Papers
Topics
Authors
Recent
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Flash
169 tokens/sec
GPT-4o
7 tokens/sec
Gemini 2.5 Pro Pro
45 tokens/sec
o3 Pro
4 tokens/sec
GPT-4.1 Pro
38 tokens/sec
DeepSeek R1 via Azure Pro
28 tokens/sec
2000 character limit reached

DApps Ecosystems: Mapping the Network Structure of Smart Contract Interactions (2401.01991v1)

Published 3 Jan 2024 in cs.CY, cs.CR, cs.IT, cs.SE, and math.IT

Abstract: In recent years, decentralized applications (dApps) built on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and coded in languages such as Solidity, have gained attention for their potential to disrupt traditional centralized systems. Despite their rapid adoption, limited research has been conducted to understand the underlying code structure of these applications. In particular, each dApp is composed of multiple smart contracts, each containing a number of functions that can be called to trigger a specific event, e.g., a token transfer. In this paper, we reconstruct and analyse the network of contracts and functions calls within the dApp, which is helpful to unveil vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious attackers. We show how decentralization is architecturally implemented, identifying common development patterns and anomalies that could influence the system's robustness and efficiency. We find a consistent network structure characterized by modular, self-sufficient contracts and a complex web of function interactions, indicating common coding practices across the blockchain community. Critically, a small number of key functions within each dApp play a pivotal role in maintaining network connectivity, making them potential targets for cyber attacks and highlighting the need for robust security measures.

Definition Search Book Streamline Icon: https://streamlinehq.com
References (40)
  1. Mastering Ethereum: building smart contracts and dApps. O’Reilly Media, 2018.
  2. Smart contract vulnerability detection technique: A survey. arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.05872, 2022.
  3. Kris Oosthoek. Flash crash for cash: Cyber threats in decentralized finance. arXiv preprint arXiv:2106.10740, 2021.
  4. The decentralized financial crisis. In 2020 crypto valley conference on blockchain technology (CVCBT), pages 1–15. IEEE, 2020.
  5. A first look at blockchain-based decentralized applications. Software: Practice and Experience, 51(10):2033–2050, 2021.
  6. Smart contract vulnerability analysis and security audit. IEEE Network, 34(5):276–282, 2020.
  7. The dao attack paradoxes in propositional logic. In 2017 4th international conference on systems and informatics (ICSAI), pages 1743–1746. IEEE, 2017.
  8. Financial Stability Board. The financial stability risks of decentralised finance, 2023. Accessed 29/12/2023 at https://www.fsb.org/2023/02/the-financial-stability-risks-of-decentralised-finance/.
  9. A complex systems approach to constructing better models for managing financial markets and the economy. The European Physical Journal Special Topics, 214:295–324, 2012.
  10. Fundamental concepts of cyber resilience: Introduction and overview. Cyber resilience of systems and networks, pages 1–25, 2019.
  11. Complex systems theory and crashes of cryptocurrency market. In Information and Communication Technologies in Education, Research, and Industrial Applications: 14th International Conference, ICTERI 2018, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 14-17, 2018, Revised Selected Papers 14, pages 276–297. Springer, 2019.
  12. From code to market: Network of developers and correlated returns of cryptocurrencies. Science advances, 6(51):eabd2204, 2020.
  13. The butterfly “affect”: Impact of development practices on cryptocurrency prices. EPJ Data Science, 9(1):21, 2020.
  14. On the ethereum blockchain structure: A complex networks theory perspective. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, 32(12):e5493, 2020.
  15. A game of nfts: Characterizing nft wash trading in the ethereum blockchain. In 2023 IEEE 43rd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS), pages 13–24. IEEE, 2023.
  16. The evolving liaisons between the transaction networks of bitcoin and its price dynamics. In Proceedings of Blockchain Kaigi 2022 (BCK22), page 011002. 2023.
  17. Power laws in software. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), 18(1):1–26, 2008.
  18. Scale-free geometry in oo programs. Communications of the ACM, 48(5):99–103, 2005.
  19. Jon Kleinberg. The small-world phenomenon: An algorithmic perspective. In Proceedings of the thirty-second annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing, pages 163–170, 2000.
  20. Hierarchical small worlds in software architecture. ArXiv preprint cond-mat/0307278, 2003.
  21. Theodore Chaikalis et al. Forecasting java software evolution trends employing network models. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 41(6):582–602, 2014.
  22. Christopher R Myers. Software systems as complex networks: Structure, function, and evolvability of software collaboration graphs. Physical review E, 68(4):046116, 2003.
  23. Fault-insertion and fault-fixing behavioural patterns in apache software foundation projects. Information and Software Technology, 158:107187, 2023.
  24. Smart contract development: Challenges and opportunities. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 47(10):2084–2106, 2019.
  25. Smart contracts vulnerabilities: a call for blockchain software engineering? In 2018 International Workshop on Blockchain Oriented Software Engineering (IWBOSE), pages 19–25. IEEE, 2018.
  26. Smart contract security: A software lifecycle perspective. IEEE Access, 7:150184–150202, 2019.
  27. A preliminary analysis of software metrics in decentralised applications. Fifth ACM International Workshop on Blockchain-enabled Networked Sensor Systems, 2023.
  28. Mindthedapp: A toolchain for complex network-driven structural analysis of ethereum-based decentralised applications, 2023.
  29. Terence Parr. The definitive ANTLR 4 reference. Raleigh, The Pragmatic Bookshelf, pages 1–326, ISBN: 9781680505016 , 2013.
  30. DeFi and the Future of Finance. John Wiley & Sons, 2021.
  31. Hong Kong Institute of Blockchain and Financial Association. Crypto crime report 2023. Accessed 29/12/2023 from https://hkibfa.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Crypto_Crime_Report_2023.pdf
  32. Evaluating the effect of a delegated versus centralized control style on the maintainability of object-oriented software. IEEE Transactions on software engineering, 30(8):521–534, 2004.
  33. Smart contract: Attacks and protections. IEEE Access, 8: 24416-24427, 2020.
  34. Bipartite network projection and personal recommendation. Physical review E, 76(4):046115, 2007.
  35. Extracting the multiscale backbone of complex weighted networks. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 106(16): 6483-6488, 2009
  36. Mark Newman. Networks. Oxford University Press, 2018.
  37. Ronald S. Burt. Structural holes. In Social stratification, pages 659–663. Routledge, 2018.
  38. Smart contract vulnerabilities: Does anyone care? ArXiv preprint arXiv:1902.06710 (2019): 1-15.
  39. Banking in the shadow of Bitcoin? The institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. CESifo Working Paper, No. 10355, Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (2023)
  40. Cryptocurrency co-investment network: token returns reflect investment patterns. ArXiv preprint arXiv:2301.02027 (2023).
Citations (2)
View on Semantic Scholar

Summary

We haven't generated a summary for this paper yet.

Ai Sparkles Streamline Icon: https://streamlinehq.com Summarize Now