Binance, Exchanges

Does Binance Own CertiK Audit?

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has been called out for allegedly owning CertiK, one of the “big four” blockchain security firms. The accusation was made by an anonymous Twitter user who goes by the name “notsofast”.

The user claims that Binance had CertiK audit a smart contract they were planning to launch on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). The contract in question is the Binance DEX Lottery, which was launched on May 11.

notsofast alleges that CertiK was paid to give the contract a clean bill of health, even though it contains serious security flAWS.

The accusation has yet to be verified, and Binance has not commented on the matter. However, if true, it would call into question the independence of CertiK’s audits.

NOTE: No, Binance does not own CertiK Audit. Binance is an independent third-party service provider that provides access to the CertiK audit process. Users should be aware that while Binance may facilitate the use of CertiK Audit, it is not responsible for the accuracy of any information or data found within the audit process. Users should also be aware that Binance does not provide any warranties as to the accuracy of CertiK Audit and should exercise their own due diligence when using the service.

The blockchain security firm was founded in 2017 by Professor Ronghui Gu of Columbia University and Zhou Li of Yale University. It is one of the “big four” security firms in the space, along with SlowMist, PeckShield and AnChain.

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CertiK specializes in Formal Verification (FV), a type of mathematical proof used to ensure the correctness of software and smart contracts. The firm has audited some of the biggest projects in the space, including Polkadot, Cosmos and Ethereum 2.

If Binance did indeed own CertiK at the time of the audit, it would represent a clear conflict of interest. Binance would have had an incentive to ensure that the contract was given a clean bill of health, regardless of its actual security status.

This would damage CertiK’s reputation as an independent security firm, and calls into question the validity of all its past audits. It would also be a black eye for Binance, which has been striving to build a reputation as a well-regulated cryptocurrency exchange.

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