Smart contracts are enforced by lines of strict code in multiple languages and highlight vulnerabilities and help the development team resolve this to maintain security.
Notable security actions within the space include LayerZero’s $15 Million Bounty program, Euler Finance’s $1.25 Million Audit contest, and Uniswap’s $3.25 Million Audit contest.
Major players in the smart contract security audits space are Spearbit, OpenZeppelin, and QuillAudits, securing upwards of $100B in TVL and reporting high percentages of YoY gains.
The global Web3 security market is projected to reach $15 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 25%, and driven by the explosion of DeFi, NFTs, and smart contract usage.
Audits are becoming a mandatory prerequisite for DeFi projects seeking to list on major decentralized exchanges and centralized exchanges, with over $2 billion in assets audited in 2022 alone.
Leading firms like CertiK and Quantstamp have reported revenue growth exceeding 300% year-over-year, with the revenue model of Web3 security firms comprising one-time audit fees, recurring contracts, and automated auditing tools.
As regulatory frameworks mature, the demand for audited, secure protocols will grow, making security firms indispensable to the infrastructure of the next generation of Web3 products.
Projects that undergo formal smart contract audits see an 80% decrease in post-launch vulnerabilities, resulting in a 10x increase in institutional confidence and capital inflows.
The rise of DeFi, NFTs, and blockchain in enterprise use cases is generating unprecedented security demands, and smart contract audits have evolved from a “nice to have” to a fundamental requirement.
Early-stage investment in this sector presents a unique opportunity for significant returns, with the market projected to grow at a significant pace, yielding 5x to 10x returns over the next 3 to 5 years.