The concept of negative balance in Ethereum: understanding of the problem
Ethereum is a decentralized cryptocurrency that allows the creation and execution of intelligent contracts, which are self-execution contracts with the terms of the agreement written directly in lines of code. Like any digital resource, Ethereum has its own series of rules and limitations.
One of these rules provides the concept of negative balance in Ethereum. In essence, an address can have a negative balance when it holds more ether (ETH) than it owes to other accounts or transactions that are still pending.
How the negative balance works
In the context of Ethereum, a negative balance occurs when an intelligent contract tries to pay another account using Ether that already has a positive balance. This situation presents itself for some reasons:
- Inter-transaction transfers : When two users interact mutual, they can exchange ethereal between their accounts. However, in some cases, the amounts exchanged amounts may not be exactly the same.
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- Transaction commissions : When a user starts a transaction to another address, they pay a transaction commission, which is used to cover the transaction processing costs.
The problem with negative balance
When an account has a negative balance for these reasons, it presents a challenge for developers and users of intelligent contracts. Here are some implications:
- Scalability problems : large -scale transactions can lead to congestion on the Ethereum network, causing delays in the block processing times.
- Transaction costs : If the accounts have more ether than they owe to other accounts or payments of the transaction commissions, these funds will not be available for use until they resolve their sales.
- Safety risks : unstable sales can create safety vulnerability when intelligent contracts interact with other accounts.
An example testnet
To further illustrate this concept, we consider the example of an address such as n1jagbbbdi6vmvg7hfzmxx74db9ehjzu on the Ethereum testnet. According to a recent analysis, this address has a negative balance of -0.27388239. This means that the user who owns this account may have left ethereal or even must be money for other accounts.
Conclusion
Negative sales in Ethereum can lead to various problems, including scalability problems, major transaction commissions and safety risks. As the development of the intelligent contract continues to grow, understanding how negative sales are fundamental for building efficient and safe applications on the Ethereum network.
Although this article does not approve specific solutions or mitigations to deal with negative equilibrium problems, it highlights the importance of considering these challenges during the design and distribution of intelligent contracts in the context of Ethereum.