1.1.3 Assets: Reduced to "Targets of Attacks" in "Transparency"

Cryptocurrencies should have brought the hope of "asset autonomy", but due to "on-chain transparency", assets are exposed to "the eyes of the public".

• When ordinary users trade on DEX, the on-chain address, transaction amount, and position status are completely public. By analyzing on-chain data, hackers can accurately lock "fat addresses" with "large positions and frequent transactions", and then launch attacks through "phishing links" and "contract vulnerabilities".

• Institutional investors suffer even more. A hedge fund once deployed $100 million in assets on Ethereum. Because the on-chain address was marked, its position-building and position-reducing actions were monitored by the entire network. Every transaction was "front-run" by MEV robots, and it lost more than $5 million due to "slippage losses" in just half a year.

• Even "cold wallets" are not absolutely safe. In 2023, a Bitcoin whale had its private key cracked by hackers through a "side-channel attack" because it "posted the cold wallet address on a social platform", and BTC worth $200 million was stolen and has not been recovered so far.

In traditional finance, our bank accounts and stock holdings are protected by "privacy"; but in the crypto world, "decentralization" has unexpectedly brought "absolute transparency", turning assets into "treasures exposed to the sun" that may be snatched by coveters at any time.