Quantstamp 2023 Web3 Security Year In Review

Web3 is different from “normal software” for one brutal reason: bugs turn directly into money. In 2025 alone, an estimated $3.4B was stolen through crypto exploits. That incentive creates a uniquely hostile environment where attackers systematize vulnerability search.

Decentralized applications (dApps) (e.g., DEXes) increasingly span multiple Ethereum-compatible chains, such as a number of L2s. Although these chains are intended to be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), subtle differences in opcode implementations can significantly alter smart contract behavior and security. This poses an important question: how can developers efficiently code and manage smart contracts targeting different chains?

The upcoming EVM hardfork, Pectra, amongst other changes, will implement EIP-7702, a proposal introducing a new transaction type that allows Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to delegate—and later undelegate—their behavior to smart contracts. While this upgrade enhances flexibility, it also disrupts long-standing security assumptions in many deployed contracts. With the risk that malicious actors may exploit these changes once Pectra is enabled, it is crucial to assess whether your codebase might be negatively impacted.