By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 29th, 2024
TRON Core Dev Community Call 14 discussed the deprecation of the ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode and the implications for developers and the community.
TRON has hit a strategic crossroads, debating whether or not to deprecate the ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode, as highlighted in the latest Core Dev Community Call 14.
The potential move to deprecate this opcode mirrors previous Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and involves significant implications impacting both developers and TRON network security.
“The purpose of this TIP is still to give the community and developers time, as changes to this instruction will have a wide-ranging impact. It’s still necessary to make this declaration,” TRON Core Developer Elton said.
The ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ Opcode
The ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode enables a smart contract the ability to delete itself, effectively removing itself from the blockchain, providing gas refunds, and freeing up space.
According to TRON Core Developer Andy, “TIP-652 corresponds to EIP-6049, which was mentioned in the Shanghai upgrade. In the Cancun upgrade, the SELFDESTRUCT instruction was restricted to within a single transaction, greatly reducing its scope of use”.
#TRONICS, catch the latest from the Core Devs Community Call (April 11, 2024)! We're diving deep into adapting to the Ethereum Dencun upgrade with key discussions on:
🔹 The adaptation plans to the Ethereum Dencun upgrade
🔹 Support the debug_traceCall API
🔹 TIP-650: Implement…— TRON DAO (@trondao) April 15, 2024
TRON Improvement Proposal (TIP) 652 aimed to discuss TRON network’s handling of the ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode, and whether to follow Ethereum’s phased approach.
The concern surrounding TIP-652 is that developers and the community could misinterpret the term “deprecate” – believing that TRON is set to remove the command entirely.
To mitigate the potential misunderstanding, TRON Core Dev Jake suggested the term “adjustment” be used instead – better reflecting TRON’s intentions to modify the command, not remove it.
“…if TRON wants to be compatible with Ethereum and follow its changes, perhaps it’s more appropriate to use terms like “adjustment” instead of “deprecation” in this TIP?” added he.
The Implications Deprecation
The removal of the ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode through deprecation carries several implications, both negative and positive.
The Good
- Improved Security: TRON could reduce attack risks in scenarios where smart contracts are deleted maliciously.
- Improved Trust: Contract code effectively becomes immutable without the ability to be erased with the opcode.
The Bad
- Gas Inefficiency: The opcode incentivizes devs to remove obsolete smart contracts by providing gas refunds.
- Storage Inefficiency: The opcode makes it possible to reuse space occupied by obsolete smart contracts.
The Ugly
- Regulatory Hurdles: Without the flexibility to retire/update smart contracts, immutability can prevent compliance with regulatory changes or requirements.
- Potential Forks: Community consensus is required to deprecate opcodes. Disagreements can result in both soft and hard Forks in the blockchain.
Deprecation vs. Adjustment
Despite EIP-6049, Ethereum has not yet deprecated the ‘SELFDESTRUCT’ opcode. However, it has significantly limited both its use and use cases.
The term “adjustment” being used instead of “deprecate” demonstrates TRON’s commitment to keeping up with Ethereum’s updates. Use of the opcode is set to be only adjusted for now until discussed further in future Core Dev Community Calls.
The Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) Ethereum upgrade, activated on March 13, 2024, introduced a new transaction type called “blobs”. These blobs enable “rollup providers to store data more cost-effectively”.