TheDAO Security Fund
TheDAO Security FundEthereumOpen
Co-funds Ethereum security initiatives, as RFPs or grants, paid by milestone from TheDAO's staking yield and other backers.
Time left to apply
88% of the window left, 121 days of 139
Apply to TheDAO Security Fund
Applications go through initiatives.thedao.fund. Expect a decision in about 4 weeks.
Grant stats
- Grant size
- Up to $640K
- Largest grant
- $640,000
- Paid in
- ETH and crypto
- Payout
- In milestones
- Funding model
- Round
- Fixed application window, reviewed as a batch.
- Typical decision
- 4 weeks
- From submission to an answer
- Round
- Round Two
- Ecosystem
- Ethereum
Checked Oct 1 against 5 sources. Confirm amounts and dates on thedao.fund before you apply.
About TheDAO Security Fund
TheDAO Security Fund uses the staking rewards from roughly 69,000 ETH left over from TheDAO in 2016 to pay for shared Ethereum security work: compilers, wallets, signing flows, formal verification, incident response and core protocol and L2 security. Seven curators, including Vitalik Buterin and Griff Green, set budgets and sign payouts, and ETHSecurity Badge holders, a group of security experts, steer where money goes.
Round Two works as a co-funding board run by Giveth. You propose an initiative as an RFP (teams compete once it is funded) or as a grant (a named team with a head start). Approved initiatives are listed publicly, ecosystem backers pledge or donate to each initiative's own Safe, and in mid-November Badge holders allocate the fund's remaining budget to fill gaps. Unfunded initiatives end when the round closes at the end of January 2027.
The fund does not make one-off grants and will not pay for your own audits. Every initiative must put at least a third of its budget on adoption milestones that show outside parties use the result, and the fund expects roughly 25% or more of each goal to come from other stakeholders.
Resources
Categories
Funded before
- SEAL 911
- Security Alliance (SEAL)
What they fund
- Compilers, languages and formal verification
- Wallet and signing security, including Safe and account abstraction tooling
- Incident detection, response and OpSec
- Fuzzing, testing and audit tooling
- Ethereum client and L2 infrastructure security
Who can apply
Tick what applies to you. Saved on this device only.
How applying works
- 1
Draft the initiative
Follow the drafting guide and write an RFP or grant with milestones, a funding goal and likely funders.
- 2
Submit for approval
Paste the draft into the form at initiatives.thedao.fund/submit; a Giveth admin approves or rejects it.
- 3
Raise co-funding
Approved initiatives go on the public board, where backers pledge or donate to the initiative's Safe.
- 4
Badge holder allocation
In mid-November ETHSecurity Badge holders allocate the fund's remaining budget across initiatives.
- 5
Deliver milestones
An independent technical reviewer checks each milestone, and payment follows within 14 days of acceptance.
Similar programs
More in SecurityFAQ
- When does TheDAO Security Fund close?
- Applications close on Jan 31, 2027, 121 days from now.
- How much can I get?
- Up to $640K per grant, paid in ETH and crypto in milestone tranches.
- How long until I hear back?
- About 4 weeks from submission to a decision, going by the program's own process or past rounds.
- Where do I apply?
- On the official site, initiatives.thedao.fund. web3grant links there directly and never takes applications itself.
Sources
Checked on Oct 1 against these pages. Programs change often, so confirm the details on thedao.fund before you apply.