Related papers: Invited Paper: Failure is (literally) an Option: A…
The robustness of distributed systems is usually phrased in terms of the number of failures of certain types that they can withstand. However, these failure models are too crude to describe the different kinds of trust and expectations of…
In this paper, we consider the problem of cross-chain payment whereby customers of different escrows -- implemented by a bank or a blockchain smart contract -- successfully transfer digital assets without trusting each other. Prior to this…
In this paper, we construct a decentralized clearing mechanism which endogenously and automatically provides a claims resolution procedure. This mechanism can be used to clear a network of obligations through blockchain. In particular, we…
As blockchains continue to seek to scale to a larger number of nodes, the communication complexity of protocols has become a significant priority as the network can quickly become overburdened. Several schemes have attempted to address…
Targeted attacks against network infrastructure are notoriously difficult to guard against. In the case of communication networks, such attacks can leave users vulnerable to censorship and surveillance, even when cryptography is used. Much…
In this paper, we explore vulnerabilities and countermeasures of the recently proposed blockchain consensus based on proof-of-authority. The proof-of-work blockchains, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, have been shown both theoretically and…
This paper introduces Flexible BFT, a new approach for BFT consensus solution design revolving around two pillars, stronger resilience and diversity. The first pillar, stronger resilience, involves a new fault model called alive-but-corrupt…
Blockchains and distributed ledger technologies allow the operation of manifold decentralised applications (dApps). Such applications are based on smart contracts, a programmable abstraction that is executed in a decentralised manner. To…
Public key infrastructures are essential for Internet security, ensuring robust certificate management and revocation mechanisms. The transition from centralized to decentralized systems presents challenges such as trust distribution and…
Multi-party data management and blockchain systems require data sharing among participants. To provide resilient and consistent data sharing, transactions engines rely on Byzantine FaultTolerant consensus (BFT), which enables operations…
We present a measurement study on compositions of Decentralized Finance protocols, which aim to disrupt traditional finance and offer services on top of distributed ledgers, such as Ethereum. DeFi compositions may impact the development of…
Multiparty session types are designed to abstractly capture the structure of communication protocols and verify behavioural properties. One important such property is progress, i.e., the absence of deadlock. Distributed algorithms often…
Modern applications often operate on data in multiple administrative domains. In this federated setting, participants may not fully trust each other. These distributed applications use transactions as a core mechanism for ensuring…
DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, is based on a distributed ledger called blockchain technology. Using blockchain, DeFi may customize the execution of predetermined operations between parties. The DeFi system use blockchain technology to…
Permissioned blockchain systems promise to provide both decentralized trust and privacy. Hyperledger Fabric is currently one of the most wide-spread permissioned blockchain systems and is heavily promoted both in industry and academia. Due…
Chainspace is a decentralized infrastructure, known as a distributed ledger, that supports user defined smart contracts and executes user-supplied transactions on their objects. The correct execution of smart contract transactions is…
Blockchain technology is an interlinked systematic chain of blocks that contains transaction history and other user data. It works under the principle of decentralized distributed digital ledger. This technology enables cryptographically…
Blockchains are being positioned as the "technology of trust" that can be used to mediate transactions between non-trusting parties without the need for a central authority. They support transaction types that are native to the blockchain…
In this paper we analyse the correctness of Istanbul BFT (IBFT), which is a Byzantine-fault-tolerant (BFT) proof-of-authority (PoA) blockchain consensus protocol that ensures immediate finality. We show that the IBFT protocol does not…
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT) where data is shared among users connected over the internet. Transactions are data state changes on the blockchain that are permanently recorded in a secure and transparent way…