The recent $1.5 billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has reignited discussions about the possibility of reclaiming the Ethereum network to reverse the stolen funds.
Tim Beiko: “Bybit Hack Was Not Caused by a Bug Inside Ethereum, Unlike What We Saw with TheDAO”
However, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko stated that such a reversal is not possible and could have serious consequences for the stability and integrity of the network.
Following the attack, some crypto commentators questioned whether Ethereum could implement a rollback process similar to past incidents like the infamous TheDAO attack in 2016. However, Beiko explained that the two cases are fundamentally different. Unlike the TheDAO hack, which involved a vulnerability in a smart contract implementation built on Ethereum, the Bybit hack did not involve any violations of Ethereum’s protocol rules. Instead, the attack exploited weaknesses in Bybit’s multisig interface to enable unauthorized fund transfers.
Beiko noted that in 2016, TheDAO funds were frozen for a month, allowing the Ethereum community to coordinate and implement a “non-discretionary state change” to recover the funds. In response, the Bybit hacker was able to move the funds immediately, making any tampering nearly impossible. Additionally, the Ethereum ecosystem has evolved significantly since 2016, with decentralized finance (DeFi) and cross-chain bridges creating a highly interconnected environment where reversing transactions could cause unwanted disruptions.
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To explain the concept of rollbacks, Beiko highlighted a historical case from Bitcoin’s early years. In 2010, a bug in Bitcoin’s code led to the accidental minting of 184 billion BTC. Satoshi Nakamoto quickly issued a fix, and since Bitcoin’s adoption and mining difficulty were still relatively low, the community welcomed a rollback.
Ethereum also faced a buyback with TheDAO in 2016, which led to a split in the community and the creation of Ethereum Classic (ETC).
Since then, proposals for similar interventions, such as EIP-999, which aimed to recover funds frozen by the Parity wallet bug in 2018, have faced strong opposition. The Ethereum community has largely distanced itself from such interventions in order to maintain the immutability of the network and avoid setting dangerous precedents.
Bybit CEO Ben acknowledged the seriousness of the hack, but emphasized that the stolen funds only amounted to 0.3% to 0.4% of Ethereum’s total supply, far less than TheDAO’s 30% during the network rollback. Given this, it’s unlikely Ethereum will consider a rollback. However, Bybit is actively seeking guidance from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on possible solutions.
*This is not investment advice.*
