Bug bounty

A bug bounty is a reward offered to anyone who finds and reports a security flaw in a project's code before it gets exploited. It gives a reader a quick way to gauge how seriously a protocol treats security, since a well-funded program signals the team expects real scrutiny and can pay for it. Programs are usually run through platforms like Immunefi, with payouts scaled to severity. For example, in 2023 the DeFi protocol Wormhole ran a bounty with a maximum payout of $10 million for critical bugs. If a project has no bug bounty at all, that's worth noticing too, especially before depositing significant funds into its contracts.