Published on: December 5, 2024
Crypto.com is increasing its maximum reward for catching vulnerabilities in its software. Crypto.com normally offers high-paying bounties on bugs, but now it’s upping the stakes to a full $2 million prize.
Why is this important? Crypto.com is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with over 100 million users across 90 countries. It manages millions of dollars daily for its customers, but cryptocurrency is notoriously prone to hackers. With just a little bit of know-how, hackers can use software vulnerabilities to crack into crypto exchanges and rob them blind.
Since any government body doesn’t back these platforms, customers are left holding a metaphorical empty bag and can’t easily recover stolen funds. That’s why Crypto.com pays its bug bounty hunters very high rewards for finding its most sensitive vulnerabilities before hackers can.
The criteria for getting the $2 million reward isn’t quite clear. The website’s terms mention that this reward is available for hackers who find large vulnerabilities that could result in a significant loss of funds or a large data breach, but it doesn’t outline how large the loss or severe the breach would need to be for you to qualify.
That’s not to say that the reward is untrustworthy. In the past, Crypto.com’s top reward was somewhere within the $3,759-$40,000 bracket, and it’s maintained a strong track record of paying its bug hunters.
In fact, the company has a unique relationship with the hacking community. Crypto.com works alongside hackers to benefit the company’s cybersecurity defenses, rather than being fearful of them.
This partnership benefits both parties since it also presents skilled hackers with opportunities to make a lot of money with their skills performing illegal activities. Overall, the company paid out more than $539,130 to bounty hunters.
“Security and compliance are at the foundation of everything we do at Crypto.com,” explains Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. “As our business and the industry continue to grow, it’s critically important that we remain focused on our core principles, and this new bounty program does that by setting a new bar.”