Ethereum’s creator, Vitalik Buterin, envisioned the cryptocurrency and blockchain as an extension of Bitcoin. Therefore, Ethereum is more than a store of value; it is a peer-to-peer network that supports the expansion of its blockchain ecosystem, where users develop their own Dapps, DAOs, and NFTs.
The smart contract function gives a prominent feature of Ethereum, a revolutionary technology enhancing collaborations in online environments. The process makes asset exchanges more efficient by automating transactions based on predetermined terms and conditions. Once the two parties complete their roles, the smart contract is executed and cannot be reversed or altered.
However, Ethereum smart contracts pose several security challenges, considering front-running attacks and logical errors are common. Besides, attackers take advantage of timestamps and manipulate them.
That’s why Ethereum’s competitors developed their unique smart contracts functions to mitigate these challenges. But are they really that efficient and safe?
Smart contracts on Ethereum are superior
Besides the security issue, smart contracts on Ethereum are praised for their numerous advantages for users. They’re cost-efficient, based on decentralization and automated. Therefore, they can provide conditional payments and programmable money through the use of a flexible language that supports multiple computational instructions.
Hence, Ethereum smart contracts can be used in industries like decentralized finance, supply chain management, real estate and even healthcare. Still, institutions might choose smart contracts offered by competitors.
Solana smart contract function is more efficient
Solana is a Web3 infrastructure system launched later than Ethereum in 2022, so it’s not as popular. However, it’s considered by many as a better alternative to Ethereum due to its low cost and fast transaction processing.
Solana’s smart contracts support building decentralized applications more efficiently and leverage a superior consensus mechanism. The Proof of History technology ensures security is prioritized during transaction processing, which is a plus compared to Ethereum. Moreover, Solana’s smart contract tools, such as Solana CLI and Serum DEX, enhance the blockchain’s development.
Cardano’s smart contracts are powered by predictability
Cardano was released in 2017 and it provides better scalability compared to Ethereum due to its layered architecture. Cardano’s blockchain is a productive environment for smart contract development, as it was designed through unique methods on a research-driven approach, making it stable and secure.
One of the best things about Cardano is its energy efficiency features that ensure low gas fees and high transaction speeds. Hence, Cardano is great for creating smart contracts because its native language is designed to allow versatility among multiple industries, supporting the growing demand for the blockchain to be used for smart contracts.
Stellar smart contracts are driven by different technologies
Ethereum’s smart contract function is based on the Turing system that includes the Solidity programming language and the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine). While most blockchains work similarly, Stellar is different.
The blockchain uses numerous programming languages, such as Python or PHP, through which transactions are executed with constraints. Smart contracts are powered by a multi-signature feature that the two parties have to sign, while Atomicity technology combines multiple operations in a single transaction. Hence, if one operation fails to complete, the other smart contracts will be triggered anyway.
Hyperledger Fabric provides unique smart contracts
The distributed ledger technology can be leveraged for smart contracts through the Docker container, a system that defines application services. It may be more challenging to run smart contracts on the Hyperledger Fabric network because the technology is more complex.
However, it’s an intricate project because it supports smart contracts while running on top of the operating system. At the same time, it enhances high-level programming features through the Turing complete system and uses the key-value pair data model. The blockchain network is private, so it requires approval from certificate authorities (CA).
How can Ethereum optimize its smart contract function?
Considering the multiple competitors to Ethereum, we’re wondering if the technology behind it will ever evolve. The main problem of Ethereum is the rising costs and lack of scalability, so new blockchains can always appear and deliver better services.
Still, Ethereum has a great potential of becoming the best blockchain and smart contract support. Using Solidity, smart contract gas costs can become efficient through the following functions:
Caching storage in memory to avoid storage loads;
Using calldata to enhance runtime execution;
Making some variables immutable to avoid storage-writing operations;
Leveraging private constants instead of public;
At the same time, smart contracts can be upgraded to fix vulnerabilities and add new features. However, improvement may add a new level of complexity that can increase flaws in the system. Moreover, centralization risks may appear due to individuals performing unauthorized updates, which is why users must trust developers in this process.
Will Ethereum’s roadmap improve smart contracts?
Recently, Ethereum’s team provided a development roadmap for the blockchain that would solve its prominent issues. There are currently six stages of improvement, starting with the Merge, which has already been deployed, and ending with the Splurge, which will handle minor fixtures. In between the two, Ethereum plans to increase the number of transactions per second, mitigate risks and make block verification more efficient.
Among these updates, an additional set of EIPs, or Ethereum Improvement Proposals, will contribute to reduced end-user costs, efficient networks, and handling of complex operations. Still, a primary interest is given to improving smart contract execution. For instance, the EIP-5656 operation will deal with copying data in memory that will optimize smart contracts. At the same time, the EIP-6780 will allow smart contracts to be deleted automatically from the blockchain to free up storage space. EIP-1153 will ensure smart contracts are more flexible and gas will be consumed more efficiently. Therefore, the upcoming years will constitute a better and stronger smart contract function for Ethereum.
Bottom line
Ethereum is mainly known for a diverse blockchain, where Dapps, DAOs and NFTs emerged and increased in popularity. But none of these features would see light without the smart contract technology, which enhances automatization and fairness in the exchange between two parties. The technology is revolutionizing and is already introduced in real-life use cases in industries like healthcare and finance.
