How Dem Carry Burn the Attacker wALPH
Them also post this report for X thread , you fit read and engage with am for here.
"As part of the work wey dey for hand to repair the bridge attack, the Bridge Guardians, in collabo with security partners wey we get, been carry out recovery process wey dey don approve to invalidate the fake (unbacked) wrapped ALPH (wALPH) wey still dey inside the hacker wallet gon gor."
The Bridge Guardians go use the bridge multi-signature governance system temporarily upgrade the smart contract wey dey manage wrapped assets.
This temporary upgrade wey the core team do, don add one special function wey dey allow dem permanently burn the fake wALPH wey the attacker hold. Immediately after dem finish the burn, dem return the contract back to the original version.
This work been need approval from all the Bridge Guardians before e fit happen. Na wetin make e take several days to arrange and complete am. Make we also commot for road say the Guardians be separate and independent people; nobody fit do this work alone.
Like plenti cross-chain bridges, Alephium own wrapped asset contracts dey run behind upgradeable proxy contracts. This design dey allow the contract implementation change anytime the Guardians put hand together approve am through governance.
The burn function wey we dey talk no dey inside the normal bridge contract before. Dem only add am temporarily through governance because of this exploit wey just happen, carry am burn the fake wALPH, then commot am sharp sharp after the work finish.
This kind theif theif action don happen before for DeFi.
When the pxETH exploit been happen wey involve Yearn Finance, the people wey issue the token invalidate the fake tokens direct from the theif wallet.
After the Echo Protocol wahala been happen, the attacker-controlled eBTC been burn sef after the administrators collect control back.
For Alephium's own matter, na only the fake (unbacked) wALPH wey still dey inside the hacker wallet dem burn.
Any wALPH wey the hacker don already transfer commot before the burn happen no dey affected.
Also, anybody wey true true from their mind buy wALPH from market and wey no join the exploit no lose anything. The burn wey happen only target assets wey still dey under the hacker control.
This thief theif no affect better users, and e no touch any asset wey dey for the Alephium Layer 1 blockchain gon gor.
As e be now, the bridge still dey disabled as security review, investigation, and remediation continue to dey happen.
Decentralization and Immutability
Many people carry for mind say decentralization and immutability na the same thing, but dem different well well.
A decentralized system fit still make changes if plenti authorized people gree.
The real question wey dey now no be whether change fit happen. The question na who get authority to approve am and how many people must gree before e go happen.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Alephium, and many other decentralized networks don upgrade their protocols before through community agreement.
Hard forks, governance actions, and protocol upgrades all show say decentralized participants fit collectively agree make changes.
The example wey people know well well na the Ethereum DAO Fork, where the Ethereum community gree to reverse the effects of one major exploit wey happen and restore the ones wey them thief.
Na similar situation happen for here.
No be one person wake up decide say make them burn the tokens. All the Bridge Guardians put mouth come conclude say make the temporary upgrade happen before e come happen. Na from there them come carry burn the fake wALPH.
Bridge governance no be the same as Layer 1 blockchain governance. Bridges dey usually carry smaller groups of Guardians or Validators wey dey secure the bridge and approve upgrades before e happen.
Smart Contract Assets vs Native Assets
This wahala wey happen dey also show one difference wey make sense well well, wey dey between smart contract assets and native blockchain assets.
The burn wey happen dey possible because wALPH na smart contract token wey dey Ethereum.
For Ethereum, ownership and balances of plenti tokens dey controlled by smart contracts.
Depending on how the developers carry design the contract, administrators fit freeze funds, blacklist addresses, burn tokens, upgrade contract logic, or even add new functions through governance.
As e be, sometimes these abilities dey inside the contract from the beginning. Other times, dem fit add am later if the contract dey support upgrades.
One common example na USDT, where the issuer fit freeze or blacklist addresses under some kind situation.
Different systems get different governance rules wey them dey use. Some dey require many independent approvals, while others fit depend only on kekere, few administrators.
For this Alephium bridge wahala wey happen, all the Bridge Guardians carry hand do approval before any better thing happen.
Native Alephium assets dey completely different.
ALPH gon gor and other native Alephium tokens dey recorded directly for the blockchain using Alephium's UTXO model, no be by smart contracts.
As e carry be, nobody fit change ownership by upgrading one contract or to dey call any admin function.
For the hacker to do wetin resemble wetin him do for the xALPH exploit, for on top native ALPH head, e go require a full protocol upgrade which go need broad agreement across the Alephium ecosystem — no be just to change one application or smart contract.
This one na one major difference between Alephium and other plenti EVM blockchains.
As e carry be, native Alephium assets already directly dey inside the protocol instead of application contracts, which come dey give better stronger protection against governance abuse and smart contract risks wey full for ground.
Alephium dey support the two systems.
Developers fit build native protocol assets for better gidigba security, or make smart contract-managed assets when dem need extra programmability or administrative features.
Investigation and remediation still dey continue as I dey write like this.
More updates go show later.
We Thank una for una support.
Disclaimer
This is a community-run blog for third-party contributors. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect the official Alephium project. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Cryptocurrency carries risk and is highly volatile. Information may be incomplete or outdated. Always conduct your own research. We disclaim liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on this article.
