South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has discovered more than $200 million in unused customer assets across approximately 2.6 million accounts.
Key points to remember:
- Bithumb has identified over $200 million worth of dormant crypto across 2.6 million inactive accounts.
- One account held $2.84 million after nearly 12 years of inactivity, highlighting early crypto adopters who never returned.
- Some dormant assets saw gains in excess of 61,000%, showing how long-term inactivity amplified early-stage crypto returns.
The disclosure is part of a dormant asset recovery campaign aimed at users who have not logged in or traded in more than a year, according to Finance Feeds.
Bithumb said inactive balances totaled approximately 291.6 billion Korean won, or approximately $201.8 million. Some of the accounts flagged during the review had shown no activity for more than a decade.
Bithumb discovers $2.84 million inactive account for almost 12 years
According to the exchange, the largest dormant balance was worth around $2.84 million.
The longest period of inactivity extended to 4,380 days, or almost 12 years, indicating that the first market players entered during the formative years of crypto and never returned.
The findings offer a glimpse into the industry’s early, retail-focused phase, when users often purchased small amounts of digital assets with little expectation of long-term value.
Many of these accounts were abandoned as markets cooled, platforms evolved, or self-interest faded.
In some cases, users may have assumed their holdings were insignificant, unaware that years of price appreciation had transformed them into sizable sums.
Bithumb said some dormant stocks saw gains of more than 61,000%, or about 610 times their initial value.
These outsized returns reflect assets acquired in the early stages of crypto adoption, before broader public awareness and institutional involvement.
For comparison, Bitcoin was trading at around $767 in early 2014. At recent prices near $87,700, that represents a gain of around 11,300%, or about 114 times.
Several of the forgotten assets held on Bithumb have therefore outperformed Bitcoin over a similar period, highlighting how early exposure combined with long-term inactivity can yield extreme results.
The exchange has already conducted similar recovery efforts. During its 11th anniversary campaign last year, Bithumb said around 36,000 users reclaimed dormant assets worth around $50 million.
The current campaign is larger in scope, reflecting both the age of the platform and the growth of the crypto market over time.
Bithumb said it plans to notify eligible customers directly and help them recover their accounts, positioning the initiative as part of its customer protection efforts.
Beyond individual users, the disclosure carries broader implications for the market. Dormant sales represent latent supply that could re-enter circulation during future market cycles.
Upbit Moves 99% of Customer Assets to Cold Storage After $30M Hack
As reported, Upbit is moving almost all of its customers’ assets to cold storage after hackers stole 44.5 billion won (about $30 million) from its Solana hot wallet, marking one of the strongest security responses ever implemented by a major exchange.
Operator Dunamu said the platform would increase its cold wallet ratio to 99% and reduce hot wallet exposure to effectively zero, well above South Korea’s legal requirement that 80% of users’ funds be stored offline.
The exchange already held 98.33% of assets in cold storage at the end of October, the highest figure among domestic platforms, but accelerated its overhaul following the breach.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have opened an investigation and local reports cited early intelligence assessments that linked the intrusion to the North Korean Lazarus Group.
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