Today in crypto, top Web3 white hats are earning millions uncovering DeFi flaws, a crypto researcher has high hopes the US government will still form the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve this year. Meanwhile, Gemini shares soared on Nasdaq in their first day of trading.
Web3 white hats earn millions, crushing $300K traditional cybersecurity jobs
Top white hats hunting vulnerabilities across decentralized protocols in Web3 are earning millions, dwarfing the $300,000 salary ceiling in traditional cybersecurity roles.
“Our leaderboard shows researchers earning millions per year, compared to typical cybersecurity salaries of $150-300k,” Mitchell Amador, co-founder and CEO of bug bounty platform Immunefi, told Cointelegraph.
In crypto, “white hats” refers to ethical hackers paid to disclose vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Unlike salaried corporate roles, these researchers choose their targets, set their own hours and earn based on the impact of what they find.
So far, Immunefi has facilitated more than $120 million in payouts across thousands of reports. Thirty researchers have already become millionaires.
‘Strong chance’ US will form Strategic Bitcoin Reserve this year: Alex Thorn
There is a high likelihood that the United States government will form the highly anticipated Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by the end of this year, says Galaxy Digital’s head of firmwide research, Alex Thorn.
However, other industry executives are less confident.
“I still think there’s a strong chance the US government will announce this year that it has formed the strategic Bitcoin reserve (SBR) and is formally holding BTC as a strategic asset,” Thorn said in an X post on Thursday.
“Market seems to be completely underpricing the likelihood of such an announcement,” Thorn added.
While US President Trump signed the executive order officially establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and US Digital Asset Stockpile in March, a formalized strategic plan has not been confirmed yet.
Gemini (GEMI) stock soars in Nasdaq debut amid crypto IPO boom
Shares of Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the digital asset exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, surged in their market debut on Friday, signaling strong institutional appetite for crypto-related equities.
Gemini shares briefly topped $40 on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance data, before retreating later in the session. By the afternoon, Gemini was trading near $35 a share, up 24% on the day, for a market cap of around $1.3 billion.
The company priced its initial public offering at $28 per share late Thursday — well above its initial target range of $17 to $19, and even higher than the upwardly revised $24 to $26 range.
According to CNBC, Gemini capped its offering at 15.2 million shares, raising $425 million and signaling heightened investor demand.
The exchange moved swiftly from filing its Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to debuting on the Nasdaq. As Cointelegraph reported, Gemini submitted its IPO registration on Sept. 2 and began trading 10 days later.
