news Not sure cryptocurrency is the ultimate panacea.

[mems]

Not sure cryptocurrency is the ultimate panacea.

$300m in Ethereum accidentally lost forever due to bug
User mistakenly takes control of hundreds of wallets containing cryptocurrency Ether, destroying them in a panic while trying to give them back

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/cryptocurrency-300m-dollars-stolen-bug-ether

 

[Jackie]

Maybe there will be another Ethereum hard fork to "correct" this mistake arising from the faulty smart contract. When $55M in ETH was stolen from the failed DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), the chain split into two creating Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

The Ethereum chain was backed the core founders who felt that the ill-gotten gains should be reversed.
The Ethereum Classic chain was a spin off supported by users who philosophically felt that the blockchain should be irreversible and transactions should not be reversed for any reason, despite theft/fraud.

Now both chains trade in parallel, but by far ETH is the larger chain.

 

[Name Trader]

These kind of things can happen in an online world. But it's very worrying for holders of these blockchain currencies. To put your trust in a chain that simply loses your money. Just imagine if HSBC send you an email saying, sorry we misplaced your $300M and we are not going to pay you back.Personally. I would think that Ethereum would be one to avoid. The Ethereum, or Ethereum Classic chain. I don't think either of them come out well with this disclosure.

 

[forge]

"Effectively, a user accidentally stole hundreds of wallets simultaneously, and then set them on fire in a panic while trying to give them back."

This is the kind of statement that proves that, effectively, all journalists are insufferable morons.

Just how do you "accidentally steal" anything?

 

[creataweb]

So the guy was screwing with some code and gained access to these wallets, then panicked and deleted the code and that caused the mishap? lol

 

[DomainDude42]

In both The DAO hack and this current issue, the Ethereum chain WAS NOT faulty. The DAO hack exploited a bug in its code. The recent Parity bug which locked up $300M had a bug which a common user accidentally tripped on. Again, in both cases the underlying Ethereum chain wasn't the problem; the problem was in code/software sitting on the chain.

But again, this shines the spotlight on the fact that the crypto/blockchain world is much of a DIY realm where the end-user must be educated enough in crypto before diving in. The internet was like that in the late-80s thru mid-90s -- only the technical literate could swim safely in those waters.

Know what you're doing when you buy cryptos or tokens, and the risks of storing them in various ways.

 

[DomainDude42]

Same thing whenever a Bitcoin/crypto exchange gets hacked. Bitcoin itself is fine, but the exchange is the point of failure.