Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain system, has made everyone's conviction in Web 3.0 possible. The most discussed use of blockchain technology, smart contracts, gained prominence in 2015 once Ethereum entered the blockchain market.
Making and implementing smart contracts that operate across a distributed network rather than on a centralised server is the key idea driving Ethereum's development.
It does not, however, change the reality that even Ethereum smart contracts have faults. Exploiting solidity code has resulted in a number of crypto-heists and is still trending upward. It means that there is no scope to ignore the security implications of deploying Ethereum smart contracts.
In light of security concerns, this blog will examine Ethereum smart contracts and the advantages and disadvantages of auditing them.
Ethereum Smart Contract
Let's first gain a basic understanding of what an Ethereum smart contract is and its many use cases before moving on to the auditing sector.
What is an Ethereum Smart Contract?
An Ethereum smart contract is just a collection of computer code that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and is stored at a specified address.
Smart contracts have a balance and have the ability to transmit transactions over the network, much like Ethereum accounts do. They are managed by nobody in particular. They are instead installed on the network and executed like software.
Then, user accounts may communicate with a smart contract by sending transactions that carry out a specified purpose.
Like any other contract, a smart contract establishes a set of rules and uses programming to automatically enforce them.
Pros of Auditing Ethereum Smart Contract
Being hot has drawbacks, and Ethereum, the second-ranked cryptocurrency, is unquestionably a target for online crooks.
Unaudited code deployment on the blockchain is the single worst error that has ever been made, as demonstrated by the history of cryptocurrency and Blockchain assaults and frauds. The extent of the damage brought on by even the smallest vulnerability in your smart contract is impossible to comprehend.
A few further benefits of posting an audited smart contract to the Ethereum Mainnet are listed below.
§ Avoid Costly Mishaps
An immutable distributed ledger system is blockchain. You are unable to fix issues in your code after deployment. Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that your smart contract has been properly checked for weaknesses.
Early code auditing helps you avoid potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities later in the development lifecycle.
§ Expert Analysis
Manual auditing offers a professional perspective to your code, even if the audit process might be automated, manual, or a combination of both. To find any weaknesses, manual auditing involves carefully going through smart contracts line by line.
§ Continuous Validation
Re-audits following post-code reworking are often provided by audit firms. It suggests that following an audit, programmers modify the code to fix issues and improve it in accordance with the suggestions made by the Ethereum smart contract auditors.
Auditors will recheck the code to see if it behaves as expected after making the necessary adjustments.
§ Analytics Reports in Depth
In essence, a thorough auditing report lists the smart contract issues and groups them according to severity. An analytics report enables the developer to make critical alterations that will improve the performance of the code.
§ Code optimization
Auditing aids in the best use of time and resources in addition to assisting in the removal of code that contains mistakes. Even if your code may not include any serious mistakes, it is not operating at its best. By adding an expert review to your code, auditing suggests adjustments for improved performance.
Cons of Ethereum Smart Contract Audit
Every coin has a negative side, and auditing is no exception. In no way are we trying to discourage you from having your contracts reviewed by pointing out the drawbacks of auditing.
Here are a few drawbacks of auditing Ethereum smart contracts.
§ Auditing is a costly affair.
The exchequer is even further burdened by the thousands of dollars that auditing sometimes costs. The implementation of smart contracts is often a costly procedure due to the Ethereum security audit.
§ Requires having faith in a third party
To ensure a seamless auditing procedure, one must provide the auditors with all pertinent information. It comprises technical specs, business needs, whitepapers, and more. This necessitates establishing a trustworthy rapport with your auditors, which may have unintended implications.
A smart contract audit is insufficient on its own.
Auditing is not a recent trend. Even Nevertheless, stories of Ethereum frauds occasionally make the news, indicating that auditing is probably not the only security measure needed by a smart contract. It is advised to move forward with techniques like bug bounties.
Auditing takes time to complete.
Smart contracts with complicated tokenomics, such as DApp and DeFi, could take up to a few weeks or months to complete, even if basic contracts like crypto-tokens can be completed in a few days. Transactions may therefore be delayed as a result of this.
A Conclusion
Security is one of the major problems that smart contract adoption is now facing. It is not feasible to change the code once it has been released on the mainnet since blockchain technology is immutable.
Placing smart contracts without doing sufficient audits might lead to undesirable consequences, such performance that differs from what the contract was supposed to deliver.
The security and effectiveness of your blockchain system are guaranteed by smart contract audits. A rising number of people are using smart contracts, yet blockchain technology is complicated. In order to create a safe blockchain asset, ethereum smart contract auditing is increasingly essential.
