Stick a fork in it: Analyzing the Ethereum network partition

Lucianna Kiffer, Dave Levin, A. Mislove
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引用次数: 42

Abstract

As blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies increase in popularity, their decentralization poses unique challenges in network partitions. In traditional distributed systems, network partitions are generally a result of bugs or connectivity failures; the typical goal of the system designer is to automatically recover from such issues as seamlessly as possible. Blockchain-based systems, however, rely on purposeful "forks" to roll out protocol changes in a decentralized manner. Not all users may agree with proposed changes, and thus forks can persist, leading to permanent network partitions. In this paper, we closely study the large-scale fork that occurred in Ethereum, a new blockchain technology that allows for both currency transactions and smart contracts. Ethereum is currently the second-most-valuable cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of over $28B. We explore the consequences of this fork, showing the impact on the two networks and their mining pools, and how the fork lead to unintentional incentives and security vulnerabilities.
插入一个分叉:分析以太坊网络分区
随着区块链技术和加密货币的普及,它们的去中心化给网络分区带来了独特的挑战。在传统的分布式系统中,网络分区通常是错误或连接失败的结果;系统设计人员的典型目标是尽可能无缝地从这些问题中自动恢复。然而,基于区块链的系统依赖于有目的的“分叉”,以分散的方式推出协议更改。并非所有用户都同意提议的更改,因此分叉可能会持续存在,从而导致永久的网络分区。在本文中,我们仔细研究了以太坊中发生的大规模分叉,以太坊是一种新的区块链技术,允许货币交易和智能合约。以太坊目前是第二大最有价值的加密货币,市值超过280亿美元。我们探讨了这次分叉的后果,展示了对两个网络及其矿池的影响,以及分叉如何导致无意的激励和安全漏洞。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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