Quantstamp 2020 Year In Review

Quantstamp’s mission is to facilitate the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology through our security services. Since our inception, we have secured over $8 billion USD worth of digital assets and had over 240 engagements with DeFi projects, foundations, enterprises, and more.

In 2020, we experienced massive growth. This post will focus on our achievements, security services, and ways we’ve had the opportunity to impact the blockchain community. 

Greenlighting ETH 2.0

Quantstamp’s greatest achievement was securing two ETH 2.0 clients: Teku by ConsenSys and Prysm by Prysmatic Labs. On December 1st, the launch of the Beacon Chain went off without a hitch. This moment was the culmination of years of work by a multitude of teams and individuals building and coordinating the development of ETH 2.0, but the work is not over. We intend to secure future phases of ETH 2.0 development. 

Securing Top DeFi Projects

In 2020, the total value locked in DeFi projects rose from just under $700 million USD to over $14 billion USD worth of value. We have audited leading DeFi projects including, but not limited to: Compound, Curve, Keeper, Idle, and Reflexer’s RAI. 

DeFi hacks also plagued the ecosystem this year. Over $50 million USD was stolen due to errors in smart contracts across numerous protocols. We are proud to say that $0 value was lost or stolen from smart contracts audited by Quantstamp. We secure the money legos enabling the future of finance. 

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Insurance Related Offerings

As markets mature, insurance becomes a natural part of their evolution and digital assets are no exception. In order to provide insurance, you need someone to assess risk. Quantstamp’s extensive experience has made us uniquely qualified to assess risk in this industry. Our insurance related offerings include:

• Serving as an actuary / underwriter
• Offering smart contract warranties for audit clients
• Enabling clients to create their own coverage pools 

Securing Layer 1 Protocols

The different financial primitives in the DeFi ecosystem are often referred to as money legos because they can easily be combined with one another to create powerful applications. In 2020, Quantstamp not only secured the money legos, but also the Layer 1 protocols that the money legos are built on.  

We secured ETH 2.0, Cardano, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain. Each Layer 1 protocol had a unique consensus algorithm and Quantstamp was trusted with these audits because of our extensive experience. 

Securing Top NFT Projects

While DeFi had most of the attention in 2020, NFT projects gained lots of momentum. While DeFi is best measured via total value locked, the performance of NFTs is best measured using volume. Over $110 million USD worth of NFT value has been settled on Ethereum since its inception. NFT volume is likely to grow astronomically in the near future as NFT platforms continue to build engaged and vibrant communities. 

Quantstamp secured leading NFT projects including Aavegotchi, Axie Infinity, Sequence / Skyweaver, SuperRare, and Zora. We are looking forward to continuing to secure the assets and infrastructure in your digital nation.  

“Axie is more than a game. It’s becoming a network for you to live, work, and play in; a true digital nation.” - The Lunacian

Facilitating Vibrant Communities

COVID pushed us more online and Ethereum was there to continue to facilitate the formation of vibrant digital nations. Governance tokens are allowing communities to more effectively coordinate as we have seen in DeFi protocols such as Yearn, Curve, and SushiSwap. In addition to community governance, the ability for people to have true ownership over digital items has led to vibrant art and gaming communities. Did we mention that these communities are all opt-in?

Quantstamp has helped blockchain-enabled communities in many ways. When Maker needed the help, Quantstamp stepped in alongside our friends to help out. We also noticed that DeFi users were eager to hear about the status of our audits directly from us, so we started communicating directly with users on Twitter to let them know that the protocols they are using are safe. 

Custody Solutions

Mainstream companies such as MicroStrategy are starting to purchase substantial amounts of digital currency. While the mainstream’s appetite for digital assets continues to grow, one of their primary obstacles is finding trusted companies that can help them manage their digital assets. Quantstamp is now working with digital asset custodians such as BitGo in order to secure their offerings and build this trust. We will be reporting more on this in the near future. 

Layer 2 Solutions

While Ethereum gas fees are low for now, high fees are likely to return as Ethereum continues to rise in popularity. Quantstamp is helping make public blockchain technology accessible by securing Layer 2 solutions such as xDAI, SKALE, IDEX, and OMG Network. 

Industry Collaborations

We also participated in many industry collaborations. We joined Open DeFi to bridge the gap between the East and West when it comes to using DeFi. We continued our work with the WEF to reduce corruption by making government spending more transparent. We also joined the DID Alliance, a collaborative industry effort to create standards around decentralized identity. 

The Journey Continues

When this company was founded, we originally focused on auditing smart contracts. Now our security offerings include auditing Layer 1 protocols, auditing complex DeFi projects, formally verifying financial blockchain primitives, and more. 

Our quality of work has allowed us to earn the trust of the people actually using blockchain technology on a daily basis. When someone is interested in using a DeFi protocol or purchasing an NFT powered asset, they get excited when they hear it was secured by Quantstamp. We are honored to have earned this level of trust and we will keep earning it as we continue to secure the infrastructure of tomorrow.