Ripple has partnered with blockchain security firm Immunefi to roll out a $200,000 Attackathon aimed at stress-testing and securing the proposed XRP Ledger (XRPL) Lending Protocol. The initiative opens the protocol to scrutiny by global security researchers, offering rewards for identified vulnerabilities ahead of its full deployment.
What is the XRPL Attackathon?
- The program is structured as a time-boxed, adversarial competition in which security researchers analyze and report bugs in the codebase tied to the XRPL Lending Protocol.
- The education period runs from Oct. 13 to Oct. 27, 2025, followed by the attack period from Oct. 27 to Nov. 29, 2025.
- All code in scope is written in C++.
- If at least one valid bug is discovered, the full $200,000 prize pool will be unlocked. If no bugs are found, a fallback pool of $30,000 will be distributed among researchers who submitted valuable insights.
What’s in scope & priorities
The Attackathon focuses on the core components and risk vectors of the protocol, including:
- XLS-66 Lending Protocol
- XLS-65 Single Asset Vault (SAV)
- XLS-33 Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs)
- XLS-70 Credentials, XLS-77 Deepfreeze, XLS-80 Permissioned Domains
Priority targets include:
- Liquidation logic
- Interest accrual and debt accounting
- Clawback or deepfreeze functions
- Administrative controls and permissions
- Vault interactions, minting, redemption, and reward distribution
- Circumventing access controls or state corruption
Publicly disclosed or already known vulnerabilities are not eligible; all submissions must include working proof-of-concepts.
Why Ripple is doing this
- Security-first launch: By opening the protocol to external scrutiny before full deployment, Ripple aims to harden it against exploits and build trust.
- Institutional DeFi push: The XRPL Lending Protocol is part of Ripple’s roadmap to expand XRPL’s role in institutional decentralized finance by enabling lending natively on the ledger.
- Design philosophy: The protocol is designed for uncollateralized, fixed-term lending on the XRPL. It avoids smart contracts or wrapped assets; instead, creditworthiness is assessed off-chain, while funds live in on-chain pools governed by protocol logic.
- Governance via XLS-66: The protocol is anchored in the new XLS-66 standard, which helps integrate lending capabilities into the broader XRPL infrastructure.
Responses & community reception
The announcement has drawn attention in the crypto and XRPL communities. Some observers applaud the proactive security stance and transparency, noting that bug bounty models and attackathons are increasingly standard for DeFi protocols.
However, critics caution that:
- Not all vulnerabilities are easy to detect in limited windows
- On-chain logic tied with off-chain credit models introduces complexity and potential hidden edge cases
- The fallback reward (if no bugs are found) may raise questions about how rewarding security insights is balanced vs. encouraging reports
Regardless, the move signals Ripple’s willingness to subject its protocol to public scrutiny before unrecoverable deployment mistakes.
What’s next & what to watch
- Validator vote: Before full launch, the protocol may require a validator vote or network-wide consensus step.
- Bug disclosure pipeline: How quickly and transparently bugs are disclosed, patched, and verified will be a key measure of the program’s success.
- Adoption by institutions: The security reputation established8 through the Attackathon could influence whether banks, lenders, and institutions adopt the protocol when live.
- Competition & benchmarking: Similar attackathons or bug bounties from other chains may arise to test their own lending protocols, and XRPL’s results will be compared against them.
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