Share this article
Specter of Ethereum Hard Fork Worries Australian Banking Group
As the ethereum community debates a hard fork option to undo losses sustained by The DAO, ANZ is questioning the credibility of public blockchains.
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:21 p.m. Published Jun 29, 2016, 4:10 p.m.
Everywhere the ethereum community looks for a solution to the collapse of The DAO, obstacles lay in its path.
After news yesterday that a proposed soft fork solution carried with it a previously unidentified exploit, we're now seeing an example of the kinds of objections Ethereum may face if a proposed hard fork is implemented.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Speaking today at the Blockchain Summit in Melbourne, Australia, ANZ Banking Group’s executive manager, Nicholas Groves said that the incident has highlighted the importance of "who controls a public blockchain".
According to a Financial Review report, groves added:
"Had we been running something on ethereum that was not the DAO and everything got rolled back, we'd potentially lose two weeks of stuff and for a bank that's quite risky."
Concerns over a hard fork that would roll-back transactions to restore funds lost in the attack on the ethereum-based fund have been percolating since earlier this month, but the reaction by ANZ is the first we’ve seen by a global banking institution.
However, this isn’t the first time ANZ has expressed skepticism about the technology.
For example, in May, AMZ’s general manager of global digital technology, Christiain Vente, wrote an article on the company’s blog about nine reasons banks aren't using blockchain.
Image of AMZ ATMs via AMZ
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Barclays Sees ‘Down-Year’ for Crypto in 2026 Without Big Catalysts
Spot trading volumes are cooling, and investor enthusiasm is fading amid a lack of structural growth drivers, analysts wrote in a new report.
What to know:
- Barclays forecasts lower crypto trading volumes in 2026, with no clear catalysts to revive market activity.
- Spot market slowdowns pose revenue challenges for retail-focused platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood, the bank said.
- Regulatory clarity, including pending market structure legislation, could shape long-term market growth despite near-term headwinds.
Top Stories
