Stanford develops prototypes of tokens for reversible ETH transactions

What’s new? Researchers at Stanford University have created prototypes of the ERC-20R and ERC-721R tokens needed to enable “reversible transactions” on Ethereum. Blockchain researcher Kaili Wang wrote about this on her blog. In partnership with colleagues Dan Boneh and Qinchen Wan, new token standards were created that allow for a short period of time (up to 3 days) after a transaction is made to challenge it. According to experts, the development will minimize the consequences of crypto thefts.

Kaili Wang’s blog

What is the essence of the initiative? A user who is a victim of crypto fraud can post a freeze request on assets with a decentralized court. Within one or two days, the regulator should reject or accept the request. Wang’s blog states that the trial will proceed this way:

“Both sides can then present evidence to the decentralized set of judges. Eventually the judges reach a decision, at which point they instruct the governance contract to call either the reverse or rejectReverse functions on the impacted ERC-20R or ERC-721R contract. If rejectReverse is called, the freeze on the disputed assets is released. The trial may be lengthy, possibly taking several weeks.”

If a victim files for the theft of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the process will be simplified because judges will have the ability to block the account of whoever became the illegal owner of the tokens. Provided the cryptocurrencies are stolen, the attacker can split the assets and run them through mixing services, making the process of transaction reversibility more difficult. The researchers’ development is currently under discussion.

In late August, Cardano blockchain developers invested $4,5 million to establish a blockchain technology research hub at Stanford University. The team noted that the new hub will study and promote different areas of the industry, not just the Cardano ecosystem.

Earlier, analysts at cybersecurity firm Peckshield reported that hackers stole more than $446 million worth of cryptocurrency in three summer months through hacks. In August, the loss from 18 attacks on crypto platforms totaled $208,5 million. In July, hackers carried out 12 hacks worth $10,2 million, and in June, attackers withdrew $227,76 million during 21 attacks.