Post
Topic
Board Wallet software
Merits 6 from 3 users
Re: I found a paper wallet on a beach ... seriously
by
suchmoon
on 01/08/2022, 17:25:29 UTC
⭐ Merited by LoyceV (4) ,DireWolfM14 (1) ,pooya87 (1)
This; but the problem is proving ownership. Anybody could claim they own the address and you'd have no way of knowing who is telling the truth. The only possible way is maybe if the real owner had the address that funded the paper wallet, which they could sign a message from that address. Other than that, I can't see any other solid proof.

I doesn't have to be cryptographically solid. Imagine if you find a physical wallet with cash in it and how would you hand it back to the owner. There is a way to provide enough convincing circumstantial evidence (brown wallet with a hole in the left pocket, six expired lottery tickets and a photo of my third husband). It's a bit more tricky with a paper wallet, especially if the address has been made public, but still could be possible (the way the paper wallet looks like, where exactly it was found, etc).

With a tactic like that you may not have to post the public address, but if you've made the clue address known someone could figure it out.

It doesn't really matter at that point - anybody can see the TX and all sorts of shitheads will try to scam all the same.

Considering the amount, I would put in significant effort into finding the owner without touching the blockchain or making the address public. Up to and including going to the police. Putting up posters where the wallet was found (without specific details, "a valuable laminated item was found"), local facebook groups, maybe newspapers if such a thing still exists, that sort of thing.