Date of Publication :31st July 2023

Abstract: Blockchain technology has experienced exponential growth in the past few years and has provided a secure and decentralized infrastructure for various applications, including smart contracts. Smart contracts have revolutionized the way financial and business transactions are conducted by eliminating the need for intermediaries and enabling transparency, automation, and immutability. However, the increasing complexity of smart contracts and the lack of proper testing and verification have resulted in numerous bugs and vulnerabilities, leading to significant financial losses for businesses and individuals. Code clone detection has emerged as an effective approach to ensuring the reliability and security of smart contracts by identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities. This paper presents a survey of the current status of smart contract clone detection. We address several research questions, including the methods used for smart contract clone detection, the available tools, and the machine learning and deep learning techniques used for this purpose. The study highlights the importance of clone detection in smart contracts and presents a comprehensive analysis of existing approaches for detecting clones. By understanding the state of the art in this area, researchers and practitioners can identify gaps in current approaches and develop new and more effective methods for detecting code clones in smart contracts, thus ensuring their security and reliability.

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