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No solution · Cost and value
When the value doesn’t justify the recovery work
Not every impossible case is impossible for technical reasons. Some are perfectly recoverable and still not worth it, and it is worth knowing before investing weeks or money in them.
The arithmetic to do
- How much is inside. Check it on an explorer before anything: how to check if your funds are still there.
- How much it costs to get it out. Moving funds carries a network fee, and on some networks and at some times that fee is high.
- How much the work costs. If it is a percentage, work out the real amount against what is there.
- How much of your time it takes. Gathering information, searching for copies, talking, reviewing.
- What tax you will owe when selling, depending on where you live.
Point two causes the most surprises. There are wallets with small amounts spread across many addresses where the fee to move it all exceeds what is there. Technically the case is recoverable; economically it doesn’t exist.
The typical cases that aren’t worth it
- A wallet with dust spread across many small addresses.
- A token that was worth something once and has no market today.
- A coin from an abandoned project, with nowhere to sell it.
- An old wallet that turns out to have been emptied, leaving only remnants.
- A very hard case over a modest amount: months of work for little.
When it is worth it even if the arithmetic is tight
There are legitimate reasons to go ahead even when the number isn’t large: closing something you have been dragging for years, recovering something of personal value, or simply knowing. That is your decision and it is perfectly reasonable. What isn’t reasonable is making it without knowing what is inside.
That is why checking the balance always comes first, and it is free. If someone takes your case without asking how much is there or suggesting you check, they aren’t assessing whether it is worth it for you: they are assessing whether it is worth it for them.
What I do in these cases
I tell you. If I look at your case and the work doesn’t justify what is inside, I explain it with the numbers and I don’t take it. I would rather lose a job than charge someone to recover less than it will cost them.