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In an effort to further secure the network, the Cardano Foundation announced that bounties for white hat hackers would double.
Good times for white hat hackers on Cardano
Who says that hacking doesn’t pay?
Of course, if you are a competent hacker with criminal energy, the crypto industry is rife with opportunities. But even ethical hackers that have an eye for security leaks can make a buck, especially if they look for them on Cardano. The Cardano Foundation now announced that its bug bounty running from February 14 till March 25 would have bounty rewards up to $20,000 ($28,000 AUD) for critical bugs. High-vulnerability bugs are worth $14,000 AUD. Bugs labeled medium or low will pay $5,600 AUD and $1,100 AUD, respectively. For critical bugs found in the Cardano wallet, hackers can earn $21,000 AUD, and high-vulnerability bugs in the wallet can pay more than $8,000 AUD.
The Cardano Foundation announced that hackers who want to get paid have to provide detailed reports with reproducible steps:
“Cardano Foundation looks forward to working with the security community to find security vulnerabilities in order to keep our businesses and customers safe. From this program, we aim to strengthen the Cardano brand through this public bug bounty program, covering essential items to access and manage crypto assets that are issued on the Cardano blockchain.”
Cardano continuing on its growth path
The beefed-up bug bounty is another indicator that fundamentals on Cardano continue to look good.
The ecosystem has attracted an influx of developers and has become the most developed-on blockchain in 2022. The number of Cardano wallets is also up, having recently broken through the three-million milestone. Its ecosystem is seeing slow but steady development.
All points towards Cardano finally pushing towards being the “legitimate contender” of incumbents like Ethereum. However, investors seem to disagree.
ADA looking like the sick man of crypto
Even though fundamental data shows growth, the markets have been highly skeptical that Cardano can, at last, deliver on its promises.
From its all-time high of over $4 AUD in 2021, Cardano’s native token ADA has seen a steady and prolonged correction to just above $1.20 AUD at the time of writing. Investors that bought in around the top and are down 75% on their investment will be less than amused and probably not placated by supposed ecosystem development.
What caused this heavy correction, though?
Of course, the wider market has seen a significant correction with geopolitical turmoil and inflation fears hanging like a heavy cloud over crypto and traditional markets. But ADA, more so than others, has felt the heat. It could be that issues during the roll-out of its Alonzo upgrade were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not for the first time did Cardano fail to deliver on a promise – never mind that working smart contracts are a staple on other blockchains.
It probably cannot get much worse for ADA investors, but Cardano will hope that fears of war and rising inflation are soon a thing of the past and markets return to calmer waters. Until then, it may be worthwhile to look for bounties on Cardano.