cyrpto 1.4b, barriers, Bybit, details, developer, Ethereum, hack, reversing, technical Mark February 23, 2025 0 Comments

Ethereum developer details technical barriers to reversing $1.4b Bybit hack

An Ethereum developer provided an explanation of the reason why the network cannot “do” transactions to recover $ 1.4 billion by Bybit.

The analysis compares the current situation with two historical cases where the inversions of the blockchain were achievable. In 2010, Bitcoin succeeded in transactions when a bug created 184 billion BTC. The developer Tim Beiko said this was possible due to the small size of the network and the violation of the clear protocol.

Likewise, The Dao Hack Recovery in 2016 Ethereum succeeded because the stolen funds were frozen for 30 days, which allows a time for community coordination.

ELI5 Why can’t we “roller” Ethereum?

After yesterday’s bybit’s piracy, crypto commentators again wonder why Ethereum cannot “hike” the chain to reverse hacking.

Although the experienced ecosystem actors are almost disincimatory that this is unrealizable, it is worth decomposing …

– Timbeiko.eth (@timbeiko) February 22, 2025

Beiko mentioned that the hacking of Bybit had fundamentally different challenges. The flight occurred thanks to a compromised multisig interface which published legitimate malicious transactions for the signatories.

De Ethereum (Ethn) Perspective, these transactions have followed all the rules of the protocol, leaving no technical basis for the intervention.

Trying to reverse the piracy of Bybit could disrupt

Beiko also pointed out that the modern cryptocurrency infrastructure has also become more complex. The stolen funds were immediately mobile and could be transported by decentralized exchanges, loan protocols and transverse bridges.

This interconnection means that any attempt to reverse transactions would create disturbances through the ecosystem. This could affect legitimate professions and colonies, he says.

Although Ethereum can always theoretically implement “irregular changes of state” when the funds are frozen and isolated, the last proposal of this type in 2018 was strongly opposed. This attempt aimed at recovering 500,000 eTH frozen in a parity portfolio bug, but was rejected due to concerns about centralization and the previous one.

The technical limitations have been highlighted by recent developments. Crypto Mixer Platform Exch rejected Bybit’s cooperation request in the monitoring of stolen funds.

Slowmist, a blockchain security company, reports that the pirates have already started to whiten ETH through Exch, by converting it into Bitcoin (BTC), Monero (Xmr), and other cryptocurrencies.

Exch, the platform of mixer of parts used by the North Korean pirates, rejected the request for cooperation of Bybit. Slowmist pointed out that the EXCH was involved in multiple security incidents, exhibiting personal information from industry security personnel, and all platforms should improve …

– Wu Blockchain (@wublockchain) February 23, 2025

The founder of Slowmist warned that BRESS has history of hostile behavior towards safety researchers and recommended exchanges increase risk controls against funds from the platform.

The rapid movement of assets thanks to mixing services shows why technical solutions such as declines are no longer viable for major flights in today’s cryptographic ecosystem.