Can decentralized finance (DeFi) address its hacking problem with another layer of decentralized tech? Israeli cybersecurity firm Ironblocks' new network is betting on it.

On Wednesday, the firm is beginning a phased roll-out of a new Web3 security layer it's developing, called Venn. The transaction pre-screening network seeks to create "a new economy" for crypto security, said creator Or Dadosh, also Ironblocks' CEO.

Venn plans to match security operators and their technical know-how with crypto apps that want extra eyes on their transaction flow. A participating DeFi app might pay out crypto rewards to auditors and cybersecurity firms who vet pending transactions, Dadosh said.

All this happens before any crypto transaction actually executes. In the Venn model, pending trades, swaps, borrows and transfers pass through its network first. Security operators flag and freeze any suspicious actions. They forward regular activity onto the blockchain for confirmation.

"It's just like a firewall in the Web2 world," Dadosh said.

DeFi heavy hitters including Ether.Fi and Ethena are joining Venn's public testnet, according to Dadosh. A bevy of security firms are, too. The network itself will be distributed across the firms, who act as node operators.

Security DeFi hacking

Danny Nelson

Danny is CoinDesk's managing editor for Data & Tokens. He formerly ran investigations for the Tufts Daily. At CoinDesk, his beats include (but are not limited to): federal policy, regulation, securities law, exchanges, the Solana ecosystem, smart money doing dumb things, dumb money doing smart things and tungsten cubes. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL tokens, as well as the LinksDAO NFT.