Ethereum will utilize The DAO unclaimed funds to establish a $200 million security fund

2026-02-01 08:30:46

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“The DAO is back!” For many veteran crypto enthusiasts, this phrase is probably both familiar and tinged with shadows. Griff Green, a veteran Ethereum developer and one of the co-founders of The DAO, recently chose to confront this history head-on, announcing that the funds from the 2016 The DAO hacker incident, which have yet to be reclaimed, will be redeployed as a new Ethereum Security Fund.

In an exclusive interview with renowned blockchain journalist Laura Shin, Griff Green revealed that these funds were originally set aside as refunds for “Edge Case” victims after The DAO was hacked in 2016. However, over time, about 20% of the funds remained unclaimed. At that time, this asset was worth only $6 million, but it has now skyrocketed to approximately $200 million.

“We are officially launching the TheDAO Security Fund,” said Griff Green. “Basically, it’s a bunch of money lying in on-chain contracts that should have been returned to the victims but wasn’t claimed.”

According to the official blog, this new fund will include 70,500 ETH from the “ExtraBalance Withdrawal Contract,” as well as 4,600 ETH and DAO tokens from The DAO’s Curator Multisig (multi-signature wallet). These substantial assets will not be spent directly but will generate staking rewards to support Ethereum’s security infrastructure.

“The DAO is back… This phrase might sound a bit alarming, but this time, everyone need not be afraid,” Griff Green said.

He pointed out that it was the disastrous hack of The DAO back then that spurred the thriving Ethereum security ecosystem we see today. Now, this remaining fund from the hacker incident will join forces with the Ethereum Foundation to become a key piece of the “Trillion Dollar Security Initiative.”

Looking back at history, The DAO was one of the most iconic experiments in blockchain history. In 2016, it raised $150 million worth of ETH through crowdfunding, only to be robbed by hackers a few weeks later, sparking fierce debates over whether to “rollback the blockchain,” and ultimately leading to the community splitting into what are now Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.

Although the The DAO incident heightened awareness of smart contract security, Griff Green stated that security issues remain the biggest pain point for ordinary users. He said:

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