The Ethereum Foundation has announced a pivotal sponsorship of the whitehat security nonprofit Security Alliance (SEAL) to directly combat the escalating threat of cryptocurrency drain attacks and sophisticated social engineering schemes targeting Ethereum users. This strategic partnership, formalized under the Foundation's '1Ts' (Trillion Dollar Security) initiative, marks a significant shift towards proactive, ecosystem-wide defense for the leading smart contract platform.
The core of the collaboration involves the Ethereum Foundation sponsoring a dedicated security engineer whose sole mission is to work with SEAL's intelligence team to track, analyze, and neutralize active threats. The initiative focuses on three key areas: proactive threat intelligence to hunt for new attack vectors, rapid incident response to assist projects and individuals under attack, and public education to help users recognize and avoid common scams.
The move addresses a critical vulnerability. Drainer attacks, which trick users into signing malicious transactions that grant attackers full access to their assets, alongside social engineering tactics like phishing and impersonation, have resulted in massive losses. Blockchain analytics indicate over $1 billion was stolen through such methods in 2024 alone. SEAL reported that coordinated efforts helped reduce this figure to an estimated $84 million in 2025, demonstrating the potential impact of such alliances.
To track progress, SEAL and the Ethereum Foundation have launched a public Trillion Dollar Security dashboard. This tool monitors Ethereum's security across six dimensions—including user experience, smart contracts, and infrastructure—comprising between 8 and 29 risk controls each, along with identified priority work.
SEAL has expressed openness to expanding this collaborative model to other blockchain ecosystems, aiming to establish a cross-chain threat intelligence sharing framework. The Ethereum Foundation endorsed the effort, stating on social media that "The Security Alliance has done important work to combat attacks and the ecosystem has benefited tremendously."
