On Wednesday, July 15, profiles of prominent figures were hacked in what the media called “Bitcoin Hack.” Acclaimed Bitcoin hackers perpetrated the hack, tracking down the accounts of the several U.S. and non-U.S. high profile individuals, exchanges, and corporate profile accounts. The Cryptocurrency related Twitter hack affected the following accounts: 

Exchanges: Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin, Gemini, Bitfinex, Bitcoin, Ripple, and CoinDesk

People: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Floyd Mayweather, Kanye West, Changpeng Zhao, Charlie Lee, Justin Sun, Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Wiz Khalifa, Bill Gates, XXXTentacion, Kim Kardashian West, and MrBeast

Corporate: Cash App, Apple, and Uber

However, this piece does not discuss the Cryptocurrency related Twitter hack, but sheds light on how it is good for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies in general. Meanwhile, it is necessary to reference the profiles affected to express the depth of the activities. 

Opinions.

As usual, the media has a way of spreading news. However, it does not mean that all the news is accurate, as it could be a mere personal opinion. In the event of the Twitter hack, various people viewed it in a different prism. Some believed that it was a red flag on Bitcoin, while others believed that it is for Bitcoin’s advantage. 

While the various views hold, let’s look at the popular opinions. Meanwhile, before challenging the different views, here are the three major points of the parties: 

It is a Scam that Leads People to Lose Bitcoin. 

The process targeting public and person verified profiles received 11.5 BTC worth $106,200 and sent out 5.8 BTC worth $53,600 in 278 transactions. From this, the media tagged it as a Bitcoin scam. However, it was not Bitcoin that was backed, but the centralized social media platform, Twitter. 

It is Publicity for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency. 

According to LunarCRUSH, a Crypto social media tracker, there was a total of 550,000 Cryptocurrency-related posts within 24 hours on Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and Medium. Also, within two hours after the hack, over 100,000 people simultaneously posted about Bitcoin. 

In retaliation to this, defenders of this opinion stated that there is no bad publicity. Hence, it is good for crypto, as more people now heard of the space. 

It is Exploiting the Weakness of Centralized Media.

During the hack, it is reported that a Crypto researcher took action and traced the wallet. Unlike the centralized fiats, the in and out movements of the Bitcoin wallet was transparent. Hence, it was not a bad day for Bitcoin because it did not violate its principles. Rather, social media did.

This means that there is a need for decentralized social media platforms where there will be no single point of failure.

A Call for Actions.

Herein, this event is a wake-up call for those in the Crypto space, such as Cryptocurrency community regulators to address the centralization and regulatory framework of Cryptocurrency. 

Decentralized Social Media.

The centralized system simply suggests building a distributed system that cannot be a target, as seen in the Twitter hack. Recall that several accounts were hacked, meaning Twitter is a tool that is compromised either through an insider or other means. Therefore, if it were in a Blockchain-based media, the accounts will be distributed across the nodes. 

Regulatory Framework.

Regarding regulations, authorities at this moment show that Cryptocurrency transactions are transparent. Consequently, a question comes to mind: When do they want to build frameworks that will support mainstream adoptions?

Developers and Cryptocurrency Community.

Although Bitcoin nor Cryptocurrency networks were affected in this hack, the security, privacy, and transparent functionalities of the network should be increased. On the other hand, the community should now be aware of the various ways they can lose Crypto assets.

Okereke Chinweokwu

Okereke has a passion for researching blockchain and cryptocurrency. He enjoys creating long form educational content to inform others on the opportunities in this space.