Highlights:
- The Attackathon aims to become the largest crowdsourced security audit contest ever conducted for the Ethereum blockchain protocol.
- The Ethereum Foundation supports the protocol’s development, security, and ecosystem growth and advocates for Ethereum.
A blockchain bug bounty platform, Immunefi and the Ethereum Foundation have partnered to launch an extensive crowdsourced network audit of the Ethereum blockchain protocol, known as an “Attackathon.”
The Attackathon aims to become the most extensive crowdsourced security audit contest ever conducted for the Ethereum blockchain protocol. Ethereum, introduced in 2015, is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that facilitates programmable transactions called smart contracts. These contracts provide a secure execution environment for cryptocurrency, financial applications, supply chain management, gaming, entertainment, and various other uses.
The Ethereum Foundation is a nonprofit community of organizations committed to nurturing the protocol, advancing its development and security, expanding the ecosystem, and promoting Ethereum.
Immunefi manages one of the most extensive Web3 security communities, comprising over 45,000 researchers. It protects over USD 190 billion in user funds across leading blockchain projects such as Chainlink, Wormhole, MakerDAO, TheGraph, Polygon, and Optimism. Immunefi has awarded some of the largest bug bounties in the software industry, totaling over USD 100 million.
The blockchain sector, especially Ethereum, frequently attracts hackers seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in smart contract software used within decentralized applications. The primary goal of this extensive audit is to bolster the project’s durability by engaging numerous collaborators in identifying potential weaknesses. According to the 2024 mid-year report from security research firm SlowMist, the Ethereum ecosystem suffered losses totaling USD 400 million to exploits in the first half of the year.
The Ethereum blockchain hosts its native cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH), which holds the second-largest market cap in the blockchain industry, exceeding USD 367 billion. This places it just behind the Bitcoin blockchain, which boasts a market cap of over USD 1.125 trillion.
In contrast, according to SlowMist, the blockchain industry experienced over 223 security incidents, leading to losses exceeding USD 1.43 billion. This represents a significant increase of more than 50% year-over-year from the USD 920 million lost in the first half of 2023.
“Ethereum is fundamentally transforming the world as we know it and will continue to do so. By leveraging our collective security expertise and resources, we aim to ensure the integrity and security of the Ethereum network,” said Mitchell Amador, Founder and Chief Executive of Immunefi.
Immunefi and the Ethereum Foundation have called upon the Ethereum community, including ecosystem projects and developers, to support the bolstering of protocol security by contributing to a reward pool. Initially seeded with $500,000 by both entities into a secure vault, this pool will be allocated as bounties to participants in an Attackathon contest based on their contributions.
The sponsorship program will end with the reward pool locked by August 1st. Following this, the companies will provide further details about the Attackathon.
