Security is of utmost importance to blockchain networks. Users entrust their capital in defi protocols. This has created the absolute need for thorough measures in code review, testing and code auditing of said contracts. However even unbreachable contracts are exposed to platform risks. Network outage during a major market move can frustrate users and cause them loss. Worse yet are of course double-spend attacks and even direct blockchain state manipulation. They threaten the integrity of the chain itself.
Defi projects stake not only maintenance effort in deploying to a new chain but also their reputation. If users of a major defi protocol faces issues on one chain it will hurt the reputation of that protocol in general.
Luckily due to huge demand, the blockchain ecosystem has attracted many talented security researchers. However, due to the sheer number of projects and short attention spans of the community, not every project receives the same amount analysis by security researchers.
XDC community can attract such attention and analysis by creating a crafted program. The program can offer “clout” points as well as monetary incentives to gamify and encourage security analysis. To name a successful example of such program please refer to Ethereum’s bug bounty program, which employs said points + incentives. Bug bounty platforms can also facilitate the maintenance of such bounties. Immunefi alone has paid out upwards of $100 million in bounties for successful bug discoveries.
There are many successful examples out there. I name one from that involved the Sei protocol. Through their bounty program they discovered a bug that would have put the whole market cap of Sei (around $1 billion) in jeopardy. The bug was successfully patched before hitting production. Read more about the story from the security researcher’s PoV.