# TheDAO is Becoming a DAO Again


> A few weeks ago at ETHDenver we quietly launched applications for ETHSecurity Badges, promoted mostly by word of mouth. Today, we are announcing the first members of our cohort and opening it up more widely to the Ethereum Security community.

**Published by:** [TheDAO Security Fund](https://paragraph.com/@thedao.fund/)
**Published on:** 2026-03-19
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@thedao.fund/thedao-is-becoming-a-dao-again

## Content

What is an ETHSecurity Badge?ETHSecurity Badges are more than just ERC-721s on Ethereum mainnet; they’re the onchain primitive that gives Ethereum security experts a voice in how TheDAO Security Fund's ETH is distributed. They are TheDAO’s source of Ethereum Security expertise, and they come with a certain prestige. Today, we’re announcing the first applicants that will receive this badge of honor, and we expect to accept 160 more! If you think you might be a bit of an Ethereum security expert yourself, apply here.How did we select who got a badge?Our goal is to make the process of selecting ETHSecurity Badge holders as credible as possible, keeping a clear objective in mind: bring together the top minds in Ethereum security so that they can influence which security projects get funded by TheDAO. This doesn’t mean just smart contract auditors and white hats, but all the experts that go deep in formal verification, zk, standards, AI, opsec, web2 security, and more. We also need the generalists of web3 security: people with a birds-eye view that run newsletters, lead security for protocols, build community awareness programs or have simply been around the block and know the space deeply. We want to go both broad, and deep. To tackle this mission in 2026, of course we were going to use AI, and as luck would have it, the Bonfires.ai team was building DAO tooling that could do everything we wanted and more! Bonfires launched an AI agent (@ETHSecurityBadges_bot) to manage this process for us. For each application, it:Confirms the applicants are not being impersonatedResearches each applicant beyond what they put in the formScores each applicant against a rubricBuilds a knowledge graph for future utilityI (Griff Green) created the rubric’s first iteration with help from the @ETHSecurityBadges_bot itself, but the next iteration will be informed by the applicants. More on that later! Let’s cut to the chase: who are we adding in this batch?The inaugural batch of ETHSecurity Badge holdersFrom the people that applied on or before March 11th, the following were selected by the @ETHSecurityBadges_bot: samczsun — X: @samczsun | GitHub: samczsunYoav Weiss — X: @yoavw | GitHub: yoavwMartin Ortner (tintinweb) — X: @nicht_tintin | GitHub: tintinwebGonçalo Sá — X: @GNSPS | GitHub: GNSPSJosselin Feist — X: @montyly | GitHub: montylycts — X: @gf_256 | GitHub: stongHubert Ritzdorf — X: @hritzdorf | GitHub: ritzdorfFredrik Svantes — X: @Fredrik0x | GitHub: Fredrik0xTincho Abbate — X: @tinchoabbate | GitHub: tinchoabbateGustavo Grieco — GitHub: gustavo-griecoAndrew MacPherson — X: @AndrewMohawk | GitHub: AndrewMohawkPeter Kacherginsky — X: @iphelix | GitHub: iphelixdxo — X: @dxo1312 | GitHub: d-xoMate Soos — X: @SoosMate | GitHub: msooseth / msoosEverett Hildenbrandt — X: @rv_inc | GitHub: ehildenbHarry Denley — X: @0x11b6 | GitHub: 409HMatthias Egli — X: @MatthiasEgli | GitHub: MatthiasEgli-chainsecurityAnton Permenev — X: @a_permenev | GitHub: antonperIgor Igamberdiev — X: @FrankResearcher | GitHub: ivigamberdievDaniel Von Fange — X: @DanielVF | GitHub: DanielVFShayan Eskandari — X: @sbetamc | GitHub: shayanbRenaud Dubois — X: @RenaudDUBOIS10 | GitHub: rdubois-cryptoMartin Derka — X: @dr_zircuit | GitHub: mderkaRobert Chen — X: @notdeghost | GitHub: chen-robertSunSec — X: @1nf0s3cpt | GitHub: SunWeb3SecPooja Ranjan — X: @poojaranjan19 | GitHub: poojaranjanArseniy Reutov (Raz0r) — X: @theRaz0r | GitHub: Raz0rx86NOP — X: @x86NOP | GitHub: x86NOPMatías Aereal Aeón — X: @mattaereal | GitHub: mattaerealPalina Tolmach — X: @palinatolmach | GitHub: palinatolmachVahe Karapetyan — X: @kemmio | GitHub: k3mmioLuca Donno — X: @donnoh_eth | GitHub: lucadonnohAuryn Macmillan — X: @auryn_macmillan | GitHub: auryn-macmillanIf you’ve already applied and don’t see your name here, don’t worry! Your application is still in the running for one of the remaining 160 badges.What happens next?TheDAO Security Fund strives to take a bottom up approach in all things that we do, including choosing ETHSecurity badge holders! The best people to define Ethereum security expertise are the ones who've already applied. In this next phase, applicants will be able to shape the rubric themselves, this is the real magic of working with Bonfires.ai. Here’s how it will happen:Applicants can DM @ETHSecurityBadges_bot The bot will ask applicants questions relevant to their expertise, like “Who are the top experts in your field?” or “How would you improve this section of the rubric?” The bot will take the answers, iterate the rubric, and, with these new inputs, choose the next batch.We will have 2 more batches of applicants accepted in April, and will end up with 200 ETHSecurity Badge holders.Once you have been selected to receive a badge, a few things happen:A cool NFT is airdropped into the public wallet you gave us in the applicationYou can associate that key to your telegram account via Collab.Land to enter the token-gated ETHSecurity Badge Holders chatroom by clicking hereIn April, you will get a DM from @griffgreen (me) on telegram asking for a non-public addressYou will get a Voting NFT in your non-public addressThat’s right! Win one NFT and get a second one FOR FREE! Jokes aside, we want badge holders to vote honestly without worrying about social pressure, so we're separating the public credential from the private voting credential. The ETHSecurity Badge that goes into your public address is your public badge of honor and gets you into the Telegram group, but the ETHSecurity Voting Badge will be held in a separate address that no one knows (beside me and a few other members of the Giveth team) allowing ETHSecurity Badge holders to vote freely. Apply NOW! Applications for ETHSecurity Badges are still open. If you are doing meaningful work in the Ethereum security space, join us by filling out this form: https://giveth.typeform.com/ethsecbadge.

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