Market Data 
- Lazarus Group stole 401,000 ETH ($1.4B) from Bybit on Feb 21, 2025.
- Mow proposes ETH rollback; Bybit offers $140M bounty for recovery.
- Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade at risk if rollback disrupts April launch.
Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3 and a vocal Bitcoin supporter, recently called for an Ethereum blockchain rollback following the $1.4 billion Bybit exchange hack on February 21, 2025. The Lazarus Group, tied to North Korea, stole over 401,000 ETH, prompting Mow to propose reversing the chain. On X, he claimed to be discussing options with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, urging traders to halt ETH transactions during talks.
Mow suggested renaming the current chain “ETHNK,” hinting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un could run its validators, while the restored chain keeps the “ETH” ticker alongside Ethereum Classic (ETC).
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
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou responded cautiously, suggesting a community vote rather than a single decision-maker dictating the rollback. He emphasized blockchain’s democratic spirit and thanked industry peers for support. Zhou also outlined Bybit’s recovery efforts, including a $140 million bounty for white hat hackers and collaboration with law enforcement and the Ethereum Foundation.
Community and Expert Perspectives Emerge
Ethereum Foundation’s Tim Beiko countered Mow’s proposal, arguing a rollback proves impractical today. He recalled the 2016 DAO hack, where a 30-day freeze enabled a hard fork splitting Ethereum and ETC. Now, with ETH powering vast economic activity, Beiko warned of ecosystem disruption. He noted the Lazarus Group’s fund movements across 54 wallets, holding 489,395 ETH per Lookonchain data, complicating recovery.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen pledged to block Lazarus-linked transactions, while Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed freezing 181,000 USDT tied to the hack. Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser joined Mow, mocking Ethereum’s centralization and backing the rollback. However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, while sending 50,000 ETH to Bybit, remained silent on the rollback debate, focusing on liquidity aid alongside MEXC and Bitget’s contributions of 12,652 stETH and 64,452 ETH.
Technical Hurdles and Broader Implications
Beiko highlighted ETH’s complexity compared to Bitcoin’s 2010 rollback, when Satoshi Nakamoto fixed a 184 billion BTC bug with minimal impact. Today’s ETH rollback risks the Pectra upgrade, set for April, which developers have refined for over a year. Opposition echoes the 2018 Parity wallet case, where 500,000 ETH remained unrecovered due to community resistance.
Mow tied the stolen funds to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, proposing EIP-1559 tweaks to adjust Ethereum’s fee burn. However, Zhou’s call for consensus and Beiko’s technical concerns underscore the tension between security and decentralization.
