Date Posted: 8/26/2016

Bitfinex, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, was recently hacked, leading to the loss of approximately $60M dollars worth of bitcoins.  Work by visiting scholar Malte Moeser and Cornell researchers Ittay Eyal and Emin Gun Sirer on bitcoin vaults was cited in many news articles as having the potential to prevent such attacks.

Some choice quotes from Sirer, who was consulted by many press outlets:

American Banker: "You know in the movies you see these nuclear weapon silos that require two keys and two independent people to turn the keys so you can launch the missile only when both people agree? [Multisignature] is a similar situation".  Unfortunately, Sirer pointed out, one entity had effective control of both keys.

Vice: pseudonymous hacker "Rekcahxfb" has claimed to be the hacker, and furthermore has proposed a lottery for people to receive some of the bitcoins.  Asked about the validity of these claims, Sirer stated, "My first guess was that it's someone on a binge from controlled substances, but it has lasted a little too long for that. My second guess is that it's someone who came to possess large numbers of coins easily, who is jilted, and wants to debase community members by making them beg for coins."

More press:
BBC News
Coin Telegraph #1
Coin Telegraph #2
Fortune
NASDAQ
EconoTimes
CryptoCoinsNews #1
CryptoCoinsNews #2
SC Magazine
Gizmodo
Quartz