Reversible transactions could mitigate crypto theft — Researchers

cointelegraph.com:

Stanford University researchers have come up with a prototype for “reversible transactions” on Ethereum, arguing it could be a solution to reduce the impact of crypto theft.

In a Sept. 25 tweet, Stanford University blockchain researcher Kaili Wang shared a run down of the Ethereum-based reversible token idea, noting that at this stage it is not a finished concept but more of a “proposal to provoke discussion and even better solutions from the blockchain community,” noting:

The proposal was put together by blockchain researchers from Stanford, including Wang, Dan Boneh, Qinchen Wang, and it outlines “opt-in token standards that are siblings to ERC-20 and ERC-721” dubbed ERC-20R and ERC-721R.

Billions in crypto stolen. If we can't stop the thefts, can we reduce the harmful effects?Over recent months, a couple other @Stanford researchers and I drew out and prototyped ERC-20R/721R to support reversible transactions on #Ethereum.See post & :https://t.co/38Hs0F9goU

However, Wang clarified that the prototype was not to replace ERC-20 tokens or make Ethereum reversible, explaining that it is an opt-in standard that "simply allows a short time window post-transaction for thefts to be contested and possibly restored."

Under the proposed token standards, if someone has their funds stolen, they can submit a freeze request on the assets to a governance contract. This will then be followed up by a decentralized court of judges that need to quickly vote “within a day or two at most” to approve or reject the request.

Both sides of the transaction would also be able to provide evidence to the judges so that they have enough information, in theory, to come to a fair decision.

For NFTs, the process would be relatively straightforward as the