US$50m heist unleashes showdown in blockchain

Washington

THERE'S a high-stakes showdown roiling the techno-utopian world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.

And the outcome, to some, could ultimately have lasting consequences for the future of modern finance.

The story involves the Ethereum blockchain, an online ledger that records transactions and lets users trade ether, the second-most popular cryptocurrency, behind bitcoin. A key part of Ethereum also allows people to put smart contracts - those written in computer code - on its network.

Last week, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), a leaderless venture-capita…