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The 7 Best Ethereum Wallets to Keep Your ETH Safe

Ethereum is the future of blockchain technology. It is scalable, upgradeable, and more diverse than its bigger cousin, Bitcoin.

It has Metaverses, NFTs, DAOs, and a bunch of other stuff running on Ethereum. This makes it a better value proposition than Bitcoin because the hard truth is that cryptocurrencies are nothing like real fiat currencies.

They are a threat to governments that will try to stop (or strictly regulate) their use as regular currency. Consequently, its use cases are extremely limited.

However, Ethereum is more than a substitute for fiat currency, and that is what makes it worth holding.

But before we jump into the main list, let's take a look at a few crucial ones...

Ethereum Wallet Features

Having crypto is just one feat, but many others can make your experience satisfying or annoying.

These are some of the imperatives to take into account:

Willingness to buy cryptocurrencies with bank cards from inside the crypto wallet.

Support for decentralised applications like Decentraland, a metaverse, and Mintable, which is used to build NFTs.

Allow DeFi operations like buying, sending, lending, borrowing, staking, etc. While all of these features may not be feasible everywhere, purchasing and shipping are the minimum requirements.

Ability to withdraw directly to a bank without routing funds through crypto exchange platforms.

Establishment of limits to safeguard against unauthorized transactions.

It allows large volume transactions, especially useful for crypto whales or companies.

Token exchange functionality.

Multi-signature function (Multisig) for robust security.

These were the most requested features, and unfortunately, we couldn't find one that had it all. Anyway, we will start with the list of Ethereum wallets and mention the features supported by each entry.

1. Metamask

Metamask is the crowd favorite crypto wallet with millions of active monthly users.

For major web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Edge, you may use it as a browser plugin. Also, you can download it from the respective app stores on Android and iOS.

Features:

Buy cryptocurrencies with a card

DApp support

DeFi access (buy, send)

Exchange token

Hot wallet

Metamask has rich documentation and strong community support. At present, only a few match the love it receives from users.

2. Ledger Wallet

Ledger is a hardware cryptocurrency wallet with all the features of Metamask and more, however it costs money. Still, a small form factor and great security features make it a first choice for anyone looking for hardware wallets.

Buy cryptocurrencies with a card

DApp support

DeFi access (buy, send, stake)

Withdraw to the bank

High volume purchase

Exchange token

Hardware wallet

Please note that there are several models available for purchase and these features may differ between them.

3. Trust Wallet

Trust Wallet is another popular name backed by its parent company Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume.

This mobile-only wallet has tons of useful features, mainly due to the Binance integration, that make it an all-in-one crypto solution.

Features:

Buy crypto with card

DApp support

DeFi access (buy, send, bet, lend, borrow)

High Volume Purchase ($20k)

Exchange token

Hot wallet

This is also a hot wallet with one big drawback like the lack of a desktop app or browser extension. This makes it a deal breaker for someone in play to win crypto games.

While it may support mobile crypto gaming, the absence on the big screen is problematic. Still, you can indirectly connect it to compatible dApps Wallet Connect.

4. Atomic Wallet

Atomic Wallet has more in terms of presence on the platform. You can use this on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Features:

Buy crypto with card

DeFi access (buy, send, stake)

High Volume Purchase ($20k)

Exchange token

Hot wallet

Right off the bat, the features are limited, and this seems more skewed towards the money aspect of cryptocurrency. However, the UI is beautiful with a built-in crypto exchange.

Still, some users complain about the Atomic wallet for high transaction fees. So make sure you don't overpay because there are plenty of other options.

5. MyEtherWallet

MyEtherWallet (MEW) is an Ethereum-only wallet that doesn't take a minute to set up. The interface is clean, but it might take some getting used to if you're coming from Metamask or Trust Wallet.

Features:

Buy crypto with card

DApp support

DeFi access (buy, send, stake)

High Volume Purchase ($20k)

Token Swap

Hot wallet

MEW has smartphone apps for iOS and Android, but you can also use them on desktop. All you need is a connection to your MEW web app by scanning a QR code.

Additionally, you can deploy smart contracts directly from MEW or interact with available ones. In conclusion, this is a worthy Ethereum wallet with some advanced features that one must try.

6. Guarda

Guarda is a well-known wallet with native apps for many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Furthermore, you can also use this as a web wallet and browser extension without any installation.

Features:

Buy crypto with card

DApp support

DeFi access (buy, send, bet, borrow)

High Volume Purchase ($20k)

Token Swap

Multisig

Hot wallet

Also, you get valuable information like price charts, history, etc., while you trade. Finally, Guarda feels like a sensible offering for crypto enthusiasts that might overwhelm beginners at first.

7. Bitcoin.com Wallet

Bitcoin.com wallet is now compatible with Ethereum. Registration is the fastest of all on this list as it allows Google or Apple accounts.

However, this wallet also allows for anonymous use without the need for social logins.

Features:

Buy crypto with card

DeFi access (buy, send)

Withdraw to the bank

High Volume Purchase (~$21k)

Exchange token

Hot wallet

This is the simplest of the lot. Originally developed for Bitcoin, it addresses only the aspects related to the Bitcoin ecosystem. So it's a big disappointment for anyone asking for dApps integration.

Conclusion

There were a lot more Ethereum wallets, but these seven would serve you well in our opinion. However, if you like hardware wallets and want a Ledger alternative, give Safepal S1 a try. It is an intuitive, easy-to-carry and highly-rated multi-currency crypto wallet.

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Ethereum – A blockchain with smart contract functionality and perspectives for Web 3.0.

The creation of bitcoin in 2009 represented the first successful application of blockchain technology as a decentralized currency with a finite number of units. A significant aspect is that it was open to everyone. A wider range of tools and applications driven by the security, openness, and scalability of Ethereum blockchain technology have been discovered by developers as a result of Bitcoin. Although the bitcoin network provided the basis for a medium of exchange, a young programmer saw it as a method capable of challenging centralized entities throughout the economy.

In 2013, at just 19 years old, Vitalik Buterin published the Ethereum whitepaper, introducing a novel general-purpose blockchain network that allows developers to create programmable applications and conditions . In essence, Buterin created a programmable money system that revolutionized the way people think about, create, and implement blockchain technology.

Ethereum: a blockchain with smart contract functionality

The launch of Ethereum in July 2015 introduced a new blockchain with built-in Turing-complete language, which is a programming language that can be used to incorporate logic and complete transactions more advanced than simple payments. The introduction of this language has allowed developers to create and integrate applications on Ethereum, which serve as the base layer of an open ecosystem capable of hosting smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).

Smart contracts encompass a large part of Ethereum's value proposition. A smart contract has predefined criteria that automatically execute a response based on programmed conditions, and the agreement is recorded on the blockchain. A third-party mediator is not required with smart contracts.

DApps are front-end and user-facing applications created and implemented from the programmability of smart contracts. These programmable contracts are used to create decentralized financial (DeFi) servicing applications and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which represent digital ownership of unique assets. Decentralized autonomous organisations, a type of decentralised governance, are created and managed using smart contracts (DAOs). The Ethereum ecosystem is represented by the DApp world that exists within the network.

The Ethereum network tracks ledger states and stores transactions using completely transparent blockchain technology. Network participants can find a consensus state, which is the agreement reached on the blockchain's distributed ledger, by independently validating transactions and blocks according to the rules of the protocol. Blocks are individual data structures created from a list of aggregated transactions and include a reference to their source, or previous block.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) , Ethereum's distributed state machine, is responsible for maintaining the structure and data standards of the network. The EVM essentially lays down the guidelines for computing a state transition between blocks. A state transition can be anything from a simple account balance change to the result of a more complex smart contract interaction.

The native coin that runs the Ethereum network is called ether (ETH)

Ether (ETH) can be used to send simple payments, similar to bitcoin, but is more like a commodity than a currency because it is used primarily to pay for decentralized computing work on Ethereum. All transactions and implementation of smart contracts on Ethereum carry a variable fee to be paid in ETH. A simple payment is usually cheaper than a smart contract interaction. This payment scheme creates a natural demand for ETH, as end users of an Ethereum DApp must purchase ETH to interact with the platform.

The ETH has no physical representation; It is a digital bearer asset owned by whoever owns the corresponding private key. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum uses public-key cryptography and digital signatures to prevent malicious users from spending someone else's ETH. F or a deeper exploration of digital signatures and public-key cryptography.

ETH first went on sale on September 2, 2014, with a price of 2,000 ETH per bitcoin (BTC). ETH is currently the second largest cryptocurrency with a total market capitalization of $356 billion .

Why invest in Ethereum right now: a blockchain with smart contracts that has mechanisms for generating value and scalability

To understand the growing appeal and value of Ethereum is to recognize what Buterin articulated in his white paper: the potential to expand decentralized blockchain properties programmatically. For investors eager to learn more about Ethereum blockchain, the first productive use of a programmable blockchain:

The value locked within its ecosystem, the utility and interoperability of tokens and smart contracts, and the growing number of transactions and their effect on burning ETH may continue to drive value.

Updates such as the transition to proof-of-stake and advances in on-chain and off-chain scalability, including the implementation of the Ethereum Consensus Layer and enhancement to Layer 2 applications, provide scalability to Ethereum. These upgrades will also attract more developers to this growing ecosystem due to their network effect, further increasing the demand for the ETH utility.

Ethereum's adaptive characteristics also position it well to play a central role in disruptive moves like the evolution of the Internet to Web 3.0 , which is at its core a user-owned blockchain ecosystem.

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TRON (TRX) Network Now Supports Crypto APIs Blockchain Development Suite

Today, the blockchain development platform Crypto APIs announced support for TRON in its portfolio of blockchain infrastructure solutions called cryptography APIs. Users can now interact with the TRON mainnet and Nile networks and make requests using the unified Crypto API endpoints with an average response time of 25ms.

Launching its mainnet in May 2018, TRON is a decentralized blockchain platform that features high performance, security, and low costs. Thousands of programmers are available on the TRON network, ready to create, launch, and operate dApps on its blockchain.

Numerous decentralized applications, including as DeFi apps, exchanges, collectibles, and games are supported by the TRON ecosystem.

We have included TRON into a number of our products in order to meet the rising need to run and develop it. TRON now allows crypto API users to communicate with it and send queries to 20 REST API endpoints using our streamlined and optimized platform.

– The Crypto API Team

Features of TRON integration in cryptographic APIs

TRON for Wallet as a Service

Generate Deposit Address – through this endpoint, clients can generate new TRON addresses for their wallets

Deposit address list – this endpoint will pull a list of deposit/receive addresses already generated for the blockchain

List of supported tokens – Through this API, users may obtain data on a number of tokens simultaneously.

Get Wallet Asset Details – This endpoint provides details about all assets (coins, fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens) for the entire wallet.

Wallet Transaction List – Running this endpoint will list the transactions to and from your wallet and include additional data such as the transaction ID, the direction of the transaction – incoming or outgoing, amount, and more.

Get wallet transaction details by transaction ID – Through this API, users can get wallet transaction information by providing a transaction ID. Clients can receive information only for a transaction that has been made from their own wallets.

Two new API endpoints have been created by Crypto APIs particularly for the TRON blockchain:

Create a single transaction request from an address without fee priority – Clients can create new single transaction requests using this endpoint without specifying a fee priority that determines how quickly a transaction can be mined.

Create fungible token transaction requests from non-fee priority addresses – Through this endpoint, clients can perform a single token transaction on TRON without setting fee priority.

Blockchain Events (Webhooks) for TRONpresenter

New Confirmed Coin Transactions – Using this API endpoint, clients can create callback subscriptions for new incoming or outgoing confirmed transactions for coins to/from the specified address. A confirmed transaction means that miners verify it and add it to the next block.

New Confirmed Coin Transactions and Every Confirm – This endpoint creates a subscription for new incoming or outgoing confirmed transactions for coins to/from the address and also a response for every confirmation the transaction has received until the specified confirmation limit is reached. .

Mined transaction – by setting up a callback subscription via this API, clients will be notified when a specific TRON transaction is mined. Information is returned per specified transaction. When a transaction is a part of a brand-new blockchain block, it is mined.

New Block – A client can subscribe to get notifications for new blocks created on the TRON blockchain by creating this subscription.

Block Height Reached – With this API, clients can create callback subscriptions for a specific block height and be notified when it is reached.

New Confirmed Token Transactions – With this endpoint, a client will be notified when there are new confirmed incoming or outgoing transactions for tokens to/from the specified address.

New Confirmed Token Transactions and Every Confirmation  – With this API you can create a subscription for new confirmed incoming or outgoing transactions for tokens from/to the specified address and also a response for every confirmation until the specified limit is reached.

New Internal Transactions Confirmed – Through this endpoint, customers can create callback subscriptions and receive notifications when there are new internal transactions confirmed.

New Confirmed Internal Transactions and Every Confirmation – With this API customer can create subscriptions for new confirmed internal transactions. Also include a response in each commit.

Blockchain Tool API for TRON

Validate Address - This endpoint verifies the accuracy of the user's public addresses.

Derive HD wallet (xPub, yPub, zPub) change or receive addresses – through this endpoint, clients can derive up to 10 addresses, both for change and receive, by supplying an extended public key from a certain HD wallet (xPub, yPub, or\ zPub).

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What are Smart Contracts?

A smart contract is a type of computerized transaction protocol that, when specific criteria are satisfied, automatically carries out the terms of a contract. Stored within a blockchain such as Ethereum, smart contracts allow the contract to be executed without the need for intermediaries or human intervention.

Security flaws throughout the history of unaudited Smart Contracts

As we can read in the following CCN-CERT document, the market capitalization of the Ethereum network alone is more than 11 billion US dollars, so BSC blockchain networks and decentralized application systems, in which Smart Contracts are found, they are a very sweet target for criminal mafias who want their loot.

Examples of projects attacked by cybercriminals:

The DAO hack:

Initiative created by members of the Ethereum community

His motive was to provide a platform for financing startups without intermediaries.

Listed up to 250 million dollars

It was attacked taking advantage of a programming error in Smart Contracts

Impact:

Cost of the attack of 55 million dollars

Hard Fork to solve the loss of capital by investors

Investors lost confidence

Crypto Legions Bloodstone:

Game based on NFT tokens

Game logic resident in Smart Contracts

Security flaw in the Smart Contract logic (false randomness) caused cybercriminals to take advantage of the flaw to extract all the liquidity from the game

Impact:

Theft of market capitalization

Loss of player confidence

Loss of player investment

What is the audit of Smart Contracts?

The audit of Smart Contracts of the compatible Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchain networks (Ethereum, BSC and POLYGON among others) consists of analyzing a smart contract at the code and dynamic level. That is, the auditor will first analyze the operation flow of the contracts exposed by the developer and, later, will carry out an analysis of the code to review possible failures that may occur in its use within the blockchain. Once possible vulnerabilities have been identified, the auditor will integrate these contracts into a private testnet with Ganache, Truffle and Remix, which will allow the auditor to analyze the dynamic behaviors of the contracts,

What type of Smart Contract do we audit?

We audit Smart Contracts based on EVM-type blockchains programmed in Solidity language, and these can be of the following types:

NFT tokens (ERC 721, 1155)

Fungible Tokens (ERC 20)

oracles

dApps logic Smart Contracts (games, generics, etc)

SAST software for assisted code analysis.

For code analysis (SAST) the auditor relies on tools supported by the Ethereum community.

Examples of vulnerabilities that we can identify

Reentrancy vulnerabilities

Integer arithmetic errors

Gas Limit Vulnerabilities

Lack of essential checks (parameters and/or transactions)

Front running

ETH send rejection

Integer Overflow

Logic bugs

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How to Test Ethereum Smart Contracts: Good Auditing Practices

When we develop a project based on the Ethereum blockchain, the first thing to do is to guarantee the security of the smart contract and the quality of the code. Otherwise, you could lose a huge amount of money.

As you may have heard, the Parity Ethereum wallet lost $30 million due to code vulnerabilities. For this reason, the Satoshi Pie fund lost 32.4% of its equity. In 2016, the attacker broke into the DAO and took $50 million.

These examples clearly show that even a small defect or mistake can result in bad consequences. Therefore, testing smart contracts is a crucial part of the process of creating them.

The purpose of auditing smart contracts is to find code errors, check program logic, and make sure everything is fine. A high-quality audit will allow you to eliminate risks, anxiety and save your nerves and resources.

How to prepare for testing smart contracts

Preparation plays an important role, helping auditors define project objectives, more quickly define vulnerabilities, and improve the testing process.

Also, keep in mind that preparation starts from the moment you start creating the smart contracts. That's why it's important to know the vulnerabilities of a smart contract and ways to protect against them.

I recommend following these tips:

1. Please provide a detailed specification

Providing a clear technical specification is always a good idea, as it helps blockchain developers to clearly understand smart contract objectives, use cases and operating principles.

While it's important, many companies don't create it. However, most engineers say that the document allows them to clarify thinking and increase the chances of project success.

In the specification, describe the intended behavior of a smart contract: how each function should work, how it shouldn't, and how they should all work together. Use diagrams as they also allow you to see possible alternatives and see how people might misinterpret your code.

2. Document the smart contract implementation process

While your smart contract code may be great, there are some important steps to take before deploying it. To avoid setbacks and save staff efforts, provide documentation of the deployment process.

A well-documented process that includes the order in which contracts will be deployed, which compiler versions will be used for which contracts, etc., will help you avoid smart contract vulnerabilities .

3. Clean up the project repository Quality, clutter -free smart contract

Code will facilitate and automate the work of auditors. When preparing the project for the testing process, remove any unused and unnecessary files, contracts, or pieces of code.

In addition, you must specify which contracts are used for auditing only (meaning they are not part of the final system) and which are reused from tested code or inherited from validated.

How to test Ethereum smart contracts

The process of auditing a smart contract is similar to testing any other code: a set of standard method calls are created in the predefined environment and statements are written for their results.

Auditing is a process consisting of:

Test development

Testing smart contract state changes

Event test

Bug test

Message sender verification

To audit your project, it is convenient to use Behavior Driven Development (BDD) practices, which together with tests allow you to create documentation and use cases. Now there is a wide range of frameworks, libraries and other tools for auditing smart contracts.

While test development in Solidity is limited to the capabilities of that programming language, you can use JavaScript, the Truffle framework, Parity, and other trusted technologies.

Auditing smart contracts with Truffle

Today Truffle is the most popular framework for Ethereum smart contract audit. Truffle is a Node.js framework used to compile, link and implement smart contracts. The framework is written in a completely modular way, allowing engineers to choose the functionality they need.

While in Truffle v.2 the tests are written in JavaScript, in Truffle v.3 the developers have added the ability to write tests in Solidity, whose syntax is similar to that of JavaScript.

Truffle offers many useful features that include binary management, library linking, custom deployment support, framework migrations, script deployment, access to hundreds of external packages, external script executor and automated contract auditing with Mocha and Chai - all to avoid failures in smart contracts.

When speaking of the fact that blockchain systems generally do not work very fast, auditors use blockchain test clients, for example TestRPC which almost completely emulates the work of the JSON RPC API of Ethereum clients.

In addition to the standard methods, TestRPC also implements several additional methods, such as evm_increaseTime and evm_mine. A good alternative to applying TestRPC is to use one of the standard clients, for example Parity, which runs in dev mode and has transactions committed instantly.

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Characteristics of financial statement audits of crypto asset exchange service providers

Positioning of Crypto Assets

At present, the position of "crypto assets" under private law is not necessarily clear, but from the point of view of accounting and auditing, they can be treated as "assets" because they can contribute to the acquisition of funds through trading and liquidation.

In addition, since crypto assets stipulated in the Payment Services Act issued by the Company (including its own affiliated companies) are not subject to the Practical Response Report, the accounting treatment of such crypto assets will be handled separately by the Auditor. It should be noted that it is necessary to consider

 Blockchain Technology

Crypto assets are accepted or withdrawn by users of crypto asset exchange service providers,

Transactions between crypto asset exchanges, transfer of crypto assets between addresses owned by the company, etc.

When doing so, the transaction results will be reflected in the records on the network such as blockchain.

Blockchain, etc. records are information created outside the cryptocurrency exchange service provider, and when smart contract auditing the financial statements of the cryptocurrency exchange service provider, the record of the blockchain, etc. is usually used as audit evidence related to cryptocurrency transaction records or balances. Can be used as audit evidence.

We believe that auditors should obtain blockchain records as audit evidence, and we have a “full node” that reads all blockchain records for each cryptographic asset.

In addition, the “blockchain” described in the audit practice guidelines is based on the assumption that it is a public blockchain.

Audit Scope

When auditors use blockchain records as audit evidence, it is important to understand the technical specifications (consensus algorithms, traceability of transaction records) according to the type of cryptocurrency.

In addition, the purpose of the audit is to express an opinion on the appropriateness of the financial statements prepared by the crypto-asset exchange service provider. Please note that no guarantees are given.

Summary

・Crypto-asset exchange service providers are required to undergo financial statement audits and segregation management audits.

・Smart contract auditors need to deepen their understanding of blockchain before conducting audits.

・The purpose of the audit is to express an opinion on the appropriateness of the financial statements, and not to guarantee the reliability of the blockchain.

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TRON's critical security flaw could break the entire blockchain

A critical security flaw was discovered in the TRON network, which had the potential to render the ecosystem blockchain unusable.

Developed by the Tron Foundation, TRON's native cryptocurrency TRX was launched in 2017 and has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion.

According to a recently published and publicly released HackerOne tips for bug bounty program, as Next Web noted, a wave of requests sent by a single computer could be used to squeeze blockchain processor power, overload memory, and carry out an attack. distributed denial of service (DDoS).

The opinion states that "using a single machine, an attacker could send DDOS attacks to all or 51% of Super Representative (SR) and render the Tron network unusable or unavailable."

The vulnerability is labelled as "high", with a severity rate of 7 to 8.9.

To exploit the issue, an attacker would send a post to /wallet/deploycontract, a means of requesting the deployment of a Tron blockchain contract. Each request had to contain a few megabytes of bytecode.

With enough requests, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 depending on available memory, a single system could take up all the request slots and cause DDoS, preventing legitimate users from accessing the network.

The security flaw was revealed by the bounty hunter. Danish shrestha in January for the Tron Foundation, resulting in a $1,500 bug bounty.

Separately, there was another security flaw affecting the TRON network revealed this month, earning researcher Jacob Wood $3,100. However, no details of the vulnerability have been published.

Bug bounty programs are a means of outsourcing cybersecurity expertise. HackerOne and Bugcrowd are two of the most popular bounty hunting platforms, and both are used by companies around the world to improve the security of their products.

Startups based on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are also present on these platforms. Last year, a single security researcher managed to earn at least $80,000 in just 24 hours by finding and reporting vulnerabilities affecting the EOSIO blockchain and Eos.js libraries.

A whole cryptocurrency ecosystem can become unusable due to a single fault, as the TRON blockchain vulnerability has shown. However, it's not just security flaws that can put investors' cryptocurrencies at risk.

In February, $136 million worth of cryptocurrency was frozen after the death of the CEO of QuadrigaCX. The executive was the only one who had access to the company's cold wallet and without access credentials from him, the funds are believed to be permanently lost and the trading platform has now been forced to do so.

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Can current cryptosecurity technology fully protect cryptocurrencies?

Security is one of the main concerns that torment traders and holders who operate with digital assets. They have reason enough to worry: between 2019 and 2020, cyberattacks claimed nearly $6.5 billion. That is the estimate of CipherTrace, whose short-term forecast is not very encouraging.

The study by the Californian Company puts on the table once again the fundamental problem faced by the main players in the crypto market: developing truly effective cryptosecurity technologies. It is true that physical wallets offer high levels of security for users, considered individually, but your funds are fully exposed when trading.

Holders have numerous techniques at their disposal to protect their cryptos, from paper wallets to cold storage devices. The risk for traders is that exchanges do not store digital assets securely. In most cases (if not always), they resort to hot storage and use a single deposit address for all clients.

This assumes that, for example, the XRP traders of an exchange share the same address, with the addition that all the capital is exposed. If we talk about crypto exchange platforms, it is easy for hackers to commit massive thefts. This is valid for leading exchanges like Binance or powerful networks like the PolyNetwork (which has staged the biggest theft in DeFi history this year).

Is current cryptosecurity technology effective?

That hacking, theft and fraud follow a trend that is directly proportional to the technological advancement of the crypto space raises many doubts. One of the most discussed questions is whether current cryptosecurity technology is up to the innovations that allow cybercriminals to continue committing their crimes.

If we talk about retailers, physical security mechanisms are acceptable and, by following some minimum digital security guidelines, they can protect their cryptos without too many headaches. The real challenge is facing institutional investors and exchanges; ignoring the whales, although some handle amounts of crypto worth mentioning.

It is enough to get an idea of ​​the volume of digital assets managed by companies such as Bloomberg or exchanges of the likes of Kraken. In these cases, the effective combination of physical and digital security measures is not so easy to achieve. But they need to find solutions. We are talking about cryptocurrency funds worth billions of dollars: an impossible target for hackers to ignore.

Is full cryptosecurity possible on exchanges?

In the case of exchanges, one of the weak points to highlight is hot storage. Keeping the funds available for users to carry out their trading operations is a necessity, but it is also a circumstance that hackers take advantage of to carry out their attacks. The ideal solution would be to implement offline exchange mechanisms, keeping the funds protected thanks to cold storage.

This combination of physical and digital security measures is possible, but it entails a cost in personnel and infrastructure that most platforms and companies are not willing to assume. Many simply cannot or are not as involved in the sector (as is the case with some institutional investors). Of course, you can always outsource security issues.

Through extensive BSC smart contract audits, Cyphershield aims to guarantee security to the chain and its users. It also sets high security requirements for the new initiative to adhere to.

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What is a Smart Contract Audit?

Assume you have incorporated your business and prepared the essential paperwork. Auditing firms evaluate the quality of the documentation's preparation and the reliability of your organization before issuing a reliable result. In the realm of cryptocurrency, a similar model is used. For its project, each business builds a virtual infrastructure. Also known as a smart contract. In actuality, this is a program code that forms the foundation of the project's basic concept. It may be an exchange, exchanger, and bridge for cryptocurrencies, aggregator, investment fund, and many more things.

The application of smart contracts in the blockchain ecosystem allows for the total eradication of fraud and contract breaches between parties to various processes. Existing algorithms are sufficiently reliable to eliminate the need for middlemen and make every transaction as transparent as possible.

Despite its dependability, smart contracts are frequently breached, which can lead to losses in money or reputation. Two things can cause issues: flaws in the code and human mistake. Theft of monies from participants in cryptocurrency initiatives occurs often in the business. 

Why does this occur while smart contracts are one of the present day's most secure ways to manage money? Hackers, for all their excellence, are also on guard. As contracts get more intricate, they become more inventive. "Blockchain is secure, but blockchain applications are not necessarily secure," as the phrase goes. Smart contract audits, which have lately become more and more common, were created to mitigate this and prevent situations like these.

The contract code is examined by auditing firms, who subsequently compile a report and deliver it to the project. Projects can then release the report to the public. Since the investor's choice to deposit money is dependent on audits of the project's smart contract, audits are most common in the decentralised finance space.

The audit includes four stages:

Initial human and automatic contact analysis

If a defect is discovered, it is immediately reported to the developers for correction

Developers are working to solve the bug

The auditors recheck the code; if nothing is discovered, they provide a report.

Even the smallest programming error might result in substantial costs. As a result, the auditors repeatedly mimic hacker attempts and make an independent attempt to compromise the smart contract. A typical smart contract audit comprises testing and looking for significant faults, automated analysis using specialised tools, and study of the specification and related documentation, which outlines the project architecture.

Manual analysis is, of course, the most important step. You may identify how the code relates to the defined functionality through this process.

What Problems are fixed by a Smart Contract Audit?

Due to their decentralised structure and lack of a regulating party, decentralised apps, whether they be DeFi, blockchain projects, or smart contracts, have drawbacks that allow them to freeze a portion of user or developer cash inside the blockchain without the prospect of recovery.

This is comparable to sending a financial transaction to the incorrect recipients. However, if it's a bank, you can be confident that you can fix the problem by phoning the bank. Banks also guarantee the security of their software, reducing the likelihood of losing personal funds.

Such a central regulator does not exist in the context of blockchain applications and smart contracts. As a result, the contract that was published on the blockchain network begins to operate on its own. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that the contract code is flawless and won't let your money vanish into thin air. What is checked during the audit is this. Additionally, by including an action code that will enable them to steal users' cash outside of the algorithm, the contract's designers may have been dishonest in their design.

An audit assists in identifying both important and less serious flaws in smart contracts. For instance, there are issues with integer arithmetic, a block gas limit vulnerability when an array overflows, missing arguments or preconditions (caused by negligent development), probable front-running (overtaking an unconfirmed transaction), and a huge number of logical errors.

All of these can only be found if the auditor has a thorough grasp of the codebase's architecture, as well as the project's planned functionality and the contract specification. According to experts, this is the reason why auditing smart contracts demands time, money, and the involvement of highly educated professionals.

Our staff has the ideal mix of expertise and experience when it comes to the realm of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. We have been producing crypto projects for our clients and working on our own projects for a number of years, so we are familiar with all the nuances of using smart contracts.

One of the top firms for smart contract audits is Boosty Labs. Our blockchain specialists audit smart contracts for any potential or present flaws, security checks, compilation difficulties, etc. using their knowledge and expertise.

We thoroughly examine the code for flaws and security holes. Our team also evaluates the smart contract's effectiveness and optimization. This makes it possible to find wasteful code components and drastically cut transaction costs.

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Which crypto wallet is more secure?

A cryptocurrency user should be able to:

Learn how to buy/sell Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies through cryptocurrency exchanges.

Understand the capabilities of the different types of crypto Ethereum wallets and be able to choose the one that best suits them. Fund storage within a centralized exchange is not always secure.

Use encryption and additional security features.

Usage Statistics

There are more than 75 million Bitcoin wallets compared to 53 million a year ago according to Statista.

Coinbase announced 56 million verified users in early 2021.

According to NASDAQ, there are approximately 46 million Americans who own at least a fraction of Bitcoin's active cryptocurrency users, which translates to approximately 17% of the adult population.

Much data is missing from emerging markets.

Bitcoin's market capitalization is approximately $940 billion, with the total crypto market capitalization above $2 trillion.

Mismanagement of users often leads to the loss of private keys, passwords, and consequently, the loss of billions of dollars in crypto funds.

Even though cryptocurrency users in numbers are currently a fraction of the number of users engaged with conventional payment mechanisms like Visa, PayPal, and Mastercard (each having hundreds of millions of users), awareness and cryptocurrency adoption. Therefore, this article is a useful tool for new users to understand the capabilities of various types of crypto wallets and choose the ideal one for their needs.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges

New users should carefully select the cryptocurrency exchanges they sign up with. There are thousands of them, but there are certain features to look into before joining any of them: Fees: Deposit, transaction, and withdrawal fees vary between exchanges. Most of them favor larger transactions. Check the website of each exchange for detailed information. Cryptocurrency friendly: Choose an exchange that allows you to trade a variety of cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin (for example, ETHER, AVAX, DOT, ADA, ALGO, HOLO, SWAP, etc.) Reputation: User reviews from people within Bitcoin communities are a great tool to access important advice, as this group of people is active and willing to help. Your Verification Requirements: Most centralized exchanges require identification and address verification to deposit and withdraw. Consider staying away from centralized exchanges that allow full anonymity, as they are the most vulnerable to money laundering and scams. Payment Methods: Choose an exchange that allows you to deposit/withdraw with a variety of methods (eg crypto, credit card, debit card, bank transfer, PayPal, AstroPay, etc.)Exchange rate: The exchange rate varies between different exchanges. Advanced users usually sign up to at least 2-3 exchanges to benefit from arbitrage opportunities. Geographic Restrictions: Certain exchanges do not offer full functionality in some parts of the world. Users today tend to use decentralized exchanges (DEXs) rather than centralized ones, due to low barriers to entry in terms of participation requirements, no withdrawal/deposit limits, and elimination of intermediaries. We will take a deeper look at the DEX ecosystem in a future blog post.

Crypto Wallets

Exchanges may not be the optimal way to store crypto funds, as there have been various attacks by malicious parties in the past. When utilizing crypto exchanges, there are various hazards related to third parties. Storing funds on an insecure exchange refers to entrusting the custody of your funds to a third party. Third party risks include:

Fraud (the exchange may not be a legitimate counterparty)

Security (numerous attacks and sharing hacks in the past)

Financial health (if the exchange fails financially, your wealth may also be lost)

Users will be able to choose securely verified exchanges to trade and deposit/withdraw and enable 2-factor authentication from the security settings.

Web Wallets

The web client is the least secure option, after exchanges. Web wallets like BitGo, Green Address, Circle, and Blockchain keep your private keys (also known as your password) on their servers. It can come through a mobile app or by using your browser on a personal computer. + Easy access to your coins from multiple devices + A third party takes responsibility for funds for new users − you are trusting a company not to steal/mismanage you are putting your confidence in a business to protect your money from threats.

Desktop Wallets: Full Nodes

Full nodes (like Bitcoin Core) are software downloaded and installed on a PC or laptop and keep the history of the entire blockchain on your computer. + Help maintain Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency network + Full control and protection, especially if private keys are encrypted with passphrases and regularly backed up + Attacking every full node to perform a network attack is complex, plus slow and expensive for malicious parties − May be vulnerable to Internet attacks, such as spying or computer malfunctions − Most Ethereum blockchain networks take days to download and sync. For most users, this option is not advised due to the required disc space.

Mobile Wallets

We are going on a mobile device (examples: Mycelium, Coinomi) – they usually work as a thin client or a web client. A thin client downloads only part of the blockchain network (saving time and space) and queries full nodes to verify transactions. + Portable, easy and convenient: the smartphone camera scans the QR code of the receiver/dealer and transfers the coins + Best for everyday transactions + If the mobile device is lost or stolen, the funds do not disappear, most of wallets require backups to recover coins. You are required to create a 12 or 24 word mnemonic phrase upon installation − Mobile wallets generally require a PIN

Paper Wallets

Mainly applicable to Bitcoin; pieces of paper containing public and private keys. Users should keep paper wallets in a safe place and keep multiple copies + Protection against online attacks and hardware failure. Can be generated offline with some technical knowledge + Ideal for long-term fund holding and gift provision − Vulnerable to loss, theft and destruction − Users must import paper wallets into the software in order to transfer coins. This is not the case with hardware wallets: you must specify the "exchange" address when spending a portion of the funds, or else you risk losing the remaining balance, due to the way Bitcoin treats the change in transactions.

Hardware Wallets

The most secure option, satisfying maximum security procedures (examples: Trezor, Ledger). + Maximum security (not connected online and therefore cannot be easily compromised) + Private key generation and storage within the device + Users access the wallet with a PIN. Signed transactions within an external PIN-protected device + Backups are essential for hardware wallets, similar to mobile wallets. The only way to lose funds is to lose both the hardware device and the backup phrase − Less convenient than mobile wallets for daily transactions − Users must purchase hardware wallets from original stores to avoid scams Both first-time and advanced users Experienced should consider the maximum security of their wallets. Adequate protection measures require significant investments in additional research.

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New Cryptosecurity Solution Protects Bitcoin and Other Digital Assets from Theft

People may see why bitcoin tron blockchain security is so crucial when they consider how unpredictable the cryptocurrency industry is.

Numerous online cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges have been compromised in the past 24 months.

According to Chainalysis's most recent Bitcoin Crime Report, "the value of cryptocurrency recovered from victims surged by 82% to $7.8 billion in 2021."

These results show that cryptocurrencies function in a chaotic environment that the conventional financial system either ignores or refuses to accept, as seen by the increasing value of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.

Crypto shield: for cryptographic security

Cryptocurrencies cannot be guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) like conventional bank deposits since they are unregulated.

A cryptocurrency insurance product called Crypto Shield has been unveiled by Boost Insurance and its InsurTech partner, Breach Insurance.

The service would be utilised whenever cryptocurrencies are kept on exchanges like Coinbase or Binance in the US and other nations, according to ZDNet.

Owners of retail wallets can use Crypto Shield to prevent theft of their bitcoins. If the custodian loses funds as a result of a hack or social engineering assault, those covered by Crypto Shield may be reimbursed for the cost of their coverage.

The main topics covered by February 15-launched Crypto Shield are cryptosecurity and bitcoin theft. Shield offers protection for 20 cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, Tether, Solana, Dogecoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

Latest Bitcoin and Ether Price Movement

The main cryptocurrencies have had a sluggish start to this week. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum exhibit bearish trends around the end of February.

At the moment, the price of one bitcoin is $39,398.04, with monthly highs of $39,537.5 and lows of $35,000 recorded. Since February 26, its value has increased by around 0.60%, making it unstable at the moment.

At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,800.62, although its 24-hour gain is only 1.55%. Its recurrent minimum and maximum amounts are $2,681.79 and $2,855.22, respectively.

Due to problems with theft and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in the cryptocurrency market, both cryptocurrencies offer lower return rates now than they had two months ago. As the year goes on, uptrends are still probable.

Breach and Boost Collaborate on Security

To ensure their involvement in the bitcoin ecosystem, Boost and Breach worked together to identify and get reinsurance coverage from Relm Insurance.

Alex Maffeo, CEO and creator of Boost, said "My team and I am excited to join forces with the Breach idea for the first crypto insurance for retail wallet customers."

We want to assist innovative firms like Breach in creating new insurance solutions for underserved areas in addition to making insurance easier and more accessible for end customers, according to Maffeo.

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What you need to know about security and cryptocurrency to safeguard your digital assets

Everyone is talking about cryptocurrencies. Like it or not, we are going to have to live with them in the coming years. We are not required to use them, at this time. But knowing about cryptosecurity, cryptocurrencies and/or crypto assets will help us understand the world of cryptocurrencies. Not only that, it will also help us to know a little more about cybersecurity.

And it is that cryptocurrencies are based on cryptography, encryption, to make secure transactions, create more virtual currencies and verify those transfers. Based in turn on binance blockchain technology, translated as chain of blocks, an encrypted and decentralized database records who owns such a quantity of cryptocurrencies. While that user is anonymous. We will have access to those cryptocurrencies with a code or key that we will keep in a cryptocurrency portfolio or crypto wallet.

But even if everything is very safe, in cybersecurity there is always the possibility of human error, carelessness or a vulnerability that someone will take advantage of to get hold of such a precious commodity such as cryptocurrencies. It is not something that happens often, but for our part we can take several precautions to protect our crypto assets or digital assets.

The Importance of a Good Password

Cryptocurrencies are based on encryption technology that, to date is unbreakable. Crypto security advocates say that Bitcoin has not been hacked so far since it was created in 2008. So, in principle, cryptocurrencies are safe. Where is the weak part of the chain? In the user and in the platform that guards the digital assets.

So the first tip that is usually given in cybersecurity is to have a good password. That is, one that is difficult to guess. It is usually recommended to mix letters, numbers, uppercase and lowercase. There are no foolproof passwords, but the more complex it is, the more it will cost to figure it out. We can help ourselves with password generators. Password managers often come with one. The most popular password managers are 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane, and Bitwarden.

In relation to the password, try to always activate the verification in two steps. Many current Internet services require turning it on by default. This is a second layer of security for when you log into a web page or mobile application. Entering the password is not sufficient. You will have to confirm it in a second step. More security, more difficult for cybercriminals.

And of course. No sharing passwords or credentials. They are private, so it is convenient to keep them safe and use them only us. If we want to share them, it is better to exchange the cryptocurrencies instead of sharing the virtual wallet at the risk of losing its content if it falls into the wrong hands.

Cryptocurrencies and Phishing Scams

Many of us call it social engineering. What some media attribute to the cybercriminal's computer expertise is actually something as old as deception. There has always been someone who has made a living deceiving others. And with the Internet, telephones and emails, this is still the case.

Fraudulent emails, WhatsApp or Bizum messages, phone calls... There are many methods. Today they are known as phishing or identity theft. Someone pretends to be someone who is not for you to provide information. They can ask you for your ID, your bank account, your credit card or your password.

Focusing on the world of cryptocurrencies and cryptosecurity, messages are often sent to potential victims with links to fake web pages. It looks like a legal cryptocurrency platform, so if you fall for it, just enter your details like you always do. The downside is that this data ends up with someone who wants to steal your cryptocurrency wallet.

If you access your virtual wallet or exchange or exchange platforms from the browser, access from the official page. It is usually encrypted by default, that is, you will see a padlock in the browser bar. Save those links in your browser to always enter from there and not from a link you receive in a message.

Another important detail of cryptosecurity is that of the addresses to send cryptocurrencies. Try not to be wrong. Copy and paste the address instead of doing it by hand or you will send money to the wrong address at the risk of not getting it back. Addresses can typically be copied to the clipboard or even embed a QR code for easy sharing.

Attacks on Cryptocurrency Platforms

The above tips are directed at users and holders of cryptocurrencies. But it is not always within our reach to defend ourselves against cybercriminals. Cybersecurity also affects those who custodian our cryptocurrencies. That is, the exchange or exchange platforms.

It is not often, but from time to time we read that someone has lost their cryptocurrencies because a platform has been attacked by cybercriminals. Sometimes they can be recovered, but this is not always the case. And that the owner took smart contract security for binance measures.

One of the advantages of owning cryptocurrencies is that you can guard them yourself. In other words, by default we can have a cryptocurrency portfolio whose content is monitored and stored by a platform such as Binance, Coinbase, Crypto and many more. But we can also choose to have that portfolio at our disposal. The risk is that if we lose the keys we will not have access to the cryptocurrencies. The good thing is that if the exchange platform is attacked, we will avoid losing our cryptos.

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Ethereum Smart Contract Audit Detail

Most Ethereum smart contract audit developers run their code through automated testing using Truffle. As an alternative, other programmers employ Populus, a python-based framework that enables TestRPC-based rapid testing.

Developers should keep in mind that automated code testing systems do have a few limitations before depending on them.

The two primary issues with automated code analysis are code that is incorrectly flagged as a problem when it isn't and overlooked vulnerabilities.

False positives might be annoying, but overlooked vulnerabilities pose the actual threat. Developers should always perform a comprehensive manual study of the code, even if automated code testing has previously been done.

Examples of various cyberattacks that Ethereum smart contract audits may include:

Reentrancy attack

Over and underflowss

Reordering attack

Replay attack

Short address attack

Smart Contract Performance Validation

Before releasing your smart contract, you must make sure that it is performance-optimized. Any smart contract's performance is closely correlated with the code's quality.

Performance validation should be a part of any smart contract audit for this reason. As I shall explain later, poorly optimised contracts will also cost more to execute.

As part of the validation process, the code will be examined for any mistakes that might hinder performance or in any other way impact other areas of the contract.

When doing a performance review, it is simplest to begin by undertaking a formal verification to see if the contract is executed in a fashion that satisfies all of the commitments that both parties agreed upon when entering the contract.

For instance, in the event of a supply chain-based smart contract, this agreement may be as straightforward as having one party certify the delivery of items, which would then cause the release of payment in the form of cryptocurrency such as ETH or Bitcoin, etc.

The first step is to confirm that the DeFi (decentralised finance) contract can automatically start the payment when the delivery of goods is registered.

The contract will next be examined for variables. It is crucial to test the contract to ensure that it can manage all the potential changes that can be expected of it since there might be a large range of contract "triggers" and ensuing actions.

Therefore, pressure testing the smart contract for variables that may occur from how it is implemented in the actual world is part of performance validation.

Examples of this include having a third party set up the contract, altering the terms of execution, altering the contract's completing action(s) after it is activated, and even altering how the contract responds to disputes that arise when one or both parties feel that the contract's terms have not been properly upheld.

Unbelievably, one of the most frequent issues with performance comes from developers not fully comprehending the contract's terms.

It is almost guaranteed that problems in the contract's functioning will result from a basic misunderstanding of its precise terms.

It will be less likely for contracts to behave inappropriately or to fail to deliver all the desired results if they are tested for as many of these mistakes as possible before being activated.

Smart Contract Optimization via Gas Analysis

Platforms like the Ethereum Project must charge gas in the form of ether in order to recoup the expenses of transacting smart contracts. Depending on how complicated a smart contract is designed, gas costs change.

In this illustration, they differ according on how many operation codes the Ethereum blockchain Virtual Machine needs to run. You may view a comprehensive listing of Ethereum's pricing here to get a better idea of how much it will actually cost to maintain your smart contract.

My Final Thought

Although there are several strategies for conducting a smart contract audit, the end result is usually the same. Any audit should make sure the code is free of bugs and errors.

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Importance of Smart Contract Auditing

Security is now one of the most important challenges for smart contract deployment. Because neglecting them while utilizing a blockchain network to generate smart contracts might result in astronomically large additional costs, there are worries about inefficiency, security, and misbehaviour.

Minor code errors can also lead to the theft of substantial sums of money. For instance, the DAO attack on the Ethereum blockchain led to the hard split of the Ethereum network and the seizure of almost $60 million worth of ether.

Because smart contracts are irreversible, businesses are anxious about their deployment. Due to smart contract security flaws, you also face the risk of losing the whole contract and all related assets. As a result, smart contract auditing has grown in importance over the past few years for the following reasons:

Avoid costly bugs: You may prevent potentially fatal errors after release by auditing your code early in the development process.

Professional review: Veteran security auditors hand-verify your code to remove erroneous findings.

Prevent security assaults by keeping an eye out for potential security issues while you develop and edit code.

Enhanced Security: Decentralized product owners are reassured that their code is secure via smart contract security auditing.

Continuous security evaluation: By allowing you to do continuous security assessments, the smart contract audit procedure offers to enhance your development environment.

Analytical reports: A vulnerability report includes an executive summary, information on the vulnerability, and mitigating advice.

How to perform a smart contract audit?

An auditing service for smart contracts applies known vulnerability tests to the specific business logic of each smart contract. Additionally, it determines whether the smart contract complies with the Solidity Code Style Guide and confirms that there are no logical or access control errors. Projects have different specifications for smart contract security assessments. As will be discussed below, smart contracts may be audited manually or automatically.

Manual Audit

In manual auditing, a team of experts/auditors looks for build and re-entry errors in every line of code. Additionally, it can assist in identifying other frequently disregarded security flaws including improper encryption techniques.

Manual code analysis can take two forms:

Conduct a free exploratory check using the developer's firsthand knowledge.

Confirm a standard list of failures.

This approach is regarded as the most accurate and comprehensive since it finds hidden problems such as design challenges rather than just coding faults.

To increase the identification of possible smart contract code vulnerabilities, manual inspection is a must.

An expert audit team assesses the choices to certify that a project performs in accordance with the anticipated functions. Smart contract auditors can make solid suggestions for improving the smart contract project team based on their findings.

Automated Audit

The automated smart contract auditing method, in contrast, makes use of error detection software to assist smart contract auditors in locating the precise area where faults are to blame. An automated technique is frequently used for projects that need a quicker time to market since it helps uncover vulnerabilities much more quickly. However, while inspecting code, automated tools cannot always be able to comprehend the context and might overlook flaws.

Automated analysis tools in smart contract auditing make it easier to spot common coding issues, which speeds up the audit process.

Additionally, they can ensure faster reaction times while enabling independence from reliance on human auditors. Auditors may concentrate their attention on brand-new, complicated vulnerabilities thanks to automated scanning.

Although the cost of smart contract auditing may undoubtedly be reduced with automated analysis, Solidity-specific automated analysis tools are still being developed. As a result, it will take a while for smart contract audits to reach the appropriate level of perfection.

Additionally, automated analysis methods are blind to the environment in which a particular code was written. As a result, these technologies could frequently produce false positives in addition to falsely asserting the existence of issues. You will now need to consult the analysis manual for each discovered vulnerability.

Code Error Classification

Each source code flaw is rated for severity, taking into account whether an exploit could have a high, medium, low, or informational impact.

Exploitation Difficulty

The difficulty of exploiting each flaw discovered is another important characteristic.

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Smart contract auditing firm Hosho cuts staff due to rise of automated tools and ICO slowdown

Smart contract auditing firm Hosho has laid off a significant number of employees, citing an increased amount of automated tools, the firm’s co-founder and chairman Hartej Sawhney told Cointelegraph Feb.

 

While stating that the company has laid off a sufficient portion of the staff – the exact amount was not specified – Sawhney still noted that Hosho continues to be one of the leading companies in the smart contract auditing and security industry, specifically in penetration testing.

Hosho’s president explained that the staff reduction was caused by a complex set of circumstances, including the drop in the value of initial coin offerings (ICO), which is in part due to the big crypto market bear of 2018.

 

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sawhney emphasized the fact that Hosho has been actively increasing scales of automated tool deployments, while at the same time seeing a much smaller number of smart contract audits. In this context, a large number of engineers for audit work has become unnecessary, Sawhney said, emphasizing that the main objective now is to keep the company running.

Sawhney noted that Hosho aims to figure out the perfect number of employees to keep at the company, while maintaining and developing the pace of work, as well as its brand and level of audit reporting.

With that, Sawhney revealed that Hosho is planning to expand its presence from the already explored markets of North America and Europe to the Southeast Asia market, looking to employ new representatives.

 

The crypto bear market of 2018 caused a wave of layoffs in the crypto and blockchain sector. In late 2018, Cointelegraph reported on alleged layoffs at major blockchain software firm ConsenSys, with sources familiar with the matter claiming that the amount of staff expected to be laid off is between 50 and 60 percent of the entire 1,200-strong staff.

 

However, the company ended up stating that recent layoffs did not exceed 13% of staff.

Yesterday, January 31, major Canadian crypto exchange  Coinsquare reportedly laid off nearly 30% of its employees, including its chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer (COO).

 

In early January, Swiss crypto exchange ShapeShift laid off a third of its staff, as revealed by exchange chairman Erik Voorhees.

 

One of the world's most widely used blockchain-based operating systems is the TRON protocol. A genuinely decentralised Internet and its infrastructure are the goals of the ambitious project TRON. Three layers - the Storage Layer, Core Layer, and Application Layer - make up the architecture of TRON. The multi-language extension is included within the Google Protobuf standard, which the TRON protocol follows.

 

Ensure your code is free of avoidable mistakes by having your Tron contract audited.

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Ever considered how to check for security breaches in smart contracts?

You can learn it yourself, or you can use this helpful step-by-step guide to learn exactly what to do, when and when to audit these contracts.

I've been researching various Smart Contract audits and learned the most common steps they take to extract all essential information from any contract.

Let's cut to the chase and start auditing contracts:

How to audit a Smart Contract

Now you might ask, what exactly is a Smart Contract audit?

Before being released and deployed on the Ethereum mainnet, where it will not be modified, a piece of code, in this example Solidity contract, is thoroughly examined for errors, vulnerabilities, and hazards. It's just for discussion purposes.

Always remember that an audit is not a formal confirmation of the security of code. Nobody can guarantee 100% that the code will not have future bugs or vulnerabilities. It's a guarantee that your code has been reviewed by an expert and is secure.

To discuss possible improvements and mainly to find bugs and vulnerabilities that might risk people's Ether.

Once that's clear, let's take a look at the structure of a Smart Contract Audit:

Disclaimer: Here you will say that the audit is not a legally binding document and that it does not guarantee anything. 

Audit overview and legal features: A quick overview of the Smart Contract that will be audited and best practices found.

Attacks made on the contract: In this section you will talk about the attacks made on the contract and the results. 

Critical Vulnerabilities Found in the Contract: Critical issues that could seriously undermine the integrity of the contract. Some mistakes that would allow attackers to steal Ether are a critical issue.

Medium vulnerabilities found in the contract: those vulnerabilities that could damage the contract, but with some kind of limitation. Like a flaw that enables users to modify a random variable.

Low severity vulnerabilities found: These are the issues that really don't break the contract and that could exist in the deployed version of the contract.

Line-by-line comments: In this section, you'll review the most important lines where you see potential improvements.

Audit Summary: Your view of the contract and final audit findings.

Keep this structure somewhere safe because it's all you need to actually securely audit a Smart Contract. It will certainly assist you in identifying those tricky vulnerabilities.

I recommend that you start with point 7 "Line-by-line comments" because by analyzing the contract line-by-line you will find the most important issues and see what is missing. What could be changed or improved.

Ethereum Casino Audit

This is the audit of my Casino.sol contract:

Introduction

In this Smart Contract audit, we cover the following topics:

1. Disclaimer

The audit makes no representations or warranties about the usefulness of the code, security of the code, suitability of the business model, regulatory regime of the business model, or any other representations about the contracts' fitness for purpose, or their error-free status. The audit documentation is only intended for discussion.

2. Overview

The project has only one file, the file Casino.sol, which contains 142 lines of Solidity code. The natspec documentation for the functions is used to thoroughly comment all functions and state variables, making it easy to understand how everything should operate.

The project uses a centralised service and the Oraclize API to implement truly random number generation on the blockchain.

Generating random numbers on the blockchain is quite a difficult topic because one of the core values ​​of Ethereum is predictability, the aim of which is not to have undefined values.

Therefore, using Oraclize's reliable number generation is considered good practice, as they generate random numbers off the blockchain. It implements modifiers and a callback function that verifies that the information comes from a trusted entity.

The purpose of this Smart Contract is to participate in a random lottery where people bet on a number between 1 and 9. The reward is automatically split among the winners when the first ten bets are placed.

Each player can only bet once during each game and the winning number is only generated when the betting limit is reached.

 

Binance Smart Chain BSC smart contract audit services to protect your highly dynamic BSC venture from vulnerabilities.

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Smart contract security audits – why do we need them?

If your company uses blockchain technology, you should be familiar with the concept of smart contracts. On the one hand, due to their complexity and huge resource requirements, Smart contract audit service may seem unusual. However, security audits for smart contracts are necessary to support the organization's broader security strategy to protect sensitive data from hackers.

Overview of Smart Contract Security Audit

A Smart Contract Security Audit Similar to a penetration testing process, as it requires a thorough review of all code elements and operations, the intended use of the smart contract, and its interface with other cryptography. The main purpose of a security audit is to identify security vulnerabilities, undiscovered vulnerabilities, bugs, and configuration issues, and recommend appropriate corrective actions.

Dealing with the security elements of smart contracts is critical as they often deal with private consumer and financial data, as shown in the case study above. Therefore, the security assessment of smart contracts is difficult. This is achieved by testing to find flaws in the protocols used in certain smart contracts and existing interfaces with other third-party software that can introduce external flaws into the system. Yes. In addition, to cover all aspects of security, smart contract security audits combine manual code analysis and test execution.

What types of projects require smart contract security audits?

Smart Contract Control This can be beneficial for companies using blockchain technology, but first let's look at specific projects that always require such security testing.

DeFi Projects

Due to their complexity, smart contracts used in DeFi initiatives can benefit from a thorough security audit. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, generally refers to a set of financial applications connected through blockchain technology. Banks use this service to provide lenders and borrowers with greater security, privacy and other features than standard banking facilities.

Token Contract (Crowdfunding)

To identify all potential vulnerabilities in various applications, security audits of smart contracts must be performed across key protocols using various programming languages ​​including JavaScript, C++, etc. I have. Crowdfunding typically requires the sale of a token contract by drafting a master contract that sets the guidelines. The purpose of this operation is to meet the project's financial criteria, after which the token provider joins the project's shareholders.

Wallets (dApps)

A decentralized application or dApp is used as a wallet for Ethereum smart contract audit and transaction fees. Their main distinguishing feature is the use of a decentralized protocol like Ethereum to run and manage them. To avoid losing money, it also contains complex smart contracts that require proper auditing procedures and security measures.