Quicknode

November 24, 2023 — 4 min read

Welcome back to Feature Fridays! Today, we're diving into the cutting-edge world of web3 security with Ido Ben-Natan, the Co-Founder and CEO of Blockaid. Ido's transition from a seasoned cyberintelligence expert to a pioneering figure in the web3 security space is nothing short of remarkable.

At the core of Blockaid's mission is a commitment to dramatically enhance security within the web3 ecosystem. Recognizing the critical need for robust protection against fraud, phishing, and hacks, Blockaid offers innovative tools designed specifically for web3 builders. Their solutions are trusted by industry giants like MetaMask, OpenSea, Rainbow, and Zerion, contributing to the protection of over $500 million in funds from cyber threats.

Learn more about Blockaid.

https://www.blockaid.io/?ref=blog.quicknode.com

Q&A with Blockaid 👇

Could you introduce yourself by sharing your name, prior experience, and current role within your company? Additionally, please briefly explain your company's mission and what it offers to its customers.

Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder and CEO of Blockaid. Before co-founding Blockaid, I spent six years working on cyberintelligence at the nation-state level. It’s where I met my co-founder Raz Niv and where we honed our skills and network in cybersecurity. Both of us saw the immense potential in web3. Still, usability is a huge issue for growth and for current users targeted by malicious actors almost daily. We founded Blockaid to dramatically improve security in web3, an essential requirement to making the space trusted so it can reach its full potential. Blockaid, a leader in web3 security, provides tools for web3 builders to protect their users from fraud, phishing, and hacks. Customers include MetaMask, OpenSea, Rainbow, Zerion, and others, enabling us to protect over $500M in funds from being stolen by malicious actors.

How has your company grown and changed since its inception, and what do you have planned for its future?

We went from the first line of code to our series A in under a year. We’ve built our incredible engineering team from our network of cyber intelligence experts and now have over two dozen full-time engineers and a growing go-to-market team. As we expand the group globally and provide web3 security to more and more partners, we plan on improving our core technology, adding additional features, and improving our security model.

What inspired you to develop Blockaid, and how did you conceive of the idea?

While many founders in web3 like to say web2 is broken, the truth is that web3 is broken. Too often, we hear of sophisticated players suffering from so that hacks or scams. We need fewer scams and fewer hacks to inspire more builders to build the future of web3, so it can live up to its potential. We were inspired by this core idea to found Blockaid and work on dramatically improving security in the space.

Can you provide insight into Blockaid’s progress by sharing any metrics or milestones indicating its traction?

We are the leader in web3 transaction security, having scanned nearly 450M transactions, actively protected $500M in funds from malicious attacks, and protected wallets and applications with a collective $7.1B assets under our protection. Last month, we announced that we emerged from stealth with $33M in funding from some of the best investors in fintech, web3, and cybersecurity – Ribbit, Variant, Sequoia, Greylock, and Cyberstarts. And we already have enough traction to protect some of the biggest customers in the space – MetaMask, OpenSea, Rainbow, Zerion, and more.

Can you provide insight into the target market for Blockaid and what types of clients you work with?

We work with the most significant applications, wallets, and builders in web3 to be the most widely used security software to protect users from fraud, phishing, and hacks.

How does your company utilize Quicknode, and what benefits does it bring to your business operations?

Quicknode has been simple to set up, is incredibly reliable, and supports Trace API, which is necessary for our business. We recommend Quicknode.