Photo: BloombergPortland: A more than $500 million record heist from a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, the latest in a long line of high-profile hacks, is directing attention to a new kind of venue that makes it harder for would-be thieves. Hackers have repeatedly cracked open the virtual vaults where they’re stashed, stealing billions of dollars worth of assets over the years. Called decentralized exchanges, the newfangled markets being developed or already deployed by AirSwap, EtherDelta and others sidestep that vulnerability by giving up the vault entirely. “If a rogue transaction happens in a decentralized exchange, there is no way to revert the transaction,” said Matt Suiche, founder of security provider Comae Technologies. “It’s tough to get folks to jump ship for the decentralized exchange, and we recognize that,” said Alan Curtis, chief executive officer at Radar.

Source: Mint January 30, 2018 00:22 UTC