Ethereum Chain Split - Let's Learn from it

Ethereum is hosting the highest total value locked in the entire crypto ecosystem. Regardless of the high transactions fees, the blockchain has never lost its credibility and transactions from the rise of Decentralized Finance and Non-Fungible Token concepts.

Thanks to dynamic operational systems, Ethereum Virtual Machine carries out the transactions and smart contracts 7/24 flawlessly. Even though blockchains are well-organized systems, the updates may bring some issues to be fixed to be able to operate without any single break. The recent Geth updates on Ethereum blockchain had a minor concern that gave birth to chain split.

Let's explore and discuss the recent issue from different perspectives.

The Transaction caused EVM Vulnerability Exploit

The popular transaction looks ordinary though it made us consider several things about the blockchains. Here you can see the details about the problematic tx.

At the first glance, things are quite normal if you do not examine the contract details. The transaction creates a contract with the specific codes. Okay, time to have fun 🤓

To interpret the input data, you can always use Opcode-tool as you can see on the picture. Here we will get the data that makes sense to us.

Then we start to see such values and Mnemoic expression that may not be easy to understand for the majority of us. However, what has been done is quite comprehensible.

The thing goes like that:

The address sent the code to Ethereum Blockchain,
Callvalue sent "0" value to the blockchain,
Mstore calls the transaction code etc...

Though the codes were embedded in a different format, it did not harm blockchain as the transaction was not verified. This attack revealed a problematic case among the nodes of Ethereum blockchain. 2 different nodes created 2 different transactions...

When there is no absolute consensus, you may wake up a day when only %32 of nodes are on the right chain. Sounds like a nightmare for the sake of Ethereum and crypto but the reality hurts.

Consensus or Threat

The blockchains are not miracle that came to humanbeings from the sky. The way the transactions are approved and initiated makes it possible to design a proper pattern of verification system. What if some validators do not follow the same pattern at the same pace with the rest? Then we may see the split happening...

As Hivers, we give importance to the security of our blockchain. Hive is an incredible blockchain that is nearly instant, free and, to great extent, scalable. The lesson we can take from this case is obviously the importance of operating up-to-date nodes and scrutinizing the issues in detail when there are suspicious actions taking place.

Though EVM is a well-organized system, such attack may increase in numbers for the blockchains. At that point, Caution & Consensus are two critical points that may save the blockchains from the savage attacks.

We should never forget the fact that any vulnerable or disreputable blockchain may face to be left behind with no mercy in crypto...

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