Blockchain security firm CertiK approaches unicorn status after raising $80 million

As crypto and DeFi markets become more profitable, blockchain companies are realizing their growing need for security. Global blockchain security firm CertiK has completed an $80 million investment round backed by some of the largest cryptocurrency venture funds, raising the company's valuation to  $1 billion  in the near future. 

The Series B2 investment round was led by California-based venture capital fund Sequoia with additional participation from Tiger Global, Coatue Management and GL Ventures, CertiK reported Wednesday.  In the startup world, Series B or B2 funding refers to the second round of financing a business through  private placement or venture capital. CertiK has  raised more than $140 million in the past four months, bringing its value closer to $1 billion, the company said. According to Prof. Ronghui Gui, co-founder of the company, cash injection will be used by CertiK to further expand its product portfolio, particularly in the software and services or SaaS markets. The company is currently developing a new SaaS product focused on security auditing, formal validation, and securing client blockchains and smart contracts. 

CertiK's revenue has grown 20x over the past year as more blockchain companies work to protect their infrastructure from active threats. Professor Guy told Cointelegraph that the growing demand for security services is a byproduct of widespread cryptocurrency adoption and continued industry innovation. He added, "The rapid evolution of these [crypto] projects has made them vulnerable to exploits and attacks. Protecting these projects from these exploits is  more than ever  an important part of the project development process." 

A key element in securing these emerging networks is blockchain and smart contract auditing, which Professor Guy described as “a rigorous process that includes reviewing code implementations” before starting a project. He went on to say: 

 “In the blockchain world, code is the law and enforces the logic of transactions. However, the implementation of the code is not reliable and may contain bugs that cause vulnerabilities. As an example of a vulnerability, consider the DAO exploit that resulted in a $150 million hack involving a recursive pattern vulnerability." The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) appears to have increased the risks that blockchain companies and users face in this fast-growing market. DeFi is known for multi-million dollar exploits, token distribution errors, and unexpected errors. Cointelegraph recorded a total of 169 blockchain hacks in the year to November, costing nearly $7 billion in losses. DeFi exploits were all too common.  

The rapid growth of DeFi has made this sector a prime target for cybercriminals. Source: DeFi Llama Security vulnerabilities remain a major point of failure for DeFi projects as more users experiment with these new protocols. The DeFi market is currently valued at over $275 billion based on total fixed value and has grown exponentially since mid-2020.