After Friday's $1.5 billion hack of Bybit — the largest in the industry's history —allegedly carried out by North Korea's Lazarus Group, some members of the crypto community have controversially advocated for a rollback of the blockchain network.
Last week, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes urged Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to weigh in on the proposal, which Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said he had initially brought to the Ethereum Foundation.
Advocates cite Ethereum’s 2016 DAO hack, which partitioned the Ethereum blockchain network, as evidence the network can withstand such changes. Critics, however, have pointed out that this event was not a true rollback.
"The idea of a rollback is ludicrous," Jean Rausis, SMARDEX co-founder, told TheStreet Crypto. "You wouldn't roll back the entire Visa or Mastercard network because of one malicious transaction."
"While hard fork is technically possible, it is very unlikely to happen," added RedStone co-founder Marcin Kazmierczak. "The situation now and in 2016 when the DAO hack happened are significantly different.. Ethereum is much more advanced and complex in comparison to 2016."
The total value of assets sitting on the Ethereum blockchain reached $57.4 billion in 2025, while the number of of daily transactions on the network has surpassed one million.
Concerns are growing that reversing Ethereum’s state could set a dangerous precedent for blockchain integrity: “Rolling back Ethereum to its state before the Bybit hack threatens the fundamental principle of blockchain immutability,” Maria Carola, CEO of crypto exchange StealthEx, told TheStreet Crypto.
“One of Ethereum’s key characteristics is the irreversibility of transactions, which ensures trust in the network,” Carola explained. “If today an exchange's losses can be undone, tomorrow, other transactions — whether user losses or even politically-motivated adjustments — could be subject to similar rollbacks under pressure. This could severely damage trust in Ethereum as a decentralized network and trigger a crisis among its holders.”
Others highlighted the thorny technical challenges that emerge with the proposal. “Technically, it would quite literally break the chain, while ideologically it would destroy any notion of credible neutrality the Ethereum network has built up over the years," RAAC lending protocol founder Kevin Rusher told TheStreet Crypto. "It would fly in the face of everything Ethereum stands for."
Carola added that even discussing a rollback could negatively impact Ethereum’s credibility and serve as a catalyst for short-term panic: “If a fork to reverse the Bybit hack were to happen, Ethereum could face another split, leading to a price drop, loss of confidence, and an exodus of institutional investors. Even the mere discussion of such a rollback undermines Ethereum’s credibility and long-term stability,” Carola said.