Decentralized finance (DeFi), which executes financial transactions using blockchain without an intermediary, has attracted over US$250 billion in total value locked (TVL) at its peak. However, little is known about how DeFi protocols assure users of the safety of their investments. This paper provides the first empirical evidence on DeFi audit services that check and verify the smart contracts underlying these protocols. Using data on 316 of the largest protocols, we find that those vetted by more smart contract auditors and by higher quality auditors have higher TVL and that these protocols have higher market capitalization (native token values). Using an event study approach, we document that TVL and token values significantly increase after a protocol's first audit, especially those involving a high-quality auditor. We also find that protocols with more auditors and higher audit quality exhibit a smaller drop in TVL and token values after the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which reduced aggregate DeFi TVL by almost 65%. Overall, our findings suggest that DeFi users and investors perceive audits as providing assurance regarding the safety of their deposits and investments.

中文翻译：

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审计去中心化金融

去中心化金融 (DeFi) 使用区块链在没有中介的情况下执行金融交易，在高峰期吸引了超过 2500 亿美元的锁定总价值 (TVL)。然而，人们对 DeFi 协议如何确保用户投资的安全性知之甚少。本文提供了关于检查和验证这些协议背后的智能合约的 DeFi 审计服务的第一个经验证据。使用 316 个最大协议的数据，我们发现那些经过更多智能合约审计师和更高质量审计师审查的协议具有更高的 TVL，并且这些协议具有更高的市值（原生代币价值）。使用事件研究方法，我们记录了协议首次审核后 TVL 和代币价值显着增加，尤其是涉及高质量审核员的协议。我们还发现，在 TerraUSD 稳定币崩溃后，拥有更多审计员和更高审计质量的协议在 TVL 和代币价值方面表现出较小的下降，这使 DeFi TVL 总量减少了近 65%。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，DeFi 用户和投资者认为审计为其存款和投资的安全提供了保证。