Can blockchain stop hackers or human nature?
Written by: Bright, Foresight News
Starting from 9:29 PM on April 15, ZKsync, one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Ethereum L2", saw its price flash crash by 17.2% in just seven minutes, briefly dropping to $0.0396. Subsequently, the Korean exchange Bithumb suspended deposits and withdrawals for ZKsync due to security issues.
Official Response and Community Doubts
At 9:49 PM on April 15, ZKsync's Official Twitter released a statement saying their security team discovered a stolen admin account that controlled ZK tokens worth approximately $5 million, which were not created out of thin air but from unclaimed tokens from a previous ZKsync airdrop. They stated that the abnormal issuance and selling were due to a stolen key in an isolated incident, limited to the airdrop contract. All user funds remain safe and were never at risk; the ZKsync protocol and ZK token contract were unaffected, with no additional tokens at risk of theft.
At 11:25 PM, ZKsync's Official Twitter updated the latest developments of the theft, "Investigation reveals that the admin account 0x842822c797049269A3c29464221995C56da5587D responsible for managing three airdrop distribution contracts has been compromised. The attacker called the sweepUnclaimed() function, minting approximately 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens. This transaction increased the total circulating tokens by about 0.45%. This incident is limited to the airdrop distribution contract, and all mintable funds have been minted."
Despite the official's quick two-time response, the on-chain token issuance and dumping were truly shocking. The community did not buy the official "investigation" and strongly questioned whether it was a centralized malicious act by the team.
Community members stated that ZKsync's statement was completely perfunctory and could not shake off suspicions of insider theft. They emphasized the potential consequences of losing VC token trust due to the ZKsync incident.
Top-tier "Ghost Chain" and Liquidity Crisis
ZKsync was once a "top-tier project" in Ethereum's Layer 2, one of the four mainstream Rollup solutions (Optimism, Arbitrum, zkSync, StarkNet). ZKsync uses ZK Rollup technology, directly verifying data validity through zero-knowledge proofs by moving transaction processing from the Ethereum mainnet to a sidechain, significantly reducing transaction fees and improving speed.
However, ZKsync's on-chain data can be described as "desolate", with many community members calling it a "ghost chain". Since the June 24 airdrop, most ecosystem participants chose to immediately sell off, with both TVL and protocol revenue plummeting. According to defillama data, ZKsync's active address count has dropped 83.5% since June 24, with daily trading volume plunging 86%. After March, ZKsync's daily protocol revenue was barely over $1,000. More bizarrely, from March 14 to March 27, ZKsync's protocol revenue was $0.
ZKsync had attempted to salvage its dismal ecosystem activity. In January, ZKsync launched the Ignite program, planning to distribute 300 million ZK tokens (about $60 million) over 9 months, aiming to attract more liquidity to its Layer 2 network and promote rapid DeFi ecosystem development. This plan briefly boosted ZKsync's TVL by nearly 90% in just a week, from $97 million to $184 million. However, the plan was quickly halted after the market downturn in March, which also laid the groundwork for today's "issuance and dump" drama.
It can be said that ZKsync faces common problems of Ethereum L2 - thin applications, sharp decline in daily active users, and dismal revenue, with ZKsync's liquidity performance possibly being among the worst.
"Broken Window Effect" and Trust Crisis
In the few days before ZKsync's theft, the crypto space had already experienced OM's one-click liquidation, KiloEX protocol theft, and Odinfun theft. It felt like a crypto version of "The Matrix" was being played out.
However, statements like "All responsibility lies with the hackers, we will provide an investigation report soon" have lost all effectiveness among community members. In fact, until now, including ZKsync, none of the stolen projects have made substantial positive statements about how stolen funds will be handled or how user losses will be compensated.
The broken window theory suggests that any visible signs of disorder, neglect, and crime might encourage further crime and antisocial behavior in an area. Because these signs indicate that order has been disrupted and lacks enforcement. In the still-chaotic Web3, when an OM can press the "SELL ALL" button and visibly avoid significant sanctions, projects with already questionable liquidity might implement soft "rugs" under various pretexts to exit.
Combined with the currently unclear market conditions, the dark forest nature of the crypto space resurfaces. The low cost of project misconduct and the high cost of users seeking truth are once again brought to the forefront. There's a sarcastic community saying that perfectly captures this moment - "Something that might get you 20 years in prison in the traditional world here only requires bearing some criticism."
So, never challenge a project's bottom line with funds. The silent spiral of morality will only sink deeper. Cherish those projects that continue to BUILD during uncertain market conditions, and may everyone Stay Safe and welcome victory.
