MartinGbz - March 2025 Security Council

Security Council Security Council Elections
1

Hello ArbitrumDAO community!

I’m Martin Grabarz (MartinGbz), a Software Engineer based in France. With a deep involvement in DeFi since 2020, I have actively contributed to the ecosystem through major conferences and hackathons. Currently, I work at the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) within the Aave DAO structure, where I handle key-security tasks like incentives management and transaction verifications. My prior experience at Sismo, focusing on privacy and ZK, further strengthens my technical and operational expertise. These combined experiences position me well to contribute to the security of the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Relevant Experience

My professional experience has direct relevance to the Security Council role:

  • Software Engineer at ACI: Currently contributing to Aave, one of the largest DeFi protocols. My responsibilities include:

    • Incentives Distribution: Responsible for incentives distribution, requiring high availability during critical operations and thorough security checks. Built the backend infrastructure for incentives distribution and a frontend for claiming rewards: Merit.
    • Secure Transaction Execution: Creating and proposing transactions on Safe wallets managing millions in funds, requiring rigorous verification, including Tenderly simulations, to ensure security.
    • AIP Implementation & Review: Creating and reviewing proposals (AIPs) for adding assets, adjusting risk parameters, and other protocol changes, with a focus on identifying potential technical issues, and inconsistencies between governance decisions and their on-chain implementation. Contributions visible at: GitHub - bgd-labs/aave-proposals-v3
    • Risk Steward: Preparing and verifying transaction calldata for the Aave Risk Steward, ensuring no security vulnerabilities are introduced

  • Developer Relations Engineer at Sismo:

    • Owner of the Sismo Hub project: Actively developing it, managing the developer community contributions.
    • Bridging technical complexity: Translated complex ZKP concepts into clear documentation and tutorials for both technical and non-technical audiences.
    • Enhancing developer experience: Maintained high availability to support contributors, ensuring a smooth and collaborative development process.

Technical Expertise

My technical background is particularly relevant to the council role:

  • DAO & DeFi Protocol Experience: Working with Aave has given me a deep understanding of lending platforms, their associated risks, and both on-chain and off-chain governance systems. This includes hands-on experience with protocol safety mechanisms.
  • DAO Operations: Actively working within a DAO structure at Aave gives me practical understanding of governance processes and emergency response procedures.
  • Developer Tools: Built and Contribute to tools that enhance risk management and response time, improving security monitoring and enabling quicker reactions to emerging risks.

Ecosystem Participation & Motivation

Active in blockchain and DeFi since 2020 as both a user and a developer, I regularly attend major conferences such as EthCC and Devcon. I have also participated in hackathons as a hacker, sponsor, and mentor, including EthGlobal Paris, Bangkok, ZK Hack Lisbon, EthCC Hack and others.

Through my work in DeFi, I’ve seen firsthand how critical security is to the stability and trust of an ecosystem. While I’m not a security engineer, I actively apply best practices in transaction execution, governance implementation, and risk mitigation. Joining the Arbitrum Security Council would allow me to contribute to this mindset, helping to ensure the safe execution of decisions while supporting the ecosystem’s long-term resilience.

Why I Would Be Effective on the Security Council

  1. Multi-sig Experience: Regular work with Safe wallets managing significant funds has prepared me for the operational aspects of the Security Council role.
  2. Active Ethereum Developer: My current role at Aave involves producing code related to one of DeFi’s critical protocols.
  3. Work with Risk Management: Experience working alongside Aave Risk Steward, creating tools and verifying transactions for risk parameter changes.
  4. Available During Incidents: My role managing incentives distribution for Aave requires high availability during critical operations, a skill transferable to Security Council responsibilities.
  5. Communication Skills: Experience bridging technical and non-technical stakeholders, explaining complex protocol concepts in accessible ways. At Sismo, regularly translated complex ZKP concepts into understandable language for diverse audiences while remaining highly available to support developers.

Conclusion

My combination of knowledge as a software engineer, experience with DeFi protocols, multi-sig wallet operations, and active participation in the wider ecosystem provides me with the practical foundation necessary to serve effectively on the Arbitrum Security Council. I’m committed to upholding the highest security standards for the ecosystem.

Thanks for considering my application!

MartinGbz

My Links:

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