ZachXBT And JP Clash Over Asgardex’s Responsibility For $900K In Fees From Bybit Hack Money Laundering
In Brief
ZachXBT and JP have been engaged in a debate regarding the $900,000 in fees collected by Asgardex from transactions linked to money laundering by Bybit hackers.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT and THORChain developer JP have been involved in a debate on the social media platform X regarding the fees collected by the Asgardex open-source desktop application, which is specifically designed for THORChain and Maya Protocol.
Asgardex is a standalone desktop application that enables decentralized swaps based on the THORChain network. It is the only open-source frontend codebase available, making it a key reference for many developers in the ecosystem.
The central issue in their argument concerns whether Asgardex should return the $900,000 in fees it earned from transactions linked to money laundering by Bybit hackers. ZachXBT argues that Asgardex should return the funds, stating that failing to do so would be criminal. He remarked, “multiple Asgardex contributors explicitly refused to return the 900K in fees you profited from the Bybit hack by DPRK. Multiple of these teams […] decided to return fees. Choosing to keep Thorchain as decentralised as possible and not censoring activity at the protocol level is one thing. Profiting fees off the hack (knowingly) and then refusing to return those fees after is criminal,” ZachXBT stated.
In contrast, JP maintains that open-source cryptocurrency wallet developers, who have long been dedicated to self-custody wallet development, will not return the funds unless mandated by regulations.
He questioned, “Do we get ETH and BTC nodes to give back their transaction fees? What about GETH or BTCCore devs – who write the software, funded by grants/donations?” JP asked in a post.
He also raised concerns about why Ethereum and Bitcoin nodes are not held to the same standard of returning transaction fees.
ZachXBT Accuses JP-Linked Projects Of Employing IT Workers From DPRK
In response, ZachXBT criticized JP, claiming that projects associated with him allegedly failed to conduct proper due diligence and employed IT workers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), who were on the payroll for months before being alerted by ZachXBT last year, an incident that was never publicly disclosed.
ZachXBT further stated, “My argument is about Asgardex keeping fees, which is simply a centralized interface for Thorchain. Trying to compare a centralized interface to a decentralized network is an invalid argument.”
The community became divided, with some supporting JP, arguing that it is more important to punish those directly responsible, rather than the service provider. Others, however, acknowledged the platform’s role and emphasized the need for it to remain legally accountable for the incident.
The hackers responsible for stealing approximately $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency from the Bybit exchange have moved nearly all of the stolen funds and converted them into Bitcoin since the hack. On February 21st, Bybit reported that a “sophisticated attack” on one of its wallets led to the theft of 401,346 Ethereum, valued at about $1.4 billion at that time, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft in history and potentially the biggest heist ever. Blockchain monitoring firms, researchers, and the FBI have attributed the hack to the North Korean government.
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About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
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Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
