Identification of token contracts on Ethereum: standard compliance and beyond

Abstract

Next to cryptocurrencies, tokens are a widespread application area of blockchains. Tokens are digital assets implemented as small programs on a blockchain. Being programmable makes them versatile and an innovative means for various purposes. Tokens can be used as investment, as a local currency in a decentralized application, or as a tool for building an ecosystem or a community. A high-level categorization of tokens differentiates between payment, security, and utility tokens. In most jurisdictions, security tokens are regulated, and hence, the distinction is of relevance. In this work, we discuss the identification of tokens on Ethereum, the most widely used token platform. The programs on Ethereum are called smart contracts, which—for the sake of interoperability—may provide standardized interfaces. In our approach, we evaluate the publicly available transaction data by first reconstructing interfaces in the low-level code of the smart contracts. Then, we not only check the compliance of a smart contract with an established interface standard for tokens, but also aim at identifying tokens that are not fully compliant. Thus, we discuss various heuristics for token identification in combination with possible definitions of a token. More specifically, we propose indicators for tokens and evaluate them on a large set of token and non-token contracts. Finally, we present first steps toward an automated classification of tokens regarding their purpose.

Decentralized AI: Edge Intelligence and Smart Blockchain, Metaverse, Web3, and DeSci

“…DAOs and DeSci have witnessed various initiatives, such as decentralized cryptocurrency, finance (DeFi), biomedicine, funding, review, professional services, and the metaverse. Technically and operationally, blockchain, Web3, and other decentralized technologies, platforms and services provide essential and prerequisite infrastructures, privacy and security assurance, communication, tokenbased assets and valuation, 8 and individual accessibility and scalability to enable DAOs and DeSci at large and at scale. Other important enablers and supporting techniques include decentralized cloud computing, edge computing, smart contracting, P2P systems, autonomous agents, distributed and cloud-based analytics, such as federated and edge learning, and technologies for the metaverse.…”

Unravelling Token Ecosystem of EOSIO Blockchain

“…For example, [26,22] analyze Ethereum-based ERC20 token networks from a graph perspective. Meanwhile, studies [25,23,57] attempt to detect inconsistent and abnormal behaviors in the ERC20 token ecosystem. Moreover, Fenu et al [21] investigate the relationship between ICO and Ethereum contracts while [58,59] summarizes the characteristics of successful tokens.…”

What Users Tweet on NFTs: Mining Twitter to Understand NFT-Related Concerns Using a Topic Modeling Approach

“…When it comes to questions of perceived dangers or risk of NFT trading, the existing body of knowledge related to NFT is centered around three main concern clusters. First, concern about the general status and impact of NFTs, such as the legal status [28], [29], privacy issues [30]- [32] as well as the significant use of energy and resources needed to facilitate blockchain-based assets [13], [33], [34].…”