oasis to retrieve funds stolen during a $322 million attack on another protocol, Wormhole, last year. The hacker had used Oasis to deposit a portion of the heisted proceeds to top DeFi-lending protocol Maker to earn a return.
“I haven’t considered the legal process,” the trader told DL News. “I’m good friends with [the Renzo team] and don’t want to go through legal procedures.”
Renzo did not immediately respond to DL News’ request for comment.
