Abstract
This paper introduces VRF-based mining, a simple and effective way of making pooled mining impossible. Instead of using hash functions, VRF-based mining uses Verifiable Random Functions (VRFs) for Proof-of-work (PoW)-based consensus. As VRF binds an output with a secret key, a pool operator should reveal its secret key to outsource the mining process to miners, and miners can anonymously steal cryptocurrency in the pool operator’s wallet. We revisit the definition of non-outsourceability in existing research, and identify two properties, namely punish-mining-reward and stealing-unlinkability. Punish-mining-reward specifies that if a pool operator outsources mining to a miner, then the miner can steal mining reward. Stealing-unlinkability specifies that the pool operator cannot identify miners stealing mining reward. We show that VRF-based mining satisfies punish-mining-reward, but not stealing-unlinkability. Nevertheless, the pool operator should take extra effort – which makes maintaining mining pools expensive – to identify mining reward stealers and transfer mining reward before being stolen. In addition, we discuss several considerations on instantiating VRFs for VRF-based mining. Moreover, we experimentally show that VRF-based mining is simple to implement and introduces negligible overhead compared to hash-based mining.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology |
Subtitle of host publication | ESORICS 2020 International Workshops, DPM 2020 and CBT 2020 Guildford, UK, September 17–18, 2020 Revised Selected Papers |
Editors | Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro, Guillermo Navarro-Arribas, Jordi Herrera-Joancomarti |
Place of Publication | Cham Switzerland |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 287-304 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9783030661724 |
ISBN (Print) | 9783030661717 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Event | International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology 2020 - Virtual, Guildford, United Kingdom Duration: 17 Sep 2020 → 18 Sep 2020 Conference number: 4th https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-66172-4 (Proceedings) https://deic-web.uab.cat/cbt/cbt2020/ (Website) |
Publication series
Name | Lecture Notes in Computer Science |
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Publisher | Springer |
Volume | 12484 |
ISSN (Print) | 0302-9743 |
ISSN (Electronic) | 1611-3349 |
Conference
Conference | International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology 2020 |
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Abbreviated title | CBT 2020 |
Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | Guildford |
Period | 17/09/20 → 18/09/20 |
Internet address |
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