- VeChain rejects ByBit’s claims whereas stressing that previous blocklist motion was a single theft response.
- Audits affirm that no built-in fund freeze software exists, solely validator-led block checks.
A heated dispute has emerged between VeChain and Bybit after a brand new report from Bybit’s Lazarus Safety Lab claimed that 16 main blockchains have built-in mechanisms to immediately freeze consumer funds. The report listed BNB Chain, VeChain, and Sui as among the many affected.
Bybit alleged that VeChain makes use of everlasting hardcoded blacklisting, first utilized in 2019, implying that the system might completely freeze wallets. VeChain shortly rejected the declare on X, stating that it “doesn’t and has by no means operated a ‘hidden’ fund freezing characteristic on its protocol.”
The agency referred to as the examine “factually incorrect and reputationally damaging.”
The corporate clarified that the 2019 case cited by Bybit concerned a one-time community-approved response to a theft, not a built-in freeze mechanism. In line with VeChain, the blocklist was used to guard the ecosystem after a single pockets was compromised by a stolen non-public key.
Supply: X
Clarifying the 2019 Incident and Governance Actions
In December 2019, a VeChain pockets was compromised, ensuing within the theft of funds. To restrict additional loss, the neighborhood accredited a short lived measure to dam the addresses tied to the theft. Unbiased validators up to date their node software program to cease any transactions linked to these wallets.
Throughout this course of, no funds had been seized, and none had been transferred. Validators selected to not affirm transactions from the blacklisted wallets, which prevented the stolen 727 million VET from being offered. The motion was executed brazenly by on-chain governance, and the tokens had been later burned with full assist from the neighborhood.
VeChain said that the protocol doesn’t embrace any operate that permits a single celebration to grab or freeze funds. The system is constructed on neighborhood consensus and the actions of validators relatively than any central authority. The corporate stated,
We wish to encourage the writer of the report back to do a deep dive into the technical variations between blocking and freezing, after which contemplate the implications of getting the 2 combined up in a public discussion board.
Unbiased Audits and Evaluations Again VeChain
The platform said that VeChainThor’s software program consists of consensus-level checks that permit validators to pause transactions if the neighborhood approves. Unbiased audits have confirmed a number of instances that Vechain doesn’t create any secret freezing mechanism.
The ICC Group’s “Galactica Safety Evaluation” report, which was accomplished on Could 6, 2025, recognized two points. Each have been fastened. One concerned transaction precedence, and the opposite concerned the prospect of a division by zero. The audit workforce famous that the code was written in a transparent approach and adopted secure practices. They prompt rising node range to strengthen the community.
In Could 2025, an audit by Coinspect confirmed that the platform makes use of a consensus-level blocklist that solely prompts when accredited by its governance construction. Hacken’s evaluation of VeChain from 2023 to 2024, masking account abstraction and marketplace-as-a-service options, reported no main threats and gave the venture a ten/10 safety ranking.
In the meantime, VeChain’s VET token is buying and selling at $0.01683, down 2.18% over the previous day. Day by day buying and selling exercise has fallen 43% to $50.27 million, reflecting the overall response to the controversy surrounding Bybit’s report.
