The unluckiest DeFi protocol? A personal take on bZX's tumultuous year

Most DeFi platforms popular today, including bZX, began their journey around 2018, at the tail-end of the initial coin offering boom.

This year can be characterized as a testament to the saying, "When it rains, it pours." Unfortunately for bZX, it became the first major DeFi platform to suffer a large hack, in February of 2020.

Cointelegraph: The first bZX hack occurred on Feb. 14 while the team was away at the ETHDenver conference.

The two hacks forced the team to shut down and rebuild the protocol.

CT: The number of breaches suffered by bZX raises questions about the project's practices.

Unaudited protocols are considered less safe, so much so that Yearn Finance's creator says he purposefully dampened excitement about his project by withholding the fact that the protocol was audited.

Following the initial incidents, bZX overhauled the company and its security practices.

While this is a far cry from some of the larger protocols, the figure is still notable given the project's tumultuous year and lack of direct subsidies for putting assets in the protocol.

At the same time, Kistner believes that the experience allowed bZX to avoid becoming a venture-led project.

The bZX story, however it evolves, remains an important warning for other projects and DeFi users: There is a lot more that goes on in creating a safe product beyond just paying money to auditors.