Performance and Security Evaluation of Ethereum ERCs in an Industrial Environment

Abstract

Ethereum use as a decentralized platform for executing smart contracts has driven the adoption of standards that optimize interoperability in industrial environments. Ethereum Requests for Comments (ERC) establish uniform patterns for smart contracts, facilitating their integration and operation in network nodes, which are essential for industrial applications such as supply chain management or process automation. However, this standardization can propagate vulnerabilities or inefficiencies in critical systems if the contracts are not optimized, affecting the reliability of industrial processes. Since operations in Ethereum consume computational resources (measured in gas) with associated economic costs, poor design can lead to significant losses in industrial settings. This paper evaluates the efficiency and security of ERC standards by examining their functional diversity and technical complexity. Thus, it analyzes existing implementations to identify common errors and proposes improvements to enhance the robustness and optimization of three of the most popular standards: ERC-20, ERC-1400 and ERC-3643. The ultimate goal is to support the effective adoption of ERCs in industrial applications. Considering the Ethereum network incentives on lower complexity logic and the obtained results, it is advisable to use simple standards, which also reduce error risks and ease maintainability.