Ethereum Dev Arrested in Dubai for Smart Contract Exploit

A senior Ethereum $ETH developer was arrested in Dubai after allegedly embedding a backdoor into multiple smart contracts that allowed the siphoning of over $58 million worth of assets. Authorities claim the exploit affected several DeFi platforms including Aave, Curve, and Compound. The developer reportedly transferred the funds into privacy coin Monero (XMR), but failed to mask the transaction trail effectively. Ethereum Foundation has yet to release a statement, but insiders hint at deepening tensions within core dev teams. ETH dropped 8% as news broke, while competing chains like Cardano (ADA) and Avalanche (AVAX) saw temporary inflows. This scandal raises serious questions about the trustworthiness of open-source development and the integrity of core Ethereum contributors. Some users are calling for on-chain identity verification, while others warn it goes against decentralization. Will this shake ETH's dominance in smart contract ecosystems?