Overview
Smart contract, made possible by Ethereum blockchain, is a computer protocol that verifies and enforces the execution of the contract. By having contractual clauses to be self-executed, it removes the need for a middle-man, resulting in a drastic reduction in the transactional costs.
However innovative smart contract may be, it has been involved with some high profile hacking incidents including The DAO hack and Parity Multi-Sig Wallet hack, resulting in a combined loss of $82 millions. These incidents do not give much confidence in the smart contract’s security. In order to increase the adoption of smart contract technology, it becomes ever more important to maintain high levels of security and avoid getting hacked.
In the current ecosystem, as we have seen with the Parity Wallet hack, if there’s a vulnerability, there is a bigger economic reward for someone to exploit it than to fix it. Furthermore, vulnerabilities can still go unnoticed even after going through an independent review.
Quantstamp aims to address this issue by offering a decentralized security auditing platform. Quantstamp’s platform is largely comprised of two parts. The first is an automated software verification system that checks for program’s validity by employing industry-standard techniques such as SAT solver and second is a bounty payout system that rewards bug bounty hunters with monetary compensation for finding vulnerabilities.
Strengths
- Strong team of engineers with extensive experience in building applications in the financial world.
- No direct competitor in this space but Hackerone which has raised $74 million in venture funding can potentially enter this market.
- Semi automated audit already done on the Request Network. Team can deliver.
- Successfully grew its telegram community to 2000+ members in a matter of days without any marketing budget.
Weaknesses
- Unclear business model despite being a startup.
- Bounty could get hefty as the contract becomes more valuable. Could be burdensome for small companies doing ICOs.
- Economic incentive for hacking may still be greater for high profile smart contracts.
Conclusion
Quantstamp provides a platform that is necessary for the smart contract ecosystem to flourish. Team is not only impressive in that they have an impressive background but also that they have shipped a product and demonstrated that they can grow the community. Should Quantstamp able to execute on its roadmap, there’s no doubt that they will help play a crucial role in making smart contracts more secure and increase the mainstream adoption of smart contract technology.
Site: https://quantstamp.com/
Whitepaper: https://docsend.com/view/shcsmhe
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/FxIqAguKiGRujsxHpb_j0A