Linea faces criticism over block production halt

Ethereum
layer-2
blockchain
Linea
has
come
under
scrutiny
from
the
crypto
community
following
its
decision
to
unilaterally
stop
block
production
in
response
to
a
hack
on
Velocore,
a
decentralized
exchange
(DEX)
operating
on
its
network.
The
move
has
ignited
a
discussion
about
the
importance
of
decentralization
and
censorship
resistance
in
the
blockchain
industry.

The
Velocore
hack
resulted
in
the
transfer
of
700
ETH,
worth
over
$2.6
million,
from
the
Linea
network
via
an
undisclosed
third-party
bridge.
Linea
stated
that
it
halted
the
sequencer
to
prevent
further
funds
from
being
bridged
out
after
failing
to
contact
the
DEX
team
promptly.
The
blockchain
also
censored
the
hacker’s
addresses
to
mitigate
the
impact
on
its
users.

Linea
defended
its
actions,
stating
that
the
hacker
was
starting
to
sell
a
significant
amount
of
tokens
for
ETH,
which
could
have
led
to
additional
problems
for
users
beyond
the
liquidity
pool-draining
exploit.

However,
the
crypto
community
has
criticized
Linea’s
decision,
with
some
arguing
that
it
contradicted
the
core
principles
of
decentralization
and
censorship
resistance.

Mert
Mumtaz,
CEO
of
Helius
Labs
and
a
Solana
supporter,

acknowledged
the
reasoning
behind
the
move
but
questioned
its
long-term
implications.
Alex
Gluchowski,
CEO
of
Matter
Labs,
stressed
the
importance
of
decentralization
for
all
sequencers
and
called
on
layer-2
solutions

to
prioritize
integrating
decentralization
into
their
platforms.

In
response
to
the
criticisms,
Linea
reaffirmed
its
commitment
to
decentralizing
its
network
and
sequencer
to
prevent
similar
incidents
in
the
future.
The
blockchain
stated
that
its
goal
is
to
create
a
“permissionless,
censorship-resistant
environment”
where
the
team
will
no
longer
have
the
power
to
halt
block
production
or
censor
addresses.

“When
our
network
matures
to
a
decentralized,
censorship-resistant
environment,
Linea’s
team
will
no
longer
have
the
ability
to
halt
block
production
and
censor
addresses
–
this
is
a
primary
goal
of
our
network,”
Linea
stated.

Linea
also
noted
that
most
competing
networks
still
depend
on
centralized
technical
operations
to
safeguard
ecosystem
participants.
The
incident
has
reignited
the
debate
about
the
role
of
centralized
entities
in
decentralized
systems
and
the
“blockchain
trilemma”
challenges
faced
by
protocols
and
networks
on
the
matter
of
balancing
security,
decentralization,
and
scalability
for
users.