Should Arbitrum Have Frozen North Korea's Funds? Griff Green vs. Gabe Shapiro

Should Arbitrum Have Frozen North Korea's Funds? Griff Green vs. Gabe Shapiro

April 23, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the controversial decision by the Arbitrum Security Council to freeze $70M in ETH stolen by North Korean hackers, featuring a debate between Griff Green and Gabe Shapiro on the implications for DeFi.

The Arbitrum Security Council just made one of the most controversial decisions in DeFi history — freezing $70M in ETH stolen by North Korean hackers from the KelpDAO bridge exploit. But was it the right move? And what does it say about the systems we're building? Griff Green (Giveth Co-Founder and Arbitrum Security Council member) and Gabe Shapiro / Lex_node (crypto lawyer, MetaLex founder, ZK Sync Guardian Council) go head-to-head on the decisions, the precedent it sets, and the hard questions the DeFi ecosystem can no longer avoid. They debate:Was freezing North Korea's funds the right call? Do Stage 1 rollups like Arbitrum have too much centralized power? How does the Arbitrum Security Council compare to PayPal, Bitcoin miners, and Ethereum validators? What would real accountability look like for security councils? What's the path to Stage 2 — and how long will it take?This is one of the most important conversations in DeFi right now. Don't miss it. 🔔 Subscribe to The Defiant for more crypto deep dives, breaking news, and live debates. Big thanks to our sponsor; NEXO Nexo is a premier digital assets wealth platform that helps clients build, manage, and preserve their wealth…

People in this episode

Guests: Griff Green, Gabe Shapiro

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Arbitrum Security Council, KelpDAO, Giveth, MetaLex, ZK Sync Guardian Council

Places: North Korea

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