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.
