Certik has partnered with YZi Labs to strengthen security for startups participating in the EASY Residency Incubation Program. The program targets the top 1% of early-stage founders working in Web3, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and aims to support ventures focused on long-term growth. As part of the collaboration, Certik will provide a $1 million auditing grant to program participants and offer its Skynet Boosting and AI scanning services. YZi Labs, formerly known as Binance Labs, will help connect incubated projects with Certik so that security practices are incorporated into development cycles.
Overview of the Partnership
The partnership brings together Certik’s Web3 security services and YZi Labs’ incubation network to embed security into early-stage project work. The EASY Residency Incubation Program is positioned to support founders in Web3, AI and biotech, with selection geared toward teams aiming for sustainable growth rather than short-term launches. By pairing technical security resources with the program’s mentorship and connections, the collaboration intends to make audits and security tooling more accessible to participants. For additional context on Certik’s activity in the sector, see CertiK и NEXUS in our related coverage.
Details of the Security Grant
The core offering is a $1 million auditing grant that program participants can use for security reviews and verification. Alongside financial support, Certik will provide technical services designed to detect vulnerabilities and improve code safety during development. These services include:
- Auditing funded by the $1 million grant to cover formal reviews and code checks.
- Skynet Boosting to enhance monitoring and automated protection.
- AI scanning tools to assist in identifying logic issues and common smart-contract flaws.
Taken together, the grant and services are intended to help early-stage teams integrate security into their development cycles, reducing the chance that critical vulnerabilities reach production. This approach aims to lower barriers for founders who otherwise might defer audits until later stages.
Statements from Key Figures
Ella Zhang, head of YZi Labs, emphasized that security is foundational for long-term success and can be a distracting, high-stakes concern for early teams chasing product-market fit. Zhang compared Certik’s role to structural engineers who help ensure a project’s framework is sound while founders focus on architecture and vision. Certik co-founder and CEO Ronghui Gu said the collaboration will raise security standards across the incubation program and contribute to the health and sustainability of the broader Web3 ecosystem.
Impact on the Web3 Ecosystem
The partnership seeks to make rigorous security assessments more routine for incubated projects, which can improve institutional credibility and investor confidence when projects present audited code. A formal audit and monitoring can also act as a visible signal of quality for potential partners and users, helping teams secure higher-tier collaborations. This initiative reflects a broader move in the industry toward integrating technical oversight and funding into early-stage support; for related shifts in industry focus, see Securitize и DeFi.
Why this matters
This announcement concerns security support for startups in an incubation program and does not introduce changes to mining protocols or miner-specific regulation. For miners, the practical relevance is indirect: stronger security practices in new projects can reduce the risk of exploits that affect token markets and user funds, but the partnership’s stated scope is audit funding and security tooling for founders. In short, the news targets project-level code security rather than mining operations or equipment.
What to do?
If you run mining equipment or follow blockchain projects, take simple, practical steps to stay safe when interacting with incubated projects or new protocols. First, check whether a project publishes a Certik audit or mentions the EASY Residency support before staking funds or interacting with smart contracts. Second, prefer projects with clear audit reports and ongoing monitoring; an audit alone is not a guarantee, but it is a documented step toward safer code.
- Verify published audit reports and read summaries of findings before using a project.
- Follow official project channels for updates on security fixes and monitoring status.
- Avoid committing significant funds to unaudited contracts and use small test transactions when possible.
