Wallets linked to Coinbase and Vitalik Buterin get millions stuck in bridge contracts

Dozens of crypto wallets worth six to seven figures are tied to multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) bridge contracts.

One of these whale wallets is linked to Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who has more than $1 million worth of assets stuck for more than seven months. While few other wallets have unclaimed assets for more than two years.

According to a report published by crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, several well-known WELL addresses linked to prominent crypto individuals and entities have had their funds tied up in these bridge contracts for nearly two years.

DeFi bridge contracts are software protocols that allow assets and data to move between different blockchain networks, enabling interoperability in the DeFi ecosystem.

However, not all DeFi bridges are the same; There are cross-chain bridges that allow users on one side to automatically access their assets on the other chain.

On the other hand, merchants using native bridges have to withdraw their funds manually because the smart contract has no way to remind users to do so, which could result in users forgetting their funds.

Among the notable names, a wallet linked to thomasg.eth had $800,000 stuck in Arbitrum Bridge for a year and 10 months. Another wallet, linked to Bofur Capital, had 27 sealed bitcoins worth $1.8 million, stuck for two years and three months.

Similarly, another wallet linked to Myfungible Token (NFT) user Mike MacDonald has nearly $117,000 in assets linked to the sale of CryptoPunks on a bridge contract.

Arkham suggested that the account owner take a look, noting that “if you own the account that sent 5 CryptoPunks, you may own the resulting account after the sale.”

Another wallet that received 50 Ether (ETH) from Vitalik.eth appears to have been forgotten for seven months and holds nearly $1 million worth of ETH on the Optimism bridge.

An additional wallet linked to the Coinbase crypto exchange was also identified, containing $75,000 worth of assets that had been stuck for six months.

Arkham allegedly tried to link Coinbase $75,000 worth of USDC to ETH and forgot about it. The assets are stuck in the Optimum Bridge contract pending claim.

Arkahm Research informs whales connected to these stuck and forgotten funds to retrieve them if they have forgotten about them. He reminded the community that these incidents happen because of the nature of these indigenous bridges.