Ethereum is gearing up to launch its first-ever hackathon, featuring a reward pool of $2 million. This event, dubbed the “Attackathon,” aims to be the largest crowdsourced security audit of Ethereum’s codebase.
The “Attackathon” invites security researchers to actively search for vulnerabilities in the protocol’s code during a four-week, time-bound audit challenge, as explained by the Ethereum Protocol Security (EPS) research team in a July 8 blog post.
“They will follow specific rules set for the competition, and only impactful and rule-compliant reports will be rewarded,” the post elaborated.
Participants will begin with a technical walkthrough of the blockchain’s code to ensure they are well-prepared to identify and understand potential vulnerabilities.
Following the event, Immunefi, the bug bounty platform hosting the hackathon, will compile the findings and produce a report detailing the discovered vulnerabilities.
The EPS team has contributed $500,000 to the competition’s prize pool and is seeking additional sponsors to raise another $1.5 million by August 1. More details will be shared on this date.
The EPS team plans to host similar hackathons at every hard fork to cover changes to the codebase.
The next major update, the “Pectra” hard fork, is anticipated to go live later in 2024 or early 2025.
This update will combine the “Prague” and “Electra” upgrades.
Among the significant updates for users is the introduction of a “social recovery” feature.
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This feature could eliminate the need to remember the up to 24-word private wallet key and provide wallets with smart contract-like capabilities, Investing Insider reported.
Hackathons are common in the tech industry, and the crypto sector has seen its fair share of these events. Various blockchains and projects frequently host similar hacking sprints.
In addition to hackathons, crypto projects regularly offer bug bounties to encourage hackers to report their exploits instead of using them maliciously.
According to Immunefi’s website, most bounties range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, with the largest reward, offered by LayerZero, reaching $15 million.
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