Tokenized Peer Review: An Adaptive Blockchain Mechanism for Open Source Supply Chains

Abstract

Code review is a crucial step in the development of open-source software. Traditional peer review methods, often centralized and lacking transparency, are becoming increasingly vulnerable to supply chain attacks. In contrast, blockchain technology offers a promising solution through its consensus-based and transparent infrastructure. However, there is a literature gap regarding architectures that apply blockchain technology to address the challenges of code review systems. This paper presents a decentralized code review system that utilizes blockchain technology to address vulnerabilities associated with the growing use of open-source software in supply chain development. The proposed system anonymizes reviewers and contributors and includes a reward mechanism to enhance transparency and immutability. Additionally, it employs cost mechanisms to deter spam and low-quality contributions. Evaluation results indicate that while the system’s operational costs are minimal, these costs could potentially limit participation from open-source contributors. Therefore, the system may be best suited as an additional layer of security, functioning similarly to a type-approval process.