According to PANews, blockchain investigator ZachXBT has raised concerns about the bounty mechanism for tracking the Cetus hacker. He criticized the structure, which offers a $5 million reward only upon successful capture, as highly unreasonable and unlikely to be accepted by competent companies. In this model, victims bear no upfront risk, while those assisting must invest significant time and effort, creating a severe imbalance between risk and reward. ZachXBT argues that such vague bounties are detrimental to industry development, as they appear to prompt action but fail to effectively motivate capable individuals.
ZachXBT suggests that a fair compensation structure should consist of two parts: an hourly rate to compensate for initial time investment and a success-based commission, a practice common among top companies. He also noted that if attackers operate in jurisdictions where law enforcement is challenging, or if authorities fail to recover all funds during arrests, the fairness of these bounties becomes even more questionable.