CertiK, a leading blockchain security firm, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) as it aims to become the first publicly traded company in the Web3 infrastructure space. This ambition was revealed by co-founder Ronghui Gu during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Gu, who is also a computer science professor at Columbia University, stated that while there isn't a concrete IPO plan yet, it is "definitely the goal we are pursuing". CertiK is backed by Binance, and has a valuation of $2 billion.
CertiK last raised capital in 2022, securing $88 million in a Series B3 round co-led by Insight Partners, Tiger Global, and Advent International. The company's investors include Binance, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and Goldman Sachs. Binance is CertiK's largest financial backer. On January 6, 2026, CertiK announced a strategic partnership with YZi Labs, the family office of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
CertiK's tools and services address blockchain security challenges, enabling institutional adoption of decentralized systems. The company's suite of services includes formal verification of smart contracts, real-time on-chain monitoring via Skynet, and cyber threat detection. CertiK has audited over 4,200 projects, safeguarding more than $340 billion in digital assets.
Gu also highlighted CertiK's Spoq engine, which integrates AI with formal verification to enhance scalability and efficiency. This technology has been validated by academic conferences, including OSDI 2023 and ASPLOS 2026.
Founded in December 2017 by professors from Yale University and Columbia University, CertiK applies innovations from academia to enterprise, enabling applications to scale. CertiK has worked with over 5,000 enterprise clients, secured over $600 billion in digital assets, and detected over 180,000 vulnerabilities in blockchain code. CertiK's clients include Binance, Ethereum Foundation, BNB Chain, Aptos, Ripple, Sandbox, Polygon, and TON.
CertiK has secured $296 million in funding from 12 top-tier funds. CertiK joined the Unicorn Club on December 1, 2021, after a Series B funding round led by Sequoia China.
CertiK has faced controversies, including a phishing attack on its X account in 2024 and criticism after its employees exploited a $3 million bug.
