Exclusive: Coinbase’s Conor Grogan on how he’s reuniting users with lost crypto
Multi-million dollar losses aren’t uncommon amongst crypto users. Whatever the cause — hacks, phishing, rug pulls, liquidations, or simply HODLing cursed coins — crypto can be lost in the blink of an eye.
A less discussed but surprisingly common source of losses, however, is the vast sums that lie forgotten in dormant blockchain wallets and set aside as unclaimed airdrops throughout the cryptosphere.
While some are well aware of what they’ve lost — and are even willing to wade through landfill to get it back — many others are unaware of their overlooked addresses or what long-forgotten assets may be worth today.
Coinbase’s Conor Grogan recently took to X to share his years-long side project of tracking down wallets that appear to have been abandoned, hoping to increase visibility so that wallet owners might eventually reach out.
Read more: Owner of 8,000 lost bitcoin using AI to help with excavation appeal
Inspired by an all-too-rare crypto good-news story, Protos got in touch to ask Grogan about his project and process.
In the wake of FTX’s implosion, many were feeling disheartened by the state of the crypto industry.
Looking into other potential “landmines,” such as Crypto.com accidentally transferring $400 million of ETH to another exchange, Grogan says, “It was pretty depressing. I decided that I needed a way to stay motivated and do something positive.”
His workflow consists of three stages, the first of which is identifying assets at risk. “A lot of people used Ethereum or other chains in the early days without realizing they were leaving value behind,” he says.
Interactions like playing around with new tools, staking tokens for rewards, or minting assets with little value at the time could today “be worth thousands or even millions.”
Grogan looks for dormant balances, unclaimed vesting, or funds trapped in contracts. These assets are often fully controlled by the user.
“They just don’t know they exist, or their wallet software isn’t sophisticated enough to show them,” he explains.
The finer details of how he scouts out these positions are left “intentionally vague,” given the potential for scammers to use these same methods to offer to “help” owners recover their funds.
Read more: Abandoned DeFi websites used to host crypto wallet drainers
Grogan knows establishing trust in crypto is hard
The next stage is finding the owner of the forgotten assets. Grogan has learned to recognize what he calls “micro-signatures,” small behavioral or structural cues that help narrow things down.
These can include how a wallet funds itself, what protocols it interacts with, gas patterns, or address formatting quirks.
“In some cases,” he says, “it’s far easier; some wallets are registered to the Ethereum Name Service, which may connect to a real-world or online identity.”
The final, and most delicate, step is outreach.
In a space rife with scams and phishing attempts, establishing trust is hard. “Because so many scams start with someone pretending to help, people are understandably skeptical,” he acknowledges.
Often, he relies on indirect routes — mutual contacts, on-chain links to known addresses, or social media trails — to validate his approach and gain credibility.
“My role at Coinbase helps,” he says, adding, “the crypto world is smaller than people think.”
Grogan’s process has been refined over time, moving from manual detection to automation of the highly repetitive tasks involved.
“I was non-technical a few years ago,” he admitted. “I would read contract bytecode line by line, scan Etherscan by hand… but over time, I leaned into AI and taught myself to code.”
Now, his custom-built tools help flag dormant assets, detect patterns, and process large volumes of data, though the final steps still require a human touch.
Read more: Refund of $70M ‘address poisoning’ scam ongoing, over 50% returned
On motivation, he describes how this has evolved from “a side interest and has become something I care about deeply.”
He adds, “There’s nothing more rewarding than contacting a total stranger and telling them you found money they had forgotten or never knew they had.
“It’s a totally odd feeling, being able to share in that moment with someone you’ve never met.”
In some cases, where assets recovered were thought lost to hacks, even partial recovery is considered a big win.
Grogan also sees this work as a counter-narrative to the more cynical perceptions of the crypto world and is keen to set a good example for his two sons. “Crypto is often portrayed as a zero-sum game,” he says. “But in reality, there’s room for building, for helping others, and for doing work that quietly strengthens the system.”
For those wondering if they’ve left assets behind, Grogan recommends checking old wallets using tools like Revoke.cash, Debank, or Zapper. Don’t assume zero balance means zero value; many airdrops require manual claiming, for example.
And above all, safeguard your keys, always.
“If someone reaches out claiming you have assets you forgot about, do not take them at face value,” he cautions. “Trust nobody until you can independently verify every part of what they are saying.”
Read more: Coinbase employee may have accessed user data for phishing
When his own question on tipping is put back to him, he leaves it entirely up to the recipient. “Some people choose not to send anything, and that’s completely fine. Others are incredibly generous,” he says.
“For me, the real goal is to make sure lost assets find their way back to the rightful owner.”
Grogan’s project continues to bear fruit, with almost $350,000 worth of ETH recovered just yesterday.
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