Ruby Protocol — The Crypto Misconceptions You Need to Unlearn
Welcome back to Ruby Protocol.
Unless you live in a coma, you are probably aware of the recent hacks on Binance Smart Chain, which was paused on Thursday after more than $500m in BNB, the Binance ecosystem’s native token, was drained from the official bridge. According to blockchain security firm SlowMist, the exploit allowed cybercriminals to get away with over $570 million in digital assets, including Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
While building Ruby Protocol to make privacy and privacy protection possible and accessible for Web3 and the general world, we gradually find that the most critical work besides the technology building is changing the outdated ideas that hinder privacy protection development.
By no means are we making excuses for Web3 builders. And you are right to think that any builder should be responsible for creating a user-friendly product that excels in whatever they purport to do.
In the process of human-computer interaction, human actors bear a “special responsibility”, especially those who design it. Design, by definition, is a process of inscription in which designers write specific patterns into their products while facilitating and forcing user behaviors. All products guide user behaviors.
However, we believe it is equally important to improve the security awareness of individuals because once that’s covered, it will work far better than a bunch of machines.
This is why we at Ruby Protocol curated some of the most popular and detrimental understandings about crypto and Web3 that you should know to protect yourself in this unknown world. If taken as truth, we believe these misconceptions will likely put you and your assets in danger.
Code Is Law
In crypto and Web3, people often take “Code is Law” as the fundamental maxim, believing if specific rules are not written down into code, it is prone to tampering.
However, even if code can one day reproduce the qualities of legal rules, it cannot truly replace law itself because the law is more than just a compilation of legal rules. Law as a system is greater than the sum of its parts. It espouses virtues, objectives, and the legal method. Code is embodied by computing values interacting through a system of formal logic, representing a different set of instrumental values.
In reality, once malicious actors in crypto hurt people, none of the victims hope the code is the law. People will eventually turn to real-life laws.
Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins
Remember this: Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins.
However, in reality, users who don’t have the capabilities and discipline to manage their private keys still end up having issues with crypto security. Sometimes, people find it even safer to put their assets on a major and reputable platform.
In Blockchain We Trust, Not Human
In fact, blockchain itself does have the ability to solve some fundamental trust issues, such as tamper-proof and anti-censorship. For example, if my assets and related activities are on the blockchain, I can believe that no one can take my assets and tamper with my activities without authorization. But the reality is often cruel. Firstly, not all blockchains can check all boxes; secondly, human nature will always be the most significant breakthrough point.
So keep a default distrust of everything and do an excellent job verifying everything and everyone around you that is related to your crypto assets. Security is not static, and even if everything is smooth now, it does not mean it will not be a problem in the future. And remember to test your abilities more frequently. It’s fun, and you’ll learn a lot. When you are strong enough, no one can bully you easily.
Cryptography Is Not a Panacea
Cryptography is really powerful and important. Without the efforts of so many cryptographers, solid cryptographic algorithms, and engineering, our current communication technology, Internet technology, and blockchain technology would only exist in science fiction. But unfortunately, some people regard cryptographic security as the security of everything.
Strong cryptography is very powerful when it is done right, but it is not a panacea. Focusing on the cryptographic algorithms while ignoring other security aspects is like defending your house, not by building a fence around it, but by putting an immense stake into the ground and hoping that the adversary runs right into it. Clever attackers will go around the algorithms.
Just as it’s possible to build a weak structure using strong materials, it’s possible to build a weak cryptographic system using strong algorithms and protocols.
Don’t Be Ashamed/Don’t Be Arrogate
Being hacked does cause some mixed feelings, like feelings of shame.
But you need to understand that being hacked is 100% universal in this new digital world. There’s no need to wallow in shame and self-loathing. Remember the pains and learn from them, and you will eventually get stronger and attract good luck. You could argue that you’re at least worth being targeted by hackers. The shame is not you being hacked.
The real shame is arrogance.
References:
https://github.com/slowmist/Blockchain-dark-forest-selfguard-handbook
https://legal-tech.blog/is-code-law
https://www.coinbase.com/learn/crypto-basics/7-biggest-bitcoin-myths
https://www.investopedia.com/tech/top-bitcoin-myths/
https://firi.com/articles/myths-and-misconceptions-about-cryptocurrency
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294553032_Encryption_is_not_a_panacea_for_data_security
About Us
Ruby Protocol is a cross-chain, privacy-first infrastructure, powered by Polkadot. Our layer-1 protocol utilizes Functional Encryption (FE) cryptography, which allows users to adopt a modular approach to data privacy and ownership. This novel solution will allow users to encrypt sensitive information on-chain, which can only be decrypted by holders of an approved private key.
Ruby’s FE Substrate-pallet will serve as the building blocks for privacy-first smart contract DApps building on the native Ruby Chain, while also acting as a privacy layer for Parachains and Web3 DApps across the Polkadot ecosystem.
