- This is the first large-scale investigation of how blockchains can disrupt user transactions to limit security issues such as intrusions and exploits.
- An artificial intelligence-driven analysis was mixed with human judgment in the report, which looked at 166 different blockchain networks.
According to a report recently published by Village piece‘s Lazarus Security Lab, 16 of the most prominent blockchains are equipped with technology that allows them to restrict or freeze user funds.
This is the first large-scale investigation of how blockchains can disrupt user transactions to limit security issues such as intrusions and exploits. The Report is called “Blockchain Freezing Exposed: Examine The Impact of Fund Freezing Ability in Blockchain,” and it is the first of its kind.
An artificial intelligence-driven analysis was mixed with human judgment in the report, which looked at 166 different blockchain networks. According to the researchers’ results, while there are now 16 chains that have freezing capabilities, there are another 19 chains that could introduce them with very small protocol changes.
The following three unique types of money-freezing techniques are identified in the report:
- Hard-coded freezing, incorporated directly into the blockchain’s code (for example, BNB Chain and VeChain).
- Configuration-based freezing, which can be managed with basic settings or validation settings (such as Sui or Aptos setting).
- Freezing of contracts in the chain, carried out using system contracts (for example HECO)
The research includes a number of notable examples, including:
- After the Cetus hack, Sui’s assets totaling $162 million were frozen.
- In the aftermath of the incident, Aptos eventually implemented blacklisting features.
- BNB Chain was able to prevent a bridge exploit worth $570 million by using hard-coded blacklists.
- An early precedent was set by VeChain in 2019 when it froze funds as a result of a hack costing $6.6 million.
- Possibly in the future, similar interventions will be possible thanks to Cosmo’s modular account design.
The above actions serve as a demonstration of how freezing features can be used as emergency solutions to protect consumers and reduce the extent of harm caused by widespread security breaches.
“Blockchain was built on the principle of decentralization – yet our research shows that many networks are developing pragmatic security mechanisms to respond quickly to threats,” said David Zong, Head of Group Risk Control and Security at Bybit. “At Bybit, we believe that transparency creates trust. Our goal is to encourage open dialogue and better governance throughout the industry.”
An artificial intelligence detection framework has been developed by Bybit’s Lazarus Security Lab to conduct the evaluation. This framework is designed to search codebases for modules that enable blacklisting, transaction filtering, or dynamic configuration changes. After that, human researchers evaluated each instance to ensure it was correct.
The research concludes that the openness of emergency intervention tools must become a fundamental component of blockchain governance. It also recommends that projects publicly explain whether and how they can intervene in activities in the chain.
As the cryptocurrency industry evolves, the research concludes that clear and open security practices will contribute to the development of long-term trust among consumers and institutions.
This is link where the full research, titled “Blockchain Freezing Exposed: Examining the Impact of Fund Freezing Ability in Blockchain,” can be found.
