NEW YORK, Nov. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ronghui Gu, Co-Founder of Web3 security firm CertiK and Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, delivered a keynote speech titled “Beyond the Code: Navigating Trust in Blockchain” at the 2024 Singapore FinTech Festival. Addressing an audience eager to learn from one of blockchain’s foremost security experts, Professor Gu shared his journey from an academic background in formal verification to co-founding CertiK, now a pioneer in Web3 security.

In his speech, Professor Gu emphasized, “Security isn't a competitive edge—it's a shared responsibility.” He recalled a defining moment for both CertiK and the broader blockchain community: the $2 million exploit of DeFi protocol Merlin, which occurred just minutes after its launch in April 2023. “As the CEO of CertiK, the company that audited Merlin's smart contracts,” he noted, “I suddenly found myself at the center of a storm.” The incident underscored critical vulnerabilities in DeFi and prompted industry-wide questions about accountability and trust. In response to the Merlin exploit, CertiK evolved its approach to include measures like real-time monitoring and thorough background checks to detect potential insider threats.

Professor Gu went on to recount CertiK’s origins. Founded in 2018 from a small Manhattan apartment, CertiK was driven by a clear mission: to bring provable security to blockchain, recognizing that even “a single flaw can lead to disastrous consequences.” These goals have helped CertiK grow into an industry leader; as Professor Gu noted, “In 2021, CertiK held over 60% of the global market share in the Web3 security sector. That same year, we became a unicorn.”

Professor Gu also shared some lighter moments from his entrepreneurial journey, including how he was often mistaken for a student when he became a Columbia University faculty member at 28. Additionally, he noted that, while CertiK’s logo was designed with a mathematical “for all” symbol, even the company’s name has created its own intrigue. Initially intended to sound like “thirty K” due to the capitalized “K,” most pronounce it as simply, “Certik.”

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Elisa Yiting Xu
yiting.xu@certik.com