Ethereum [ETH] The ERC1538 improving towards the “transparent contract” standard

In the blockchain of Ethereum, perhaps one of the most used for its characteristics, we know some standards such as the ERC20, whose use has been extended in the vast majority of tokenized projects presented through ICOs. This time we will talk about the ERC1538 standard, improving towards the transparent contract standard.

The technology of Ethereum brought us the smart contracts, which are the most current and are growing. Smart contracts can change the way we do business and schedule the fulfillment of certain obligations. Likewise, smart contracts could eliminate countless intermediaries in supply, business and related chains.

However, smart contracts have a characteristic that is being their biggest problem while it has been one of its main advantages: full immutability. Smart contracts are currently limited in their flexibility, in fact they do not have flexibility. Once an intelligent contract is created, what is fixed in it is as if it were established in stone.

Flexibility is something indispensable in a changing environment and allowing it as a possibility is indispensable. There are situations in which it is necessary to update a contract. The changing technology and constantly evolving could also be updated. External factors that affect the environment, such as the political or economic situation of a country, may render the original contract unprofitable or unenforceable.

In the event of making necessary changes to an intelligent contract, the “Transparent Contract Standard” ERC1538 was created, unlike ERC721 and ERC20, ERC1538 is not a completely new set of tokens, rather it is a standard that is added to the current standards such as ERC20 and ERC721 that will allow recently implemented contracts to be modified in a transparent manner, hence their denomination.

The “Transparent Contract Standard” ERC1538 also allows larger smart contracts to be written in. Having this possibility of being updated allows those who use this standard to add more features to their smart contracts and add more things over time as they want. For example, for projects that start small and want to grow as usual, this smart contract standard that can be updated is ideal.

Basically, the details of an intelligent contract must be open so that everyone can audit them and, when changes occur, you must be able to see exactly when, where and why the changes or updates occurred. Every change made in an ERC1538 contract will be committed and visible to all those involved in said contract. ERC1538 allows different aspects of the intelligent contract can be assigned to different addresses and still can be executed at the same time.

Like all novelty, the ERC1538 standard is still very little known, but it is natural to expect it to be adopted as it becomes known and its qualities are tested. The importance of transparency for smart contracts, especially modifiable ones, can not be underestimated.