Related papers: Bitcoin Covenants: Three Ways to Control the Futur…
A bitcoin \textit{covenant} is a mechanism to enforce conditions on future bitcoin transactions. A bitcoin \textit{vault} is a specific type of covenant transaction that enforces a time-lock on the transfer of control of funds to a hot…
The broad topic of this thesis is the design and analysis of Bitcoin custody systems. Both the technology and threat landscape are evolving constantly. Therefore, custody systems, defence strategies, and risk models should be adaptive too.…
Covenants are linguistic primitives that extend the Bitcoin script language, allowing transactions to constrain the scripts of the redeeming ones. Advocated as a way of improving the expressiveness of Bitcoin contracts while preserving the…
Smart contracts are cryptographic protocols that are enforced without a judiciary. Smart contracts are used occasionally in Bitcoin and are prevalent in Ethereum. Public quantum money improves upon cash we use today, yet the current…
Bitcoin is the first successful decentralized global digital cash system. Its mining process requires intense computational resources, therefore its usefulness remains a disputable topic. We aim to solve three problems with Bitcoin and…
Transparency is crucial in security-critical applications that rely on authoritative information, as it provides a robust mechanism for holding these authorities accountable for their actions. A number of solutions have emerged in recent…
Off-Chain transactions allow for the immediate transfer of Cryptocurrency between two parties, without delays or unavoidable transaction fees. Such capabilities are critical for mainstream Cryptocurrency adaption. They allow for the…
Blockchain based cryptocurrencies are usually unmanaged, distributed, consensus-based systems in which no single entity has control. Managed cryptocurrencies can be implemented using private blockchains but are fundamentally different as…
Bitcoin is the most successful cryptocurrency so far. This is mainly due to its novel consensus algorithm, which is based on proof-of-work combined with a cryptographically-protected data structure and a rewarding scheme that incentivizes…
Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger technology that ensures transparency, security, and immutability through cryptographic techniques. However, advancements in quantum computing threaten the security of classical cryptographic…
Our contributions with this paper are twofold. First, we elucidate the methodological requirements for a risk framework of custodial operations and argue for the value of this type of risk model as complementary with cryptographic and…
As quantum computing advances toward practical deployment, it threatens a wide range of classical cryptographic mechanisms, including digital signatures, key exchange protocols, public-key encryption, and certain hash-based constructions…
Options are fundamental to blockchain-based financial services, offering essential tools for risk management and price speculation, which enhance liquidity, flexibility, and market efficiency in decentralized finance (DeFi). Despite the…
As a disruptive technology, blockchain, particularly its original form of bitcoin as a type of digital currency, has attracted great attentions. The innovative distributed decision making and security mechanism lay the technical foundation…
Blockchain is a distributed ledger, which is protected against malicious modifications by means of cryptographic tools, e.g. digital signatures and hash functions. One of the most prominent applications of blockchains is cryptocurrencies,…
The emergence of quantum computing presents a formidable challenge to the security of blockchain systems. Traditional cryptographic algorithms, foundational to digital signatures, message encryption, and hashing functions, become vulnerable…
Quantum computing is emerging as a significant threat to information protected by widely used cryptographic systems. Cryptographic methods, once deemed secure for decades, are now at risk of being compromised, posing a massive threat to the…
In this work, we investigate how the governance features of a managed currency (e.g., a fiat currency) can be built into a cryptocurrency in order to leverage potential benefits found in the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts.…
Blockchain systems run consensus rules as code to agree on the state of the distributed ledger and secure the network. Changing these rules can be risky and challenging. In addition, it can often be controversial and take much effort to…
Cryptocurrencies have gained popularity due to their transparency, security, and accessibility compared to traditional financial systems, with Bitcoin, introduced in 2009, leading the market. Bitcoin's security relies on blockchain…