Ethereum developers unveil new security standard for smart contracts

A group of developers proposed the ERC-7512 standard, aimed at increasing the security of Ethereum smart contracts through additional intra-network verification of their audits.

To bring in security to the mix @safe and security partners introduce ERC-7512 as a proposed standard to bring audits onchain pic.twitter.com/uyviFnBGkH

— Cl3m (@blockomotive) September 15, 2023

The authors of the proposal included developers from Safe, Ackee Blockchain, OtterSec, ChainSecurity, OpenZeppelin and Hats Finance.

ERC-7512 would enable thorough analysis of smart-contract audit results. At present, audits are performed manually by teams without on-chain verification of their authenticity.

If the standard is adopted and implemented, it would also enable an intra-network reputation system for trusted auditors of decentralized applications.

The need for a new standard arose from losses in the DeFi sector due to exploits. Experts estimate the industry”s losses from hacks and fraud in the first half of 2023 at $655.6 million.

Earlier in July, a group of Ethereum community developers proposed standard ERC-7265: Circuit Breaker to enhance the security of DeFi protocols.

The solution enables developers to insert into smart contracts an automatic circuit breaker, which halts token transfers when a threshold rate of asset outflow is reached.

In March, the Ethereum team activated the ERC-4337 standard, which implements the concept of account abstraction.