Permissionless Blockchain Systems as Pseudo-Random Number Generators for Decentralized Consensus

Consensus algorithms that function in permissionless blockchain systems must randomly select new block proposers in a decentralised environment. Our contribution is a new blockchain consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Publicly Verifiable Randomness (PoPVR). It may be used in blockchain design to mak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE access Vol. 11; pp. 14587 - 14611
Main Authors: Bezuidenhout, Riaan, Nel, Wynand, Maritz, Jacques M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Piscataway IEEE 2023
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects:
Algorithms
Blockchain
Blockchains
Consensus algorithm
Cryptography
Data structures
decentralised consensus
Distributed ledger
Generators
Non-repudiation
Peer-to-peer computing
permissionless blockchain systems
proof-based consensus algorithms
proof-of-publicly verifiable randomness
pseudo-random number generation
Pseudorandom
random number seeds
Random numbers
verifiable random functions
vote-based consensus algorithms
ISSN:2169-3536, 2169-3536
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Consensus algorithms that function in permissionless blockchain systems must randomly select new block proposers in a decentralised environment. Our contribution is a new blockchain consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Publicly Verifiable Randomness (PoPVR). It may be used in blockchain design to make permissionless blockchain systems function as pseudo-random number generators and to use the results for decentralised consensus. The method employs verifiable random functions to embed pseudo-random number seeds in the blockchain that are confidential, tamper-resistant, unpredictable, collision-resistant, and publicly verifiable. PoPVR does not require large-scale computation, as is the case with Proof-of-Work and is not vulnerable to the exclusion of less wealthy stakeholders from the consensus process inherent in stake-based alternatives. It aims to promote fairness of participation in the consensus process by all participants and functions transparently using only open-source algorithms. PoPVR may also be useful in blockchain systems where asset values cannot be directly compared, for example, logistical systems, intellectual property records and the direct trading of commodities and services. PoPVR scales well with complexity linear in the number of transactions per block.
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ISSN:2169-3536
2169-3536
DOI:10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3244403