“I Spent 1 ETH on Gas and All I Got Was This Infinite Loop”
Subtitle:
How one innocent-looking Solidity modifier taught me that trust issues begin at the {
.
There I was, minding my own business, writing a harmless smart contract like a responsible developer. Everything was going fine… until I met Trap.sol.
modifier gasTrap() {
while (true) {}
_;
}
I thought, “Cool name. Probably just a fancy access control check, right?”
Wrong.
So, so wrong.
function run() public gasTrap {
// Never executes
}
See this? This is what betrayal looks like in EVM bytecode.
You’d think run()
would run. But instead, it sprints through your gas allowance and crashes like a DeFi protocol on Twitter rumors.
Little did I know, run()
is a black hole for gas. It doesn’t just burn your gas — it vaporizes your optimism. The moment I called it, MetaMask made a face like:
I clicked “Confirm.”
I waited.
And then... nothing.
Nothing but the echo of gas fees screaming as they were sacrificed to the Ethereum gods.
When the transaction finally failed, I received no error message. Just a quiet void and an empty wallet.
The blockchain didn’t say “invalid operation.” It said:
“You knew what you did.”
Upon deep analysis (and crying into my Remix tab), I realized:
The modifier traps you before the function runs.
It doesn’t revert.
It doesn’t continue.
It just loops.
Forever.
Like that one friend who always “forgets” to pay their share of gas (but IRL).
This modifier isn't a security feature. It's a philosophical statement about the futility of existence in the EVM.
Fake security layers: “No hacker shall pass… or user. Or even yourself.”
Rage Quit DAO: Anyone who tries to rage quit just gets rage looped.
Gas burning rituals: Vitalik approves (probably not).
Art installations on-chain titled “The Function That Never Was.”
Never trust a modifier named gasTrap
.
Never copy code from weird forums at 3AM.
And always test on testnet unless you want your wallet to look like a tumbleweed.
I now sleep with one eye open and require(false, "Are you sure?")
in every contract I write. My modifiers now ask politely.
You’ve been warned.
Trap.sol is real. And it wants your gas.
“I Spent 1 ETH on Gas and All I Got Was This Infinite Loop”
Subtitle:
How one innocent-looking Solidity modifier taught me that trust issues begin at the {
.
There I was, minding my own business, writing a harmless smart contract like a responsible developer. Everything was going fine… until I met Trap.sol.
modifier gasTrap() {
while (true) {}
_;
}
I thought, “Cool name. Probably just a fancy access control check, right?”
Wrong.
So, so wrong.
function run() public gasTrap {
// Never executes
}
See this? This is what betrayal looks like in EVM bytecode.
You’d think run()
would run. But instead, it sprints through your gas allowance and crashes like a DeFi protocol on Twitter rumors.
Little did I know, run()
is a black hole for gas. It doesn’t just burn your gas — it vaporizes your optimism. The moment I called it, MetaMask made a face like:
I clicked “Confirm.”
I waited.
And then... nothing.
Nothing but the echo of gas fees screaming as they were sacrificed to the Ethereum gods.
When the transaction finally failed, I received no error message. Just a quiet void and an empty wallet.
The blockchain didn’t say “invalid operation.” It said:
“You knew what you did.”
Upon deep analysis (and crying into my Remix tab), I realized:
The modifier traps you before the function runs.
It doesn’t revert.
It doesn’t continue.
It just loops.
Forever.
Like that one friend who always “forgets” to pay their share of gas (but IRL).
This modifier isn't a security feature. It's a philosophical statement about the futility of existence in the EVM.
Fake security layers: “No hacker shall pass… or user. Or even yourself.”
Rage Quit DAO: Anyone who tries to rage quit just gets rage looped.
Gas burning rituals: Vitalik approves (probably not).
Art installations on-chain titled “The Function That Never Was.”
Never trust a modifier named gasTrap
.
Never copy code from weird forums at 3AM.
And always test on testnet unless you want your wallet to look like a tumbleweed.
I now sleep with one eye open and require(false, "Are you sure?")
in every contract I write. My modifiers now ask politely.
You’ve been warned.
Trap.sol is real. And it wants your gas.