A blockchain researcher has raised concerns over the security architecture put in place by the founders of the Polygon network, saying that the platform is designed to make it exit scam probable.
The CIO and founder of Cyber Capital, Justin Bons said that the Polygon network is still very unsafe and a centralized platform. Bons made the revelation in a series of tweets in which he explained some of the risks associated with the Polygon network.
5 Persons Can Compromise The Network
According to the August 15 posts, Bons said that it would take just 5 persons to breach the security of Polygon. He added that the centralization of the network was designed in a way that 4 out of the 5 possible takeover nodes are controlled by four founders of the network.
According to Bons, who is a blockchain researcher, this weak link in the blockchain implies that just five persons can compromise a network of $2 billion.
He further explained the situation as adding salt to injury, describing the situation as “reckless and irresponsible” and implying that it could be a matter of time before a big hack affects the Polygon network.
Centralized Security Centered On Founders
In a series of tweets, Bons explained that:
“The Polygon admin key is controlled by a 5 out of 8 multisig contract The founders control the first 4 keys”
He added that the remaining keys are controlled by entities that were appointed by the founders of the blockchain network.
He added that a conspiracy among any of the appointed entities with the four founders would lead to a hack that empties all the funds of the Polygon contract.
Team is Opaque On Security
He highlighted that the Polygon team has been opaque about the security of the network and its cryptography. He said that this is a cause for concern especially for owners who deployed contracts on the Polygon network as well as other users and the coin community at large.
He added that it is a possibility that an entity controls admin keys, but added that when the security process is shrouded in secrecy, it defeats the essence of safety, adding that the Polygon team has not shared full disclosure on how the funds on the platform have been secured.
Bons said that the Polygon safety issue has been complicated by the fact that a request for full disclosure made by Chris Blec, a recognized delegate of MakerDAO and the founder of DeFiWatch was rebuffed by the Polygon team.
Issue Not Yet Addressed
He added that the fact that the Polygon team refused to respond to the May 20th, 2020 request should be a red flag for investors.
Bons added that instead of a disclosure, the May 15th, 2021 response of the Polygon network is more of a defense of the status quo.
“Neither did it address the need to migrate the contract to mitigate the admin key risk!”
Bons said that in a bid to address centralization of the network, Polygon announced governance decentralization on January 19, 2022. And still did not address the issue of the multisig.
17/25) Polygon’s ability to exit scam;
Actually, help’s to justify genuine scammers doing the same thing!
That is the ripple effect of having low standards in our ecosystem
They are also exposing themselves to danger as they become targets as human points of centralization!
— Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) August 15, 2022
This practice is widespread among cryptocurrency projects, but this does not excuse the fact that it is irresponsible.
“I am focusing on Polygon because they are one of the largest cryptocurrencies that have this issue,” Bon said.
He added that the standard that has been employed by Polygon in terms of security actually aids in justifying “genuine scammers” doing the same. He stated that the human point centralization would prove calamitous as higher value of funds are locked up in the network.
