Nearly a decade after a catastrophic hack nearly derailed Ethereum, TheDAO has reemerged to bolster the blockchain's security. Unclaimed Ether worth over $220 million will be staked to support ongoing initiatives. The move revives a long-forgotten commitment from the aftermath of the 2016 incident.
In 2016, TheDAO, a pioneering cooperatively managed venture fund, raised more than $150 million in Ether through one of history's largest crowdfunding efforts. However, it was soon exploited in a hack that drained funds and sparked intense debate over Ethereum's future. The controversy centered on whether to fork the blockchain to reverse the theft, which would recover the Ether but challenge the immutability of the technology. Ultimately, the pro-fork side prevailed, restoring the stolen assets and allowing most owners to reclaim their Ether.
A small portion of the recovered Ether—about 75,000 units, now valued at more than $220 million—remained unclaimed due to edge cases. These funds were placed in a special wallet controlled by a group including crypto entrepreneur Griff Green. Per an agreement from shortly after the hack, any unclaimed Ether after January 31, 2017, was earmarked for a nonprofit focused on smart contract security—a pledge that had largely been overlooked until recently.
The revival began when Fade, a pseudonymous researcher at crypto market maker Wintermute, rediscovered the old blog post while reviewing contracts. He proposed repurposing the idle Ether, an idea Green endorsed. Now, TheDAO, restructured as a security-focused grant-making organization, will stake the bulk of these funds. The staking yields will finance initiatives aligned with the Ethereum Foundation's Trillion Dollar Security program, which outlines six key priorities for developers. Ethereum users will also vote on allocations across multiple rounds.
Leading the effort are Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Metamask security researcher Taylor Monahan, and four others. As Green explained in a blog post, "TheDAO Security Fund will activate more than 75,000 ETH (over $220M) to strengthen Ethereum’s security, ensuring it is ready to become the backbone of the world’s financial infrastructure." He added, "TheDAO Security Fund marks the start of a new phase for Ethereum’s security story. The world is ready for our tech, we want to ensure our tech is ready for the world."
This initiative addresses lingering vulnerabilities from TheDAO's hack, which occurred when Fade was just eight years old, and aims to fortify Ethereum as a foundation for decentralized finance.
