LibraryScaling2019Design paperCorpus record
Proxy Storage Slots
ERC 1967. Santiago Palladino , Francisco Giordano , Hadrien Croubois.
ERC 1967, Proxy Storage Slots. Delegating proxy contracts are widely used for both upgradeability and gas savings.
Status in the source: Final. A reading of the public specification, not a copy of it and not a certification.
Proxy Storage Slots is worth reading for the rule it actually adds: Delegating proxy contracts are widely used for both upgradeability and gas savings.
The five-minute read
The rule
Delegating proxy contracts are widely used for both upgradeability and gas savings.
What was already failing
An underpriced or ambiguous EVM rule is not a feature. It is a block that takes longer than the gas limit claimed, or a client that disagrees about the result.
What the number does not mean
The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
What a builder should be able to point at
An implementation either constrains ABI or it is a different design.
One action, walked through
- Open ERC 1967 and read the status line before the examples.
- Write down the rule in one sentence. A fair version of that sentence is: Delegating proxy contracts are widely used for both upgradeability and gas savings.
- Name the object that changes: ABI.
- Ask what an old client, an old contract, or an offline counterparty does. If the document is silent, the silence is part of the design.
The argument, unpacked
What the text is allowed to settle
Ethereum Request for Comment 1967 can settle the shape of Proxy Storage Slots. It cannot settle whether a later client, a later fork, or a later wallet still does this.
What this page will not pretend
There is no benchmark, no adoption number, and no claim that the mechanism is safe outside the assumptions written in the source.
What has to be true
- You are implementing ERC 1967 at the status the text itself states: Final.
- The object that has to change is ABI. A neighbouring document with a similar name is not this one.
- Constants in the text can be superseded by a later fork. Cite the EIP number and the fork you mean.
What happened after the paper
The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it. Later documents can narrow, replace, or ignore this one. Cite the number you mean.
What to check before you use the idea
- What does Proxy Storage Slots charge, reject, or redefine on the first touch versus a later one?
- Does a reverted subcall roll the change back?
- Can you point at the object in a client: ABI?
Terms
- ERC 1967
- The public text titled Proxy Storage Slots.
- Final
- The document's own label for how finished the text is. It is not a market fact.
The problem the paper names
An underpriced or ambiguous EVM rule is not a feature. It is a block that takes longer than the gas limit claimed, or a client that disagrees about the result.
What the design proposes
- Delegating proxy contracts are widely used for both upgradeability and gas savings.
- These proxies rely on a logic contract (also known as implementation contract or master copy) that is called using delegatecall.
- This allows proxies to keep a persistent state (storage and balance) while the code is delegated to the logic contract.
How the mechanism is specified
- Taken from the specification, the next constraint is: These proxies rely on a logic contract (also known as implementation contract or master copy) that is called using delegatecall.
- Locate ABI in ERC 1967 and apply it to one transaction or call.
- Then check the failure the class of rule always has: a node that did not upgrade, a reverted call, a replayed signature, or a peer that does not speak the message.
What this page does not treat as proven
- A gas or opcode change is not a throughput benchmark. It is a relative price and a validity rule.
- Constants in the text can be superseded by a later fork. Cite the EIP number and the fork you mean.
- The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
Why a venture studio still reads it
Use ERC 1967 when a pitch says 'Proxy Storage Slots' without saying whether the rule is consensus, policy, or an interface. The number is the citation. The pitch is not.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.
