Zero-collateral lotteries in Bitcoin and Ethereum

Andrew Miller, Iddo Bentov

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We present cryptocurrency-based lottery protocols that do not require any collateral from the players. Previous protocols for this task required a security deposit that is O(N2) times larger than the bet amount, where N is the number of players. Our protocols are based on a tournament bracket construction, and require only O(logN) rounds. Our lottery protocols thus represent a significant improvement, both because they allow players with little money to participate, and because of the time value of money. The Ethereum-based implementation of our lottery is highly efficient. The Bitcoin implementation requires an O(2N) off-chain setup phase, which demonstrates that the expressive power of the scripting language can have important implications. We also describe a minimal modification to the Bitcoin protocol that would eliminate the exponential blowup.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2nd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, EuroS and PW 2017
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages4-13
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780769561073
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 30 2017
Externally publishedYes
Event2nd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, EuroS and PW 2017 - Paris, France
Duration: Apr 29 2017Apr 30 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2nd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, EuroS and PW 2017

Other

Other2nd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops, EuroS and PW 2017
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityParis
Period4/29/174/30/17

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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