Scope

Scope creates a normalized data layer that aggregates and structures raw blockchain data from multiple sources. This involves:

• Ingesting transaction logs, event emissions, and state changes.
• Parsing data using protocol-specific Application Binary Interfaces (ABIs).
• Indexing the parsed data into query-optimized schemas, making it accessible without running a full node.

Developers interact with Scope using SQL (Structured Query Language). This provides a powerful, familiar interface for data retrieval and aggregation.

• Write complex queries to filter, join, and aggregate on-chain data.
• Execute sub-second queries against indexed datasets.
• Leverage a standardized syntax that abstracts away the underlying blockchain's raw data format.

Scope supports real-time data subscriptions for applications requiring live updates. This feature enables:

• Listening for specific events (e.g., token transfers, liquidity pool swaps) as they are confirmed on-chain.
• Push-based notifications to downstream applications via WebSockets or server-sent events.
• Building live dashboards, alert systems, and responsive DeFi interfaces.

The protocol is designed to index data from multiple blockchain networks into a cohesive interface. Key aspects include:

• A unified schema for common primitives like tokens, transactions, and smart contracts across different chains.
• Chain-agnostic queries that can pull and compare data from Ethereum, Solana, and other supported networks in a single request.
• Simplifies the development of multi-chain analytics and applications.

Scope operates on a decentralized network of indexers. This design ensures resilience and scalability.

• Indexer Nodes compete to serve queries and provide data, with performance and correctness verified.
• Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) or similar mechanisms secure the network and incentivize honest participation.
• Data consumers pay for queries, creating a marketplace for reliable blockchain data.

Scope's features enable a wide range of applications:

• DeFi Dashboards & Analytics: Track Total Value Locked (TVL), trading volumes, and protocol revenues.
• On-Chain Risk Monitoring: Analyze wallet behaviors, liquidity concentrations, and smart contract interactions.
• NFT Market Intelligence: Index floor prices, sales history, and collection statistics.
• Blockchain Explorers: Power user-friendly interfaces that replace traditional block explorers.

The primary attack surface for decentralized applications. Common vulnerabilities include:

• Reentrancy: Where an external call allows an attacker to recursively call a function before its state is updated.
• Integer Over/Underflows: Arithmetic operations that exceed data type limits, leading to incorrect balances.
• Access Control Flaws: Missing or incorrect permission checks (e.g., onlyOwner) allowing unauthorized actions.
• Logic Errors: Flaws in the business logic that can be exploited for gain, often identified through formal verification.

Attacks targeting the underlying blockchain protocol's consensus mechanism and peer-to-peer network.

• 51% Attack: An entity gains majority hash power to double-spend or censor transactions (relevant to Proof-of-Work).
• Long-Range Attack: Rewriting history from an early block in Proof-of-Stake, mitigated by checkpoints or slashing.
• Sybil Attack: Creating many fake identities to influence network governance or spam the network.
• Eclipse Attack: Isolating a node by controlling all its peer connections to feed it false data.

Security relies on the strength of underlying cryptographic primitives and their correct implementation.

• Digital Signatures: The security of ECDSA (Eth) or EdDSA (Solana) against quantum computing is a long-term consideration.
• Hash Functions: Collision resistance of SHA-256 or Keccak-256 is fundamental for block integrity and Merkle proofs.
• Randomness (RNG): Poor on-chain randomness for Proof-of-Stake validators or NFT minting can be predictable and exploitable.
• Key Management: User-side risks of private key loss, theft, or insecure generation.

Designing incentive structures to make attacks financially irrational or punishable.

• Slashing: Penalizing malicious validator behavior (e.g., double-signing) by destroying a portion of their staked assets.
• Bonding Curves: In DeFi, the design must prevent front-running and manipulation of pricing algorithms.
• Flash Loan Attacks: Utilizing uncollateralized loans in a single transaction to manipulate market prices and exploit protocols.
• Maximal Extractable Value (MEV): The profit validators/sequencers can extract by reordering, including, or censoring transactions.

The endpoint where most users interact with the blockchain, often the weakest link.

• Phishing: Fake websites and social engineering to steal seed phrases or private keys.
• Malicious Contracts: Approving tokens for a smart contract that drains the wallet.
• Front-end Compromise: Hacking a dApp's website to serve malicious code that intercepts transactions.
• Wallet Vulnerabilities: Bugs in browser extensions, mobile apps, or hardware wallet firmware.
• Solution: User education, transaction simulation tools, and wallet security features.

The state is the complete set of data stored on a blockchain at a given point in time, including account balances, smart contract code, and storage. Scope defines the portion of this global state that a transaction or smart contract can read and modify. For example, an Ethereum transaction's scope is limited to the accounts and contracts it directly interacts with, preventing it from arbitrarily altering unrelated parts of the ledger.

The execution context is the environment in which a smart contract runs, defining the available information and privileges. This includes the msg.sender (caller), msg.value (sent ether), and block.number. Scope is a key component of this context, determining which data the executing code is authorized to access. A contract's internal function call has a different scope—and thus access to private state variables—compared to an external call.

Gas is the unit measuring computational work on networks like Ethereum. While gas limits the computational scope of an operation (how many steps it can execute), scope limits its data access. A transaction may have enough gas to perform complex calculations but will fail if its scope does not permit access to a required storage slot. These are separate but complementary constraints ensuring network security and determinism.

Permissioned access mechanisms, such as function modifiers (onlyOwner) or access control lists (ACLs), enforce scope at the application layer. They programmatically restrict which users or contracts can execute certain functions or access specific data. While blockchain-level scope defines the fundamental boundaries of state access, permissioned access implements business logic and governance rules within those boundaries.

A namespace is a programming construct used to organize code and prevent naming collisions, effectively creating a bounded scope for identifiers. In blockchain development, smart contract languages like Solidity use namespaces for imported libraries (e.g., using SafeMath for uint256). This confines the library's functions to a specific data type, a conceptual parallel to how transaction scope confines state access.

Sandboxing is a security technique that isolates running programs to limit their access to system resources. In blockchain virtual machines (e.g., EVM, SVM), every smart contract executes within a sandbox. The contract's scope is the primary definition of this sandbox, restricting it to a predetermined set of accounts and storage. This prevents faulty or malicious code from affecting the broader network state.