The Ethereum Scratch Off Puzzle

TL;DR

This paper applies Miller's provable security techniques to Ethereum's CASPER proof-of-stake protocol, evaluating its security properties and identifying areas for further improvement.

Contribution

It introduces a formal security analysis of CASPER using Miller's techniques, highlighting its strengths and gaps in security guarantees.

Findings

CASPER satisfies most security definitions

Identifies one security property not fully met

Provides a framework for future security improvements

Abstract

Ethereum represents new innovation in the fields of cryptocurrency which has become relatively stagnate, promising many things, including an entire programming language and development enviroment built into the network. However the current trend is to write implementations and proof of concepts before doing the rigor involved with proving security. Miller's recent thesis is an attempt to remedy this, and we apply his provable security techniques to the algorithm description of CASPER, the new "proof-of-stake" consensus protocol scheme to be implemented in ethereum. We conclude by stating it satisfies almost all the definitions, except one, leaving room for improvement.