Formal Modeling and Verification of Smart Contracts with Spin

Abstract

Smart contracts are the key software components to realize blockchain applications, from single encrypted digital currency to various fields. Due to the immutable nature of blockchain, any bugs or errors will become permanent once published and could lead to huge economic losses. Recently, a great number of security problems have been exposed in smart contracts. It is important to verify the correctness of smart contracts before they are deployed on the blockchain. This paper aims to verify the correctness of smart contracts in Ethereum transactions, and the model checker Spin is adopted for the formal verification of smart contracts in order to ensure their execution with respect to parties’ willingness, as well as their reliable interaction with clients. In this direction, we propose a formal method to construct the models for smart contracts. Then, the method is applied to a study case in the Ethereum commodity market. Finally, a case model is implemented in Spin, which can simulate the process’s execution and verify the properties that are abstracted from the requirements. Compared with existing techniques, formal analysis can verify whether smart contracts comply with the specifications for given behaviors and strengthen the credibility of smart contracts in the transaction.

BlockASP: A Framework for AOP-Based Model Checking Blockchain System

“…In contrast to numerous other studies, our approach offers a more robust and real-time solution by capturing dynamic behaviors of the blockchain system, establishing a finite state model of the system that incorporates aspects and dynamic behavior data, and applying formal logic to explore all possible states and transitions. Hence, our research builds upon and extends the work done in [32], [33], [34], [35], and other similar works [36]…”

“…This paper addresses this gap by conducting model checking on the consensus algorithm of the Redbelly blockchain. In [34], smart contracts play a crucial role in blockchain applications, ranging from encrypted digital currency to various domains. However, due to the immutability of the blockchain, any bugs or errors in smart contracts can lead to substantial economic losses since they cannot be modified once deployed.…”

“…Krichen and his colleagues showed that the security of smart contracts is a significant challenge that hinders their advancement. The authors in [34] and [35] identified the urgency of verifying the correctness of smart contracts before their deployment due to the immutability of the blockchain. Despite the progress made in the verification of smart contracts, the authors have acknowledged a lack of comprehensive synthesis of these findings.…”

Axiomatization of Blockchain Theory

“…Works on formal modeling and verification [45][46][47][48] as well as stochastic modeling [49,50] use various methods based on mathematical approaches. More and more works are coming out on the topic of describing the blockchain and other ledgers using already known mathematical theories such as the category theory [51], the group theory [52], and others.…”