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Elrond Network CEO tests its blockchain by offering $60K to hackers who can break it

Elrond is letting node-runners test the security of its blockchain.

TheDigitalArtist / Pixabay

Fri, 12 Jun 2020, 10:47 am UTC

Elrond Network CEO Beniamin Mincu’s goal is to build the best blockchain possible. But the means with which he plans on building the most secure chain is a bit unorthodox. Mincu wants hackers to do their best to break Elrond’s network and he is even willing to shell out $60,000 for the one who can successfully do so.

Beniamin Mincu, the CEO and founder of the Transylvania-based Elrond Network, launched a 15-day campaign called “Battle of the Nodes: Onchained” challenging node-runners to give it a try, according to Coindesk. His 24-strong developer team is even sweetening the deal by offering $60,000 to the one who can “successfully wreak havoc upon their code.”

The goal of the campaign is to expose every critical breakpoint, bug, vulnerability, and attack vector on the Elrond network. Mincu feels that only after his network can stand the 15-day test will it be deemed ready for mainnet launch.

“When we have 15 days without interruption of the network despite this kind of attack and stress testing, at that point we know Elrond is finally prepared and good – robust enough to go live,” Mincu said.

The network’s 15-day clock will reset once someone successfully breaks the network down but it hasn’t happened yet. The protocol proved to be secure as it has managed to block three attacks so far.

But the underminers’ efforts are not without their purpose. The attacks have uncovered a lot of low-level bugs that need to be fixed to make Elrond’s network even more secure.

“We’re on a daily basis discovering some things that we can improve from the validators,” Mincu said. “We usually do one or two releases per day.”

Aside from exposing bugs and glitches, Elrond’s campaign will also allow it to showcase its network specs. The blockchain’s “divide and conquer” sharding protocol was already showing a peak transactions-per-second rate of 712. At full capacity, the Elrond Network is capable of handling up to 10,000 TPS.

The campaign is also a competition for mainnet validator slots. Around 34 percent of the network’s initial 1,500 nodes will be assigned to “trusted parties” who participated in the campaign and helped Elrond hunt for bugs.

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