Cartesi Upgrades Its Honeypot dApp—Here’s Why It Matters
Cartesi, a blockchain protocol focused on rollup technology, just rolled out a significant update to its Honeypot dApp. The upgrade introduces a new fraud-proof system, which could push the project into L2Beat’s Stage 2 category—a big deal for rollup security.
If you’re not familiar, Honeypot is basically a gamified security challenge. It invites hackers to test the system’s defenses, with incentives for those who find vulnerabilities. The idea isn’t new, but Cartesi’s latest version adds something called Permissionless Refereed Tournaments (PRT), a fraud-proof mechanism designed to block Sybil attacks without needing centralized validators.
Why This Upgrade Changes Things
Fraud proofs are a hot topic in Ethereum’s layer-2 space right now. Vitalik Buterin has been vocal about the need for rollups to adopt them, and Cartesi’s move seems to align with that push. PRT makes the system more decentralized—no gatekeepers, no multisig approvals. Just code doing its job.
Erick de Moura, Cartesi’s founder, put it simply: “We don’t expect trust to be given—it should be earned.” Honeypot lets projects put their own money on the line to prove their security claims before asking others to rely on them. It’s a practical approach, and maybe a smarter one than just promising safety without evidence.
The original Honeypot launched two years ago on Ethereum’s mainnet. This version is leaner, more open, and, if everything works as intended, harder to exploit.
What L2Beat’s Stage 2 Listing Would Mean
L2Beat, a go-to resource for tracking rollup security, sorts projects into stages based on how decentralized and secure they are. Stage 2 is the top tier—where everything runs on smart contracts without human intervention. Cartesi’s PRT system might be enough to get them there.
That’s not just a badge of honor. It’s a signal to users and developers that the protocol takes security seriously. And with Cartesi already working on another fraud-proof system (codenamed “Dave”), they’re clearly not stopping here.
For now, though, the focus is on Honeypot. If it holds up under real-world testing, it could set a new standard for how rollups prove they’re secure—without asking anyone to just take their word for it.
