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On a tangent, are smart contracts automatically “open source” - as in anyone can see the source or is there a way to obfuscate what’s on the blockchain?

soco 4y ago
I thought one of the selling points was that everybody can check the contract...
- saurik 4y ago
  Just because contracts can exist whose code you don't have doesn't mean you don't know how anything works: not only can you build something on Ethereum that is open source and with verifiable behavior, that is currently the norm and obfuscated contracts are not taken seriously.
- WJW 4y ago
  Just because you don't have the source code does not mean you cannot inspect what a binary does by disassembling it. (And as any programmer will tell you, just because you have the source code available does not automatically mean you can see where it has a tricky edge case with massive security implications. The obfuscated C contests are proof of that)
saurik 4y ago
You can obfuscate source code also--see what people do with JavaScript on websites--so the answer is "no" under any case. (In specific, though, contracts are implemented in a bytecode, so by more basic definitions of "open source" the answer is still "no".)
vl 4y ago
Smart contract’s binary code is visible to anyone once it’s deployed. (And it’s pretty simple to disassemble). For most contracts they link actual source code to make inspection even easier - large part of trust in the system comes from the fact that contracts are inspectable.
- bergenty 4y ago
  An so just binaries which I guess means it’s not visible for all intents and purposes. Are there ready to go smart contract disassemblers?
  - PaywallBuster 4y ago
    example https://etherscan.io/bytecode-decompiler?a=0x610b8B78da143fC1E38b36C4EA0f68F86cc3b4f4 https://etherscan.io/bytecode-decompiler?a=0x610b8B78da143fC... which uses https://github.com/palkeo/panoramix https://github.com/palkeo/panoramix
- miohtama 4y ago
  All high profile smart contracts have reproducible and verified source code available on EtherScan.
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  Dissambly into Ethereum opcodes is doable, but do you find that readable?

soco 4y ago

I thought one of the selling points was that everybody can check the contract...

saurik 4y ago
Just because contracts can exist whose code you don't have doesn't mean you don't know how anything works: not only can you build something on Ethereum that is open source and with verifiable behavior, that is currently the norm and obfuscated contracts are not taken seriously.
WJW 4y ago
Just because you don't have the source code does not mean you cannot inspect what a binary does by disassembling it. (And as any programmer will tell you, just because you have the source code available does not automatically mean you can see where it has a tricky edge case with massive security implications. The obfuscated C contests are proof of that)

saurik 4y ago

You can obfuscate source code also--see what people do with JavaScript on websites--so the answer is "no" under any case. (In specific, though, contracts are implemented in a bytecode, so by more basic definitions of "open source" the answer is still "no".)

vl 4y ago

Smart contract’s binary code is visible to anyone once it’s deployed. (And it’s pretty simple to disassemble). For most contracts they link actual source code to make inspection even easier - large part of trust in the system comes from the fact that contracts are inspectable.

bergenty 4y ago
An so just binaries which I guess means it’s not visible for all intents and purposes. Are there ready to go smart contract disassemblers?
- PaywallBuster 4y ago
  example https://etherscan.io/bytecode-decompiler?a=0x610b8B78da143fC1E38b36C4EA0f68F86cc3b4f4 https://etherscan.io/bytecode-decompiler?a=0x610b8B78da143fC... which uses https://github.com/palkeo/panoramix https://github.com/palkeo/panoramix
miohtama 4y ago
All high profile smart contracts have reproducible and verified source code available on EtherScan.
pcthrowaway 4y ago
Dissambly into Ethereum opcodes is doable, but do you find that readable?