Return-Path: Received: from smtp4.osuosl.org (smtp4.osuosl.org [140.211.166.137]) by lists.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 764CBC0001 for ; Tue, 1 Jun 2021 08:21:43 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by smtp4.osuosl.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4CBB7402D4 for ; Tue, 1 Jun 2021 08:21:43 +0000 (UTC) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at osuosl.org X-Spam-Flag: NO X-Spam-Score: -2.102 X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.102 tagged_above=-999 required=5 tests=[BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_EF=-0.1, FREEMAIL_FROM=0.001, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H2=-0.001, SPF_HELO_PASS=-0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001] autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no Authentication-Results: smtp4.osuosl.org (amavisd-new); dkim=pass (1024-bit key) header.d=protonmail.com Received: from smtp4.osuosl.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp4.osuosl.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id gHUDnggXqntr for ; Tue, 1 Jun 2021 08:21:38 +0000 (UTC) X-Greylist: domain auto-whitelisted by SQLgrey-1.8.0 Received: from mail-40130.protonmail.ch (mail-40130.protonmail.ch [185.70.40.130]) by smtp4.osuosl.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 0D6C140234 for ; Tue, 1 Jun 2021 08:21:37 +0000 (UTC) Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2021 08:21:23 +0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=protonmail.com; s=protonmail; t=1622535691; bh=+cimHxZ1Gbp9EumCt9j7q1smhxaziHL2i6OY53JlN8w=; h=Date:To:From:Cc:Reply-To:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:From; b=fqXZjeZqVMi90ud4dMwNW0ly79sxAQQDURFNO59y3G0MRbDkOB/RxLiRJ1GgTEz4k IVOVwsuofBayVS9RGjXq9Zy/2/P6TFAFU+v3efLTvFoFGgA5bFJ49EzjB/qr6F6CR3 N3HEK/akHXnUwU/BKBifRPE9DauiwbzbZOTKiMUI= To: Erik Aronesty From: befreeandopen Reply-To: befreeandopen Message-ID: In-Reply-To: References: <6do5xN2g5LPnFeM55iJ-4C4MyXOu_KeXxy68Xt4dJQMhi3LJ8ZrLICmEUlh8JGfDmsDG12m1JDAh0e0huwK_MlyKpdfn22ru3zsm7lYLfBo=@protonmail.com> <3TVoontwJmoMv0tp1S5MU_U8icxcQZfajtbNEXqOjuvO7GpfUQdh9pEGSIbLEYJndrDa_dJQqa0sSwY-BmuCmyHMRWqa9lEaUjZJSP5Vbyw=@protonmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Mailman-Approved-At: Tue, 01 Jun 2021 08:31:36 +0000 Cc: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion , SatoshiSingh , Billy Tetrud Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Opinion on proof of stake in future X-BeenThere: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2021 08:21:43 -0000 Erik, thanks for the link. So referring to https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof= _of_burn, I do not really understand how this is supposed to be that much b= etter over many proof of stake proposals. If there is more research on PoB,= please note I'm not commenting on that as I only read this wiki article an= d my comments are purely related to this only. I hope we can agree that the idea with manual insertion of entropy every we= ek can be discarded, but at the same time I don't think it is a crucial poi= nt of the whole idea. So we can just focus on the rest of it. Then the whole idea seems just like certain proof of stake implementations = with just small differences, which I try to summarize: - in PoB, in order to use the coin for block production, you burn it in the= past and wait some time -- in the certain PoS I'm talking about, in order = to use the coin, you do not move the coin for some time - so in both there = is the same idea - you somehow make the coin eligible for the block creatio= n process by first doing some action followed by some inaction for some tim= e; the difference here is that if later you use such coin in PoS, then afte= r waiting more time, you can use the coin again (for whatever purpose), whi= le in PoB the coin is gone forever (it is burned); this does not seem to be= fundamentally different - in PoB, the author suggests there is an exponential decay of the power of= the coin to create a block; in some PoS schemas, there historically was an= era of so called CoinAge mechanism, which was somewhat inverse to this exp= onential decay, it was that the coin gets more power the older it is untouc= hed, some implementations were for linear increase in the power, some expon= ential. Usually there was a certain limit - i.e. a maximum power the coin m= ay have reached. It turned out quite quickly that such property is making a= ttacks easier. PoB reverses the idea, but I don't think that helps that muc= h. In any case, there seems to be an optimal period of time for each used c= oin, in both PoS and PoB, where the coin is most suitable for block product= ion. I admit PoB version is better, but the crucial property here is that s= ome coins are more powerful than other. - in both PoB and PoS it seems there is linear increase of the ability of t= he coin to produce blocks with the size of the coin (more BTC you burn/stak= e, the better your chance) This characteristic of PoB does not suggest that it would have that much di= fferent properties than PoS. So it should suffer from same problems as PoS.= Namely, the problems I see now, with the given proposal from wiki, are: - there seems to be lack of definition of the heaviest chain and difficulty= adjustment - this seems crucial, but likely solvable, I'm just saying it i= s importantly missing in the description - there seems to be a problem with nothing at stake (nothing at burn maybe?= ) - How that can be? Again, it seems that every burned coin can be used for= free checks at any time after the initial waiting period. These free check= s are indeed free and are the core of the nothing at stake problem in PoS. = You seem to make those checks for free and you seem to be able to use those= burned coins to create arbitrary number of forks build on any parent block= s of your choice, not just the last block of the heaviest chain. I can't se= e at the moment how is this different from PoS nothing at stake problem. Ma= ybe you can explain? - it seems to me that there is a trivial attack against the scheme by a wea= lthy attacker. Suppose a common size of the burn is 1 BTC per block, suppos= e you define the heaviest chain rule somehow in relation to total number of= burned coins or the cumulative "strength" of the "lowest" hashes, then you= can just burn 20 UTXOs, each being 10 BTC in value, so you spent 200 BTC o= n this attack, but you are in very strong position because after you wait t= he needed time, you should be able to do pretty nasty reorg. Suppose that t= he main chain is A-B-C-D-E-F, so what you do at that point is that you just= "try for free" all your 20 UTXOs, whether or not they can build on top of = block A (which has 5 confs on top, F is the tip of the main chain). Since y= ou have big UTXOs, your chances should be good, of course you can always tr= y many times because you have a "lottery ticket" for every timestampt t. So= with this you should be able, with good chance, to find such B' and then y= ou have 19 UTXOs remaining to try to build on B' in the same way. I can't s= ee what prevents this attack in the described scheme. - the ability to retroactively try all different kids of timestamp t seems = devastating - you again get super easy and somewhat cheap attack (due to no= thing at burn problem) that allows you to rewrite even long chains at will. Could you explain what am I missing here, because this actually does not se= em better, but rather worse than some PoS schemes? Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email. =E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90 Original Me= ssage =E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90 On Friday, May 28, 2021 9:06 PM, Erik Aronesty wrote: > best writeup i know of is here: > > https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Proof_of_burn > > no formal proposals or proofs that i know of. > > On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 10:40 AM befreeandopen > befreeandopen@protonmail.com wrote: > > > Erik, I am sorry, I have little knowledge about proof-of-burn, I never = found it interesting up until now. Some of your recent claims seem quite st= rong to me and I'd like to read more. > > Forgive me if this has been mentioned recently, but is there a full spe= cification of the concept you are referring to? I don't mean just the basic= idea description (that much is clear to me), I mean a fully detailed propo= sal or technical documentation that would give me a precise information abo= ut what exactly it is that you are talking about. > > Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email. > > =E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90 Origina= l Message =E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80=90=E2=80= =90 > > On Wednesday, May 26, 2021 11:07 PM, Erik Aronesty erik@q32.com wrote: > > > > > note: the "nothing at stake" problem you propose is not broken for > > > proof-of-burn, because the attacker > > > a) has no idea which past transactions are burns > > > b) has no way to use his mining power, even 5%, to maliciously improv= e > > > his odds of being selected > > > On Wed, May 26, 2021 at 9:12 AM befreeandopen > > > befreeandopen@protonmail.com wrote: > > > > > > > @befreeandopen I guess I misunderstood your selfish minting attack.= Let me make sure I understand it. You're saying it would go as follows?: > > > > > > > > 1. The malicious actor comes across an opportunity to mint the nex= t 3 blocks. But they hold off and don't release their blocks just yet. > > > > 2. They receive a new block minted by someone else. > > > > 3. The malicious actor then chooses to release their other 2 block= s on on the second from the top block if it gives them more blocks in the f= uture than minting on the top block. And instead lets the top block proceed= if it gives them more blocks in the future (also figuring in the 3 blocks = they're missing out on minting). > > > > 4. Profit! > > > > > > > > The problem with this attack is that any self respecting PoS system= wouldn't have the information available for minters to know how blocks wil= l affect their future prospects of minting. Otherwise this would introduce = the problem of stake grinding. This can be done using collaborative randomn= ess (where numbers from many parties are combined to create a random number= that no individual party could predict). In fact, that's what the Casper p= rotocol does to decide quorums. In a non quorum case, you can do something = like record a hash of a number in the block header, and then have a second = step to release that number later. Rewards can be given can be used to ensu= re minters act honestly here by minting messages that release these numbers= and not releasing their secret numbers too early. > > > > Yes, you misunderstood it. First, let me say that the above thought= s of yours are incorrect, at least for non-quorum case. Since the transitio= n in the blockchain system from S1 to S2 is only by adding new block, and s= ince stakers always need to be able to decide whether or not they can add t= he next block, it follows that if a staker creates a new block locally, she= can decide whether the new state allows her to add another block on top. A= s you mentioned, this COULD introduce problem of staking, that you are inco= rrect in that it is a necessity. Usual prevention of the grinding problem i= n this case is that an "old enough" source of randomness applies for the cu= rrent block production process. Of course this, as it is typical for PoS, i= ntroduces other problems, but let's discard those. > > > > I will try to explain in detail what you misunderstood before. You = start with a chain ending with blocks A-B-C, C being the top, the common fe= ature of PoS system (non-quorum), roughly speaking, is that if N is the tot= al amount of coins that participate in the staking process to create a new = block on top of C (let's call that D), then a participant having K*N amount= of stake has chance K to be the one who will create the next stake. In oth= er words, the power of stakers is supposed to be linear in the system - you= own 10 coins gives you 10x the chance of finding block over someone who ha= s 1 coin. > > > > What i was claiming is that using the technique I have described, t= his linearity is violated. Why? Well, it works for honest stakers among the= competition of honest stakers - they really do have the chance of K to fin= d the next block. However, the attacker, using nothing at stake, checks her= ability to build block D (at some timestamp). If she is successful, she do= es not propagate D immediately, but instead she also checks whether she can= build on top of B and on top of A. Since with every new timestamp, usually= , there is a new chance to build the block, it is not uncommon that she fin= ds she is indeed able to build such block C' on top of B. Here it is likely= t(C') > t(C) as the attacker has relatively low stake. Note that in order = to produce such C', she not only could have tried the current timestamp t(D= ), but also all previous timestamps up to t(B) (usually that's the consensu= s rule, but it may depend on a specific consensus). So her chance to produc= e such C' is greater than her previous chance of producing C (which chance = was limited by other stakers in the system and the discovery of block C by = one of them). Now suppose that she found such C' and now she continues by t= rying to prolong this chain by finding D'. And again here, it is quite like= ly that her chance to find such D' is greater than was her chance of findin= g D because again there are likely multiple timestamps she could try. This = all was possible just because nothing at stake allows you to just try if yo= u can produce a block in certain state of block chain or not. Now if she ac= tually was able to find D', she discards D and only publishes chain A-B-C'-= D', which can not be punished despite the fact that she indeed produced two= different forks. She can not be punished because this production was local= and only the final result of A-B-C'-D' was published, in which case she ga= ined an extra block over the honest strategy which would only give her bloc= k D. > > > > Fun fact tho: there is an attack called the "selfish mining attack"= for proof of work, and it reduces the security of PoW by at least 1/3rd. > > > > How is that relevant to our discussion? This is known research that= has nothing to do with PoS except that it is often worse on PoS. > > > > > > > > > the problem is not as hard as you think > > > > > > > > I don't claim to know just how hard finding the IP address associat= ed with a bitcoin address is. However, the DOS risk can be solved more comp= letely by only allowing the owner of coins themselves to know whether they = can mint a block. Eg by determining whether someone can mint a block based = on their public key hidden behind hashes (as normal in addresses). Only whe= n someone does in fact mint a block do they reveal their hidden public key = in order to prove they are allowed to mint the block. > > > > This is true, but you are mixing quorum and non-quorum systems. My = objection here was towards such system where I specifically said that the l= ist of producers for next epoch is known up front and you confirmed that th= is is what you meant with "quorum" system. So in such system, I claimed, th= e known producer is the only target at any given point of time. This of cou= rse does not apply to any other type of system where future producers are n= ot known. No need to dispute, again, something that was not claimed. > > > > > > > > > I agree that introduction of punishment itself does not imply int= roducing a problem elsewhere (which I did not claim if you reread my previo= us message) > > > > > > > > I'm glad we agree there. Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by = "you should not omit to mention that by doing so, typically, you have intro= duced another problem elsewhere." > > > > Perhaps you should quote the full sentence and not just a part of i= t: > > > > "Of course you can always change the rules in a way that a certain = specific attack is not doable, but you should not omit to mention that by d= oing so, typically, you have introduced another problem elsewhere, or you h= ave not solved it completely." > > > > You can parse this as: (CREATE PROBLEM ELSEWHERE) OR (NOT SOLVE IT = COMPLETELY) > > > > In case of the punishment it was meant to be the not solve it compl= etely part. > > > > Also "typically" does not imply always. > > > > But this parsing of English sentences for you seems very off topic = here. My point is, in context of Bitcoin, reject such unsupported claims th= at PoS is a reasonable alternative to PoW, let's stick to that. > > > > > > > > > As long as the staker makes sure (which is not that hard) that sh= e does not miss a chance to create a block, her significance in the system = will always increase in time. It will increase relative to all normal users= who do not stake > > > > > > > > Well, if you're in the closed system of the cryptocurrency, sure. B= ut we don't live in that closed system. Minters will earn some ROI from min= ting just like any other financial activity. Others may find more success s= pending their time doing things other than figuring out how to mint coins. = In that case, they'll be able to earn more coin that they could later decid= e to use to mint blocks if they decide to. > > > > This only supports the point I was making. Since the optimal scenar= io with all existing coins participating is just theoretical, the attacker'= s position will ever so improve. It seems we are in agreement here, great. > > > > > > > > > Just because of the above we must reject PoS as being critically = insecure > > > > > > > > I think the only thing we can conclude from this is that you have c= ome up with an insecure proof of stake protocol. I don't see how anything y= ou've brought up amounts to substantial evidence that all possible PoS prot= ocols are insecure. > > > > I have not come up with anything. I'm afraid you've not realized th= e burden of proof is on your side if you vouch for a design that is not bel= ieved and trusted to be secure. It is up to you to show that you know how t= o solve every problem that people throw at you. So far we have just demonst= rated that your claim that nothing at stake is solved was unjustified. You = have not described a system that would solve it (and not introduce critical= DDOS attack vector as it is in quorum based systems - per the prior defini= tion of such systems). > > > > Of course the list of problems of PoS systems do not end with just = nothing at stake, but it is good enough example that by itself prevents its= adoption in decentralized consensus. No need to go to other hard problems = without solving nothing at stake. > > > > On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 11:10 AM befreeandopen befreeandopen@proton= mail.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > @befreeandopen " An attacker can calculate whether or not she can= prolong this chain or not and if so with what timestamp." > > > > > The scenario you describe would only be likely to happen at all i= f the malicious actor has a very large fraction of the stake - probably qui= te close to 50%. At that point, you're talking about a 51% attack, not the = nothing at stake problem. The nothing at stake problem is the problem where= anyone will mint on any chain. Its clear that if there's a substantial pun= ishment for minting on chains other than the one that eventually wins, ever= y minter without a significant fraction of the stake will be honest and not= attempt to mint on old blocks or support someone else's attempt to mint on= old blocks (until and if it becomes the heaviest chain). Because the attac= ker would need probably >45% of the active stake (take a look at the reason= ing here for a deeper analysis of that statement), I don't agree that punis= hment is not a sufficient mitigation of the nothing at stake problem. To ex= ploit the nothing at stake problem, you basically need to 51% attack, at wh= ich point you've exceeded the operating conditions of the system, so of cou= rse its gonna have problems, just like a 51% attack would cause with PoW. > > > > > This is not at all the case. The attacker benefits using the desc= ribed technique at any size of the stake and significantly so with just 5% = of the stake. By significantly, I do not mean that the attacker is able to = completely take control the network (in short term), but rather that the at= tacker has significant advantage in the number of blocks she creates compar= ed to what she "should be able to create". This means the attacker's stake = increases significantly faster than of the honest nodes, which in long term= is very serious in PoS system. If you believe close to 50% is needed for t= hat, you need to redo your math. So no, you are wrong stating that "to expl= oit nothing at stake problem you basically need to 51% attack". It is rathe= r the opposite - eventually, nothing at stake attack leads to ability to pe= rform 51% attack. > > > > > > > > > > > I am not sure if this is what you call quorum-based PoS > > > > > > > > > > Yes, pre-selected minters is exactly what I mean by that. > > > > > > > > > > > it allows the attacker to know who to attack at which point wit= h powerful DDOS in order to hurt liveness of such system > > > > > > > > > > Just like in bitcoin, associating keys with IP addresses isn't ge= nerally an easy thing to do on the fly like that. If you know someone's IP = address, you can target them. But if you only know their address or public = key, the reverse isn't as easy. With a quorum-based PoS system, you can see= their public key and address, but finding out their IP to DOS would be a h= uge challenge I think. > > > > > I do not dispute that the problem is not trivial, but the problem= is not as hard as you think. The network graph analysis is a known techniq= ue and it is not trivial, but not very hard either. Introducing a large num= ber of nodes to the system to achieve very good success rate of analysis of= area of origin of blocks is doable and has been done in past. So again, I = very much disagree with your conclusion that this is somehow secure. It is = absolutely insecure. > > > > > Note, tho, that quorum-based PoS generally also have punishments = as part of the protocol. The introduction of punishments do indeed handily = solve the nothing at stake problem. And you didn't mention a single problem= that the punishments introduce that weren't already there before punishmen= ts. There are tradeoffs with introducing punishments (eg in some cases you = might punish honest actors), but they are minor in comparison to solving th= e nothing at stake problem. > > > > > While I agree that introduction of punishment itself does not imp= ly introducing a problem elsewhere (which I did not claim if you reread my = previous message), it does introduce additional complexity which may introd= uce problem, but more importantly, while it slightly improves resistance ag= ainst the nothing at stake attack, it solves absolutely nothing. Your claim= is based on wrong claim of needed close to 50% stake, but that could not b= e farther from the truth. It is not true even in optimal conditions when al= l participants of the network stake or delegate their stake. These optimal = conditions rarely, if ever, occur. And that's another thing that we have no= t mention in our debate, so please allow me to introduce another problem to= PoS. > > > > > Consider what is needed for such optimal conditions to occur - al= l coins are always part of the stake, which means that they need to somehow= automatically part of the staking process even when they are moved. But in= many PoS systems you usually require some age (in terms of confirmations) = of the coin before you allow it to be used for participation in staking pro= cess and that is for a good reason - to prevent various grinding attacks. I= n some systems the coin must be specifically registered before it can be st= aked, in others, simply waiting for enough confirmations enables you to sta= ke with the coin. I am not sure if there is a system which does not have th= is cooling period for a coin that has been moved. Maybe it is possible thou= gh, but AFAIK it is not common and not battle tested feature. > > > > > Then if we admit that achieving the optimal condition is rather t= heoretical. Then if we do not have the optimal condition, it means that a s= taker with K% of the total available supply increases it's percentage over = time to some amounts >K%. As long as the staker makes sure (which is not th= at hard) that she does not miss a chance to create a block, her significanc= e in the system will always increase in time. It will increase relative to = all normal users who do not stake (if there are any) and relative to all ot= her stakers who make mistakes or who are not wealthy enough to afford not s= elling any position ever. But powerful attacker is exactly in such position= and thus she will gain significance in such a system. The technique I have= described, and that you mistakenly think is viable only with huge amounts = of stake, only puts the attacker to even greater advantage. But even withou= t the described attack (which exploits nothing at stake), the PoS system co= nverges to a system more and more controlled by powerful entity, which we c= an assume is the attacker. > > > > > So I don't think it is at all misleading to claim that "nothing a= t stake" is a solved problem. I do in fact mean that the solutions to that = problem don't introduce any other problems with anywhere near the same leve= l of significance. > > > > > It still stands as truly misleading claim. I disagree that introd= ucing DDOS opportunity with medium level of difficulty for the attacker to = implement it, in case of "quorum-based PoS" is not a problem anywhere near = the same level of significance. Such an attack vector allows you to turn of= f the network if you spend some time and money. That is hardly acceptable. > > > > > Just because of the above we must reject PoS as being critically = insecure until someone invents and demonstrates an actual way of solving th= ese issues. > > > > > On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 3:00 AM Erik Aronesty erik@q32.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > you burn them to be used at a future particular block heigh= t > > > > > > > > > > > > > This sounds exploitable. It seems like an attacker could simp= ly focus all their burns on a particular set of 6 blocks to double spend, m= inimizing their cost of attack. > > > > > > > > > > > > could be right. the original idea was to have burns decay over = time, > > > > > > like ASIC's. > > > > > > anyway the point was not that "i had a magic formula" > > > > > > the point was that proof of burn is almost always better than p= roof of > > > > > > stake - simply because the "proof" is on-chain, not sitting on = a node > > > > > > somewhere waiting to be stolen. > > > > > > On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 9:53 PM Billy Tetrud billy.tetrud@gmail= .com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > Is this the kind of proof of burn you're talking about? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > if i have a choice between two chains, one longer and one s= horter, i can only choose one... deterministically > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What prevents you from attempting to mine block 553 on both c= hains? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > miners have a very strong, long-term, investment in the sta= bility of the chain. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yes, but the same can be said of any coin, even ones that do = have the nothing at stake problem. This isn't sufficient tho because the ch= ain is a common good, and the tragedy of the commons holds for it. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > you burn them to be used at a future particular block heigh= t > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This sounds exploitable. It seems like an attacker could simp= ly focus all their burns on a particular set of 6 blocks to double spend, m= inimizing their cost of attack. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > i can imagine scenarios where large stakeholders can collud= e to punish smaller stakeholders simply to drive them out of business, for = example > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Are you talking about a 51% attack? This is possible in any d= ecentralized cryptocurrency. > > > > > > > On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 11:49 AM Erik Aronesty erik@q32.com w= rote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > your burn investment is always "at stake", any redactio= n can result in a loss-of-burn, because burns can be tied, precisely, to bl= ock-heights > > > > > > > > > > I'm fuzzy on how proof of burn works. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > when you burn coins, you burn them to be used at a future p= articular > > > > > > > > block height: so if i'm burning for block 553, i can only u= se them to > > > > > > > > mine block 553. if i have a choice between two chains, one = longer > > > > > > > > and one shorter, i can only choose one... deterministically= , for that > > > > > > > > burn: the chain with the height 553. if we fix the "lead ti= me" for > > > > > > > > burned coins to be weeks or even months in advance, miners = have a very > > > > > > > > strong, long-term, investment in the stability of the chain= . > > > > > > > > therefore there is no "nothing at stake" problem. it's > > > > > > > > deterministic, so miners have no choice. they can only choo= se the > > > > > > > > transactions that go into the block. they cannot choose whi= ch chain > > > > > > > > to mine, and it's time-locked, so rollbacks and instability= always > > > > > > > > hurt miners the most. > > > > > > > > the "punishment" systems of PoS are "weird at best", certai= nly > > > > > > > > unproven. i can imagine scenarios where large stakeholders = can > > > > > > > > collude to punish smaller stakeholders simply to drive them= out of > > > > > > > > business, for example. and then you have to put checks in p= lace to > > > > > > > > prevent that, and more checks for those prevention system..= . > > > > > > > > in PoB, there is no complexity. simpler systems like this a= re > > > > > > > > typically more secure. > > > > > > > > PoB also solves problems caused by "energy dependence", whi= ch could > > > > > > > > lead to state monopolies on mining (like the new Bitcoin Mi= ning > > > > > > > > Council). these consortiums, if state sanctioned, could bec= ome a > > > > > > > > source of censorship, for example. Since PoB doesn't requir= e you to > > > > > > > > have a live, well-connected node, it's harder to censor & h= arder to > > > > > > > > trace. > > > > > > > > Eliminating this weakness seems to be in the best interests= of > > > > > > > > existing stakeholders > > > > > > > > On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 4:44 PM Billy Tetrud billy.tetrud@g= mail.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > proof of burn clearly solves this, since nothing is hel= d online > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Well.. the coins to be burned need to be online when they= 're burned. But yes, only a small fraction of the total coins need to be on= line. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > your burn investment is always "at stake", any redactio= n can result in a loss-of-burn, because burns can be tied, precisely, to bl= ock-heights > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > So you're saying that if say someone tries to mine a bloc= k on a shorter chain, that requires them to send a transaction burning thei= r coins, and that transaction could also be spent on the longest chain, whi= ch means their coins are burned even if the chain they tried to mine on doe= sn't win? I'm fuzzy on how proof of burn works. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > proof of burn can be more secure than proof-of-stake > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > FYI, proof of stake can be done without the "nothing at s= take" problem. You can simply punish people who mint on shorter chains (by = rewarding people who publish proofs of this happening on the main chain). I= n quorum-based PoS, you can punish people in the quorum that propose or sig= n multiple blocks for the same height. The "nothing at stake" problem is a = solved problem at this point for PoS. > > > > > > > > > On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 3:47 AM Erik Aronesty erik@q32.co= m wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I don't see a way to get around the conflicting requi= rement that the keys for large amounts of coins should be kept offline but = those are exactly the coins we need online to make the scheme secure. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > proof of burn clearly solves this, since nothing is hel= d online > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > how does proof of burn solve the "nothing at stake" p= roblem in your view? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > definition of nothing at stake: in the event of a fork,= whether the > > > > > > > > > > fork is accidental or a malicious, the optimal strategy= for any miner > > > > > > > > > > is to mine on every chain, so that the miner gets their= reward no > > > > > > > > > > matter which fork wins. indeed in proof-of-stake, the p= roofs are > > > > > > > > > > published on the very chains mines, so the incentive is= magnified. > > > > > > > > > > in proof-of-burn, your burn investment is always "at st= ake", any > > > > > > > > > > redaction can result in a loss-of-burn, because burns c= an be tied, > > > > > > > > > > precisely, to block-heights > > > > > > > > > > as a result, miners no longer have an incentive to mine= all chains > > > > > > > > > > in this way proof of burn can be more secure than proof= -of-stake, and > > > > > > > > > > even more secure than proof of work > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, May 23, 2021 at 3:52 AM Lloyd Fournier via bitc= oin-dev > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Billy, > > > > > > > > > > > I was going to write a post which started by dismissi= ng many of the weak arguments that are made against PoS made in this thread= and elsewhere. > > > > > > > > > > > Although I don't agree with all your points you have = done a decent job here so I'll focus on the second part: why I think Proof-= of-Stake is inappropriate for a Bitcoin-like system. > > > > > > > > > > > Proof of stake is not fit for purpose for a global se= ttlement layer in a pure digital asset (i.e. "digital gold") which is what = Bitcoin is trying to be. > > > > > > > > > > > PoS necessarily gives responsibilities to the holders= of coins that they do not want and cannot handle. > > > > > > > > > > > In Bitcoin, large unsophisticated coin holders can pu= t their coins in cold storage without a second thought given to the health = of the underlying ledger. > > > > > > > > > > > As much as hardcore Bitcoiners try to convince them t= o run their own node, most don't, and that's perfectly acceptable. > > > > > > > > > > > At no point do their personal decisions affect the un= derlying consensus -- it only affects their personal security assurance (no= t that of the system itself). > > > > > > > > > > > In PoS systems this clean separation of responsibilit= ies does not exist. > > > > > > > > > > > I think that the more rigorously studied PoS protocol= s will work fine within the security claims made in their papers. > > > > > > > > > > > People who believe that these protocols are destined = for catastrophic consensus failure are certainly in for a surprise. > > > > > > > > > > > But the devil is in the detail. > > > > > > > > > > > Let's look at what the implications of using the lead= ing proof of stake protocols would have on Bitcoin: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ### Proof of SquareSpace (Cardano, Polkdadot) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cardano is a UTXO based PoS coin based on Ouroboros P= raos3 with an inbuilt on-chain delegation system5. > > > > > > > > > > > In these protocols, coin holders who do not want to r= un their node with their hot keys in it delegate it to a "Stake Pool". > > > > > > > > > > > I call the resulting system Proof-of-SquareSpace sinc= e most will choose a pool by looking around for one with a nice website and= offering the largest share of the block reward. > > > > > > > > > > > On the surface this might sound no different than som= eone with an mining rig shopping around for a good mining pool but there ar= e crucial differences: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 1. The person making the decision is forced into it = just because they own the currency -- someone with a mining rig has purchas= ed it with the intent to make profit by participating in consensus. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2. When you join a mining pool your systems are very= much still online. You are just partaking in a pool to reduce your profit = variance. You still see every block that you help create and you never help= create a block without seeing it first. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 3. If by SquareSpace sybil attack you gain a dishone= st majority and start censoring transactions how are the users meant to red= elegate their stake to honest pools? > > > > > > > > > > > I guess they can just send a transaction delegati= ng to another pool...oh wait I guess that might be censored too! This seems= really really bad. > > > > > > > > > > > In Bitcoin, miners can just join a different pool= at a whim. There is nothing the attacker can do to stop them. A temporary = dishonest majority heals relatively well. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > There is another severe disadvantage to this on-chain= delegation system: every UTXO must indicate which staking account this UTX= O belongs to so the appropriate share of block rewards can be transferred t= here. > > > > > > > > > > > Being able to associate every UTXO to an account ruin= s one of the main privacy advantages of the UTXO model. > > > > > > > > > > > It also grows the size of the blockchain significantl= y. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ### "Pure" proof of stake (Algorand) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Algorand's4 approach is to only allow online stake to= participate in the protocol. > > > > > > > > > > > Theoretically, This means that keys holding funds hav= e to be online in order for them to author blocks when they are chosen. > > > > > > > > > > > Of course in reality no one wants to keep their coin = holding keys online so in Alogorand you can authorize a set of "participati= on keys"1 that will be used to create blocks on your coin holding key's beh= alf. > > > > > > > > > > > Hopefully you've spotted the problem. > > > > > > > > > > > You can send your participation keys to any malicious= party with a nice website (see random example 2) offering you a good retur= n. > > > > > > > > > > > Damn it's still Proof-of-SquareSpace! > > > > > > > > > > > The minor advantage is that at least the participatio= n keys expire after a certain amount of time so eventually the SquareSpace = attacker will lose their hold on consensus. > > > > > > > > > > > Importantly there is also less junk on the blockchain= because the participation keys are delegated off-chain and so are not maki= ng as much of a mess. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ### Conclusion > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I don't see a way to get around the conflicting requi= rement that the keys for large amounts of coins should be kept offline but = those are exactly the coins we need online to make the scheme secure. > > > > > > > > > > > If we allow delegation then we open up a new social a= ttack surface and it degenerates to Proof-of-SquareSpace. > > > > > > > > > > > For a "digital gold" like system like Bitcoin we opti= mize for simplicity and desperately want to avoid extraneous responsibiliti= es for the holder of the coin. > > > > > > > > > > > After all, gold is an inert element on the periodic t= able that doesn't confer responsibilities on the holder to maintain the qua= lity of all the other bars of gold out there. > > > > > > > > > > > Bitcoin feels like this too and in many ways is more = inert and beautifully boring than gold. > > > > > > > > > > > For Bitcoin to succeed I think we need to keep it tha= t way and Proof-of-Stake makes everything a bit too exciting. > > > > > > > > > > > I suppose in the end the market will decide what is r= eal digital gold and whether these bad technical trade offs are worth being= able to say it uses less electricity. It goes without saying that making b= ad technical decisions to appease the current political climate is an anath= ema to Bitcoin. > > > > > > > > > > > Would be interested to know if you or others think di= fferently on these points. > > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > > > > > > LL > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, 21 May 2021 at 19:21, Billy Tetrud via bitcoi= n-dev bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I think there is a lot of misinformation and bias a= gainst Proof of Stake. Yes there have been lots of shady coins that use ins= ecure PoS mechanisms. Yes there have been massive issues with distribution = of PoS coins (of course there have also been massive issues with PoW coins = as well). However, I want to remind everyone that there is a difference bet= ween "proved to be impossible" and "have not achieved recognized success ye= t". Most of the arguments levied against PoS are out of date or rely on unp= roven assumptions or extrapolation from the analysis of a particular PoS sy= stem. I certainly don't think we should experiment with bitcoin by switchin= g to PoS, but from my research, it seems very likely that there is a proof = of stake consensus protocol we could build that has substantially higher se= curity (cost / capital required to execute an attack) while at the same tim= e costing far less resources (which do translate to fees on the network) wi= thout compromising any of the critical security properties bitcoin relies o= n. I think the critical piece of this is the disagreements around hardcoded= checkpoints, which is a critical piece solving attacks that could be levie= d on a PoS chain, and how that does (or doesn't) affect the security model. > > > > > > > > > > > > @Eric Your proof of stake fallacy seems to be sayin= g that PoS is worse when a 51% attack happens. While I agree, I think that = line of thinking omits important facts: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - The capital required to 51% attack a PoS chain = can be made substantially greater than on a PoS chain. > > > > > > > > > > > > - The capital the attacker stands to lose can be = substantially greater as well if the attack is successful. > > > > > > > > > > > > - The effectiveness of paying miners to raise the= honest fraction of miners above 50% may be quite bad. > > > > > > > > > > > > - Allowing a 51% attack is already unacceptable. = It should be considered whether what happens in the case of a 51% may not b= e significantly different. The currency would likely be critically damaged = in a 51% attack regardless of consensus mechanism. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Proof-of-stake tends towards oligopolistic contro= l > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > People repeat this often, but the facts support thi= s. There is no centralization pressure in any proof of stake mechanism that= I'm aware of. IE if you have 10 times as much coin that you use to mint bl= ocks, you should expect to earn 10x as much minting revenue - not more than= 10x. By contrast, proof of work does in fact have clear centralization pre= ssure - this is not disputed. Our goal in relation to that is to ensure tha= t the centralization pressure remains insignifiant. Proof of work also clea= rly has a lot more barriers to entry than any proof of stake system does. B= oth of these mean the tendency towards oligopolistic control is worse for P= oW. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Energy usage, in-and-of-itself, is nothing to be = ashamed of!! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I certainly agree. Bitcoin's energy usage at the mo= ment is I think quite warranted. However, the question is: can we do substa= ntially better. I think if we can, we probably should... eventually. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Proof of Stake is only resilient to =E2=85=93 of = the network demonstrating a Byzantine Fault, whilst Proof of Work is resili= ent up to the =C2=BD threshold > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I see no mention of this in the pos.pdf you linked = to. I'm not aware of any proof that all PoS systems have a failure threshol= d of 1/3. I know that staking systems like Casper do in fact have that 1/3 = requirement. However there are PoS designs that should exceed that up to ne= arly 50% as far as I'm aware. Proof of work is not in fact resilient up to = the 1/2 threshold in the way you would think. IE, if 100% of miners are cur= rently honest and have a collective 100 exahashes/s hashpower, an attacker = does not need to obtain 100 exahashes/s, but actually only needs to accumul= ate 50 exahashes/s. This is because as the attacker accumulates hashpower, = it drives honest miners out of the market as the difficulty increases to be= yond what is economically sustainable. Also, its been shown that the best p= roof of work can do is require an attacker to obtain 33% of the hashpower b= ecause of the selfish mining attack discussed in depth in this paper: https= ://arxiv.org/abs/1311.0243. Together, both of these things reduce PoW's sec= urity by a factor of about 83% (1 - 50%*33%). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Proof of Stake requires other trade-offs which ar= e incompatible with Bitcoin's objective (to be a trustless digital cash) = =E2=80=94 specifically the famous "security vs. liveness" guarantee > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Do you have a good source that talks about why you = think proof of stake cannot be used for a trustless digital cash? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > You cannot gain tokens without someone choosing t= o give up those coins - a form of permission. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This is not a practical constraint. Just like in mi= ning, some nodes may reject you, but there will likely be more that will ac= cept you, some sellers may reject you, but most would accept your money as = payment for bitcoins. I don't think requiring the "permission" of one of mi= llions of people in the market can be reasonably considered a "permissioned= currency". > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2. Proof of stake must have a trusted means of t= imestamping to regulate overproduction of blocks > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Both PoW and PoS could mine/mint blocks twice as fa= st if everyone agreed to double their clock speeds. Both systems rely on an= honest majority sticking to standard time. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 5:32 AM Michael Dubrovsky v= ia bitcoin-dev bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ah sorry, I didn't realize this was, in fact, a d= ifferent thread! :) > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 10:07 AM Michael Dubrovsk= y mike@powx.org wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Folks, I suggest we keep the discussion to PoW,= oPoW, and the BIP itself. PoS, VDFs, and so on are interesting but I guess= there are other threads going on these topics already where they would be = relevant. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Also, it's important to distinguish between oPo= W and these other "alternatives" to Hashcash. oPoW is a true Proof of Work = that doesn't alter the core game theory or security assumptions of Hashcash= and actually contains SHA (can be SHA3, SHA256, etc hash is interchangeabl= e). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Mike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, May 18, 2021 at 4:55 PM Erik Aronesty v= ia bitcoin-dev bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 1. i never suggested vdf's to replace pow. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2. my suggestion was specifically in the con= text of a working > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > proof-of-burn protocol > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - vdfs used only for timing (not block heig= ht) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - blind-burned coins of a specific age used= to replace proof of work > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - the required "work" per block would simpl= y be a competition to > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > acquire rewards, and so miners would have= to burn coins, well in > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > advance, and hope that their burned coins= got rewarded in some far > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > future > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - the point of burned coins is to mimic, in= every meaningful way, the > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > value gained from proof of work... withou= t some of the security > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > drawbacks > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - the miner risks losing all of his burned = coins (like all miners risk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > losing their work in each block) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - new burns can't be used > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - old burns age out (like ASICs do) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > - other requirements on burns might be need= ed to properly mirror the > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > properties of PoW and the incentives Bitc= oin uses to mine honestly. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 3. i do believe it is possible that a "burne= d coin + vdf system" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > might be more secure in the long run, and= that if the entire space > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > agreed that such an endeavor was worthwhi= le, a test net could be spun > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > up, and a hard-fork could be initiated. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 4. i would never suggest such a thing unless= i believed it was > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > possible that consensus was possible. so = no, this is not an "alt > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > coin" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, May 18, 2021 at 10:02 AM Zac Greenwoo= d zachgrw@gmail.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi ZmnSCPxj, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Please note that I am not suggesting VDFs a= s a means to save energy, but solely as a means to make the time between bl= ocks more constant. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Zac > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, 18 May 2021 at 12:42, ZmnSCPxj ZmnS= CPxj@protonmail.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Good morning Zac, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > VDFs might enable more constant block t= imes, for instance by having a two-step PoW: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 1. Use a VDF that takes say 9 minutes = to resolve (VDF being subject to difficulty adjustments similar to the as-i= s). As per the property of VDFs, miners are able show proof of work. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 2. Use current PoW mechanism with lowe= r difficulty so finding a block takes 1 minute on average, again subject to= as-is difficulty adjustments. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > As a result, variation in block times w= ill be greatly reduced. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > As I understand it, another weakness of V= DFs is that they are not inherently progress-free (their sequential nature = prevents that; they are inherently progress-requiring). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thus, a miner which focuses on improving = the amount of energy that it can pump into the VDF circuitry (by overclocki= ng and freezing the circuitry), could potentially get into a winner-takes-a= ll situation, possibly leading to even worse competition and even more ener= gy consumption. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > After all, if you can start mining 0.1s f= aster than the competition, that is a 0.1s advantage where only you can min= e in the entire world. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ZmnSCPxj > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev mailing list > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/lis= tinfo/bitcoin-dev > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Michael Dubrovsky > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Founder; PoWx > > > > > > > > > > > > > > www.PoWx.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > > > > > Michael Dubrovsky > > > > > > > > > > > > > Founder; PoWx > > > > > > > > > > > > > www.PoWx.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev mailing list > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinf= o/bitcoin-dev > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev mailing list > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org > > > > > > > > > > > > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/= bitcoin-dev > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev mailing list > > > > > > > > > > > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org > > > > > > > > > > > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bi= tcoin-dev