Immunefi partners with Binance Smart Chain on bug bounties to secure BSC projects

Immunefi, a security service outfit that specialized in decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, has inked a collaboration with crypto exchange giant Binance.

According to a release issued on Friday, Immunefi will work in collaboration with Binance to improve the security of projects on the Binance chain. As part of the partnership, Binance will match bug bounty payments issued by Immunefi to white hat hackers who discover vulnerabilities in BSC-based protocols.

As a security outfit, Immunefi has reportedly paid more than $3 million in bug bounties to ethical hackers. Major BSC protocols such as PancakeSwap, DODO, and Zapper among others are already deploying the company’s bug bounty program to uncover vulnerabilities in their code.

Detailing the typical payment process for bug bounties, Mitchell Amador, CEO of Immunefi told Cointelegraph: "Yes, bounties are paid in crypto. Payment in USDC and USDT is common, but many projects also pay bounties in their own token," adding:

"The value of the bounty is typically pegged to USD and the conversion rate computed at the time the bounty is paid. Payment in native tokens is a major new standard in crypto, since it lets the size of bug bounties scale with the value of a project’s token."

For Amador DeFi requires proactive security measures are necessary to ensure that DeFi becomes the future of finance.

According to the company, incentivizing smart contract code auditing via bug bounties improves the security of the crypto space beyond the usual code verification and auditing protocols.

The news likely marks a significant investment by Binance towards improving quality assurance on the BSC. Back in May, the company brought in blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace to track high-risk fund transfers on the network.

Related: Growing pains? DeFi exploits plunder BSC, which calls for reinforcements

BSC’s emergence as a major DeFi hub at the start of the year also brought with it several security challenges as the hacks and exploits that were common in the Ethereum space also began happening on the Binance chain.

Back in April, Cointelegraph reported that flash loan attacks, as well as other DeFi hacks and exploits, had totaled $285 million since 2019. Since April, these incidents have only increased with PancakeBunny suffered a massive flash loan attack that saw its native token price plummet 90%.