Foundation’s smart contracts are verified and open source.

With the emergence of web3 and the metaverse, we’re entering a radically new paradigm where transparency and openness aren’t just buzzwords—they have real world implications. At this critical moment, we have a chance to steer the internet of the future in a different direction and we’re hoping to play a part in doing just that.

More than two decades ago, web2 transformed the internet from a mass of static web pages into a wide new world of interactive experiences and interconnected user-generated content. But as the allure of social media and platform capitalism took hold, we gave up a lot of data, agency, and privacy as a small handful of companies began to monopolize the entire internet. 

It’s hard to imagine what it would be like if you could view Instagram, Twitter, or Amazon’s source code. What surprises would you find under the hood? This lack of transparency is intentional, and the machinations that power the giants of web2 are kept hidden from the public so that these powerful corporations can continue to monetize your time and attention with next to zero accountability.

At Foundation, we know a better internet is not only possible, but necessary—and we’re excited about the vast evolutions that are coming with web3. Transparency is key to making it all happen, and since Foundation is natively built on Ethereum, all of our data is public by default. To take this commitment to openness even further, our NFT and auction smart contracts are officially verified on Etherscan.

By verifying our smart contracts on Etherscan, anyone can now view the code that powers Foundation. If you want to see how transactions are executed, you can. While we were already providing links to Etherscan that show every transaction on the blockchain so that our community could identify inputs and outputs, you can now verify those interactions—and examine exactly how those inputs turned into outputs.

Over time, we believe this step forward will make Foundation more resilient, since it enables us to work openly with our community to develop a strong codebase. 

Moving forward, we invite you to toss what you thought you knew about the internet aside. The Ethereum network is introducing an entirely new system, with new properties and many exciting advantages. On the blockchain, NFTs can travel anywhere across the web, and will always be attributed to their original creators. Wallets allow everyone to be in control of their own data, assets, and identities online. And open source smart contracts are the key ingredient to a more collaborative ecosystem where all code is shared, accessible, and free.  

Here’s why all of this is important:

Trust and transparency are core to Foundation.  When we say this, we mean it. The key to trust is transparency, and by verifying Foundation’s smart contracts and open sourcing them for all to see, we’re showing you our hand. 

Open source contracts = accountability.  When NFTs are collected and funds are exchanged, creators and collectors can verify that every transaction is properly executed. This way, everyone involved in a transaction is held to a higher level of accountability because the truth is in the code.

Creators and collectors can choose to opt out at any time. You’re in control of your wallet, and you have full ownership of the NFTs you mint or collect. If Foundation’s code is ever updated or changed in a way that you disagree with, you have the option to disconnect your wallet and port your data to any other web3 application. 

Developers can build on our code. Open source code is meant to be iterative and collaborative. By making our smart contracts available to all, developers can now contribute to and build on top of Foundation. 

The community can now report or disclose a vulnerability.  In the process of building a community-driven platform, we are open to your contributions. Your input not only helps our creators and collectors, but our broader digital ecosystem. Improvements that you suggest will be added to our open source implementation for all others to reference. As an example, we want to share our appreciation for the researchers who have given us feedback and helped secure our contracts, including RStudios. If you want to collaborate or disclose a vulnerability, reach out.

This is the first step in our commitment to an open source future—and we want anyone who’s invested in the future of digital expression to help build this future with us. Let’s explore these possibilities together.

Foundation's NFT contract on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/address/0x3B3ee1931Dc30C1957379FAc9aba94D1C48a5405

Foundation's Market contract on Etherscan: https://etherscan.io/address/0xcDA72070E455bb31C7690a170224Ce43623d0B6f