Will You Return Hardware Wallet That Contains 3+ BTC in a Hotel Room?

[CryptSafe]

I do not know, but in my country there is a reward for obtaining 5% of the value of deposits if you hand them over to the police or return them to their owner, and if these products are illegal, for example money used in money laundering, then that percentage will be given to you after confiscation.
Therefore, if I were in his position, the best is 5% guaranteed with expressions of thanks, rather than wasting my life and my family because of 3 bitcoins that could end me in prison.

Does such law possibly exist because if it does, it will be off great importance because it encourages goodwill and makes people to do right when it comes to finding things that does not belong to them and kindly returning them back to the owner. Sometimes it is good to appreciate people who find missing or stolen item back to the owners because they could have taken it but for the sake of posterity and clear conscience, they returned such item  to the owner. It shows how trustworthy they could be.

 I have had such experience where my money fell out of my pocket unbeknownst to me while highlighting from a bus  a lady right inside the bus while highlighting at the same junction too walking the same direction behind me picked it up and called my attention i turned to her and she handed my money back to me. I was dumbfounded because i had no idea when my money fell out from my pocket.I had to show appreciation but she rejected it and asked me to do same to others if i should ever see such. I was amazed at her kindness and personality.

[Cryptomultiplier]

The true nature of a man is always tested when he comes into a lot of money or have none at all.
The story of the cash returned by the lady may have been possible because it was note and not crypto currency.
Also it could be because of the faith she practices and knows it is wrong to take what doesn't belong to you.

As for the second paragraph where you mentioned the 3+ BTC, a person in their senses who of course has an idea of how BTC works and how to transfer the coins via crypto network, will know they can get away with it or not.
They can if they use a mixer, they can hide the coins without trace because that's how good the decentralized system has developed to accommodate anonymity.
They may be caught if they try to act smart and forget there is probably a CCTV camera or attendance is noted for persons who were in the room.

Besides the hammer of karma that will fall on such person who steals others' property, it is always good to do the right thing.

[salad daging]

Just like the one in ask @Stalker22 how does the person know that in the hardware wallet there is 3btc more or with a high value, that I know someone can not see the contents of the balance inside the paper device except its owner, does sanga owner lost all his at the hotel including, the recovery phrase paper records and his smart phone so that the inventor knows the total amount of his assets?
Morally it should be returned to the owner, it is not our right because $70K is a big amount for sure the owner will look for him in the hotel and ask him, or as others say leave it to the police as a safe place, that way you can be called a good person.

[Yatsan]

I'd probably do if it would be surrendered to the rightful owner. One reason is, I cannot imagine myself being in such situation, having to lost such amount. I don't have that much of wealth but I just cannot do such thing. But I am not judging those who would be honest to say that they won't; we all have different principles in life, that is you and this is I. Problem is knowing who's the real owner right? Others would say "you are just saying that but the thing you will do is diffirent...." Who knows ourselves more? I just prefer earning things thru legitinate effort and not by such thing

[OgNasty]

What would be the point of keeping it? Just to screw someone else? I would want to talk to the owner of the device and hope that a reward for it’s return was coming to me, but even if it wasn’t there would be no point holding onto this device unless you think removing coins from circulation is somehow your duty as a Bitcoiner.

[coolcoinz]

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do?

Probably take it off since I'm a man and women's shoes are really uncomfortable

Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do?
And probably you know the person and there is no way to locate the person.

The answer is very simple, I'd take it.
Don't know the person, have no way to return it, so I can either leave it as it is for someone else to pick up, or I can take it. I'd choose the second option.
If someone came looking, I'd ask them some questions to verify if they're the owner and tell them that I'd send them the money in exchange for a finder's fee.

[panganib999]

The topic has said everything so I want to know the different opinions from forum users. I have done the physical interview with some people and I have seen the different mindsets of people for seen money on the floor or somewhere in their working places.
There was a story in my locality this week. A woman who is working in a hotel, found $70,000 in hotel room she working and with her good heart, she returns the money to the customer. Now the question other people asked was if the didn't know the person what she would have done?

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do? And probably you know the person and there is no way to locate the person. But if I am the one, I will also do the same as the woman and if I don't know the person and I can't locate the person, I will take to the nearest Radio or Television Stations for Broadcasting, or if any of the above can not be found in the locality then I will handover them to the police.

Good Name is Better Than Silver and Gold

I love my Name to be good

A lost wallet with no whereabouts regarding the seedphrase or keys is useless and is basically a very expensive paper weight. If you'd be willing to carry that around you (when some of these wallets even have trackers with them now) you're basically just risking yourself. So it's best and wise to surrender it to the owner or something. As for money it's a different story. I understand that you're trying to be morally right here and all that but at the same time, $70,000 is still $70,000, so while I do not know personally if I'd surrender the money or whatnot, there will definitely be some internal dilemma that I'd be under of lol. And while you're right, a good name's great and all that, you also have to realize that there's no upsides to being poor lol.

[SatoPrincess]

The topic has said everything so I want to know the different opinions from forum users. I have done the physical interview with some people and I have seen the different mindsets of people for seen money on the floor or somewhere in their working places.
There was a story in my locality this week. A woman who is working in a hotel, found $70,000 in hotel room she working and with her good heart, she returns the money to the customer. Now the question other people asked was if the didn't know the person what she would have done?

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do? And probably you know the person and there is no way to locate the person. But if I am the one, I will also do the same as the woman and if I don't know the person and I can't locate the person, I will take to the nearest Radio or Television Stations for Broadcasting, or if any of the above can not be found in the locality then I will handover them to the police.

Good Name is Better Than Silver and Gold

I love my Name to be good

This is a dumb question to ask, what do you need our opinions on this case for? I believe everyone here will say they would do the right thing and return the money especially since bitcointalk is a place where reputation is taken seriously but we will never know unless it happens for real. We have seen high rank accounts scam other users or default on loans. IMO taking what’s not yours in any case or scenario is stealing, just because you can’t trace the bitcoin back to its owner doesn’t make it right to claim it as yours.

[Nwada001]

Sorry the seed phrase was also found in the bag with the wallet and there is a possibility that you can transfer the coins to any other wallet. But morality can allow you to do that?

This is really one of the most difficult decisions to make. Let's be honest with ourselves. If a cleaner in a hotel room saw some huge amounts of money in a safe, how would she even know that what she saw was valuable? And how would Someone be working around with that kind of BTC on his or her hardware wallet attached with their passphrase on a piece of paper? The story isn't really that clear to me at all, and at some points it looks nearly impossible to me.
 
Another thing there is, we know taking what belongs to others is stealing no matter how it's obtained, but if the story is true, the possibility of the real owner of the wallet getting it back will really be small, as the cleaner might not have access to the hotel record where she could be able to get the contact details of the person, and going to the management with such information, there is no guarantee that if they take that hardware wallet they will give it to the right owner, as the amount in there is huge enough for a hotel receptionist to take as a payoff.

[Mahanton]

The topic has said everything so I want to know the different opinions from forum users. I have done the physical interview with some people and I have seen the different mindsets of people for seen money on the floor or somewhere in their working places.
There was a story in my locality this week. A woman who is working in a hotel, found $70,000 in hotel room she working and with her good heart, she returns the money to the customer. Now the question other people asked was if the didn't know the person what she would have done?

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do? And probably you know the person and there is no way to locate the person. But if I am the one, I will also do the same as the woman and if I don't know the person and I can't locate the person, I will take to the nearest Radio or Television Stations for Broadcasting, or if any of the above can not be found in the locality then I will handover them to the police.

Good Name is Better Than Silver and Gold

I love my Name to be good

This situation is really that depending on a certain individual because not all would really be minding about having a good name and as long you wont really be located or would be traced up then most of the time the funds
been found would really be totally not be given back into its rightful owner. We are assuming on having that 3 BTC which is equivalent to 90k as of this moment on which we could really say that it is really a big amount
for most people and even on those third world countries on which on this amount you could really be able to build up a house and buy a car i would say on which if you have seen on your own palms about
acquiring these amounts without having no hardship then for sure you wouldnt boggled up on getting it and wont be having plans on giving it out once again.

Some would really be give out importance with their name and having that pure heart on doing the good thing which there are still people who are really like this way but majority
would always matter on having that easy money into them.

[serjent05]

The topic has said everything so I want to know the different opinions from forum users. I have done the physical interview with some people and I have seen the different mindsets of people for seen money on the floor or somewhere in their working places.
There was a story in my locality this week. A woman who is working in a hotel, found $70,000 in hotel room she working and with her good heart, she returns the money to the customer. Now the question other people asked was if the didn't know the person what she would have done?  If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do?

The incident happens in the hotel room so there is a record who accommodated that room and the owner of that $70k is known, the person who happen to get that money will be known so there is nothing she can do but to return the money and it is the right thing to do.

Regardless of any reward or appreciation, as the person who happen to stumble on the lost amount, I will also return it to its owner.  If the owner is unknown, then I will surrender it to the management.  There are records and cctvs in a hotel, so it is better to avoid unnecessary troubles in the future and just report the lost money to the management security/lost and found department.

Besides, it is morally good to don't claim anything that is not ours.

[Arenga pinnata]

Keeping what is not ours certainly will not make our hearts calm. So I will return it to its original owner. and if the real owner is unknown then i will try to track down the person who left the place last time. and if it's in a hotel room then it's actually quite easy to track down who the last hotel tenant left the hotel room.

But if we find one on the street lying around then it will be difficult to find the original owner. Unless there is street CCTV that records everyone who passes on that road. Then of course it will help to simplify the search.

But I'd avoid announcing it live over a Radio broadcast or anything like that. because there is a risk that people will come who want to cheat and claim to be the original owner. so it's better to give it to the authorities dealing with lost items such as state security officers.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Yes, why not? It's not your property or asset, so why will you convert another person's property into yours? that's thieft. There's one religious lesson we learned one day that says that if you take what doesn't belong to you, then you will never make success with that which you stole. For example, if you take $10,000 that doesn't belong to you, you will just spend the money extravagantly; you can't archive any valuable assets with it. I think it's true, but I have not tried it and have not really seen anyone who has. Whatever one is doing, it's just good to show good morals and have a good conscience because what goes around comes around. Who knows, one day it might be you who misplaced something very valuable to you, and another person will also take it like you did to another.

[Smartvirus]

Well, one can never know until they find themselves in that position but, my conscience won't let me be at peace if I find myself holding what doesn't belong to me or what I know for certain is hurting someone out there and worst still, when this person is known and you ca see the changes this event is bringing on his or her existence. That would be just so much go bare and there ist any pride in that.

I beleive I would be more comfortable handing it over rather than  keeping it to myself. I get to accord myself certain reputation and who knows, the person who has been done this good would never forget you and could also preach you to persons or organisations that could lewd to your uplifting some day. It pays to be good.

[Ale88]

The topic has said everything so I want to know the different opinions from forum users. I have done the physical interview with some people and I have seen the different mindsets of people for seen money on the floor or somewhere in their working places.
There was a story in my locality this week. A woman who is working in a hotel, found $70,000 in hotel room she working and with her good heart, she returns the money to the customer. Now the question other people asked was if the didn't know the person what she would have done?

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do? And probably you know the person and there is no way to locate the person. But if I am the one, I will also do the same as the woman and if I don't know the person and I can't locate the person, I will take to the nearest Radio or Television Stations for Broadcasting, or if any of the above can not be found in the locality then I will handover them to the police.

Good Name is Better Than Silver and Gold

I love my Name to be good

Every person is different and every situation is different as well. That woman did the right thing but, based on your story, she found the money in a hotel room so for example thanks to the electronic keys they could know she was the first person entering the room after the customer left, it's not that she found that money in the middle of nowhere. It would be interesting anyway to know how the customer could prove that he/she actually had that money.

Anyway going back to your example, which is pretty nonsense, how would you track back the original owner? Maybe besides the crypto wallet and the seed he lost also his ID?

[dansus021]

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate,

so the private key is there  I would keep it until someone looking for it and I tell them to not bring a private key to an occasion like this it and of course give it back maybe the owner would send me 0.1 BTC as a reward hahahhahah

Or in my evil soul would send to my wallet and staking it somewhere and when person looking the btc i send the regular 3 btc while I get staking reward hehehhehe

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Sorry the seed phrase was also found in the bag with the wallet and there is a possibility that you can transfer the coins to any other wallet. But morality can allow you to do that?

This is really one of the most difficult decisions to make. Let's be honest with ourselves. If a cleaner in a hotel room saw some huge amounts of money in a safe, how would she even know that what she saw was valuable? And how would Someone be working around with that kind of BTC on his or her hardware wallet attached with their passphrase on a piece of paper? The story isn't really that clear to me at all, and at some points it looks nearly impossible to me.
 
Another thing there is, we know taking what belongs to others is stealing no matter how it's obtained, but if the story is true, the possibility of the real owner of the wallet getting it back will really be small, as the cleaner might not have access to the hotel record where she could be able to get the contact details of the person, and going to the management with such information, there is no guarantee that if they take that hardware wallet they will give it to the right owner, as the amount in there is huge enough for a hotel receptionist to take as a payoff.

Yes, I get your point; it's nearly impossible, but not as if it's something that's impossible. The OP never mentioned that it's something that happened; it's just an imaginary story, apart from the part where he said a cleaner came across $70k.
But for the imaginary part of the story, it's possible that something like that can happen; mistakes do happen. Ok, just come to think of it, what if it was a client that came to the hotel for a business deal and right there in that hotel he received the 3 bitcoins? Right in his hotel room, the passphrase is just on the bed. Then he rushed to the toilet, and the cleaner stepped in. Seeing the wallet phrase and the hardware wallet, he (the cleaner) just took them and left. The question now is whether he will return the wallet or just stop his job and run away, because he (the client) will definitely find out that the clearner took it.


Let me tell you about a mistake I made in the past. I had a small diary that contained quite a lot of secret information about myself, my experiences in life, and my wallet phrases. So one day I went out to do something at a cyber cafe, and I brought along my diary. After my business was over in that cafe, I forgot that diary there, and when I got home, I had already spent some hours at home before I realised I had forgotten my diary at the cafe shop. I immediately logged into my mobile wallet, and my asset was still there. I just created a new wallet and moved my assets from the old wallet to the new one. The reason was because the pass phrase for the wallet that contained my funds was written inside the diary.
And my question is, what if someone had mistakenly read the diary and seen those phrases? Maybe I would have lost my asset. So, all I am saying is that mistakes do happen unexpectedly.

[yhiaali3]

For me if I find a bitcoin wallet with a seed and I know the owner of the wallet I will return it to him and ask for my reward, but if I can't find out the owner of the wallet I won't hand it over to the police anyway.

Bitcoin is illegal here in my country, so handing over the wallet to the police will cause problems primarily for the owner of the wallet and maybe for me as well, so it is better not to hand it over to the police and continue searching for the owner of the wallet by other means instead of getting involved in problems.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

If you were in the woman's shoe, what would you do? Or if you see such amount as bitcoin in your working place with the seed phrase in aseed plate, what will you do?

I believe in hard work & and I also believe that despite the hardship, corruption & troubles in this world, genuine good people still exist, just as you said a good name is better than silver or gold, what that woman did is exactly what I would have done if I happen to have found myself in such scenario, because I was trained since childhood to be ever always contented with the little I have, and I'm now contended, although 3 Bitcoin would have been a life changer to anyone who might have mistaken picked such huge amount, but yet, of what benefit will it be a build a foundation on a stolen fund, which most times happens to be a curse people bring upon themselves by taking what does not help to them.

[alastantiger]

Because we are not in his situation, it is easy to suggest that you will return the seed phrase if he unintentionally loses it. Most of the time, if a person finds something, even if it is small, they will not return it. How much more if you discovered something that will make you rich quickly, allowing you to quit your work and create your own home. Some people simply return the items they find since they know they can be traced. We all know what to do in that scenario, and there are still nice individuals who will return what they found; I hope we remain true to ourselves.

I didn't expect read any comment from any user saying that they won't return it. Nobody would want to look like a morally depraved person. But unless the person who picked up the device and knows what the worth of the content is, there is going to be a mental battle that will start-off in their heads. It will be between right and wrong. What is good and what is bad. Especially if you are in a bad place. It would even become worse if you tell family and friends.

Whatever the case may be, the right thing must be done whether there is an external reward or not. Because the best reward is being proud of yourself that you did the right thing.