Research
Papers and presentations relating to Truebit and decentralized computing
Truebit White Paper
Truebit brings scalable computation to Ethereum. Our new system consists of a financial incentive layer atop a dispute resolution layer where the latter takes form of a versatile “verification game.” In addition to secure outsourced computation, immediate applications include decentralized mining pools whose operator is an Ethereum smart contract, a cryptocurrency with scalable transaction throughput, and a trustless means for transferring currency between disjoint cryptocurrency systems.
Truebit Tokenomics
Research Paper (PDF) | Presentation (Video)
Truebit offers both stable consumer pricing and traditional mining rewards. Fiat prices for native CPU and TRU tokens reflect these principles, and we introduce bootstrapping techniques to kick off initial token distributions.
Verifier's Dilemma
Most blockchains use contract scripts to support applications beyond simple cash transactions. We analyze the extent to which these systems can correctly enforce scripts. Practical attacks may lead to an ill-fated choice, which we call the verifier's dilemma. We introduce an outsourced computation protocol securely in Ethereum, which offers proper incentives for achieving correct computational results.
On Decentralized Oracles for Data Availability
The protocol underlying Bitcoin has the potential to secure a new class of systems which agree on non-mathematical truths. We propose a design for a trustless, data availability oracle. This exposition reduces the problem of determining whether or not a registered datum is publicly available to the problem of constructing a network in which either almost all nodes can download a given datum, or almost none of them can.
38.2% Attack
Nakamoto consensus with respect to rational miners shows how a minority of the computation power can incentivize the rest of the network to accept a blockchain of the minority's choice. By deviating from the mining protocol, a mining pool which controls at least 38.2% of the network’s total computational power can, with modest financial capacity, gain mining advantage over honest mining.
Smart Contracts Make Bitcoin Mining Pools Vulnerable
Despite their incentive structure flaws, mining pools account for more than 95% of Bitcoin's computation power. This paper introduces an attack against mining pools in which a malicious party pays pool members to withhold their solutions from their pool operator. We show that an adversary with a tiny amount of computing power and capital can execute this attack.
SmartPool: Practical Decentralized Pooled Mining
SmartPool is a decentralized Ethereum mining pool protocol. Its smart contract-based operator allows members to select transactions while yielding low-variance payouts at small gas cost. Deployed pools have managed a peak hashrate of 30 GHs.
Interactive ICO
While token crowdsales cannot simultaneously guarantee buyers both certainty of valuation and certainty of participation, if each token bid specifies bounds on acceptable valuations, then all buyers can successfully participate via an interactive protocol. Get in touch if you’d like to distribute tokens via an IICO!
Retrofitting a two-way peg between blockchains
More than just an exchange, a two-way peg permits transfer of both assets and data across consensus-independent blockchains. One can use Dogethereum to roll DOGE off of Dogecoin onto Ethereum and back via a trustless, retrofitting bridge, or, in a similar spirit, spill ERC-20 tokens off of Ethereum into the broader ecosystem.
Token Journal: a scalable store-of-reputation
The blockchain era has ushered in a rapidly increasing number of whitepapers. We use blockchain and tokenization technologies to improve the scalability and effectiveness of the peer review process and incentivize basic research.
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