## Arthur Hayes Proposes Ethereum Rollback Following Bybit Hack
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has put forth the idea of rolling back Ethereum, effectively nullifying the stolen funds in light of the recent Bybit hack. He draws parallels to a similar action taken by Ethereum in 2016, when a hard fork was implemented to address a significant security breach. Given that the stolen amount from Bybit is the largest in cryptocurrency history, such a rollback could be seen as a reasonable response. In what has been termed a black swan event, Bybit experienced a loss of approximately $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum on Friday. While the full details are still unfolding, online investigator ZachXBT has suggested that the wallets involved in the attack are linked to those associated with North Korea’s Lazarus hacking group.
Arthur Hayes, who holds Ethereum, has reached out to Vitalik Buterin on X to inquire whether a rollback could be a viable option to assist the Bybit exchange. Ben Zhou, the CEO of Bybit, has also contacted Buterin to explore if there are any measures the Ethereum Foundation could take to lessen the impact of the breach. Zhou acknowledges that any potential actions would need to be approved by the Ethereum community. When asked during an online event on February 22 whether he supported an Ethereum rollback, Zhou responded, “I’m not sure if it’s one man’s decision. Based on the spirit of blockchain, maybe it should be a voting process to see what the communities want, but I am not sure.”
The 2016 DAO attack resulted in the theft of around $60 million worth of Ethereum, which led to the hard fork that effectively rolled back the blockchain. Many Ethereum developers are against the rollback option, as it contradicts the core principles of decentralization and immutability. If Buterin were to initiate a rollback without the involvement of other developers or community members, it could be perceived as a shift in foundational principles.
Now more than ever, Ethereum may require strong leadership rather than an overreliance on consensus. The breakdown within Bitcoin partly stemmed from an excessive focus on consensus at the expense of leadership. As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth. Additionally, Buterin has shown a commitment to his moral stance by refusing to compromise his principles regarding online casinos, despite widespread support for crypto gambling.
Jimmy Song, a Bitcoin advocate, argues that comparing the Bybit incident to the DAO hack is misleading. He points out that during the 2016 event, there was a 30-day intervention period, whereas the Bybit hack has already been finalized. “I know people are expecting the Ethereum Foundation to roll back the chain, but I suspect it’s already too much of a mess to do it cleanly,” Song remarked. While there remains some debate about the specifics of the DAO hack, particularly regarding the percentage of funds stolen, the consensus is clear: it resulted in a hard fork that split the ETH token into Ethereum Classic and Ethereum. Notably, the term “rollback” was not used in 2016; developers referred to the situation in a more formal or creative manner.
