At the next ROC seminar, we will host a talk by Sara Tucci Head of Laboratory – CEA List, France. His talk will be followed by presentations from two Cnam PhD students.
When: January 17, 2025 at 2 pm.
Where: Amphi Friedman, 2 rue Conté, CNAM, Paris, France.
Speaker Sara Tucci, CEA List
Title: Understanding the Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake Protocol
Abstract: Ethereum’s recent upgrade, known as the Merge, transitioned the blockchain to a Proof-of-Stake model, introducing an original consensus protocol that combines elements of both Nakamoto-style and Byzantine Fault Tolerance designs. This shift led to a complex protocol that, at the time of implementation, was only partially documented. In this talk, I will present our analysis of Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake protocol, examining its safety, liveness, and incentive compatibility across various network models. Our findings reveal that, in an eventually synchronous network without participant churn, Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake protocol ensures safety but achieves only probabilistic liveness. Moreover, with the inclusion of the Inactivity Leak mechanism—which removes inactive validators—we identified potential safety vulnerabilities. Finally, we demonstrate that the protocol ensures incentive compatibility in a synchronous setting and achieves eventual incentive compatibility in an eventually synchronous environment.