YZi Labs & CertiK Launch $1M Audit Grant Program for EASY Residents
Security just got a million-dollar incentive. YZi Labs is teaming up with blockchain security titan CertiK to launch a massive grant program aimed at boosting protocol safety—and it's exclusively for projects building on EASY.
The Audit Arms Race
Forget vague promises of 'security-first' approaches. This partnership puts real capital on the line: a cool $1 million dedicated to funding smart contract audits for qualifying teams within the EASY ecosystem. It’s a direct subsidy for the kind of rigorous, third-party scrutiny that separates robust protocols from tomorrow’s post-mortem reports.
Why CertiK? Why Now?
CertiK isn't just another auditor; it's the industry benchmark, the name that carries weight with institutional players still nervously dipping toes into DeFi. By aligning with them, YZi Labs isn't just buying security—it's buying credibility. The move signals a push to attract more sophisticated development to EASY, the kind that builds infrastructure, not just memecoins.
The timing is no accident. As regulatory shadows lengthen, demonstrable security is becoming the ultimate compliance hack. A CertiK seal can be more persuasive to a cautious investor than a dozen white papers.
The Fine Print & The Big Picture
Grants won't be handed out like conference swag. Expect a competitive application process vetting for technical merit, ecosystem impact, and long-term viability. The goal is to fund audits for projects that will actually move the needle.
For the EASY ecosystem, this is a direct injection of quality control. It lowers a major barrier to entry for serious builders while systematically de-risking the network's expanding application layer. For the broader market, it’s another data point in the maturation of crypto—where the smart money starts paying for safety audits before the exploit, not after.
One cynical finance jab? In traditional finance, you pay a premium for insurance after you've proven you're a safe bet. In crypto, you get a grant to prove you're not a time bomb in the first place. Progress, we suppose.
This partnership cuts through the noise. It bypasses empty rhetoric and deploys capital directly into the trenches of code security. The $1 million question is no longer 'if' EASY projects will be audited, but which ones will be smart enough to claim their share.
CertiK issues a $1 million grant for security audits
As revealed in YZi Labs’ press release, CertiK’s $1 million security grant will provide EASY Residency participants with formal verification. It has code reviews, and AI-powered vulnerability scanning to detect threats like reentrancy attacks and logic errors in smart contracts.
YZi Labs will see through the collaboration between CertiK and its incubated projects by helping founders understand and implement the security tools effectively.
“Security is the foundation of long-term success, but for early-stage founders, it’s often a high-stakes distraction while they are still chasing product-market fit,” head of YZi Labs Ella Zhang said in the presser. “Think of it like building a skyscraper: Founders should focus on the architecture and the vision, while CertiK are the structural engineers that make sure the frame is earthquake-proof.”
Professor Ronghui Gu, Co-Founder and CEO of CertiK, added that the partnership with YZi Labs will significantly improve the security level of projects and provide the “necessary guarantees” for their long-term development. “This is not only related to the growth of projects but also to the health and sustainability of the entire Web3 ecosystem,” he concluded.
During the program’s debut last May, Zhang confirmed EASY Residency is an “evolution” of the Binance Labs Incubation initiative that began seven years ago. YZi’s Managing Partner reiterated that it was a focused environment for the top 1% of founders to build, ship, and expand their market reach.
“EASY Residency creates a multi-generational support network where founders benefit from insights drawn from experience in funding, governance, and scaling. We’ve now added access to specialized security resources provided by CertiK, and since The YZi Labs team handles everything else, founders can focus on what matters most,” Zhang surmised.
YZi Labs pushes back on CEA Industries’ shareholder rights changes
YZi Labs is reviewing recent governance decisions made by Nasdaq-listed CEA Industries, which now trades as BNC. As reported by Cryptopolitan, the company implemented a stockholder rights plan and tightened written-consent rules last week, against the backdrop of pressures from YZi to make changes to the board.
According to the publicly-traded firm’s financial filings, BNC secured a $500 million private placement with an option to raise up to $1.25 billion if all warrants are exercised. Its stock price has been trading in the red for over a month now, closing NEAR $6.41 on January 6.
The price is a 92% decline from its 52-week high of $82.88, and a 3% downturn from its $7.52 30-day peak. Binance’s native token BNB, in contrast, is trading just 33% away from its $1,370 all-time-high level at the time of this reporting.
YZi Labs coined BNC’s share issuance choice as “stockholder-unfriendly actions” and claimed that the board chose protection over accountability. The firm also rejected BNC’s statement propounding it “has never considered an alternative token for the Company’s digital asset treasury, nor launched competitive DAT ventures.”
YZi cited a November statement from BNC CEO David Namdar who said the company had indeed contemplated switching to other crypto assets like Solana.
Claim your free seat in an exclusive crypto trading community - limited to 1,000 members.
