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Using SGX for Meta-Transactions Support in Ethereum DApps

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Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems (DAIS 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13272))

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Abstract

Decentralized applications (DApps) gained traction in the context of the blockchain technology. Ethereum is currently the public blockchain that backs the largest amount of the existing DApps. Onboarding new users to Ethereum DApps is a notoriously hard issue to solve. This is mainly caused by lack of cryptocurrency ownership, needed for transaction fees. Several meta-transaction patterns emerged for decoupling users from paying these fees. However, such solutions are mostly offered via off-chain, often paid relayer services and do not fully address the security issues present in the meta-transaction path. In this paper, we introduce a new meta-transaction architecture that makes use of the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX). Unlike other solutions, our approach would offer the possibility to deploy a fee-free Ethereum DApp on a web server that can directly relay meta-transactions to the Ethereum network while having essential security guarantees integrated by design.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The record of the first SGX meta-transaction relayed via our implementation is available at the following address: https://ropsten.etherscan.io/tx/0xdcb13cdaaf847ddce26307988ac4938c9037e03b747276f46b222df2a42d302b.

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Correspondence to Emanuel Onica .

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Onica, E., Amariei, C. (2022). Using SGX for Meta-Transactions Support in Ethereum DApps. In: Eyers, D., Voulgaris, S. (eds) Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems. DAIS 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13272. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16092-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16092-9_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16091-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16092-9

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