Doubts arise over auditor of Russia2024 blockchain voting campaign

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As a crypto investor and follower of blockchain news, I find Mark Feygin’s new initiative, Russia2024, intriguing but also concerning. The idea of using blockchain technology to create a decentralized referendum to challenge the legitimacy of Russian elections is innovative and aligns with my belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications to promote democracy and transparency.

Mark Feygin, a Russian dissident and previous legal counsel for Pussy Riot, asserts that an assessment of his newly developed blockchain application, intended to undermine Putin’s authority, was carried out by Halborn. However, there is insufficient proof to confirm this claim.

Human rights advocate and ex-lawyer Mark Feygin, originally from Russia, is introducing a new project called Russia2024. This endeavor aims to question the validity of the most recent Russian elections.

According to a press release on crypto.news, Fegyin is planning to initiate a “vote of no confidence” among Russians, enabling them to express their views on the legitimacy of the country’s recent elections.

As a researcher studying the technological advancements in democratic processes, I would describe it this way: “I’m excited to be part of Russia2024’s historic moment as they conduct their first referendum using our surveillance-free voting solution, Freedom Tool. Built with Rarimo’s innovative technology, Freedom Tool harnesses the power of blockchain and zero-knowledge cryptography, allowing citizens to cast their votes or engage in peaceful protests without fear of being traced.”

Rarimo director Kitty Horlick

Interested individuals can access the initiative’s website FAQ for instructions on how to participate using a mobile app. This application is available for Android and iOS devices, although the iOS version currently seems to be unavailable in the App Store. The FAQ ensures that when scanning your passport data through this app, your personal information remains securely confined to your phone, maintaining complete confidentiality.

The announcement on crypto.news states that “Russia2024 has undergone rigorous testing by external auditors and white-hat hackers for the past two months.”

In a recent post on his Telegram channel, Mark Feygin hinted that Russia2024 underwent an audit by Halborn, a renowned international blockchain security firm responsible for conducting audits for projects like THORSwap, Polygon, and numerous other blockchain initiatives.

Based on my analysis, there seems to be no clear evidence on Halborn’s website suggesting that they carried out any audits for Russia2024. This absence of proof raises doubts about crypto.news’ transparency and the security of their data management procedures.

As a researcher examining information from Feygin’s Telegram channel, I came across a reference to a Notion document in Russian and an attached PDF file. Feygin claimed that this documentation served as proof of Halborn’s audit for Rarimo, not Russia2024 as previously assumed. The PDF file appeared to contain a draft version of the audit rather than the final report itself.

The Russia2024 website hints that Halborn carried out an examination of their application, even if it doesn’t specifically state that the blockchain company conducted an audit for Russia2024.

Rarimo’s official website also claims that the project was audited by Halborn and Ambisafe. In an email to crypto.news, Rarilabs director Kitty Horlick confirmed that “Rarimo and Freedom Tool was audited by Halborn. I have no idea why we aren’t listed on the [Halborn] site.” To back up the statement, Horlick also included several links that lead to PDF versions of audits conducted by Halborn on Rarimo’s Github.

Up to this point, despite Rarimo’s repeated claims that Halborn conducted an audit of their project, no concrete evidence has emerged on X to support the fact that either Rarimo or Russia2024 underwent such an examination.

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2024-05-10 16:10