Write a Blog >>
ESEC/FSE 2021
Thu 19 - Sat 28 August 2021 Clowdr Platform
Thu 26 Aug 2021 08:00 - 08:10 - Dependability—Blockchain 2 Chair(s): Luciano Baresi
Thu 26 Aug 2021 20:00 - 20:10 - Dependability—Blockchain 2 Chair(s): Panos Louridas

Ethereum is a blockchain platform that hosts and executes smart contracts. Smart contracts have been used to implement cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding initiatives (ICOs). A major concern in Ethereum is the security of smart contracts. Different from traditional software development, smart contracts are immutable once deployed. Hence, vulnerabilities and bugs in smart contracts can lead to catastrophic financial loses. In order to avoid taking the risk of writing buggy code, smart contract developers are encouraged to reuse pieces of code from reputable sources (e.g., OpenZeppelin). In this paper, we study code cloning in Ethereum. Our goal is to quantify the amount of clones in Ethereum (RQ1), understand key characteristics of clone clusters (RQ2), and determine whether smart contracts contain pieces of code that are identical to those published by OpenZeppelin (RQ3). We applied Deckard, a tree-based clone detector, to all Ethereum contracts for which the source code was available. We observe that developers frequently clone contracts. In particular, 79.2% of the studied contracts are clones and we note an upward trend in the number of cloned contracts per quarter. With regards to the characteristics of clone clusters, we observe that: (i) 9 out of the top-10 largest clone clusters are token managers, (ii) most of the activity of a cluster tends to be concentrated on a few contracts, and (iii) contracts in a cluster to be created by several authors. Finally, we note that the studied contracts have different ratios of code blocks that are identical to those provided by the OpenZeppelin project. Due to the immutability of smart contracts, as well as the impossibility of reverting transactions once they are deemed final, we conclude that the aforementioned findings yield implications to the security, development, and usage of smart contracts.

Thu 26 Aug

Displayed time zone: Athens change

08:00 - 09:00
Dependability—Blockchain 2Journal First / Ideas, Visions and Reflections / Research Papers +12h
Chair(s): Luciano Baresi Politecnico di Milano
08:00
10m
Paper
Code cloning in smart contracts: a case study on verified contracts from the Ethereum blockchain platform
Journal First
Masanari Kondo Kyushu University, Gustavo A. Oliva Queen's University, Zhen Ming (Jack) Jiang York University , Ahmed E. Hassan Queen's University, Osamu Mizuno Kyoto Institute of Technology
08:10
10m
Paper
iBatch: Saving Ethereum Fees via Secure and Cost-Effective Batching of Smart-Contract Invocations
Research Papers
Yibo Wang Syracuse University, Qi Zhang Syracuse University, Kai Li Syracuse University, Yuzhe Tang Syracuse University, Jiaqi Chen Syracuse University, Xiapu Luo Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ting Chen University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Link to publication DOI Pre-print
08:20
10m
Paper
The Gas Triangle and Its Challenges to the Development of Blockchain-Powered Applications
Ideas, Visions and Reflections
Gustavo A. Oliva Queen's University, Ahmed E. Hassan Queen's University
DOI
08:30
30m
Live Q&A
Q&A (Dependability—Blockchain 2)
Research Papers

20:00 - 21:00
Dependability—Blockchain 2Journal First / Research Papers / Ideas, Visions and Reflections
Chair(s): Panos Louridas Athens University of Economics and Business
20:00
10m
Paper
Code cloning in smart contracts: a case study on verified contracts from the Ethereum blockchain platform
Journal First
Masanari Kondo Kyushu University, Gustavo A. Oliva Queen's University, Zhen Ming (Jack) Jiang York University , Ahmed E. Hassan Queen's University, Osamu Mizuno Kyoto Institute of Technology
20:10
10m
Paper
iBatch: Saving Ethereum Fees via Secure and Cost-Effective Batching of Smart-Contract Invocations
Research Papers
Yibo Wang Syracuse University, Qi Zhang Syracuse University, Kai Li Syracuse University, Yuzhe Tang Syracuse University, Jiaqi Chen Syracuse University, Xiapu Luo Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ting Chen University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Link to publication DOI Pre-print
20:20
10m
Paper
The Gas Triangle and Its Challenges to the Development of Blockchain-Powered Applications
Ideas, Visions and Reflections
Gustavo A. Oliva Queen's University, Ahmed E. Hassan Queen's University
DOI
20:30
30m
Live Q&A
Q&A (Dependability—Blockchain 2)
Research Papers