Bitcoin maximalist and JAN3 boss Samson Mow calls for the Ethereum chain to be rolled back after North Korean hackers have exploited the Bybit exchange, stealing a whopping $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum.
Also, Bitcoin maxis seem to be trolling Ethereum’s leader Vitalik Buterin as they are spreading an identical tweet about “discussing the best way to roll back Ethereum” with him.
Meanwhile, other large crypto exchanges, including Binance have rushed to help the suffering platform and are sending tens of millions of dollars in ETH to Bybit.
As @VitalikButerin & I discuss the best way to roll back the Ethereum chain, it’s best for everyone to stop trading ETH.
Given that the rolled back chain will have the ticker $ETH, it’s prudent to rename the current one to $ETHNK, which I believe Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un will…
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) February 22, 2025
Samson Mow proposes Ethereum rollback
Mow, who has often criticized Ethereum and called it centralized, along with other Bitcoin maxis, such as Max Keiser, has published several consecutive tweets to comment on the situation with Bybit, which suffered one of the biggest hacks in the crypto space’s history.
Samson tweeted that he fully supports rolling back Ethereum (once again, he points out) so that the stolen ETH can be returned to Bybit. He also said that the stolen funds may be used to finance the North Korean nuclear weapons program, and Mow doesn’t want that to happen.
Allowing $ETHNK to proliferate is allowing an injection of $1.4B dollars into the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
We must roll Ethereum back. Restore $ETH now!
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) February 22, 2025
He and another BTC maxi, @SolveMaxwell, published the same tweet, saying they and Vitalik Buterin are discussing the best options to roll back Ethereum. “It’s best for everyone to stop trading ETH,” the tweet urges X readers. The tweet also mentions the non-existent but perhaps potential ETH-based version called ETHNK (NK stands for North Korea), which will remain after Vitalik rolls back Ethereum and “cancels” the stolen $1.4 billion worth of crypto.
Mow also suggested the following: “While we roll back, this is also an opportunity to adjust EIP-1559 to correct the deflationary burn mechanism.”
Exchanges support Bybit with ETH
The first Ethereum rollback mentioned by Mow took place in 2016 when the Ethereum DAO was hacked and 3.6 million ETH worth $50 million back then was stolen. As a result of that hard fork, the Ethereum Classic (ETC) chain emerged. This coin is also mentioned in the tweets shared by Mow and @SolveMaxwell.
MEXC hot wallet transferred 12,652 stETH (about 33.75 million USD) to Bybit cold wallet. Bybit should have received 64,452 ETH (about 170 million USD) in loan support from Bitget, an institution that withdrew funds from Binance, and MEXC. In addition, a whale or institution… https://t.co/QEwht185gD
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 22, 2025
Leading exchanges have responded and began sending liquidity to Bybit – Binance, MEXC, and Bitget. According to Colin Wu, they have transferred 50,000 ETH, 12,652 stETH, and 64,452 ETH as loans to support it.
