jakiro
Source: TEDAO
Bybit encountered value$1.5 billionofETH theft case, and some people called on Ethereum to roll back the blockchain to cancel the hack.This incident has become an excellent educational case, explaining whyPublic chains are untampered with account books.The essence of this event is not Ethereum’s vulnerability, but its core feature – even in human historyThe largest theftone,It stillWill not be revoked artificially.
Why?
becauseBlockchain transactionsIrreversibleIt is one of the most powerful trust mechanisms in the world today.This feature ensures native assets (such as ETH) issued on EthereumofScarcity,and support key financial activities such as DeFiPredictability of smart contracts.
Scarcity and predictabilityIt is the cornerstone of building a more resilient and global digital economy.We understand their importance because they are also the basis of the real economy for thousands of years.If there is no scarcity,There will be no such thing as gold“Naturally valuable assets”, and there will only be such as fiat currency“Relying on human trust value carriers”.Fiatco certainly has its advantages, but almost all fiatcoins that have existed have ended up being worthless, while gold has repeatedly set new highs.What gold follows isThe law of nature,And fiat currency followsArtificial rules.The laws of nature are more constant and reliable.
The laws of nature are also more predictable.This may sound exaggerated, but one of the greatest features of nature isThe laws of physics and chemistry will not change.Hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water, and the gravity acceleration on the earth’s surface is 9.8 m/s².likeIf not thisPredictability, there will be no birth of skyscrapers, planes or iPhones,There won’t beHighly developed civilization and economy.
Now, the economy isAccelerate digitalization.butThe digital world is facingIssues of scarcity and predictability.Data essentiallyNot scarce,It can be easilyBeing copied, tampered, deleted or manipulated.This variability does bring convenience – credit card payments are more convenient than cash, and Google Docs are more friendly than typewriters.butFrom the perspective of trust building, this is a huge problem.Credit card payment can be freeFreeze or undo,And digital documents (such as important news headlines) canModified, forged or deleted.
So, how to solve this problem?
One way isLeave the digital economy to big companies and governments,andHopefully they can do the right thing——Hope the government does not overprint money, even in the digital ageAlmost no cost;Hope the company won’t
Discriminate against specific users, review payments (or news) that are not in their interests, or charge high fees,Although these behaviors areSimpleagainprofitable.
Another wayyesInvent a technology that allows digital assets (whether they are monetary units or information) to possess the characteristics of the physical world, such as scarcity, censorship resistance and predictability.This is exactlyBitcoin (Bitcoin) implements.Bitcoin has become aMarket capitalization of $2 trillion assets, and inThe increasing acceptance of geopolitical levels fully demonstrates the value of these characteristics.
Other blockchains, such asEthereum(Ethereum),This capability is expanded to a wider range of asset classes and application scenarios.Native cryptocurrencies like ETH, and smart contracts like Aave,Provides aUnpredictable——This is something that nowhere else in the global economy can provide.
The more predictable the financial infrastructure is, the more types of economic activity it can carry.youI won’t choose oneCan be cancelled at willPayment method to complete a paymentBillions of dollars worth of deals, like you won’texistSkyscrapers built on planets with unstable gravitySame.
Key points: Scarcity and predictability do have their drawbacks
They may causeBad things happen to good people and can’t do anything.Gold can beLost or burglary——In fact, some of the gold mined in human historySinking at the bottom of the sea, and now someone is experiencing jewelryThe losses stolen.The same applies toOther recognized means of store of value,for exampleartwork.But no one has ever said:
“The stolen gold cannot be retrieved by calling, which is a fatal flaw.”
“We shouldn’t think Michelangelo’s works are valuable because they are easily damaged.”
No one will say these words, becauseThis is totally nonsenseTalk.goldIrreplaceable,artworkEasy to damage,thisIt’s why they are valuable.We accept their imperfections, becauseThose flaws are the premise of value.
However, some smart people, including experts in the crypto industry, are now working on theThe stolen ETH says something similar.They think EthereumThe blockchain should be rolled back and the losses caused by this hacker attack should be cancelled,becauseThe victim is innocent,andHackers (probably North Korea) are profiting from it.They also advocate:
“If public chains do not have a ‘unable’ button, they will never be adopted on a large scale.”
The fundamental problem with these views is:They still regard blockchain as an evolutionary version of the credit card network.
themIt should change the way of thinking, no longer treat blockchain asUpgraded version of the credit card network, butTreat it asAn evolution of the physical world——It combinesAdvantages of the natural world (scarcity, predictability)andAdvantages of human intelligence (programmability, innovation ability).
Ethereum should not roll back the blockchain.
On the contrary, the occurrence of this hacker attack and the underlying infrastructure levelNo modifications will be made to this, it is the value of blockchainThe most powerful publicity——It shows that there should beMore human activities migrate to the chain.
Irreversibility ≠ Lack of flexibility
Although Ethereum itself should be keptMaximum irreversibility, but running on itOther assets (such as stablecoins)as well asRelated infrastructure (such as Layer-2 network), can have certain reversibility.
Skyscrapers still have elevators, and the L2 network can provide “undo” function for certain specific scenarios.
butThis “undo button” is valuable only if the underlying network is as predictable as gravity.
