TechFlow news, August 7 — According to CoinDesk, investment bank Solomon Brothers today announced the completion of sending OP_Return notifications to suspected abandoned Bitcoin wallets. The action targets several long-dormant wallets, including the "1Feex" address holding 80,000 bitcoins.
According to Solomon Brothers, assets that have remained unused for over 14 years may be deemed legally abandoned under the "abandonment doctrine." Wallet owners must confirm ownership within 90 days by either sending a transaction or completing a form.
The move has sparked controversy on legal, ethical, and technical grounds, particularly concerning security risks from quantum computing attacks. David Carvalho, CEO of Naoris Protocol, noted that approximately 6.51 million bitcoins (worth around $700 billion) are currently at potential risk.
Solomon Brothers stated it plans to use some of the reclaimed bitcoins to establish a compensation fund for wallet owners who lost their private keys, with specific details to be released in the coming months. It is reported that some wallet owners have already responded to the notice by transferring their assets to new addresses.
