According to the bank, its goal is to protect inactive digital assets against possible threats.
The notices grant 90 days for the legitimate owners to demonstrate their ownership.
The New York investment bank Salomon Brothers has taken a controversial step by sending legal notifications to Bitcoin wallet owners (BTC) who have remained inactive for years.
Using the op_return function, which allows you to insert small messages into transactions of the Bitcoin network (BTC), The bank has sent notifications associated with wallet addresses considered abandoned.
OP_RETURN, acts as a space within transactions where data that does not affect the movement of the funds can be included, but allow to leave public and permanent notices on the network.
According to a press release that the renovated Salomon Brothers shared American mediaThe bank seeks to protect those digital assets from possible improper uses by criminal groups or governments with hostile interests.
However, press reports affirm that the entity appeals to the so -called “abandonment doctrine.” It is a legal principle that allows to claim unused assets during a prolonged period. This standard could be applied to these wallets, although its validity in the context of cryptocurrencies is debated.
Under this premise, The entity grants a 90 -day period for legitimate owners to prove their ownershipeither by making a transaction or completing a form on the official website of the bank.
One of the most prominent cases is the “1feex” portfolio, which contains about 80,000 BTC and is linked to historical facts of the bitcoin ecosystem. David Carvalho, CEO of Naoris Protocol, told COINDESK that they are taking advantage of Bitcoin’s infrastructure as a “advertisement board.”
In addition, he warned about vulnerability to techniques such as quantum hacking and criticized the slowness of the community to implement effective protection measures.
When David Carvalho mentions the “quantum hacking”, it refers to the possibility that quantum computers can break the cryptographic systems that currently protect the private keys of Bitcoin.
This means that, if they are not implemented on time, security updates, Hackers with access to quantum technology could access funds that today are considered safe. Carvalho points out that, although there are proposals to improve this protection, in their view they are progressing slowly.
Although the identity of the client who commissioned this action remains in anonymity, it has been reported that a part of the recovered Bitcoin will be destined to a fund created to help those who have lost their legitimate access to their wallets.
It should be noted that the Op_return function, which Salomon Brothers uses to issue these notices, has also been exploited by scammers to carry out more sophisticated fraud. As Cryptonoticias reported, a Bitmex Research report explained that some criminals inserted fraudulent messages into a historical direction linked to the collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014, redirecting off -user users to false websites that simulate being legitimate.
