A determination is valid only in respect of that which was reviewed. Where a reviewed contract changes, the review no longer describes what is deployed. Continuous monitoring maintains the integrity of certification over time.
To what certification attaches
Certification attaches to a specific deployed contract, at a specific address, on a specific network — a single identified artifact, not a project, a name, or a token in the abstract.
What monitoring observes
The monitoring function observes that artifact for material change, including:
- Contract code — changes to the deployed code.
- Proxy upgrades — the substitution of a new implementation behind a proxy.
- Privileged administrative actions — the exercise of administrative keys or privileged roles that alter behaviour.
The consequence of a material change
On detection of a material change, the certified artifact no longer subsists as reviewed, and the certified scope lapses pending re-certification.
The characterization is precise: no determination is revoked. The determination issued by qualified persons stands in respect of what was reviewed; the subject of that determination has changed, and so the certification ceases to apply to what is now deployed. Nothing and no one “cancels” a determination. The automated system does not suspend, cancel, or revoke a determination of permissibility. It detects change; the scope lapses as a matter of definition.
The limits of monitoring
The Institute discloses the boundary of this function rather than leave it to be assumed. In its present scope, monitoring does not extend to:
- Price oracles — the external price or data feeds upon which a contract relies.
- Dependent or external contracts — other on-chain contracts with which the reviewed artifact interacts.
- The user-facing interface — the website or application through which users interact.
These are genuine limitations, disclosed by design. A certified contract may sit within a wider system carrying risks that monitoring does not observe, and re-certification remains the responsibility of the project when it alters that which was reviewed.