Riley Holterhus

Technical Author & Security Editor

🎓 Education: University of Waterloo (CS/Math)

🛡️ Audits: Frax, Optimism, Coinbase

About Me

Riley Holterhus is a smart contract security researcher and a technical editor at KeyForDEX. He is a graduate of the University of Waterloo (2018–2023), one of North America's leading academic centers for mathematics and computer science.

By 2026 Riley had built an extensive public track record of audits for tier-one DeFi protocols. As Lead Security Researcher at Spearbit, he took part in audits for giants such as Frax Finance and Optimism as well as projects in the Coinbase ecosystem. His expertise is confirmed by wins and top placements on competitive platforms such as Code4rena.

Role at KeyForDEX: Trust by process
Riley performs a mission-critical function for the editorial team — independent technical fact-checking. Thanks to his experience acting as an independent mediator (for example, when assessing vulnerability severity at NodeSet), he evaluates decentralized exchange reviews for hidden risks. He uncovers smart contract logic errors (invariants), front-running vectors and undocumented edge cases in AMM and CLAMM models.

Riley's authorial style is a proof-oriented approach. His articles and bug reports (such as the detailed breakdown of the Rocket Pool slashing attack) are always built on precise mathematics, attack-profitability calculations (exploit economics) and Proof of Concept (PoC) development.

Areas of Expertise

Smart Contract Auditing AMM / CLAMM Security Exploit Economics Front-running Risk Analysis Proof of Concept (PoC) Severity Mediation

Publications and Audits

Economic Attack Vectors in AMMs: How to Read Audits
Guides / Security
Rocket Pool: Slashing Attack Vector & PoC ↗
External Security Report (HackMD)
Frax Finance Audit Report (Spearbit) ↗
Auditor / Lead Security Researcher