Virtual ASICs: Generalized Proof-of-Stake Mining in Cryptocurrencies

【Author】 Ganesh, Chaya; Orlandi, Claudio; Tschudi, Daniel; Zohar, Aviv

【Source】DATA PRIVACY MANAGEMENT, CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY, ESORICS 2021

【Abstract】In proof-of-work based cryptocurrencies, miners invest computing power to maintain a distributed ledger. One known drawback of such a consensus protocol is its immense energy consumption. To prevent this waste of energy various consensus mechanism such as proof-of-space or proof-of-stake have been proposed. In proof-of-stake, block creators are selected based on the amounts of currency they stake instead of their expanded computing power. In this work we study Virtual ASICs-a generalization of proof-of-stake. Virtual ASICs are essentially a virtualized version of proof-of-work. Miners can buy on-chain virtual mining machines which can be powered by virtual electricity. Similar to their physical counterparts, each powered virtual ASIC has a certain chance to win the right to create the next block. In the boundary case where virtual electricity is free, the protocol corresponds to proof-of-stake using an ASIC token which is separate from the currency itself (the amount of stake equals your virtual computing power). In the other boundary case where virtual computers are free, we get a proof-of-burn equivalent. That is, a consensus mechanism in which miners 'burn' currency to obtain lottery tickets for the right to create the next block. From a technical point of view, we provide the following contributions: - We design cryptographic protocols that allow to sell Virtual ASICs in sealed-bid auctions on-chain. We ensure that as long as a majority of the miners in the system mine honestly, bids remain both private and binding, and that miners cannot censor the bids of their competitors; - In order to implement our auction protocol, we introduce a novel all-or-nothing broadcast functionality in blockchains that allows to encrypt values to the future and could be of independent interest. - Finally, we provide a consensus protocol based on Virtual ASICs by generalizing existing protocols for proof-of-stake consensus.

【Keywords】

【标题】虚拟 ASIC：加密货币中的广义权益证明挖掘

【摘要】在基于工作量证明的加密货币中，矿工投资计算能力来维护分布式账本。这种共识协议的一个已知缺点是其巨大的能源消耗。为了防止这种能源浪费，人们提出了各种共识机制，例如空间证明或股权证明。在权益证明中，区块创建者是根据他们所持有的货币数量而不是他们扩展的计算能力来选择的。在这项工作中，我们研究了虚拟 ASIC——权益证明的一种概括。虚拟 ASIC 本质上是工作量证明的虚拟化版本。矿工可以购买可以由虚拟电力驱动的链上虚拟矿机。与它们的物理对应物类似，每个供电的虚拟 ASIC 都有一定的机会赢得创建下一个区块的权利。在虚拟电力免费的边界情况下，该协议对应于使用独立于货币本身的 ASIC 代币的权益证明（权益数量等于您的虚拟计算能力）。在虚拟计算机免费的另一种边界情况下，我们得到了燃烧证明等价物。也就是矿工“烧掉”货币以获得创建下一个区块的权利的彩票的共识机制。从技术角度来看，我们提供了以下贡献： - 我们设计了允许在链上密封投标拍卖中出售虚拟 ASIC 的加密协议。我们确保只要系统中的大多数矿工诚实挖矿，出价就保持私密性和约束力，并且矿工不能审查竞争对手的出价； - 为了实施我们的拍卖协议，我们在区块链中引入了一种新颖的全有或全无广播功能，它允许加密未来的价值并且可能具有独立的兴趣。 - 最后，我们通过推广现有协议以实现权益证明共识，提供基于虚拟 ASIC 的共识协议。

【关键词】楠

【发表时间】2022

【收录时间】2022-08-23

【文献类型】Proceedings Paper

【论文大主题】共识机制

【论文小主题】新共识机制提出

【翻译者】石东瑛