Lack Of Code Diversity In Cryptocurrency Ethereum May Be Propagating Bad Code

Ethereum, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies with a market cap of more than $21.8 billon, is causing serious anxiety in the cryptocurrency marketplace.

Code integrity concerns have resulted in $170 million in cryptocurrency being frozen, and one recent security compromise caused $38,000 in losses to users. New research has further heightened concerns about the coin's ecosystem itself.

On October 31, 2018, researchers from Northeastern University and the University of Maryland released their findings showing that a lack of diversity of smart contracts in the Ethereum blockchain may represent a substantial vulnerability.

In their article "Analyzing Ethereum's Contract Topography," the researchers analyzed three-years worth of smart contracts and concluded that the majority are "direct- or near-copies of other contracts." Their research showed that less than only 10 percent of user-backed contracts are uniquely created. Since most Ethereum smart contracts have