How Can a ‘Proxy Contract’ Allow for an Apparent Code Change without Breaking Immutability?
A proxy contract holds the contract's state (data) and delegates all function calls to a separate 'implementation' contract that holds the logic (code). To "upgrade" the code, a new implementation contract is deployed, and the proxy is simply pointed to the new address.
The original proxy contract's address and state remain immutable, but the logic executed changes, giving the appearance of an upgrade.
Glossar
Cryptographic Code
Function ⎊ Cryptographic code forms the foundational technology for decentralized finance and cryptocurrency derivatives, ensuring transaction integrity and data security.
Public Code Scrutiny
Scrutiny ⎊ Public code scrutiny is the continuous, decentralized examination of a cryptocurrency project's source code by the global developer community, security researchers, and institutional analysts.
Peg Breaking Risk
Hazard ⎊ This represents the quantifiable probability that a stablecoin's reserve mechanism will fail to maintain its intended parity with the reference asset, often due to insufficient collateralization or a run on redemptions.
Proxy Security
Delegation ⎊ In the context of cryptocurrency derivatives, options trading, and financial derivatives, delegation refers to the strategic assignment of authority to execute trades or manage positions on behalf of a principal.
Core Contract Immutability
Principle ⎊ The fundamental concept of Core Contract Immutability dictates that the deployed bytecode of a smart contract, once recorded on the blockchain, cannot be changed or modified.
Uniform Commercial Code Relevance
Adaptation ⎊ Uniform Commercial Code Relevance addresses the strategic legal effort to adapt existing commercial law, specifically the UCC in the United States, to provide a predictable legal framework for digital assets, smart contracts, and crypto derivatives.
Code Complexity Analysis
Algorithm ⎊ Code Complexity Analysis, within cryptocurrency, options trading, and financial derivatives, assesses the computational effort required to execute and verify smart contracts or trading algorithms, directly impacting transaction costs and security.
Code Deployment Cost
Expenditure ⎊ Code deployment cost, particularly within smart contract platforms, quantifies the total expenditure required to publish and initialize a new contract onto the blockchain ledger.
Frequency of Code Updates
Velocity ⎊ The frequency of code updates quantifies the development velocity of a crypto project, reflecting the rate at which new features are introduced, bugs are patched, and technical debt is addressed within the core protocol.
Chain Validity Proxy
Proxy ⎊ A Chain Validity Proxy is a computationally light, summary metric used by non-full nodes and external systems to quickly infer the health and consensus status of a blockchain without executing the full validation sequence.