Crypto Whitehat Hackers Still Prefer Ethereum In 2024

Key Points:

• Despite a decrease in preference from 94% in 2023 to 87% in 2024, Ethereum remains the top choice for crypto whitehat hackers.
• While 61% of whitehats prioritize bounty size when selecting programs, this is a slight decline from 66% in 2023.

According to Immunefi, a bug bounty and security services company, ethical hackers are increasingly turning their attention to other blockchain networks, including Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Solana.

Read more: Solana Firedancer Bug Bounty Program Launched With $1 Million Backed By Immunefi

Ethereum Still Favorite Among Crypto Whitehat Hackers as Competition Grows

The report gives insight into the 2024 trends in the crypto whitehat hacker ecosystem, from motivations and challenges to opportunities in the web3 space.

The Block cites Immunefi report that while 87% of crypto whitehat hackers still favour Ethereum – down from 94% a year ago – Polygon surged to second place at 59% interest, pushing Solana to fifth.

However, Solana saw increased interest, from 32% in 2023 to 42% in 2024. Arbitrum and Optimism took third and fourth place, respectively, each a Layer 2 solution for Ethereum, with 47% and 45% of the responding crypto whitehat hackers. Other networks that had sustained interest in whitehats include BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Cosmos, while Near, Polkadot, and Fantom fell out of favour compared to last year.

Bounty Size Remains the Most Important Factor in Choosing a Bug Bounty Program

Among the major issues pointed out by crypto whitehat hackers this year was improper input validation, which became the topmost common vulnerability, up from 9% to 47%. Despite such risks, a massive percentage, 88% of the respondents pointed out improved security measures across projects, though 74% said the attack surfaces in crypto keep growing.

Meanwhile, the size of a bounty remains the most critical factor when it comes to selecting bounty programs-61 per cent for whitehats, though that’s a slight drop from 66 per cent in 2023. Other key things to consider are program scope, trust in the brand, and effective comms with project teams.

With over 45,000 researchers, Immunefi claims to host the largest blockchain security community and has saved more than $25 billion in users’ funds across protocols such as Polygon, Optimism, and Chainlink. The platform has paid out over $100 million in bounties alone over the last three years, with the highest reward standing at $10 million for a vulnerability found on the Wormhole cross-chain protocol.