Self-Evolving Smart Contracts: On Chain Governance and Automated Refactoring In Public Blockchains

Abstract

Abstract: Smart contracts cement rules in code, yet ecosystem expectations evolve faster than immutable byte code. This work introduces a self evolving contract framework that blends transparent governance voting with certified automated refactoring. Stakeholders trigger improvement proposals which a formal verification engine statically analyses, ensuring new logic preserves defined safety invariants. Once proofs pass, a multi phase on chain vote finalises the refactor, and a proxy pattern redirects calls to the upgraded module. A prototype deployed on an Ethereum test net ran fourteen successive upgrades without downtime, maintaining binary compatibility for 1.2?million legacy transactions. Gas overhead averaged 3.4?% compared with fixed code contracts. A socio technical discussion highlights how granular voting rights and veto windows prevent hostile forks while still encouraging rapid iteration.

Keywords: On Chain Governance, Formal Verification, Proxy Pattern, Automated Refactoring, Ethereum