“I knew in advance the collapse of cryptocurrency.”
The moment I say these words, the atmosphere in the drawing room turns cold. He stares at me so much that his face stings.
All those gathered here are cryptocurrency related.
This reaction was natural, as they would have suffered great losses from this crash.
“Ah, I will correct it. To be precise, it should be called the collapse of Ethereum, not the collapse of cryptocurrency.”
As soon as my words run out, the skinny man jumps up.
It was Vitalik Buterin, the developer of Ethereum.
“Did you really do that?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You shameless! How much damage we have suffered because of this incident!”
Buterin shouted first, and the other attendees joined in, accusing me.
“Why did you do this? Eliminate competitors?”
“You criminal! You are finished today!”
“Do you know how many investors have withdrawn from the cryptocurrency market because of this incident? This is a stupid thing that costs the entire industry!”
Hostile gazes poured from all sides. If I drag on more time here, I think someone who really wants to kill me will come out.
At this point, let me tell you the truth.
“There is a difference between knowing in advance that you will be hacked and hacking yourself.”
The faces of people who were like angry bulls are immediately colored with questions.
At this point, it seems that the preparations for the audience are complete. I carefully release what I have prepared.
“Two months ago. While our security team was tinkering with Acorn Coin’s access code, we found a critical security vulnerability. and… … In the process, we found out that Ethereum also shares the same vulnerability.”
I glance at Buterin. Then the man standing next to Buterin interrupted and raised his voice.
“If I knew about the vulnerability two months ago, I should have told you in advance! What are you talking about aiding and abetting a crime?”
“That expression of condescension. It is very irritating.”
“If that’s not aiding and abetting, what is?”
“We have already contacted the Ethereum developers. Twice in the mail and once in the official tweet. on a total of three occasions. If there is still no response, whose fault is it?”
If there is no response even after contacting you three times, it means that you have virtually ignored it.
When this fact was revealed, the hall, which had been quiet for a while, started to stir again.
“If you informed me by e-mail, you weren’t aiding and abetting, right?”
“If there is no answer, we should have informed you more clearly through another route.”
“No, it’s practically the same as a competitor, so just contacting us to inform us isn’t it? And since there was no reply to the e-mail, you tweeted.”
Amidst the noise of people talking, Buterin, the person involved, was contemplating and chatting with the party. It seems to check whether there was a real contact.
‘Even if I flinch, it won’t help. The proof that the mail was sent is on our side.’
Of course, I didn’t send an e-mail that said, ‘Your virtual currency has some flaws.
It’s an e-mail that doesn’t have much content, but it becomes a perfect cotton card when the public opinion is in full swing like now.
Tuk-tuk.
I tap the desk lightly to draw the eyes of the people around me.
“Our WHTS Company had 2.6 billion dollars worth of Ethereum. This was not for investment, but purely for hedging the risks of Acorn Coin.”
I continue to speak clearly so that not only those present here, but also those listening to the live broadcast can hear it well.
“But because of the things described above, I decided that Ethereum and the Ethereum development team could not be trusted. It was a decision to sell the virtual currency held.”
As soon as I finish my words, the man who walked away earlier stands up.
“lie! Is there a case where you sell all of your virtual currency just because you didn’t check your email? Email is just a reason. He was thinking of selling cryptocurrency from the start!”
From noble mtl dot com
“Did you just say barely?”
I walk in front of him, laughing deliberately to the point of snoring.
“As I said earlier, the WHTS Company held $2.6 billion in Ethereum. In terms of holdings, it is in the top three in the world.”
“What is it like?”
“Not $260,000. That’s a whopping $2.6 billion.”
After emphasizing the amount again, I stare at the man’s face.
“If you ignore e-mails from heavy investors, isn’t it safe to say that you don’t listen to feedback from regular investors at all?”
“I didn’t ignore… … It was because it was difficult to check every single email.”
“That answer is more absurd. Raised billions of dollars in investment and didn’t have a dedicated QA staff. Clearing Ethereum was also the right decision.”
As the conversation progressed to this point, the tsk-tsk-tsk-clicking sound of the attendees who were listening next to them was heard.
“The Ethereum development team is at the level of a corner store compared to WHTS Company.”
“To think I invested that much money in a virtual currency created in a place like that. It’s absurd. It’s absurd.”
“Looking at the response of the development team, this Ethereum hacking was not an accident of bad luck, but it was inevitable that it would happen someday.”
Belatedly, the Ethereum development team ‘didn’t have enough time to respond’ and ‘recruited more management personnel.’ I tried to evolve with the same words, but to no avail.
For investors who lost money, their words will only sound like lame excuses.
* * *
Shortly after the live broadcast by WHTS Company, the reliability controversy ignited and the price of Ethereum plummeted again.
Ethereum, which once reached $ 900, plunged to $ 160, and even public opinion was the worst, so there seemed to be no room for a rebound.
As a result, the Ethereum development team took out an extreme drug prescription that had been postponed as a last resort.
“Are you going to do a hard fork with something like this? this, this… … This is impossible!”
Furious voices erupted from the Ethereum office. It wasn’t just one or two voices, but most of the development team had a similar reaction.
“I know it’s hard for you guys to accept. But I want you to know that there is no other option with Ethereum right now.”
Vitalik Buterik, the head of the development team, personally tried to persuade, but the developers still showed reluctance to the hard fork.
That’s also because when the hard fork was executed, the existing Ethereum had to be abandoned and replaced with a new version of Ethereum.
“The atmosphere isn’t good, but it’s a hard fork? Investors will rise up.”
“He is right. The hard fork… … The uncertainty is too great. No kidding, investors might come with guns.”
However, Buterin did not give up.
“The existing Ethereum has lost trust. There is no way to completely eliminate the vulnerability. So the only way for us to come back is to launch an entirely new Ethereum with a hard fork.”
A document containing the hard fork plan is delivered to the employees.
The document described the time and method of the hard fork, as well as a compensation plan to calm investors’ backlash.
“As you can see, the plan is perfect. We get the integrity of Ethereum, and investors get more value. This is a win-win.”
The Ethereum development team is virtually a one-man team of Vitalik Buterin. So if he made a decision, the rest of the developers had no choice but to follow through.
Normally, development would have proceeded according to his instructions.
But isn’t this a crisis situation where the company might disappear?
At times like this, there are bound to be people who harbor false ideas to get their share.
“For this hard fork, security and speed should be the top priority. So let’s live and work in the office for the time being.”
Even afterward, Buterin enthusiastically explained the plan.
However, without his knowledge, several developers were secretly exchanging glances.
* * *
“CEO, this is a report from the virtual currency operation team.”
Lee So-yeong comes with an armful of file folders and puts them on the desk.
Just looking at the thickness of the file gives me a headache. I let out a sigh that was about to burst out and said.
“yes. great job. Keep it aside.”
Putting the report aside meant leaving.
However, Lee So-young stood there and stared at me.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“I mean Ethereum. You held a short selling position last week.”
“It was.”
“I have already made a profit with Ethereum crashing once, and I wonder if it is right to proceed with short selling again.”
Before the last invitational live broadcast, I made a profit of $40 million by short selling betting on the decline of Ethereum.
Since we suffered losses from the rumors they spread, it is like we got paid for short selling.
“They haven’t even managed to fix the situation yet, have they? In a situation where public opinion is not good, the market price will fall further if you drag the time.”
“That’s true, but… … .”
As if contemplating something, Lee So-young chewed her lips carefully before opening her mouth.
“I got some non-public information from an acquaintance.”
“What information?”
“Ethereum is preparing for a hard fork.”
You can think of a hard fork as a kind of software update.
However, it was different in that it issued a new updated virtual currency rather than overlaying it on the existing virtual currency.
“If the hard fork is executed successfully, Ethereum will rebound again.”
“What if it fails?”
“If it fails, the market price will fall even more… … Still, there is no need to insist on short selling.”
She’s right. Investing in a situation where you don’t know whether the hard fork will succeed or fail is like betting on a coin toss.
But what if you were now making money on either side of the coin?
“It doesn’t matter if they succeed or fail the hard fork. The price of Ethereum will inevitably plummet.”
“Why?”
“This hard fork is like releasing a new Ethereum. It’s called the new Ethereum.”
It was a concept Lee So-young knew, so she nodded.
“What will happen to the old Ethereum when the new Ethereum is released?”
“Trading is suspended on all exchanges… … Are you going to go through the disposal process?”
“It is not easy for individuals to dispose of the virtual currency they own in their e-wallets. What if the owners of old ethereum refuse to destroy it?”
Fiat currency can push the obsolescence of old currency with the power of a strong government.
However, cryptocurrency has no central organization that can be called a government, so there was no way to get a hold of it if the owner refused.
“Is there any point in holding old etherium? It will be a piece of data that cannot be traded on the exchange anyway.”
“Doesn’t that mean that value is created just by trading on the exchange?”
Lee So-young patted her knee, as if she finally understood the meaning of my words.
“Maybe older Ethereum owners could push for an exchange listing?”
“Nine times out of ten it will. There are people who benefit from that.”
The hacker who hacked Ethereum this time falls under that category.
“In the worst case, there might be two cryptocurrencies named Ethereum. If that happens, the market price will be cut in half.”