Reflecting on an Early Syscoin  Event

As we move forward with future developments and Syscoin’s upcoming core upgrade, we want to address an event from seven years ago that has recently come to the Foundation’s attention. 

In late 2018, a Core Developer's coins were stolen during an OTC transaction. Upon discovering the theft, two police reports were filed, and necessary measures were taken to try and prevent the stolen coins from being sold on the open market. It is important to note that at the time, Syscoin was under the stewardship of Blockchain Foundry (BCF), a publicly traded company. The current Syscoin Foundation had not yet assumed governance or development oversight of the blockchain.

At that time, an upgrade was already planned as part of Syscoin’s technical roadmap to introduce certain improvements. Because this upgrade required a snapshot of the chain, it presented an opportunity to restore the stolen coins to their rightful owner without causing broader market disruptions. Taking this step not only aligned with industry best practices during that time, but also demonstrated a commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the network and the community’s trust. This move was consistent with actions taken by other major projects that faced similar challenges at the time:

  • Ethereum enacted the DAO rollback in 2016, returning funds after a high-profile exploit.
  • Bitcoin once performed a confidential fix for the “unlimited coin” bug.

Following the upgrade, those recovered coins were allocated to development efforts—including building the Systhereum bridge, performing Z-DAG performance audits, and funding various bounties.

The Syscoin Foundation was made aware of the scam attempt during the recent legal proceedings against two former board members of the Foundation. The scam attempt was raised by the counterparty which prompted the Foundation to conduct a comprehensive investigation surrounding it. Whilst the Court has ruled in favor of Syscoin and found no evidence of wrongdoing by the Foundation and its current members of the board, we believe, as always, that the best way to address any real or perceived issues is with full openness and transparency.

All subsequent updates have been, and will continue to be, backward-compatible, ensuring a high degree of decentralization and immutability

Looking Ahead

Syscoin’s newest core upgrade is forthcoming and is a major milestone, building on the 10 years of Syscoin’s innovation. As a preview, we’ve launched one aspect of the full upgrade - zkSYS testnet, an AI-powered zkRollup that leverages Bitcoin security to offer unparalleled scalability, eliminating the tradeoff between security and affordability. We encourage you to try out zkSYS’s bridging features, claim your test tokens, and view all testnet activity to date.

Additional updates bring new capabilities for node operators, foster better on-chain governance, and set the stage for truly trustless, BTC-pegged cross-chain solutions via BitVM. It also embodies our commitment to transparency, security, and community-driven progress.


If you're a Sentry node operator, we strongly encourage you to participate in the upcoming governance votes. More details will be shared in early February. Your voice is essential in shaping the future of Syscoin

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we are shaping a future where Bitcoin’s security meets cutting-edge interoperability, forging a blockchain ecosystem that can scale to meet real-world demands. Here’s to a bold new chapter and a thriving, decentralized ecosystem built on innovation, and community-first principles.

Jan 31, 2025 by Syscoin Foundation