> Correct me if I'm wrong [...] I agree, this is not trivial, but as you point out, since only the bytecode is stored in the blockchain, examining it must be o

> Correct me if I'm wrong [...] I agree, this is not trivial, but as you point out, since only the bytecode is stored in the blockchain, examining it must be only way to know what a contract does. > In addition, in the source code [...] Yes, the programmer could implement backdoors, no matter what the language is. As such, the end user should not rely on specific properties of a language to make guarantees as to whether or not it the contract does what they expect. It can help, but it's not foolproof. My point is that if you invest in a smart contract, it is unreasonable rely on outside entities -- either the person who created the contract or the contract language itself --- to ensure that it will work as expected. As hard as it may be to do, if you can't reasonably understand what's going to happen when you enter into a contract, you shouldn't.