{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T15:59:33Z","timestamp":1778083173732,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727395200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015595","name":"Ethereum Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["FY23-1048"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FY23-1048"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015595","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EPJ Data Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Decentralized applications (DApps) built on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and coded in languages such as Solidity, have recently gained attention for their potential to disrupt traditional centralized systems. Despite their rapid adoption, limited research has been conducted to understand the underlying code structure of these applications. In particular, each DApp is composed of multiple smart contracts, each containing a number of functions that can be called to trigger a specific event, e.g., a token transfer. In this paper, we reconstruct and analyse the network of contracts and functions calls within the DApp, which is helpful to unveil vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious attackers. We show how decentralization is architecturally implemented, identifying common development patterns and anomalies that could influence the system\u2019s robustness and efficiency. We find a consistent network structure characterized by modular, self-sufficient contracts and a complex web of function interactions, indicating common coding practices across the blockchain community. Critically, a small number of key functions within each DApp play a central role in maintaining network connectivity, making them potential targets for cyber attacks and highlighting the need for robust security measures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T11:03:05Z","timestamp":1727434985000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["DApps ecosystems: mapping the network structure of smart contract interactions"],"prefix":"10.1140","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Sabrina","family":"Aufiero","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giacomo","family":"Ibba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1127-5600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia","family":"Bartolucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Destefanis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rumyana","family":"Neykova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Ortu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"497_CR1","volume-title":"Mastering Ethereum: building smart contracts and DApps","author":"AM Antonopoulos","year":"2018","unstructured":"Antonopoulos AM, Wood G (2018) Mastering Ethereum: building smart contracts and DApps. O\u2019Reilly Media"},{"key":"497_CR2","unstructured":"Qian P, Liu Z, He Q, Huang B, Tian D, Wang X (2022) Smart contract vulnerability detection technique: a survey. Preprint. Available at arXiv:2209.05872"},{"key":"497_CR3","unstructured":"Oosthoek K (2021) Flash crash for cash: Cyber threats in decentralized finance. Preprint. Available at arXiv:2106.10740"},{"key":"497_CR4","first-page":"1","volume-title":"2020 crypto valley conference on blockchain technology (CVCBT)","author":"L Gudgeon","year":"2020","unstructured":"Gudgeon L, Perez D, Harz D, Livshits B, Gervais A (2020) The decentralized financial crisis. In: 2020 crypto valley conference on blockchain technology (CVCBT). IEEE, pp\u00a01\u201315"},{"issue":"10","key":"497_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2033","DOI":"10.1002\/spe.2751","volume":"51","author":"K Wu","year":"2021","unstructured":"Wu K, Ma Y, Huang G, Liu X (2021) A first look at blockchain-based decentralized applications. Softw Pract Exp 51(10):2033\u20132050","journal-title":"Softw Pract Exp"},{"issue":"5","key":"497_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"276","DOI":"10.1109\/MNET.001.1900656","volume":"34","author":"D He","year":"2020","unstructured":"He D, Deng Z, Zhang Y, Chan S, Cheng Y, Guizani N (2020) Smart contract vulnerability analysis and security audit. IEEE Netw 34(5):276\u2013282","journal-title":"IEEE Netw"},{"key":"497_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1743","DOI":"10.1109\/ICSAI.2017.8248566","volume-title":"2017 4th international conference on systems and informatics (ICSAI)","author":"X Zhao","year":"2017","unstructured":"Zhao X, Chen Z, Chen X, Wang Y, Tang C (2017) The dao attack paradoxes in propositional logic. In: 2017 4th international conference on systems and informatics (ICSAI). IEEE, pp\u00a01743\u20131746"},{"key":"497_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"150184","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2019.2946988","volume":"7","author":"Y Huang","year":"2019","unstructured":"Huang Y, Bian Y, Li R, Zhao JL, Shi P (2019) Smart contract security: a software lifecycle perspective. IEEE Access 7:150184\u2013150202","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"497_CR9","unstructured":"Financial Stability Board. The financial stability risks of decentralised finance (2023) Accessed 29\/12\/2023 at https:\/\/www.fsb.org\/2023\/02\/the-financial-stability-risks-of-decentralised-finance\/"},{"key":"497_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Ibba G, Aufiero S, Bartolucci S, Neykova R, Ortu M, Tonelli R, Destefanis G Decentralized Applications Network Structure [Data set]. Available at Zenodo repository https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.12731531","DOI":"10.5281\/zenodo.12731531"},{"key":"497_CR11","unstructured":"Aufiero S, Ibba G, Bartolucci S, Destefanis G, Neykova R, Ortu M Adjacency matrices for dApps contracts and functions network [Data set]. Available at Zenodo repository https:\/\/zenodo.org\/records\/13772792"},{"key":"497_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1140\/epjst\/e2012-01696-9","volume":"214","author":"JD Farmer","year":"2012","unstructured":"Farmer JD, Gallegati M, Hommes C, Kirman A, Ormerod P, Cincotti S, Sanchez A, Helbing D (2012) A complex systems approach to constructing better models for managing financial markets and the economy. Eur Phys J Spec Top 214:295\u2013324","journal-title":"Eur Phys J Spec Top"},{"key":"497_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Linkov I, Kott A (2019) Fundamental concepts of cyber resilience: Introduction and overview. Cyber resilience of systems and networks, 1\u201325","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-77492-3_1"},{"key":"497_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"276","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-13929-2_14","volume-title":"Information and communication technologies in education, research, and industrial applications: 14th international conference, ICTERI 2018","author":"VN Soloviev","year":"2019","unstructured":"Soloviev VN, Belinskiy A (2019) Complex systems theory and crashes of cryptocurrency market. In: Information and communication technologies in education, research, and industrial applications: 14th international conference, ICTERI 2018, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 14-17, 2018. Revised Selected Papers 14. Springer, Berlin, pp\u00a0276\u2013297"},{"issue":"51","key":"497_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.abd2204","volume":"6","author":"L Lucchini","year":"2020","unstructured":"Lucchini L, Alessandretti L, Lepri B, Gallo A, Baronchelli A (2020) From code to market: network of developers and correlated returns of cryptocurrencies. Sci Adv 6(51):eabd2204","journal-title":"Sci Adv"},{"issue":"1","key":"497_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-020-00239-6","volume":"9","author":"S Bartolucci","year":"2020","unstructured":"Bartolucci S, Destefanis G, Ortu M, Uras N, Marchesi M, Tonelli R (2020) The butterfly \u201caffect\u201d: impact of development practices on cryptocurrency prices. EPJ Data Sci 9(1):21","journal-title":"EPJ Data Sci"},{"issue":"12","key":"497_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/cpe.5493","volume":"32","author":"S Ferretti","year":"2020","unstructured":"Ferretti S, D\u2019Angelo G (2020) On the Ethereum blockchain structure: a complex networks theory perspective. Concurr Comput, Pract Exp 32(12):e5493","journal-title":"Concurr Comput, Pract Exp"},{"key":"497_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1109\/ICDCS57875.2023.00018","volume-title":"2023 IEEE 43rd international conference on distributed computing systems (ICDCS)","author":"M La Morgia","year":"2023","unstructured":"La Morgia M, Mei A, Mongardini AM, Nemmi EN (2023) A game of nfts: characterizing nft wash trading in the Ethereum blockchain. In: 2023 IEEE 43rd international conference on distributed computing systems (ICDCS). IEEE, pp\u00a013\u201324"},{"key":"497_CR19","first-page":"011002","volume-title":"Proceedings of blockchain Kaigi 2022 (BCK22)","author":"A Bovet","year":"2023","unstructured":"Bovet A, Campajola C, Mottes F, Restocchi V, Vallarano N, Squartini T, Tessone CJ (2023) The evolving liaisons between the transaction networks of bitcoin and its price dynamics. In: Proceedings of blockchain Kaigi 2022 (BCK22), p\u00a0011002"},{"issue":"1","key":"497_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/1391984.1391986","volume":"18","author":"P Louridas","year":"2008","unstructured":"Louridas P, Spinellis D, Vlachos V (2008) Power laws in software. ACM Trans Softw Eng Methodol 18(1):1\u201326","journal-title":"ACM Trans Softw Eng Methodol"},{"issue":"5","key":"497_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1145\/1060710.1060716","volume":"48","author":"A Potanin","year":"2005","unstructured":"Potanin A, Noble J, Frean M, Biddle R (2005) Scale-free geometry in oo programs. Commun ACM 48(5):99\u2013103","journal-title":"Commun ACM"},{"key":"497_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1145\/335305.335325","volume-title":"Proceedings of the thirty-second annual ACM symposium on theory of computing","author":"J Kleinberg","year":"2000","unstructured":"Kleinberg J (2000) The small-world phenomenon: an algorithmic perspective. In: Proceedings of the thirty-second annual ACM symposium on theory of computing, pp\u00a0163\u2013170"},{"key":"497_CR23","unstructured":"Valverde S, Sol\u00e9 RV (2003) Hierarchical small worlds in software architecture. Preprint. Available at arXiv:cond-mat\/0307278"},{"issue":"6","key":"497_CR24","first-page":"582","volume":"41","author":"C Theodore","year":"2014","unstructured":"Theodore C, et al. (2014) Forecasting Java software evolution trends employing network models. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 41(6):582\u2013602","journal-title":"IEEE Trans Softw Eng"},{"issue":"4","key":"497_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevE.68.046116","volume":"68","author":"CR Myers","year":"2003","unstructured":"Myers CR (2003) Software systems as complex networks: structure, function, and evolvability of software collaboration graphs. Phys Rev E 68(4):046116","journal-title":"Phys Rev E"},{"key":"497_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.infsof.2023.107187","volume":"158","author":"M Ortu","year":"2023","unstructured":"Ortu M, Destefanis G, Hall T, Bowes D (2023) Fault-insertion and fault-fixing behavioural patterns in apache software foundation projects. Inf Softw Technol 158:107187","journal-title":"Inf Softw Technol"},{"issue":"10","key":"497_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2084","DOI":"10.1109\/TSE.2019.2942301","volume":"47","author":"W Zou","year":"2019","unstructured":"Zou W, Lo D, Kochhar PS, Le Dinh X-B, Xia X, Feng Y, Chen Z, Xu B (2019) Smart contract development: challenges and opportunities. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 47(10):2084\u20132106","journal-title":"IEEE Trans Softw Eng"},{"key":"497_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1109\/IWBOSE.2018.8327567","volume-title":"2018 international workshop on blockchain oriented software engineering (IWBOSE)","author":"G Destefanis","year":"2018","unstructured":"Destefanis G, Marchesi M, Ortu M, Tonelli R, Bracciali A, Hierons R (2018) Smart contracts vulnerabilities: a call for blockchain software engineering? In: 2018 international workshop on blockchain oriented software engineering (IWBOSE). IEEE, pp\u00a019\u201325"},{"key":"497_CR29","volume-title":"Fifth ACM international workshop on blockchain-enabled networked sensor systems","author":"G Ibba","year":"2023","unstructured":"Ibba G, Khullar S, Tesfai E, Neykova R, Aufiero S, Ortu M, Bartolucci S, Destefanis G (2023) A preliminary analysis of software metrics in decentralised applications. In: Fifth ACM international workshop on blockchain-enabled networked sensor systems"},{"key":"497_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"28382","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2024.3366069","volume":"12","author":"G Ibba","year":"2023","unstructured":"Ibba G, Aufiero S, Bartolucci S, Neykova R, Ortu M, Tonelli R, Destefanis G (2023) Mindthedapp: a toolchain for complex network-driven structural analysis of Ethereum-based decentralised applications. IEEE Access 12:28382\u201328394","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"497_CR31","unstructured":"Parr T (2013) The definitive ANTLR 4 reference. Raleigh, the Pragmatic Bookshelf, 1\u2013326"},{"key":"497_CR32","volume-title":"DeFi and the future of finance","author":"CR Harvey","year":"2021","unstructured":"Harvey CR, Ramachandran A, Santoro J (2021) DeFi and the future of finance. Wiley, New York"},{"key":"497_CR33","unstructured":"Kong H (2023) Institute of Blockchain and Financial Association. Crypto crime report. Accessed 29\/12\/2023 from https:\/\/hkibfa.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Crypto_Crime_Report_2023.pdf"},{"key":"497_CR34","unstructured":"Wu K (2019) An empirical study of blockchain-based decentralized applications. Preprint. Available at arXiv:1902.04969"},{"issue":"8","key":"497_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1109\/TSE.2004.43","volume":"30","author":"E Arisholm","year":"2004","unstructured":"Arisholm E, Sjoberg DIK (2004) Evaluating the effect of a delegated versus centralized control style on the maintainability of object-oriented software. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 30(8):521\u2013534","journal-title":"IEEE Trans Softw Eng"},{"key":"497_CR36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24416","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2020.2970495","volume":"8","author":"S Sayeed","year":"2020","unstructured":"Sayeed S, Marco-Gisbert H, Caira T (2020) Smart contract: attacks and protections. IEEE Access 8:24416\u201324427","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"issue":"4","key":"497_CR37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevE.76.046115","volume":"76","author":"T Zhou","year":"2007","unstructured":"Zhou T, Ren J, Medo M, Zhang Y-C (2007) Bipartite network projection and personal recommendation. Phys Rev E 76(4):046115","journal-title":"Phys Rev E"},{"issue":"16","key":"497_CR38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6483","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0808904106","volume":"106","author":"M \u00c1ngeles Serrano","year":"2009","unstructured":"\u00c1ngeles Serrano M, Bogun\u00e1 M, Vespignani A (2009) Extracting the multiscale backbone of complex weighted networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106(16):6483\u20136488","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci"},{"key":"497_CR39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198805090.001.0001","volume-title":"Networks","author":"M Newman","year":"2018","unstructured":"Newman M (2018) Networks. Oxford University Press, London"},{"key":"497_CR40","first-page":"659","volume-title":"Social stratification","author":"RS Burt","year":"2018","unstructured":"Burt RS (2018) Structural holes. In: Social stratification. Routledge, London, pp\u00a0659\u2013663"},{"key":"497_CR41","volume-title":"A curated solidity smart contracts repository of metrics and vulnerability. PROMISE 2024: proceedings of the 20th international conference on predictive models and data analytics in software engineering","author":"G Ibba","year":"2024","unstructured":"Ibba G, Aufiero S, Bartolucci S, Neykova R, Ortu M, Tonelli R, Destefanis G (2024) A curated solidity smart contracts repository of metrics and vulnerability. PROMISE 2024: proceedings of the 20th international conference on predictive models and data analytics in software engineering"},{"key":"497_CR42","unstructured":"Perez D, Livshits B (2019) Smart contract vulnerabilities: does anyone care? pp\u00a01\u201315. Preprint. Available at arXiv:1902.06710"},{"key":"497_CR43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Auer R, Farag M, Lewrick U, Orazem L, Zoss M (2023) Banking in the shadow of Bitcoin? The institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute. CESifo Working Paper, No. 10355","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.4416784"},{"issue":"1","key":"497_CR44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-023-00446-x","volume":"13","author":"L Mungo","year":"2023","unstructured":"Mungo L, Bartolucci S, Alessandretti L (2023) Cryptocurrency co-investment network: token returns reflect investment patterns. EPJ Data Sci 13(1):11","journal-title":"EPJ Data Sci"},{"issue":"4","key":"497_CR45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1137\/070710111","volume":"51","author":"A Clauset","year":"2009","unstructured":"Clauset A, Rohilla Shalizi C, Newman MEJ (2009) Power-law distributions in empirical data. SIAM Rev 51(4):661\u2013703","journal-title":"SIAM Rev"}],"container-title":["EPJ Data Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T11:03:20Z","timestamp":1727435000000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/epjdatascience.springeropen.com\/articles\/10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]]},"references-count":45,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]}},"alternative-id":["497"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-024-00497-8","relation":{},"ISSN":["2193-1127"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2193-1127","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"19 February 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"2 September 2024","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"27 September 2024","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"60"}}