Intelligent Fin.tech Issue 05 | Page 17

GAUGING THE MARKET

HOW FRAUDSTERS ATTACK BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND HOW IT CAN BE PREVENTED

Here , Ralph Chammah , CEO at OwlGaze , outlines how fraudsters attack the blockchain and how organisations can overcome these threats .

The global financial crisis of 2008 – 09 resulted in the development of the Bitcoin whitepaper – which introduced the world to the idea of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency . Within blockchain , information is stored in several databases ( blocks ) that are linked together chronologically through cryptographic hashes to form a distributed network ( chain ). Since its inception , the global blockchain market is expected to hit US $ 67.5 billion by 2026 .

Within the realm of banking , financial services and insurance ( BFSI ) the evolution of cryptocurrencies as an asset class for investors has furthered the commercialisation of blockchain technology through decentralised finance ( DeFi ) services . As of 2021 , over 6,000 cryptocurrencies are being traded freely with the global cryptocurrency market reaching US $ 990 billion . Serving investors ’ needs are exchanges , lenders , asset managers , custodians , cross-border payment applications and clearing and settlement houses that all benefit from the surge in blockchain use cases .
However , despite the increasing penetration of blockchain and the astronomical valuations of related businesses , a lack of global regulations , standards and guidelines has put all players in a grey area . Moreover , the technology is still in its nascent stages where several design and development vulnerabilities place blockchain architecture at a higher risk of exploitation by bad actors . This security problem further extends to companies exclusively storing or transacting cryptocurrencies through digital wallets .
Vulnerabilities around blockchain
There are several known vulnerabilities and attacks facing the blockchain architecture that were discovered since its early days , including 51 % attacks , time jacking , crypto-jacking , forking attacks , eclipse attacks and smart contract vulnerabilities such as re-entrancy attacks , overflow attacks and balance attacks to name a few . But what are the main exposure points ?
Over 6,000 cryptocurrencies are being traded freely with the global cryptocurrency market . www . intelligentfin . tech
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