Researcher Unlocks $2M in Ethereum from a Locked ICO Contract
- Security researcher Florent freed 1,003.62 ETH from a Hongcoin ICO contract locked since 2016.
- The exploit used an integer overflow in a multisig admin function, requiring signatures on 41 transactions to unblock funds for 48 investors.
- Two investors have claimed a total of 96.5 ETH, with approximately 882 ETH still available as of June 2026.
- The Hongcoin project failed to meet its funding target, leaving investor refunds blocked due to a bug.
- Florent’s work highlights vulnerabilities in early smart contracts from the ICO boom era.
Security researcher Florent successfully unlocked over $2 million worth of Ethereum by exploiting an integer overflow vulnerability in the Hongcoin ICO contract, originally locked due to a bug since the project’s inception in 2016. This recovery operation involved coordinating with the dormant team and executing multiple transactions to reset balances for affected investors.
Florent’s actions not only returned funds to rightful owners but also underscored potential opportunities for recovering assets from other outdated contracts facing similar issues.(Source)
