Blockchain for Beginners
Bryan Ford
Decentralized/Distributed Systems (DEDIS)
What is a Blockchain?
In essence, a blockchain is:
● A distributed ledger
● A consensus protocol
● A membership protocol
How to track wealth
(or anything)?
Things Ledgers
● Gold, beads, cash... ● Who owns what?
Precedent: the Rai Stones of Yap
Stone “coins” weighing
thousands of kilograms
● Left in place once
created (“mined”)
● Ownership transfer by
public proclamation
(this comparison shamelessly borrowed from Gün Sirer and others)
Distributed Ledgers
Problem: we don't want to trust any designated,
centralized authority to maintain the ledger
Alice 5 BTC
Bob 2 BTC
Charlie 3 BTC
...
Solution: “everyone” keeps a copy of the ledger!
– Everyone checks everyone else's changes to it
Alice's copy Bob's copy Charlie's copy
Alice 5 BTC Alice 5 BTC Alice 5 BTC
Bob 2 BTC Bob 2 BTC Bob 2 BTC
Charlie 3 BTC Charlie 3 BTC Charlie 3 BTC
... ... ...
The Basic Goal: to Distribute Trust
“weakest-link” “strongest-link” “strongest-link”
security security in a security in a
small group large group
The Bitcoin Blockchain
The Power of Distributed Ledgers
Can represent a distributed electronic record of:
● Who owns how much currency? (Bitcoin)
● Who owns a name or a digital work of art?
● What are the terms of a contract? (Ethereum)
● When was a document written? (notaries)
● …
What is a Blockchain?
In essence, a blockchain is:
● A distributed ledger
● A consensus protocol
● A membership protocol
Blockchains Require Consensus
Replicating a (fixed) ledger is
actually easy…
● Decades-old technology:
e.g., gossip protocols
But the participants must agree
somehow on who gets to extend
the blockchain, and how!
● Must reach a distributed
consensus on all changes
Nakamoto Consensus
Public blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum use
consensus by crypto-lottery
1) Miners print their own “lottery tickets”
by solving crypto-puzzle (proof-of-work)
2) Winner gets to add one block to blockchain;
typically gets reward: e.g., print new money
3) All miners gravitate to longest chain. Repeat.
Drawbacks of Nakamoto Consensus
● Transaction delay
– Any transaction takes ~10 mins minimum in Bitcoin
● Weak consistency:
– You’re not really certain your
transaction is committed until
you wait ~1 hour or more
● Low throughput:
– Bitcoin: ~7 transactions/second
● Proof-of-work mining:
– Wastes huge amount of energy
Scaling Blockchains is Not Easy
Blockchain Scaling Approaches
Avoid the problem:
● Move more work off-blockchain (Bitcoin)
– Shifts burdens onto users, “trusted” intermediaries
● Tweak tuning parameters (Ethereum)
– Limited headroom, reduced security margins
● Small, semi-closed groups (Ripple, Stellar)
– Lose openness, public transparency benefits
Solve the problem:
● Rethink architecture (Bitcoin-NG, ByzCoin)
– Technically hard but best long-term solution
The Problem with “Off-Blockchain”...
Even if the blockchain is secure, your money isn't!
● The only convenient/feature-rich ways to use
are via less-secure Web exchanges, etc.
– Ask you to “trust them” but frequently compromised
ByzCoin: Fast, Scalable Blockchains
DEDIS lab project presented in [USENIX Security ‘16]
● Permanent transaction commitment in seconds
● 700+ TPS demonstrated (100x Bitcoin, ~PayPal)
● Low-power verification on light mobile devices
1 2 3
...
1 2 3 4 5 6
Key-Block
5-10 sec
Micro-Block
Miner
Witnesses
Co-Signature
Bitcoin
Cothority depends on
What is a Blockchain?
In essence, a blockchain is:
● A distributed ledger
● A consensus protocol
● A membership protocol
Who Participates in Consensus?
Permissionless blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum):
“anyone” who invests in solving crypto-puzzles.
● Now practical only with ASICs and cheap power
● Re-centralization: e.g., 4 pools now hold >50%
Environmental Costs
Proof-of-work = “scorched-earth” blockchains
● Tremendous energy waste,
now comparable to all of Ireland
●
Permissioned Blockchains
Just decide administratively who participates;
Fixed or manually-changed group of “miners”
– No proof-of-work needed → low energy cost
– More mature consensus protocols applicable
– Higher human organizational costs
– No longer open for “anyone” to participate
Other Membership Approaches
● Proof-of-Stake: assigns consensus shares in
proportion to prior capital investment
– Could address energy waste problem
– Major unsolved security & incentive problems
– Just reinvents the shareholder corporation
Open Democratic Blockchains?
Proof-of-Personhood: “one person one vote”
● e.g., via Pseudonym Parties [SocialNets ‘08]
● Participants mint new currency at equal rate
– Decentralized analog to “basic income”?
Blockchains need solid foundations
Conclusion
In essence, a blockchain is:
● A distributed ledger
● A consensus protocol
● A membership protocol
Thank you.
Prof. Bryan Ford, head of DEDIS lab at EPFL.
