The FBI asks a cross-chain protocol to block funds linked to a case. What’s really worth discussing isn’t “whether it should cooperate,” but “whether it can technically do so.”
The essence of permissionless cross-chain systems is that no one has the authority to freeze funds. Once they can be blocked by an external directive, they’re no longer permissionless protocols, but semi-custodial systems that “cooperate depending on the circumstances.”
Once this precedent is set, all atomic swap protocols will have to answer the same question: Is your immutability a commitment, or a parameter?
The essence of permissionless cross-chain systems is that no one has the authority to freeze funds. Once they can be blocked by an external directive, they’re no longer permissionless protocols, but semi-custodial systems that “cooperate depending on the circumstances.”
Once this precedent is set, all atomic swap protocols will have to answer the same question: Is your immutability a commitment, or a parameter?
