Digital Asset CEO: Canton guardrails can block N. Korea hackers

Digital Asset CEO Yuval Rooz told reporters Canton’s permissioned “guardrail” design can prevent North Korean-linked hacking groups from interacting with networks. He cited the $290 million Kelp DAO exploit and an Arbitrum security council intervention as examples that motivate tighter controls.

Canton is a public but permissioned blockchain that launched in 2024. The platform lets participants set access rules for the subnets they create and the digital assets they issue. Rooz said those controls would make it difficult for state-linked actors to operate inside Canton while allowing projects to choose how open or restricted their environments are.

Rooz noted North Korean-linked groups have shifted from simple phishing to longer infiltration campaigns and that those actors have taken more than $6 billion in crypto since 2017, according to a report from TRM Labs. He framed the design choice as a matter of institutional responsibility: “They have to make sure that bad actors cannot engage with their systems,” he said.

The debate over permissioned controls has intensified after the Kelp DAO loss and an Arbitrum response. A 12-member Arbitrum security council froze about $71 million that attackers had left exposed on the network. Rooz defended that intervention, saying, “Nobody should say that that’s a bad thing.” He added that Canton can be configured to permit open access similar to networks such as Ethereum and Solana, but he expects many consumer-facing applications will include safety parameters.

Following the Kelp DAO exploit, a coordinated relief effort promoted by Aave founder Stani Kulechov raised 132,650 Ether-about $303 million at recent prices-to help cover the losses.

Stablecoin issuers have taken different paths in response to illicit activity. Circle, the issuer of USDC, said it would not freeze stablecoins without a court order after attackers used its infrastructure to move funds. Tether, the issuer of USDT, has worked with authorities to freeze funds it says are tied to illicit finance.

Rooz observed that many DeFi users want broad freedom while avoiding risk. He predicted that the ability to quickly block or isolate bad actors will move from a contested feature to a commonly used safeguard for networks that serve mainstream financial customers.