10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring Any Blockchain Development Firm

Question 1: 'Can you give me 5 deployed smart contract addresses on Ethereum mainnet I can look up on Etherscan?'

What you're checking: they have production-deployed contracts with real transaction history. Expected: they share contract addresses within 24 hours.

Red flag: delay, excuses, or addresses that point to tokens with no usage.

Question 2: 'What audit firm audited your most recent client project? Can I see the published report?'

What you're checking: they manage real external audits with recognizable firms.

Red flag: "We handle security internally" or an audit report from an unknown firm not published on the audit firm's website.

Question 3: 'Walk me through your discovery and specification process. What document does it produce?'

What you're checking: do they write a formal specification before development?

Expected: description of a Technical Specification Document covering all functions, state variables, access control, edge cases, and invariants.

Red flag: "We start building after a requirements call."

Question 4: 'How do you handle US regulatory requirements for our project type?'

What you're checking: do they understand FinCEN, SEC, and state regulatory requirements?

Expected: specific knowledge of the regulatory classification for your project (MSB, securities, etc.).

Red flag: "We focus on the technology, not the regulation" or references to FCA/GDPR (UK/EU frameworks) for a US project.

Question 5: 'What oracle design do you use for price data in DeFi protocols?'

What you're checking: basic DeFi security competence.

Expected: Chainlink TWAP with staleness check and deviation circuit breaker.

Red flag: "We use Uniswap spot prices" or uncertainty about the question.

Question 6: 'What is your pricing model and how do you handle scope changes?'

What you're checking: is pricing fixed or open-ended?

Expected: fixed scope with documented change request process.

Red flag: time-and-materials with no cap or vague answer about "we'll figure it out."

Question 7: 'Who specifically will work on our project? Can I see their LinkedIn profiles or GitHub?'

What you're checking: are the people they're describing real and qualified?

Expected: named engineers with verifiable LinkedIn profiles and GitHub activity.

Red flag: anonymous "team" without names, or junior profiles presented as senior.

Question 8: 'What is your process for testing? What coverage percentage do you target?'

What you're checking: do they take testing seriously?

Expected: 95%+ line coverage, 90%+ branch coverage, fuzz testing on arithmetic, invariant tests for protocol invariants.

Red flag: "We test manually" or vague answer without specific coverage targets.

Question 9: 'Can you provide two direct client references with email or phone?'

What you're checking: do real clients vouch for them?

Expected: two references shared within 48 hours, with contact information for people you can actually call.

Red flag: "We protect client confidentiality" (legitimate firms have clients who will provide references) or references who cannot be independently verified.

Question 10: 'What percentage of your projects delivered on time and on budget in the last 12 months?'

What you're checking: do they have delivery discipline?

Expected: honest answer with context (most complex blockchain projects have some scope adjustment; the question is how well-managed the process is).

Red flag: "100%" (no one is 100% on time) or inability to answer with real data.