Enhancing Transparency in the Peer-to-Peer Transactive Energy Market: Smart Contract Monitoring in Bilateral Negotiations with the Ethereum Platform

Abstract

The transactive energy market requires enhanced transparency to ensure reliable and secure bilateral negotiations. This article focuses on the utilization of smart contract monitoring as a means to achieve transparency and security within the market. Smart contracts, recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, enable the execution of predefined actions through transactions. As significant amounts of cryptocurrency are often involved in these contracts, it becomes imperative to safeguard them against threats and attacks. While existing tools have been developed to examine contract code for vulnerabilities prior to deployment, certain types of vulnerabilities may elude detection. However, indicators of exploitation can be identified during an attack. To address these challenges, this article introduces a novel mechanism for runtime monitoring of smart contracts on the Ethereum platform. By specifying a set of security guards during contract deployment, contract owners can ensure their contracts are protected. This mechanism incorporates modifications to the transaction validation process during Ethereum mining, enabling miners to prevent the execution of transactions that violate the specified conditions. The proposed mechanism complements existing static and dynamic analysis methods, offering enhanced protection and the ability to detect and prevent attacks that may go unnoticed by traditional code analysis tools. Through smart contract monitoring, transparency and security are advanced in the transactive energy market, fostering trust and efficient bilateral negotiations.