Arkham, a label most commonly associated with the notorious fictional institution in the Batman universe, is now making waves in the real world of cryptocurrency. This unconventional “blockchain intelligence company” has launched what it claims is the “world’s first on-chain intelligence exchange”, along with a new coin, ARKM through Binance‘s Launchpad service. Interestingly, Crypto Twitter seems divided with some supporters rallying behind Arkham’s mission and others denouncing the service as a ‘snitch to earn’ mechanism.
The polarity of responses illustrates the ongoing struggle in the crypto community between decentralization and privacy. Arkham, famed for its intelligence capabilities, aims to lessen anonymity in the blockchain universe. It plans to do this with a bounty system where users, anonymously of course, can post and accept bounties for information about transactions on the blockchain. This means that for 90 days, only the bounty payer will have access to this data before it becomes public property.
The backlash to Arkham’s ‘Intel Exchange’ lies in the potential misuse of such a platform. Market whales, those large holders who have the power to influence market trends, could prove juicy targets in a bounty marketplace, arguably undermining the ethos of decentralisation and freedom underpinning the cryptocurrency landscape.
In addition, doubts are being raised over the security of Arkham’s service, particularly given the recent leaking of email addresses, generated through its website waitlist process. Unsuspecting users sharing their waitlist registration link on social media ended up exposing their encoded email addresses, a system vulnerability that did little to calm unrest in the digital community.
Central to the furore is the question of whether this was true oversight or an intentional act of exposing (‘doxxing’) users. One Twitter user among many was quick to state that this was purposeful, a part of Arkham’s broader aim to reduce anonymity in cryptocurrency operations. But as with many things in the online world, only time will tell the true intentions of this controversial company.
To balance perspective, it is important to consider Arkham’s potential in the pursuit of transparency and security. If handled appropriately, such a maverick system could challenge the status quo in blockchain technology, promoting accountability and reducing the possibility of nefarious activities.
A fascinating topic, Arkham’s actions and future developments will certainly be worth keeping an eye on. Whether they are a bane or a boon to the crypto economy is yet to be seen.
Source: Cointelegraph
