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

Gulshan Kumar; Rahul Saha; Mauro Conti; William J Buchanan

Paper 2025/752

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

Gulshan Kumar

, Lovely Professional University

Rahul Saha

, Lovely Professional University

Mauro Conti

, University of Padua

William J Buchanan

, Edinburgh Napier University

Abstract

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 paper 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.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF
Category: Applications
Publication info: Published elsewhere. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing
DOI: 10.1109/TSC.2025.3562323
Keywords: Blockchain smart contract consensus update version
Contact author(s): gulshan3971 @ gmail com
rsahaaot @ gmail com
mauro conti @ unipd it
b buchanan @ napier ac uk
History: 2025-04-28: approved; 2025-04-27: received; See all versions
Short URL: http://ia.cr/2025/752
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2025/752,
      author = {Gulshan Kumar and Rahul Saha and Mauro Conti and William J Buchanan},
      title = {{LEAGAN}: A Decentralized Version-Control Framework for Upgradeable Smart Contracts},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2025/752},
      year = {2025},
      doi = {10.1109/TSC.2025.3562323},
      url = {http://eprint.iacr.org/2025/752}
}