Related papers: Proof of Diligence: Cryptoeconomic Security for Ro…
Blockchains face a scalability limitation, partly due to the throughput limitations of consensus protocols, especially when aiming to obtain a high degree of decentralization. Layer 2 Rollups (L2s) are a faster alternative to conventional…
Rollups have become the de facto scalability solution for Ethereum, securing more than $55B in assets. They achieve scale by executing transactions on a Layer 2 ledger, while periodically posting data and finalizing state on the Layer 1,…
Blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have revolutionized digital transactions, yet scalability issues persist. Layer 2 solutions, such as validity proof Rollups (ZK-Rollups), aim to address these challenges by processing transactions…
Layer 2 systems have received increasing attention due to their potential to scale the throughput of L1 blockchains. To avoid the cost of putting data on chain, these systems increasingly turn to off-chain data availability solutions such…
Blockchain networks provide a reliable trust anchor to decentralized applications (DApps) backed by smart contracts. The Ethereum ecosystem now encompasses most blockchain networks that provide compatible support for smart contracts code.…
Blockchain systems, such as Ethereum, are increasingly adopting layer-2 scaling solutions to improve transaction throughput and reduce fees. One popular layer-2 approach is the Optimistic Rollup, which relies on a mechanism known as a…
A rollup network is a type of popular "Layer 2" scaling solution for general purpose "Layer 1" blockchains like Ethereum. Rollups networks separate execution of transactions from other aspects like consensus, processing transactions off of…
As of July 15, 2023, Ethererum, which is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain [1] has around 410 Billion USD in total assets on chain (popularly referred to as total-value-locked, TVL) but has only 33 Billion USD worth of ETH staked in…
Accountability, the ability to provably identify protocol violators, gained prominence as the main economic argument for the security of proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols. Rollups, the most popular scaling solution for blockchains, typically…
Most concurrent blockchain systems rely heavily on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) or Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanisms for decentralized consensus and security assurance. However, the substantial energy expenditure stemming from computationally…
Proof-of-Stake blockchains based on a longest-chain consensus protocol are an attractive energy-friendly alternative to the Proof-of-Work paradigm. However, formal barriers to "getting the incentives right" were recently discovered, driven…
Limited scalability and transaction costs are, among others, some of the critical issues that hamper a wider adoption of distributed ledger technologies (DLT). That is particularly true for the Ethereum blockchain, which, so far, has been…
Blockchains have sparked global interest in recent years, gaining importance as they increasingly influence technology and finance. This thesis investigates the robustness of blockchain protocols, specifically focusing on Ethereum…
This work proposes a novel proof-of-work blockchain incentive scheme such that, barring exogenous motivations, following the protocol is guaranteed to be the optimal strategy for miners. Our blockchain takes the form of a directed acyclic…
Layer 2 (L2) protocols, payment channels, sidechains, and rollups, are central to blockchain scalability, enabling off-chain execution while preserving on-chain security. Despite growing deployment, existing security models remain…
Optimistic rollups rely on fraud proofs -- interactive protocols executed on Ethereum to resolve conflicting claims about the rollup's state -- to scale Ethereum securely. To mitigate against potential censorship of protocol moves, fraud…
Liquid staking has become the largest category of decentralized finance protocols in terms of total value locked. However, few studies exist on its implementation designs or underlying risks. The liquid staking protocols allow for earning…
Rollup protocols have recently received significant attention as a promising class of Layer 2 (L2) scalability solutions. By utilizing the Layer 1 (L1) blockchain solely as a bulletin board for a summary of the executed transactions and…
Achieving the equilibrium between scalability, sustainability, and security while keeping decentralization has prevailed as the target solution for decentralized blockchain applications over the last years. Several approaches have been…
Smart contracts are stateful programs deployed on blockchains; they secure over a trillion dollars in transaction value per year. High-stakes smart contracts often rely on timely alerts about external events, but prior work has not analyzed…