Escrows are optics
Category Theory
2024-04-03 v3
Abstract
We provide a categorical interpretation for escrows, i.e. trading protocols in trustless environment, where the exchange between two agents is mediated by a third party where the buyer locks the money until they receive the goods they want from the seller. A simplified escrow system can be modeled as a certain kind of morphism in the category of optics on a monoidal category. When objects in the base category have monoid and comonoid structures, more involved kinds of escrows `with intermediaries' can be modelled as morphisms with action-like properties.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2105.10028,
title = {Escrows are optics},
author = {Fabrizio Genovese and Fosco Loregian and Daniele Palombi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.10028},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
16 pages, like a camel in a drainpipe. Published in the Journal of Financial Technology (the JFT). Accepted June 19, 2023. Published Jun 26, 2023