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Blockaid plans to use the funds for growth research and development as demand for onchain security tools is expected to rise.
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Blockaid, an onchain security platform, announced that it has raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from GV, formerly known as Google Ventures, Variant and Cyberstarts.
According to a Feb. 18 announcement, the funding will be applied to research, product, engineering and go-to-market teams. Demand for onchain security from crypto-native companies, traditional banks and hedge funds is expected to increase.
Blockaid’s security platform is used for some well-known names in the space, including Coinbase, Uniswap, MetaMask, Immutable, Ava Labs and Stellar. It provides end-user safety through direct wallet and decentralized application integrations and detects threats with blockchain monitoring.
Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder and CEO of Blockaid, referred to the landscape as “highly adversarial” and one with “evolving threats.” Security, in his view, is essential as “blockchain adoption accelerates and new retail investors enter the market.”
As Cointelegraph reported, blockchain technology and Web3 applications are prime targets for sophisticated cyberattacks. In 2024, exploits targeting smart contract vulnerabilities caused $456 million in losses, with smart contract audits and rigorous testing becoming paramount for security.
Related: Crypto hacks drop 44% YoY in January, CeFi top target with $69M loss
On an episode of Cointelegraph’s podcast Hashing It Out, Armani Ferrante, CEO of Backpack, talked about security within the Solana ecosystem, noting that self-custodial wallets often pose challenges for people who lose their seed phrases and diving into the idea of 1:1 crypto reserves for exchanges.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) apps are not immune either. On July 11, 2024, an assailant attacked multiple DeFi apps and took control of the domain registry of Compound Finance. The interface of Compound Finance then began redirecting to a malicious wallet that attempted to steal tokens.
According to the press release, Blockaid has raised a total of $83 million across funding rounds. The company is said to have secured $101 billion in assets and prevented more than $5.3 billion in potential losses.
Magazine: Real AI use cases in crypto, No. 3: Smart contract audits & cybersecurity
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
