Coinbase has announced that the protocol security team will provide a free security review for some cohorts of apps and protocols built in the base chain, which are currently in beta.
The initiative comes shortly after Arbitrum announced a similar campaign. This resulted in the Arbitrum Foundation allocating $14 million to ARB tokens, granting security audits for network projects, and distributing 30 million ARB tokens over the course of 12 months after DAO's approval.
Coinbase's new program to improve network security
Base Chain claims it will focus on on-chain boarding for the next billion users, and plans to achieve this by bolstering builders the tools they need to build safe and reliable apps and protocols for users.
Last year we pioneered free on-chain monitoring for base builders with hexagate, but now we're taking it a step further by providing security support for apps on our network.
The team that makes the cut will receive scoped reviews, security-related recommendations, and help to improve their security posture for free.
“We provide upstream security by actively supporting security practices by our builders. We can refer to smart contracts during the development process and help us identify and mitigate some of the potential vulnerabilities before they become important issues,” the company's blog post read.
The blog also noted that the Coinbase Protocol Security team has conducted extensive audits on various Defi protocols, started developing streamlined processes in high-risk areas, and began leveraging static analytics and cutting-edge AI-based tools.
They hope that the new beta program will offer free security reviews. This helps builders to bolster their protocols. The initiative leverages Coinbase's Protocol Security Team (ProtoSec) expertise, allowing builders to access deep, on-chain protocol-enabled experiences.
Base will participate in other blockchains that support security infrastructure
Coinbase's announcement comes shortly after Arbitrum launched a similar program called the Arbitrum Audit Program, allocating $14 million worth of ARB tokens to assist in smart contract auditing of blockchain projects on the network.
Two main objectives of the initiative include enhancing the security of the ecosystem and making security audits financially easier.
Besides Arbitrum and Base, Ethereum, Solana, and BSC are known to provide similar support.
Ethereum has a robust developer community that enjoys support from the Ethereum Foundation through the Ethereum Ethereum Alliance, which includes around 50 members, including Accenture and Microsoft.
Unlike Arbitrum, Ethereum does not explicitly provide free security reviews. However, the ecosystem expands security through community-driven tools and initiatives such as Mythx, the security analytics platform for Ethereum Smart Contracts, known to provide free and paid auditing services to developers.
Furthermore, open source initiatives often have free and open source tools that are widely used to audit Ethereum-based projects.
Polygon is also well known for supporting the developer ecosystem, but this is done by providing grants and partnerships with security companies, and working with companies like Certik and Openzeppelin to provide discounts or grant audits to builders with Layer-2 solutions.
While Solana's ecosystem boasts similar security-centric initiatives through partnerships with auditing companies, the Solana Foundation is also known to occasionally provide grants or support for security audits for high potential projects.
