By John Neufeld, OpenZeppelin and BSSC Member
As blockchain technology continues to evolve, smart contracts remain the backbone of onchain applications, financial markets, and governance systems. Yet, even with growing institutional adoption and trillions of dollars of value onchain, the blockchain industry lacks robust security frameworks for smart contract development that can protect developers, users and businesses from vulnerabilities and increasingly sophisticated threat actors.
Smart contract systems that power the new digital economy require a more thorough and carefully designed development process than traditional applications. Even minor issues can lead to repercussions of monumental scale, with potential losses reaching into the billions.
This high-stakes environment demands a paradigm shift in development practices, one that mirrors the rigor applied in the creation of the mission-critical systems like aviation and healthcare. Embracing this approach through the whole development lifecycle enhances the effectiveness of each stage of development and operation, creating a security posture that results in an exponential reduction in the likelihood of errors throughout the development process and culminating in blockchain applications that can be relied on at a global scale.
To address this need for elevated security, anew draft “Smart Contract Security Standard” has been introduced by the Blockchain Security Standards Council (BSSC) to help improve security across all onchain applications. This early version lays the groundwork for consistent implementation of security best practices, aiming to reduce fragmentation and enhance developer efficiency and effectiveness. Key areas of focus for this new standard include:
It’s important to note that this standard is still under development. While the initial framework reflects current best practices, it is not yet finalized and remains open to additional perspectives and inputs. The end goal of the BSSC through this standard is to create a robust, flexible foundation that can evolve with the needs of the ecosystem.
To that end, active participation from across the industry is strongly encouraged via the BSSC Membership. Diverse perspectives — especially from developers, auditors, and protocol designers — are essential to ensure our emerging Smart Contract Security Standard is comprehensive and adaptable to real-world use cases. Collaboration at this stage will be key to its long-term success and adoption.
Help us shape the future of Blockchain Security. Learn more about becoming a BSSC member.
