The Chopping Block: How This DeFi Hack Negotiator Gets Hackers to Return Stolen Money Ep. 577

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with Ogle Crypto, a veteran negotiator in crypto hacks, to discuss the recent KyberSwap exploit, which involved an almost $50 million loss across various chains. 

Ogle shares how he initially became a negotiator, including his first case in which he tracked down a group of hackers from Hong Kong when they fled to Great Britain after stealing $24 million in funds. Ogle also shares his negotiation tactics, the typical profile of hackers he encounters today and his empathetic approach towards these often young and financially struggling individuals. 

Then the group raises concerns around the hype and marketing strategies of Blast, a new Layer 2 on Ethereum offering “native yields” that achieved $620 million of TVL in less than two weeks.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights: 

• How KyberSwap's sophisticated security was breached, resulting in an almost $50 million loss across various blockchain networks.
• Why Tarun suspects the behind-the-scenes workings of an organized group, rather than a lone attacker, in the KyberSwap incident.
• The evolution of crypto hacks towards more systematic and professional negotiations with hackers.
• Ogle's journey into the world of crypto hack negotiations, highlighted by a fascinating case of pinpointing hackers who had fled Hong Kong.
• Ogle's strategic approach to negotiating with hackers, balancing empathy and tactical communication.
• Profiling the typical hackers in these scenarios, focusing on their youth, origins, and backgrounds.
• Ogle's perspective on why he often finds a sense of understanding towards these young, misguided hackers.
• Assessing the crypto industry's response to white hat hackers: Are they adequately rewarded for safeguarding the digital frontier?
• The curious surge of investments into Blast, Ethereum's new Layer 2 contender, amidst swirling concerns and skepticism.
• Robert's take on why the Blast phenomenon could signal a troubling trend, surpassing the chaos of 2017, paralleled by Tarun's analogy to a “decentralized Herbalife.”
• Were Blast’s marketing tactics misleading or merely overly optimistic?

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly 
• Robert Leshner, founder of Compound
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly 
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Disclosures

Guest

Ogle Crypto, Crypto sleuth and negotiator

Links

Hacks

• Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack 
• Kyberswap’s hacker latest message
• HackerNoon: Mark Cuban's Bane: How Iron Finance's $TITAN Crypto Crashed From $60 to $0 
• Cointelegraph: KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot

Blast

• Unchained: Blast Surges to $300M TVL, Rapidly Gaining on Top Ethereum L2s Amid Concerns
• DefiLlama: Blast TVL

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