Publication Details

An Empirical Study into the Success of Listed Smart Contracts in Ethereum

HARTEL Pieter H., HOMOLIAK Ivan and REIJSBERGEN Daniel. An Empirical Study into the Success of Listed Smart Contracts in Ethereum. IEEE Access, vol. 07, no. 12, 2019, pp. 177539-177555. ISSN 2169-3536. Available from: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8919981
Czech title
Empirická studie o úspěchu publikovaných smart kontraktů v blockchaine Ethereum
Type
journal article
Language
english
Authors
Hartel Pieter H. (UTWENTE)
Homoliak Ivan, doc. Ing., Ph.D. (DITS FIT BUT)
Reijsbergen Daniel (SUTD)
URL
Keywords
  • Software engineering,
  • product development,
  • technology social factors,
  • computers and information processing,
  • social implications of technology,
  • blockchain,
  • ethereum,
  • smart contracts,
  • new product development,
  • business success,
  • recommendations for developers
Abstract

Since it takes time and effort to put a new product or service on the market, one would like to predict whether it will be a success. In general this is not possible, but it is possible to follow best practices in order to maximise the chance of success. A smart contract is intended to encode business logic and is therefore at the heart of every new business on the Ethereum blockchain. We have investigated how to measure the success of smart contracts, and whether successful smart contracts have characteristics that less successful smart contracts lack. The appearance of a smart contract on a listing website such as Etherscan or StateoftheDapps is such a characteristic. In this paper, we present a three-pronged analysis of the relative success of listed smart contracts. First, we have used statistical analysis on the publicly visible transaction history of the Ethereum blockchain to determine that listed contracts are significantly more successful than their unlisted counterparts. Next, we have conducted a survey among more than 200 developers via an anonymous online survey about their experience with the listing process. A significant majority of respondents do not believe that listing a contract itself contributes to its success, but they believe that the extra attention that is typically paid in tandem with the listing process does contribute. Finally, based on the respondents' answers, we have drafted 10 recommendations for developers and validated them by submitting them to an international panel of experts.

Published
2019
Pages
177539-177555
Journal
IEEE Access, vol. 7, no. 12, ISSN 2169-3536
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
DOI
10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2957284
UT WoS
000509483800016
EID Scopus
2-s2.0-85077236404
BibTeX 
@ARTICLE{FITPUB12131,
   author = "H. Pieter Hartel and Ivan Homoliak and Daniel Reijsbergen",
   title = "An Empirical Study into the Success of Listed Smart Contracts in Ethereum",
   pages = "177539--177555",
   journal = "IEEE Access",
   volume = 07,
   number = 12,
   year = 2019,
   ISSN = "2169-3536",
   doi = "10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2957284",
   language = "english",
   url = "https://www.fit.vut.cz/research/publication/12131"
}
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