Ethereum to Host $2 Million Hackathon Event to Test Security

Ethereum will launch its first hackathon to test the security of the blockchain with a reward pool worth $2 million.

Ethereum is preparing to conduct its inaugural hackathon with a $2 million reward pool to conduct the “largest crowdsourced security audit” of the blockchain’s codebase.

In a blog post published on July 8, the Ethereum Protocol Security (EPS) research team described the “Attackathon” as a four-week “time-bound audit challenge” in which security researchers will “actively search for vulnerabilities in the protocol’s code.”

“They will adhere to the competition’s rules, and only reports that are impactful and comply with the rules will be recognized,” it further stated.

The event would commence with a technical tour of the blockchain’s code to ensure that “participants are adequately equipped to identify and comprehend potential vulnerabilities.”

The findings will be compiled into a report detailing the vulnerabilities that the presenter of the event discovered, the bug bounty platform Immunefi, following the event’s conclusion.

The team announced that it contributed $500,000 to the prize purse of the competition and requested a further $1.5 million from sponsors by August 1, at which time it will disclose additional information.

The EPS team intends to organize comparable hackathons at each hard fork that encompass modifications to the codebase.

The “Pectra” hard fork, which is anticipated to be implemented in the latter half of this year or early the following year, is a merger of the “Electra” and “Prague” enhancements in Ethereum.

A “social recovery” feature is among the significant updates that are in the works for users. This feature has the potential to eradicate the necessity of recollecting the private wallet key, which has been a defining characteristic of the technology since its inception. Additionally, it will provide wallets with innovative contract-like capabilities.

Hackathons are frequently occurring in the technology sector, and crypto has experienced its fair share of these events. Other blockchains and projects have also hosted coding sprints.

Additionally, crypto initiatives provide a consistent list of bug bounties to encourage hackers to share their exploits rather than conducting them maliciously. The majority of bounties are offered in the range of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Immunefi’s website. LayerZero’s greatest reward is $15 million.