The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is offering up to $2 million in rewards to researchers who can find vulnerabilities in its upcoming Fusaka upgrade, a move aimed at boosting confidence ahead of the network’s next major milestone.
The competition began on Sept. 15 and runs through Oct. 13 on the Sherlock testnet. To incentivize rapid participation, EF introduced a scoring multiplier: issues reported in the first week will count double, while submissions in the second week will be weighted 1.5x.
Community-Backed Effort
The initiative is not solely an EF project. Gnosis and Lido have also thrown in funding, contributing $100,000 and $25,000 respectively. According to EF, the support highlights how Ethereum’s broader ecosystem sees security as a shared responsibility, where upgrades benefit developers, validators, and users across the chain.
Still, not everyone is convinced the timing is right. Christine Kim, former research VP at Galaxy Digital, questioned whether an open contest makes sense while bugs are still surfacing on Fusaka’s devnets.
What Fusaka Brings to Ethereum
Fusaka is billed as a performance-driven upgrade designed to improve scalability without undermining efficiency. Key changes include:
- PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling): a mechanism to streamline data distribution.
- Revised gas parameters: intended to optimize transaction efficiency.
- Blob adjustments: upgrades to accommodate larger transaction volumes.
- Ethereum developers have warned, however, that the rollout will depend on thorough testing. On the latest All Core Devs call, they confirmed the upgrade will first hit Holesky on Sept. 29, then Sepolia on Oct. 13, followed by Hoodi on Oct. 27. Only after successful testnet activations and further analysis from Devnet-5 will the mainnet deployment be scheduled.
Security First, Launch Later
By running a global bug bounty now, EF hopes to uncover vulnerabilities before Fusaka takes its final form. Whether the timing proves too early or perfectly aligned remains to be seen, but the contest underscores one reality: Ethereum’s developers want the next upgrade hardened by as much outside scrutiny as possible.
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