• Allegations from head of Nomad, a LayerZero competitor, that LayerZero has a “backdoor” in their code to bypass security controls and move funds without permission.
• LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino denies accusations and explains that the project does have backdoor-like capabilities but has never attempted to hide them.
• Uniswap is set to vote on whether to partner with LayerZero.
LayerZero, a cross-chain bridging service, has been hit with allegations from a competitor that it covered up the existence of a critical „backdoor“ vulnerability in its code. James Prestwich, the founder of Nomad, raised the allegations in a blog post published on Monday.
Prestwich claims LayerZero has the ability to bypass security controls which would allow it to pass data between blockchains without anyone’s permission. He further explains that this backdoor-like capability could be used to unilaterally steal or move around funds locked up with platforms that use LayerZero’s bridging services with default settings.
Bryan Pellegrino, a co-founder of LayerZero, refuted the accusations, claiming that the project does indeed have backdoor-like capabilities, but denied that LayerZero has ever tried to hide them. He stated that the project had been transparent about its capabilities since its launch and that the accusations were „misinformed and baseless“.
The allegations come just before Uniswap, the automated market maker for trading Ethereum tokens, is set to vote on whether to partner with LayerZero. Uniswap has yet to comment on the allegations, but it remains to be seen how they will affect the voting outcome.
LayerZero has been in the spotlight lately as it seeks to bridge the gap between different blockchains, allowing users to move assets between them more quickly and easily. With the accusations of a backdoor and the looming Uniswap vote, it’s yet to be seen how LayerZero will fare in the coming months.