Linea Temporarily Suspends Block Production Following Hack on Velocore
In response to a hack involving Velocore, a decentralized exchange on its network, Linea, an Ethereum layer 2, has made the radical decision to suspend block production.
This intervention, which prevented the conversion of a portion of the stolen tokens into ETH, involved pausing the blockchain sequencer and censoring the attacker’s addresses. This incident, which occurred on June 2nd, saw the unauthorized withdrawal of 700 ETH, equivalent to $2.6 million.
Immediate Response to the Hack
The suspension affected blocks 5081800 to 5081801. In response to this hack, Linea clarified its intentions to fully decentralize the network to avoid the need for such emergency measures in the future.
Linea’s goal is to decentralize our network, including the sequencer. Once our network has achieved a decentralized and censorship-resistant maturity, the Linea team will no longer have the ability to halt block production or censor addresses.
Decentralization and Securing Layer 2
Linea’s remarks reflect a broader trend in the cryptocurrency ecosystem where centralization of the sequencer poses significant challenges. Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs and head of development for zkSync, a competitor to Linea, emphasized the urgency for layer 2 solutions to prioritize decentralization.
Linea, supported by Consensys and utilizing ZK rollup technology, admits to still being in a construction phase, indicating persistent centralization but with firm plans to transition to a decentralized model. Declan Fox, Linea’s product manager, reiterated this commitment, stating that Linea is on track to decentralize all aspects of the network within a very aggressive timeline.
Decentralizing the sequencer would allow multiple nodes, managed by various parties, to order and batch transactions on the layer 2 before submitting them to Ethereum. While most layer 2 solutions do not yet have decentralized sequencers, the trend is clearly towards decentralization, not only to enhance security but also to improve network impartiality and efficiency.
