PoX: Proof of Transfer Mining with Bitcoin

2020 25th International Conference on Engineering of Complex Computer Systems (ICECCS), 2020

The future of multi-blockchain architecture depends on the emergence of new protocols that achieve communication between trustless cross-chain participants. However, interoperability between blockchains remains an open problem. Existing approaches provide integration through solutions using a middleware system, which makes it harder to gain confidence mainly in terms of security and correctness of the process. A cross-chain protocol needs to provide a self-verifiable state-proof that embeds trust in the transfer process. We propose a Burn-to-Claim cross-chain protocol to seamlessly exchange assets between networks. Our scheme transfers assets from one blockchain system to another in a way that the asset is burned from the source blockchain and claimed on the destination blockchain. Our mechanism employs combinations of crypto mechanisms such as digital signatures and time lock to operate the protocol in a distributed manner. We provide an analysis which proves that our cross-chain p...

2020 IEEE International Conference on Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures (DAPPS), 2020

Proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies avoid many of the computational and environmental costs associated with proof-ofwork protocols. However, they must address the nothing-at-stake problem, where a validator might attempt to sign off on competing blocks, with the hopes of earning coins regardless of which block becomes accepted as part of the blockchain. Cryptocurrencies such as Tendermint resolve this challenge by requiring validators to bond coins, which can be seized from a validator that is caught signing two competing blocks. Nevertheless, as the number of validators increases, it becomes more and more infeasible to effectively monitor all validators. In this work, we incentivize proper block monitoring by allowing validators to form tontines. Tontines are financial agreements where payouts to each member increase as the number of members decreases. In our system, a tontine is a group of validators that monitor each other's behavior, "murdering" any cheating tontine members to seize their stake. As the number of validators in a tontine is smaller than the number of validators in the currency as a whole, members can effectively police each other. We propose two methods whereby a Tendermint-like currency can be extended to allow for the creation of tontines: a pure proof-of-stake model, and a hybrid proof-of-stake/proofof-work model. We describe snitch mechanisms for both the inter-and intra-tontine setting, argue our incentive mechanisms increase monitoring, and describe how it handles a variety of possible attacks.

IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems

Blockchain applications that rely on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) have increasingly become energy inefficient with a staggering carbon footprint. In contrast, energy efficient alternative consensus protocols such as Proof-of-Stake (PoS) may cause centralization and unfairness in the blockchain system. To address these challenges, we propose a modular version of PoS-based blockchain systems called e-PoS that resists the centralization of network resources by extending mining opportunities to a wider set of stakeholders. Moreover, e-PoS leverages the in-built system operations to promote fair mining practices by penalizing malicious entities. We validate e-PoS's achievable objectives through theoretical analysis and simulations. Our results show that e-PoS ensures fairness and decentralization, and can be applied to existing blockchain applications.

Cryptocurrencies have emerged as an important financial software system. These cryptocurrencies are generated by a process called mining. Mining is an integral process that not only creates the currency but also, adds records of past transactions to the distributed ledger known as blockchain. The use of blockchain and cryptography enables security in the environment and makes it robust in nature. Since, cryptocurrencies are designed using a peer-to-peer system, they aren't centrally owned by anyone. The peer-to-peer version allows the digital signature to be a part of the solution, this reduces the need for third-party authentication. For the mining of such digital currency,we have to rely on miners to validate the currency and its creation. For the proof of work each network timestamps the transactions that occur by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without re-doing the proof of work. The longest chain serves as proof of the fact that it came from the largest pool of CPU power. As long as a majority of the CPU power is controlled by nodes that do not co-operate with the attack network, it will generate a large chain that will space out all hackers and attackers. Here we discuss the different mining processes for a variety of cryptocurrencies. The importance of blockchain and its use in securing the environment, along with the various hardware issues that miners may face are discussed. The strengths and weaknesses of using various cryptocurrencies are outlined.

2021

Since its appearance in 2008, Bitcoin has attracted considerable attention. So far, it has been the most successful cryptocurrency, with the highest market capitalization. Nevertheless, due to the method it uses to append new transactions and blocks to the blockchain, based on a Proof-ofWork, Bitcoin suffers from poor scalability, which strongly limits the number of transactions per second and, hence, its adoption as a global payment layer for everyday uses. In this paper we analyze some recent proposals to address this issue. In particular, we focus our attention on permissionless blockchain protocols, whose distributed consensus algorithm lies on a Proof-of-Work composed of k > 1 sequential hash-puzzles, instead of a single one. Such protocols are referred to as multi-stage Proof-of-Works. We consider a simplified scenario, commonly used in the blockchain literature, in which the number of miners, their hashing powers, and the difficulty values of the hash-puzzles are constant ...

2017

One of the most impactful applications of proofs of work (POW) currently is in the design of blockchain protocols such as Bitcoin. Yet, despite the wide recognition of POWs as the fundamental cryptographic tool in this context, there is no known cryptographic formulation that implies the security of the Bitcoin blockchain protocol. Indeed, all previous works formally arguing the security of the Bitcoin protocol relied on direct proofs in the random oracle model, thus circumventing the di culty of isolating the required properties of the core POW primitive. In this work we ll this gap by providing a formulation of the POW primitive that implies the security of the Bitcoin blockchain protocol in the standard model. Our primitive entails a number of properties that parallel an e cient non-interactive proof system: completeness and fast veri cation, security against malicious provers (termed hardness against tampering and chosen message attacks ) and security for honest provers (termed ...

Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications, 2022

Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrencies avoid many of the computational and environmental costs associated with Proof-of-Work protocols. However, they must address the nothing-at-stake problem, where a validator might attempt to sign off on competing blocks, with the hopes of earning coins regardless of which block becomes accepted as part of the blockchain. Cryptocurrencies such as Tendermint resolve this challenge by requiring validators to bond coins, which can be seized from a validator that is caught signing two competing blocks. Nevertheless, as the number of validators increases, it becomes increasingly infeasible to effectively monitor all validators, and to reach consensus. In this work, we incentivize proper block monitoring by allowing validators to form tontines. In the real world, tontines are financial agreements where payouts to each member increase as the number of members decreases. In our system, a tontine is a group of validators that monitor each other's behavior, "murdering" any cheating tontine members to seize their stake. As the number of validators in a tontine is smaller than the number of validators in the currency as a whole, members can effectively police each other. We propose two methods whereby a Tendermint-like currency can be extended to allow for the creation of tontines: a pure Proof-of-Stake model, and a hybrid Proof-of-Stake/Proof-of-Work model. We describe snitch mechanisms for both the inter-and intra-tontine setting, argue our incentive mechanisms increase monitoring, and describe how it handles a variety of possible attacks. We extend our model to act as a validator delegated cryptocurrency, with the users having an incentive to partially participate. We show that these strategies

5th International Conference on Big Data, Blockchain and Security (BDBS 2024), 2024

Proof of Work (PoW) blockchains burn a lot of energy. Proof-of-work algorithms are expensive by design and often only serve to compute blockchains. In some sense, carbon-based and non-carbon based regional electric power is fungible. So the total carbon and non-carbon electric power mix plays a role. Thus, generally PoW algorithms have large CO2 footprints solely for computing blockchains. A proof of technology is described for replacing hashcash or other PoW methods with a lottery and proof-of-VM (PoVM) emulation. PoVM emulation is a form of PoW where an autonomous blockchain miner gets a lottery ticket in exchange for providing a VM (virtual Machine) for a specified period. These VMs get their jobs from a job queue. Managing and ensuring, by concensus, that autonomous PoVMs are properly configured and running as expected gives several gaps for a complete practical system. These gaps are discussed. Our system is similar to a number of other blockchain systems. We briefly survey these systems. This paper along with our proof of technology was done as a senior design project.

Recent Trends in Intensive Computing, 2021

Advanced monetary standards have acquired huge ubiquity nowadays. Bitcoin is the decentralized, disseminated, distributed virtual cash known cryptographic money. Bitcoin mining chips away at standard of the blockchain, which is believed to be one of this present century’s sharp advancement. The blockchain is the arrangement of blocks that are associated so that in the current block there is the hash of the past block. Any adjustment of information in any block in a blockchain brings about a blunder in the entire blockchain. A strategy called mining, where excavators settle a complex numerical riddle, produces Bitcoins. The excavators contend as quickly as time permits to mine the Bitcoin and guarantee the award. Mining should be possible by a solitary individual or by a pool, where a lot of excavators join to mine a solitary block in an organization.

arXiv (Cornell University), 2024