Following the recent events regarding the Bybit hack, Filipino developer Paolo Dioquino of Pendle Finance and DeFi Philippines explained to BitPinas how the proposed Ethereum rollback will not happen.
Ethereum Rollback Proposal
Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow has proposed rolling back the Ethereum blockchain following a $1.46 billion hack on Bybit.
- He suggested a hard fork to return the stolen funds and prevent their use in financing North Korea’s nuclear program.
- Mow’s call for action recalls Ethereum’s 2016 DAO hack rollback but has sparked debate over the feasibility and risks of such a move.
In addition, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, also posted on X asking Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin whether he would “advocate to roll back the chain to help @Bybit_Official.”
What is a Blockchain Rollback?
Blockchain rollback, which reverses transactions or blocks by reverting to a previous state, is typically employed to counteract significant issues or attacks.
- It must be noted that this process contradicts the fundamental blockchain principle of immutability.
Why won’t it happen?
According to Paolo Dioquino of DeFi Philippines, he is “confident” that an Ethereum rollback will not happen.
“Bybit’s case is unique [] in that there were no issues during Ethereum’s operations or even with the multisig being signed by Bybit. It was hacked due to the interface being compromised to make it look like the signing was correct. From Ethereum’s perspective, there is nothing wrong with the transaction, and patching the issue would not isolate the hacked funds.”
Reasons
Dioquino gave the following reasons:
- Ethereum’s network and Bybit’s multisig were functioning correctly; the hack exploited the interface, not the blockchain itself.
- The stolen funds were quickly moved and spent, leaving no opportunity for Ethereum to act before irreversible transactions occurred.
- Rolling back the chain would affect many subsequent transactions, potentially causing greater damage to the ecosystem.
- Talks of a rollback are speculative and fuel unnecessary FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt); Ethereum developers are not actively considering it.
- Reversing a blockchain is complex, requiring community consensus and risking trust in Ethereum’s immutability.
Previous Rollbacks
- Dioquino noted that discussions around rollbacks stem from past events like Bitcoin’s rollback in 2010, which was due to a bug, and Ethereum’s 2016 DAO hack, where 15% of all ETH was compromised due to another bug.
- It must be noted that Bitcoin never really had a rollback in the same sense as Ethereum’s DAO hard fork. Instead, Bitcoin experienced a bug in August 2010 (the “Value Overflow Incident”), where an invalid transaction created 184 billion BTC. Satoshi Nakamoto and the network patched the bug and reorganized the chain, but this was an emergency fix, not a rollback initiated
- He pointed out that the DAO hack was possible because of a flaw in the dApp’s code, allowing attackers to steal funds.
- Dioquino explained that fortunately, a failsafe froze all ETH for a month, giving developers time to implement an “irregular state change” and effectively roll back the chain to recover funds.
ByBit CEO on the Proposed Rollback
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, when questioned about the possibility of an Ethereum blockchain rollback to recover the stolen funds, stated that such a decision wouldn’t be made by just one person, and expressed uncertainty about the likelihood of it happening.
During an X Spaces discussion, Zhou suggested that if any action were to be taken, it should involve a community vote to align with blockchain’s decentralized nature.
- He also revealed that Bybit had reached out to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation to explore possible solutions to mitigate the impact of the hack.
- However, he did not confirm whether these discussions included a rollback proposal.
ByBit Hack Background
Recently, Bybit suffered a massive $1.46 billion hack, now confirmed to be the largest crypto hack in history, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
This article is published on BitPinas: DeFi Philippines Founder on Why an Ethereum Rollback Won’t Happen After the $1.46 Billion Bybit Hack
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