Source Code Verification

A contract is deployed as compiled bytecode, which is what the chain executes and what a block explorer can always show. Source code verification is the process of publishing the original human-readable source alongside it, so that anyone can recompile with the stated compiler settings and confirm the result matches the deployed bytecode byte for byte. When it matches, the explorer marks the contract verified and displays the readable source. That claim is narrow and exact: it establishes that the published source is what is running, and nothing else. It says nothing about whether the code is well written, whether it was audited, or whether it does what the project's marketing describes. An unverified contract is a different situation — not proof of bad intent, but a refusal of the cheapest transparency available, which means nobody outside the deployer can read what the code does before interacting with it.