White Hat Hacker Recovers $2 Million in Ether Locked Since Failed 2016 ICO

A white hat hacker has helped recover approximately $2 million worth of Ether that remained locked in a faulty smart contract linked to the Hong Coin (HONG) initial coin offering launched in 2016. The funds belonged to 48 investors who participated in the project but never received refunds after the fundraising campaign failed to meet its target.

The HONG project was introduced as a decentralized venture capital initiative, allowing token holders to participate in investment decisions. However, a flaw in the refund mechanism prevented investors from reclaiming their Ether when the ICO ended unsuccessfully.

Vulnerability Used to Unlock Refund Process

According to the security researcher known as 0xflorent, the contract contained an overlooked bug that blocked refunds for nearly a decade. Working with the project’s creators, the researcher identified an admin function affected by an integer overflow vulnerability.

Investor Refunds Begin After Recovery

By triggering the vulnerable function with a specific input, token balances could be reset, allowing the refund process to resume. Blockchain records show that several investors have already received their Ether back, including one wallet that recovered 96 ETH.

The recovery highlights how security researchers continue to uncover and resolve long-standing smart contract issues, helping investors regain access to funds once considered permanently lost.