According to Cointelegraph, despite calls within the crypto industry to propose rolling back the Ethereum network to a state before February 21, Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko issued a serious warning on this matter. He pointed out that the Bybit hack incident is fundamentally different from the DAO vulnerability incident that occurred in 2016. In the DAO incident, there was a clear loophole in the protocol rules, while the Bybit hack incident appeared normal on the surface and did not violate the existing rules of the Ethereum protocol. For this reason, attempting to recover stolen funds through a network rollback is technically infeasible. Furthermore, Beiko emphasized that rollback operations could trigger extremely serious chain reactions, causing unpredictable impacts on the entire Ethereum ecosystem.
Yuga Labs Vice President of Blockchain 0xQuit also expressed a similar view. He stated that the series of impacts brought by a rollback would involve amounts far exceeding $1.5 billion, which could lead to thousands of people gaining or losing funds that should not have belonged to them in this incident. It is worth noting that Ethereum has now become a core pillar of the decentralized finance (DeFi) field, and its position in the entire cryptocurrency market and financial ecosystem is crucial, so a rollback operation that seems simple but contains enormous risks should not be taken lightly.
New Industry Insights: In fact, discussions about rollbacks have not emerged for the first time in the history of cryptocurrencies. For instance, in previous blockchain projects, there have been heated debates on whether to roll back due to major security incidents. However, multiple practices have shown that rollback operations are often accompanied by significant risks and complex subsequent issues, which may damage the decentralized characteristics of the blockchain, undermine the trust mechanism, and subsequently affect the development ecology of the entire industry.
At present, the entire crypto industry is in a phase of rapid development and transformation. On one hand, with more and more institutions and traditional investors pouring in, the industry's development prospects are highly anticipated; on the other hand, security issues always hang over the entire industry like the Sword of Damocles. The hack incident of a well-known trading platform like Bybit once again highlights the potential risks in the industry. In this context, the discussion on whether to rollback Ethereum is not just a technical issue, but also involves industry norms, investor confidence, and choices regarding future development directions.
Although some executives in the crypto industry support rollback operations, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated that the question of whether Ethereum should rollback should be decided by the community through voting.