One of the biggest issues regarding the cryptocurrency sector is security, and many believe that the fact that cryptocurrency funds can be hacked and stolen is one of the reasons why institutional money hasn’t flowed in like many believed it would. As a result, there are many cryptocurrency projects that actually incentivize those who can identify and fix flaws.
It appears as though Coinbase, which is valued in the billions, sometimes still needs the support of experts that might be able to help improve the company. Specifically, the company had put out a critical bug bounty of $30,000. The vulnerability has been fixed, and the bounty has been paid.
About The Bounty
This is the largest bounty that Coinbase has ever paid out, which is why it has received a significant amount of attention. The company has a tier system with regards to rewards. Specifically, $200 is paid out for a “low impact issue”, $15,000 is paid out for a high-impact issue, and $50,000 is paid out for a critical issue.
However, the maximum amount ($50,000) hasn’t yet been paid out. The exact vulnerability report wasn’t disclosed, and a Coinbase spokesperson refused to elaborate. This certainly isn’t surprising, considering that it involves a security flaw.
Continuing Trend
While there are many enthusiasts of cryptocurrency projects – the truth is that money is still an obvious incentive with regards to projects and security. Block.one, a well-known blockchain startup and developer of EOS – has paid out over $80,000 in bug bounties already.
For those wondering about how many bugs that Coinbase has had to deal with – the number is 404 bugs, all of which have since been resolved. The company has since paid over $300,000 for bugs to be fixed, with the median reward only being somewhere around $100.