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Proof-of-Work Sidechains

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Financial Cryptography and Data Security (FC 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 11599))

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Abstract

During the last decade, the blockchain space has exploded with a plethora of new cryptocurrencies, covering a wide array of different features, performance and security characteristics. Nevertheless, each of these coins functions in a stand-alone manner, independently. Sidechains have been envisioned as a mechanism to allow blockchains to communicate with one another and, among other applications, allow the transfer of value from one chain to another, but so far there have been no decentralized constructions. In this paper, we put forth the first side chains construction that allows communication between proof-of-work blockchains without trusted intermediaries. Our construction is generic in that it allows the passing of any information between blockchains. Using this construction, two blockchains can be connected in a “two-way peg” in which an asset can be transferred from one chain to another and back. We pinpoint the features needed for two chains to communicate: On the source side, a proof-of-work blockchain that has been interlinked, potentially with a velvet fork; on the destination side, a blockchain with smart contract support. We put forth the smart contracts needed to implement these sidechains and explain them in detail. In the heart of our construction, we use a recently introduced cryptographic primitive, Non-Interactive Proofs of Proof-of-Work (NIPoPoWs).

Research partially supported by H2020 project PRIVILEDGE # 780477.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ERC20 standard [17] defines an interface implementable by smart contracts that enables holding and transferring custom fungible tokens such as ICO tokens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Aggelos Kiayias

  2. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Dionysis Zindros

  3. IOHK, Hong Kong, China

    Aggelos Kiayias & Dionysis Zindros

Authors
  1. Aggelos Kiayias
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  2. Dionysis Zindros
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dionysis Zindros .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stirling University, Stirling, UK

    Andrea Bracciali

  2. Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Jeremy Clark

  3. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Federico Pintore

  4. University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

    Peter B. Rønne

  5. University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Massimiliano Sala

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© 2020 International Financial Cryptography Association

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Kiayias, A., Zindros, D. (2020). Proof-of-Work Sidechains. In: Bracciali, A., Clark, J., Pintore, F., Rønne, P., Sala, M. (eds) Financial Cryptography and Data Security. FC 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11599. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43725-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43725-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43724-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43725-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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