Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.

Home > Briefs > Technology > Want to Stop Crypto Hacks? Make Them Reversible

Want to Stop Crypto Hacks? Make Them Reversible

What if an immutable and irreversible cryptocurrency transaction wasn’t? That’s the idea trio of Stanford University researchers proposed this week as a way to combat the seemingly constant string of thefts, fraud and hacks that have routinely seen hundreds of millions of dollars stolen in the crypto industry — including more than $14 billion last year alone. Specifically, Kalli Jenner, Dan Boneh and Qinchen Wang have suggested a reversible version of ether and non-fungible token (NFT) coins that would give token owners a short window when they could appeal to a decentralized panel of judges who could first freeze and reverse the transaction if they believed it was appropriate. The proposal wouldn’t replace standard immutable ether or NFT tokens; it would simply add a reversible standard crypto project that developers could choose to use instead. “The immutability of blockchain transactions is both a blessing and a curse,” Jenner wrote in a post describing the project. Pointing to thefts like the $612 million Poly Network attack, $100 million Harmony Bridge exploit and $625 million Ronin Network theft, she said, “you may be thinking: Reversible tokens? Doesn’t that just defeat the purpose of blockchain?”

Full story : Want to Stop Crypto Hacks? Make Them Reversible.