Crypto Exec Cites BlockFi Incident as Example of Operational Risk

Chun Wang, co-founder of F2Pool, one of the longest-running Bitcoin mining pools, shared an anecdote on social media about blacklisting a company six years ago due to its member's repeated confusion between Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). He believes this decision was one of his best and still stands by it today.

Wang cited the 2021 BlockFi incident as an example of how a single operational error can lead to significant financial losses. Due to an internal system error, BlockFi mistakenly credited some customer accounts with 701.4 Bitcoins, worth over $24 million at the time, instead of the intended $700.

Wang's anecdote highlights the importance of attention to detail in the crypto industry, particularly when it comes to basic details like time zones and units. He notes that investors and trading counterparts often use such signals as a proxy indicator to judge whether they can trust someone with funds.