SYDNEY, July 13, 2026 — Government-held unclaimed money balances have reached record levels across multiple countries, with US state agencies alone holding more than $70 billion in dormant accounts, uncashed cheques, and forgotten deposits, according to estimates compiled by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA).

The figures are mirrored internationally. Australia's Australian Taxation Office currently holds approximately AUD $18.9 billion in lost superannuation across around 7.3 million accounts. The United Kingdom's NS&I holds approximately £123.5 million in unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. Canada's Bank of Canada holds over CAD $1.6 billion in unclaimed balances from federally regulated financial institutions. Across the European Union, member states operate separate dormant account registers under varying national frameworks — there is no unified EU directive — with transfer timelines that vary by country, ranging from three years in some jurisdictions to fifteen or more years in others.

Consumer advocates note that public awareness of these registers remains low. A proportion of assets held by governments are eventually absorbed into general revenue if owners do not come forward within the statutory period, which varies by jurisdiction from three years (some US states) to fifteen or more years (parts of Europe).

The problem has extended to the cryptocurrency sector following a series of high-profile exchange collapses. The FTX bankruptcy estate has distributed over $10 billion to creditors to date, with a fifth distribution scheduled for July 31, 2026; thousands of additional creditors have not yet filed claims or have submitted incomplete documentation. Mt. Gox creditors — holding an estimated $4 billion in outstanding Bitcoin claims — face deadlines extending to October 2026. The Celsius Network and Voyager Digital estates continue to process distributions, with active claim portals still open. BlockFi's estate wound down through 2025; the deadline for existing creditors to complete identity verification passed in May 2025, and no new withdrawal requests are being accepted.

Financial planners are increasingly advising clients to conduct periodic searches of dormant account registers as part of routine financial housekeeping. Official registers can be searched directly through government portals; aggregation tools that query multiple databases simultaneously — such as CryptoAndMoneySearch.com — have also emerged to simplify the process across jurisdictions.

Official search resources include MissingMoney.com for US state databases, the ATO Online Services portal (accessed via myGov) for Australian lost superannuation, the NS&I Prize Checker for UK residents, and the Bank of Canada's Unclaimed Balances search for Canadian accounts.

About CryptoAndMoneySearch.com: An independent public search resource helping individuals locate unclaimed money and lost crypto assets across 30+ countries. Contact: MoneyFinder Team, [email protected]