Co-Founder and CEO of the Ethereum network Vitalik Buterin, on November 16, 2022, advised developers to simplify DeFi codes.
The "centralized anything is evil by default, use defi and self-custody" ethos did very well this week, but remember that it too has risks: bugs in smart contract code.
Important to guard against it:
* Keep code simple
* Audits, formal verification, etc
* Defense in depth— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 16, 2022
He made this statement on his Twitter page around 3:04 p.m., also commenting on Ethos, the decentralized platform that is focused on storing important information on chains.Â
He went further to say that the platform has done well in driving wide adoption of DeFi and also believes that centralization is terrible to the roots.
However, Ethos needs to fight against smart contract bugs, keep its codes simple, and give audits/verification more priority in its in-depth defense against hackers.
Buterin also gave an example of what could happen if DeFi codes were not kept simple. A roll-up could get hacked due to a bug in its circuit constraint code, resulting in a loss of funds, which in his example is $10 billion.
A user named Lewis Gudgeon, who specializes in DeFi financial systems, also commented under the CEO’s tweet, saying smart contract bugs are becoming very prevalent and it’s giving him a lot of concern.
He also posed a question to Buterin if he would like to try n-version programming to attack the problem. If interested, he placed a link that would lead him to a proof of concept model he developed.
Other users, however, see a different solution to the issue of bugs, which is to buy cryptocurrencies and take them off exchanges as fast as possible into private wallets; by doing so, no hacker can meddle with your assets, and the problem is eliminated.
Some, on the other hand, criticized the user for mixing up smart contract risks and DeFi with what he calls “BTC pet rock crap.” A user sarcastically asked if all DeFi operations would shut down and if they do, will users buy BTC just to stare at it?
Certainly, DeFi has brought about more ways to earn from cryptocurrencies instead of leaving them dormant; DeFi functionalities like staking, yield farming, borrowing, and lending no doubt help users unlock the potential of their tokens without selling them.
The critical factor now is eliminating the threat, not the platforms; with Buterin’s advice, hopefully, things will improve and the DeFi sector will win the war against smart contract bugs.
However, this may take months or even years to be realized. Nevertheless, advancements in blockchain technology will undoubtedly speed up the process.
