LEAGAN: A Decentralized Version-Control Framework for Upgradeable Smart Contracts

Smart contracts are integral to decentralized systems like blockchains and enable the automation of processes through programmable conditions. However, their immutability, once deployed, poses challenges when addressing errors or bugs. Existing solutions, such as proxy contracts, facilitate upgrades while preserving application integrity. Yet, proxy contracts bring issues such as storage constraints and proxy selector clashes - along with complex inheritance management. This article introduces a novel upgradeable smart contract framework with version control, named ”decentraLized vErsion control and updAte manaGement in upgrAdeable smart coNtracts (LEAGAN).” LEAGAN is the first decentralized updatable smart contract framework that employs data separation with Incremental Hash (IH) and Revision Control System (RCS). It updates multiple contract versions without starting anew for each update, and reduces time complexity, and where RCS optimizes space utilization through differentiated version control. LEAGAN also introduces the first status contract in upgradeable smart contracts, and which reduces overhead while maintaining immutability. In Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) experiments, LEAGAN shows 40% better space utilization, 30% improved time complexity, and 25% lower gas consumption compared to state-of-the-art models. It thus stands as a promising solution for enhancing blockchain system efficiency.