Parallel and Distributed Systems Group

Computer Science Department of Telecom SudParis

Permissionless and asynchronous asset transfer

Reading group: Mikhail Anoprenko presented "Permissionless and asynchronous asset transfer" (Distributed Computing'23) at 1A312 the 19/1/2024 at 10h00.

Abstract

Most modern asset transfer systems use consensus to maintain a totally ordered chain of transactions. It was recently shown that consensus is not always necessary for implementing asset transfer. More efficient, asynchronous solutions can be built using reliable broadcast instead of consensus. This approach has been originally used in the closed (permissioned) setting. In this paper, we extend it to the open (permissionless) environment. We present Pastro, a permissionless and asynchronous asset-transfer implementation, in which quorum systems, traditionally used in reliable broadcast, are replaced with a weighted Proof-of-Stake mechanism. Pastro tolerates a dynamic adversary that is able to adaptively corrupt participants based on the assets owned by them.