Grant Application - Boring Security DeFi Security Class ft. CoW Swap

[jaimez888]

Context

We initially applied to Cow DAO in July 2025 with the intent of using the grant to develop our new DeFi Safety and Security class. While we were rejected, we proceeded to create the class and began teaching it to various communities.

We have been teaching the class since October, on average, 1 class per month, and have reached 100 students.

We intend to teach the class in perpetuity. As long as there is demand for DeFi and we can continue operations, the class will be taught. We are asking for a grant to help fund future courses, with the possibility of ramping up teaching to twice a month.

Proof of Work

Here are some snapshots from our live classes and from the teaching material.

Opportunity

There’s an opportunity to use these sections to onboard users to CoWSwap, especially with a UTM link and through a hands-on class activity.

About the Team

Feld - founder of Boring Security. He taught DeFi Basics classes at a major NYC hedge fund and has instructed several of our courses. He is an avid user of DeFi, often leveraging more than 10 protocols each month. X profile: https://x.com/Feld4014

0xQuit - Vice President of Blockchain at Yuga Labs. He is our Web3 102 co-instructor and will serve as content editor and potentially a co-instructor of the class. X profile: https://x.com/0xQuit

Jamz - Grant writer and partner manager within Boring Security. He will be leading the execution of the grant. X profile: https://x.com/JaimeZ888

Redzin - Community manager and instructor. X profile: https://x.com/redzin

Prior Work:

Boring Security is a public good founded in 2022 that aims to make Web3 security accessible through free educational resources. We have instructed nearly 3,000 alumni (holding our alumni token), 6,000 students, and helped users recover over $3 million in stolen assets through sleuthing and flashbots recovery services.

We are also a regular user of CoWSwap, using the platform for monthly operations.

Alumni On-Chain Tokens:

https://etherscan.io/token/0x0164fb48891b891e748244b8ae931f2318b0c25b#balances

Milestones

Milestones | Title | | Due date (*) | Funding request

| Milestones 1 | Month 1 Classes | | January 31, 2026| | $1,400 |

| Milestones 2 | Month 2 Classes | | February 28, 2026 | | $1,400 |

| Milestones 3 | Month 3 Classes | | March 31, 2026 | | $1,400 |

We will teach two classes per month, targeting a minimum of 50 students each month.

Gnosis Chain Address

gno:0x2e8E95DBEb137a24469e711079Ad483D081166F7

Terms and Conditions

By submitting this grant application, I acknowledge and agree to be bound by the CoW DAO Participation Agreement and the CoW DAO Grant Agreement Terms.

INCLUDE NOTE TO COMMITTEE:
Please notify the Grantee of their reviewer and their steward in the thread and latest upon successful approval of the Grant on Snapshot.

[Sov]

Thanks for coming back with proof of work - it’s clear Boring Security executes. We appreciate that you built the class after the initial rejection and are including CoW Swap content.

However, the core consideration from our July feedback hasn’t changed: we’re prioritizing grants with direct, measurable impact on CoW Protocol usage (volume, trader acquisition, integrations). Without tracking mechanisms to measure student-to-user conversion, we can’t justify funding education initiatives at this time.

If you’re able to add UTM tracking and share data on how many graduates actually start using CoW Swap, we’d be interested in revisiting.

[jaimez888]

Thank you for replying and reviewing our proposal so quickly.

First off, i’d like to thank and praise CowDAO because you actually take the time to reply and give insight on the application. This is not something other grant bodies do.

We will look into the utm links next to see the results.

Thank You!