My Trip Down the Crypto Rabbit Hole in Search of the DAO Hacker
A reporter’s investigation of the massive heist that shook Ethereum leads from cyberspace to a Tokyo blockchain entrepreneur.
In 2016 a spectacular series of hacks siphoned millions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency ether from a virtual venture capital fund called the DAO. In a new book, Bloomberg News reporter Matthew Leising tells the story of the DAO hack and the growth of Ethereum—the Bitcoin-like blockchain technology that works with the ether token. The search for the name of anyone potentially associated with the hacks was twisty and mind-bending—so we’ve adapted this excerpt with footnotes to guide your way.
It was a beautiful day in Zurich, and I couldn’t tell if my hand shook from the coffee I’d had or if I was scared. The man across the table from me wore glasses and a plaid scarf. He was maybe in his late 50s and had lost some hair. I thought I was talking to a thief.
Not many people know there wasn’t only one attack on the DAO.1 The Friday attack that stole $55 million is famous, but a second attack four days later on Tuesday, June 21, nabbed more than 269,000 ether, worth about $3.5 million at the time, making it the second-largest DAO theft.2 I believe that the two attacks were carried out by separate people, with the Tuesday attack being a copycat.