SenseiNodeis in the Blockchain Infrastructure Industry

SenseiNode

senseinode

Table of Links Abstract and I. Introduction II. Expectations of Blockchain Accessibility III. Approach I: Maintain a Ledger Locally - Run a Full Node IV. Approach II: Query a Third-Party Ledger-Node-As-A-Service (NAAS) V. Approach III: Light Node - External Query & Local Verification VI. Concluding Remark and References VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS Ultimately, any blockchain accessibility solution has to decide on a split of responsibilities: either the user does most of the computation necessary or some third party does. A spectrum of solutions may be developed based on different types and needs of users, from a full node to a full third-party service. However, we consider that any solution must still adhere to reasonable security expectations: integrity, availability, and privacy. Most blockchain research is based on the assumption that users run their local nodes. This means the fact that running a full node is still the best way to provide integrity, availability, and privacy. Indeed we surveyed third-party service providers in the field and noted the lack of a data integrity guarantee when the provider is not trusted. We also recalled events that render the providers unable to provide service. These facts mean that third-party service providers can and do fail, and thus relying on them can become risky. At the same time, considering the high cost of running a full node locally, we believe that users should have more choice that does not impact the security guarantees. We observe the emergence of so-called ultralight nodes, which provides a way for third-party services to give a verifiable statement that requires little hardware power from the client. Many open questions remain regarding the accessibility of blockchains, even regarding full-node solutions and third-party providers. Any number of light node protocols can also be built to serve different users’ needs. We reiterate that ensuring the accessibility of blockchains is paramount for the technology. If we believe that blockchains are a common good, then making them accessible to all in a secure and available manner is critical for the future development of Web3 technology. Any information is as useful as how it can be read, and such reasoning also applies to blockchains. REFERENCES [1] AL-BASSAM, M., SONNINO, A., AND BUTERIN, V. Fraud and data availability proofs: Maximising light client security and scaling blockchains with dishonest majorities. arXiv preprint arXiv:1809.09044 (2018). [2] ALCHEMY. Alchemy. https://alchemy.com/, 2022. [3] ALL THAT NODE. All That Node. https://allthatnode.com/, 2022. [4] ANKR. Ankr. https://www.ankr.com/, 2022. [5] BADDOUR, R. Setting up a Litecoin super node: A complete step-bystep recipe that anyone can follow. https://medium.com/@baddour/sett ing-up-a-litecoin-full-node-a-complete-step-by-step-recipe-that-anyon e-can-follow-fb18b82d5cfe, 2022. [6] BINANCE. Binance. https://www.binance.us/, 2022. [7] BITCOIN PROJECT. Minimum requirements. https://bitcoin.org/en/ful l-node#minimum-requirements, 2022. [8] BITCOIN PROJECT. RPC API reference. https://developer.bitcoin.org/ reference/rpc/#, 2022. [9] BLOCKDAEMON. BlockDeamon. https://blockdaemon.com/, 2022. [10] BUNZ, B., KIFFER, L., LUU, L., AND ZAMANI, M. Flyclient: Superlight clients for cryptocurrencies. In 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) (2020), IEEE, pp. 928–946. [11] CHAINSTACK. Chainstack. https://chainstack.com/, 2022. [12] CHATZIGIANNIS, P., BALDIMTSI, F., AND CHALKIAS, K. Sok: Blockchain light clients. In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security (2022), Springer, pp. 615–641. [13] CLEPER, Y., AND BINDER, G. Lava: A decentralized RPC network for blockchains - litepaper v0.1. Tech. rep., Lava Protocol Inc., 2022. [14] COINCASHEW. How to run your own Monero node. https://www.co incashew.com/coins/overview-xmr/guide-or-how-to-run-a-full-node, 2022. [15] CONSENSYS. Privacy policy. http://web.archive.org/web/2022112109 5716/https://consensys.net/privacy-policy/, 2022. [16] CRYPTO.COM. Crypto.com. https://crypto.com/us, 2022. [17] DAIAN, P., GOLDFEDER, S., KELL, T., LI, Y., ZHAO, X., BENTOV, I., BREIDENBACH, L., AND JUELS, A. Flash boys 2.0: Frontrunning in decentralized exchanges, miner extractable value, and consensus instability. In 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) (2020), IEEE, pp. 910–927. [18] DASH CORE GROUP. Masternode requirements. https://docs.dash.org/ en/stable/masternodes/understanding.html#masternode-requirements, 2022. [19] DATAHUB. DataHub. https://datahub.figment.io/, 2022. [20] DENNIS, R., AND DISSO, J. P. An analysis into the scalability of bitcoin and ethereum. In Third International Congress on Information and Communication Technology (2019), Springer, pp. 619–627. [21] ELECTRIC COIN COMPANY. Troubleshooting guide. https://zcash.read thedocs.io/en/latest/rtd pages/troubleshooting guide.html, 2022. [22] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Ethereum portal network. https://www.ethp ortal.net/, 2022. [23] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Light Ethereum subprotocol (LES). https: //github.com/ethereum/devp2p/blob/master/caps/les.md, 2022. [24] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Light node. https://ethereum.org/en/develo pers/docs/nodes-and-clients/#light-node, 2022. [25] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Node as a service. https://ethereum.org/en/ developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/nodes-as-a-service/, 2022. [26] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Requirements. https://ethereum.org/en/deve lopers/docs/nodes-and-clients/run-a-node/#requirements, 2022. [27] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Who should run a node? https://ethereum .org/en/run-a-node/, 2022. [28] FANTI, G., KOGAN, L., AND VISWANATH, P. Economics of proof-ofstake payment systems, 2019. [29] GETBLOCK. GetBlock. https://getblock.io/, 2022. [30] GOES, C. The interblockchain communication protocol: An overview. arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.15918 (2020). [31] GRIFFITH, E. Why the crypto collapse matters. The New York Times (Nov 2022). [32] INFSTONES. InfStones. https://infstones.com/, 2022. [33] INFURA. Infura. https://infura.io/, 2022. [34] KALEIDO. Kaleido. https://kaleido.io/, 2022. [35] LI, K., CHEN, J., LIU, X., TANG, Y. R., WANG, X., AND LUO, X. As strong as its weakest link: How to break blockchain dapps at rpc service. In NDSS (2021). [36] MALWA, S. Two Polygon, Fantom front ends hit by DNS attack. https: //www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/07/01/two-polygon-fantom-front-end s-hit-by-dns-attack/, 2022. [37] MEE, D. Bitcoin full node on RBP3 (revised). https://medium.com/@ meeDamian/bitcoin-full-node-on-rbp3-revised-88bb7c8ef1d1, 2017. [38] MEE, D. Litecoin full node on RBP3. https://medium.com/@meeDam ian/litecoin-full-node-on-rbp3-69f851f74f1b, 2017. [39] METAMASK SUPPORT. Why Infura cannot serve certain areas. https: //metamask.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059386712-Why-MetaM ask-and-Infura-cannot-serve-certain-areas, 2022. [40] MORALIS. Moralis. https://moralis.io/, 2022. [41] NAKAMOTO, S. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Decentralized Business Review (2008), 21260. [42] NELSON, B. J. Remote procedure call. PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University, 1981. [43] NOWNODES. NOWNodes. https://nownodes.io/, 2022. [44] PAAVOLAINEN, S., AND CARR, C. Security properties of light clients on the ethereum blockchain. IEEE Access 8 (2020), 124339–124358. [45] POCKET NETWORK. Pocket Network. https://www.pokt.network/, 2022. [46] QUICKNODE. QuickNode. https://www.quicknode.com/, 2022. [47] RIVET. Rivet. https://rivet.cloud/, 2022. [48] SENSEINODE. SenseiNode. https://senseinode.com/, 2022. [49] SETTLEMINT. SettleMint. https://console.settlemint.com/, 2022. [50] SOLANA FOUNDATION. Validator requirements. https://docs.solana.co m/running-validator/validator-reqs, 2022. [51] SONG, Y.-D., AND ASTE, T. The cost of bitcoin mining has never really increased. Frontiers in Blockchain (2020), 44. [52] WATCHDATA. WatchData. https://watchdata.io/, 2022. [53] XRP LEDGER. System requirements. https://xrpl.org/system-requireme nts.html, 2022. [54] YAISH, A., AND ZOHAR, A. Correct cryptocurrency asic pricing: Are miners overpaying. arXiv preprint arXiv:2002.11064 (2020). [55] ZMOK. ZMOK. https://zmok.io/, 2022. Authors:
(1) Zhongtang Luo, Purdue University (luo401@purdue.edu);
(2) Rohan Murukutla, Supra (r.murukutla@supraoracles.com);
(3) Aniket Kate, Purdue University / Supra (aniket@purdue.edu). This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Table of Links Abstract and I. Introduction Abstract and I. Introduction II. Expectations of Blockchain Accessibility II. Expectations of Blockchain Accessibility III. Approach I: Maintain a Ledger Locally - Run a Full Node III. Approach I: Maintain a Ledger Locally - Run a Full Node IV. Approach II: Query a Third-Party Ledger-Node-As-A-Service (NAAS) IV. Approach II: Query a Third-Party Ledger-Node-As-A-Service (NAAS) V. Approach III: Light Node - External Query & Local Verification V. Approach III: Light Node - External Query & Local Verification VI. Concluding Remark and References VI. Concluding Remark and References VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS Ultimately, any blockchain accessibility solution has to decide on a split of responsibilities: either the user does most of the computation necessary or some third party does. A spectrum of solutions may be developed based on different types and needs of users, from a full node to a full third-party service. However, we consider that any solution must still adhere to reasonable security expectations: integrity, availability, and privacy. Most blockchain research is based on the assumption that users run their local nodes. This means the fact that running a full node is still the best way to provide integrity, availability, and privacy. Indeed we surveyed third-party service providers in the field and noted the lack of a data integrity guarantee when the provider is not trusted. We also recalled events that render the providers unable to provide service. These facts mean that third-party service providers can and do fail, and thus relying on them can become risky. At the same time, considering the high cost of running a full node locally, we believe that users should have more choice that does not impact the security guarantees. We observe the emergence of so-called ultralight nodes, which provides a way for third-party services to give a verifiable statement that requires little hardware power from the client. Many open questions remain regarding the accessibility of blockchains, even regarding full-node solutions and third-party providers. Any number of light node protocols can also be built to serve different users’ needs. We reiterate that ensuring the accessibility of blockchains is paramount for the technology. If we believe that blockchains are a common good, then making them accessible to all in a secure and available manner is critical for the future development of Web3 technology. Any information is as useful as how it can be read, and such reasoning also applies to blockchains. REFERENCES [1] AL-BASSAM, M., SONNINO, A., AND BUTERIN, V. Fraud and data availability proofs: Maximising light client security and scaling blockchains with dishonest majorities. arXiv preprint arXiv:1809.09044 (2018). [2] ALCHEMY. Alchemy. https://alchemy.com/, 2022. [3] ALL THAT NODE. All That Node. https://allthatnode.com/, 2022. [4] ANKR. Ankr. https://www.ankr.com/, 2022. [5] BADDOUR, R. Setting up a Litecoin super node: A complete step-bystep recipe that anyone can follow. https://medium.com/@baddour/sett ing-up-a-litecoin-full-node-a-complete-step-by-step-recipe-that-anyon e-can-follow-fb18b82d5cfe, 2022. [6] BINANCE. Binance. https://www.binance.us/, 2022. [7] BITCOIN PROJECT. Minimum requirements. https://bitcoin.org/en/ful l-node#minimum-requirements, 2022. [8] BITCOIN PROJECT. RPC API reference. https://developer.bitcoin.org/ reference/rpc/#, 2022. [9] BLOCKDAEMON. BlockDeamon. https://blockdaemon.com/, 2022. [10] BUNZ, B., KIFFER, L., LUU, L., AND ZAMANI, M. Flyclient: Superlight clients for cryptocurrencies. In 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) (2020), IEEE, pp. 928–946. [11] CHAINSTACK. Chainstack. https://chainstack.com/, 2022. [12] CHATZIGIANNIS, P., BALDIMTSI, F., AND CHALKIAS, K. Sok: Blockchain light clients. In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security (2022), Springer, pp. 615–641. [13] CLEPER, Y., AND BINDER, G. Lava: A decentralized RPC network for blockchains - litepaper v0.1. Tech. rep., Lava Protocol Inc., 2022. [14] COINCASHEW. How to run your own Monero node. https://www.co incashew.com/coins/overview-xmr/guide-or-how-to-run-a-full-node, 2022. [15] CONSENSYS. Privacy policy. http://web.archive.org/web/2022112109 5716/https://consensys.net/privacy-policy/, 2022. [16] CRYPTO.COM. Crypto.com. https://crypto.com/us, 2022. [17] DAIAN, P., GOLDFEDER, S., KELL, T., LI, Y., ZHAO, X., BENTOV, I., BREIDENBACH, L., AND JUELS, A. Flash boys 2.0: Frontrunning in decentralized exchanges, miner extractable value, and consensus instability. In 2020 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) (2020), IEEE, pp. 910–927. [18] DASH CORE GROUP. Masternode requirements. https://docs.dash.org/ en/stable/masternodes/understanding.html#masternode-requirements, 2022. [19] DATAHUB. DataHub. https://datahub.figment.io/, 2022. [20] DENNIS, R., AND DISSO, J. P. An analysis into the scalability of bitcoin and ethereum. In Third International Congress on Information and Communication Technology (2019), Springer, pp. 619–627. [21] ELECTRIC COIN COMPANY. Troubleshooting guide. https://zcash.read thedocs.io/en/latest/rtd pages/troubleshooting guide.html, 2022. [22] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Ethereum portal network. https://www.ethp ortal.net/, 2022. [23] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Light Ethereum subprotocol (LES). https: //github.com/ethereum/devp2p/blob/master/caps/les.md, 2022. [24] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Light node. https://ethereum.org/en/develo pers/docs/nodes-and-clients/#light-node, 2022. [25] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Node as a service. https://ethereum.org/en/ developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/nodes-as-a-service/, 2022. [26] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Requirements. https://ethereum.org/en/deve lopers/docs/nodes-and-clients/run-a-node/#requirements, 2022. [27] ETHEREUM FOUNDATION. Who should run a node? https://ethereum .org/en/run-a-node/, 2022. [28] FANTI, G., KOGAN, L., AND VISWANATH, P. Economics of proof-ofstake payment systems, 2019. [29] GETBLOCK. GetBlock. https://getblock.io/, 2022. [30] GOES, C. The interblockchain communication protocol: An overview. arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.15918 (2020). [31] GRIFFITH, E. Why the crypto collapse matters. The New York Times (Nov 2022). [32] INFSTONES. InfStones. https://infstones.com/, 2022. [33] INFURA. Infura. https://infura.io/, 2022. [34] KALEIDO. Kaleido. https://kaleido.io/, 2022. [35] LI, K., CHEN, J., LIU, X., TANG, Y. R., WANG, X., AND LUO, X. As strong as its weakest link: How to break blockchain dapps at rpc service. In NDSS (2021). [36] MALWA, S. Two Polygon, Fantom front ends hit by DNS attack. https: //www.coindesk.com/tech/2022/07/01/two-polygon-fantom-front-end s-hit-by-dns-attack/, 2022. [37] MEE, D. Bitcoin full node on RBP3 (revised). https://medium.com/@ meeDamian/bitcoin-full-node-on-rbp3-revised-88bb7c8ef1d1, 2017. [38] MEE, D. Litecoin full node on RBP3. https://medium.com/@meeDam ian/litecoin-full-node-on-rbp3-69f851f74f1b, 2017. [39] METAMASK SUPPORT. Why Infura cannot serve certain areas. https: //metamask.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059386712-Why-MetaM ask-and-Infura-cannot-serve-certain-areas, 2022. [40] MORALIS. Moralis. https://moralis.io/, 2022. [41] NAKAMOTO, S. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Decentralized Business Review (2008), 21260. [42] NELSON, B. J. Remote procedure call. PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University, 1981. [43] NOWNODES. NOWNodes. https://nownodes.io/, 2022. [44] PAAVOLAINEN, S., AND CARR, C. Security properties of light clients on the ethereum blockchain. IEEE Access 8 (2020), 124339–124358. [45] POCKET NETWORK. Pocket Network. https://www.pokt.network/, 2022. [46] QUICKNODE. QuickNode. https://www.quicknode.com/, 2022. [47] RIVET. Rivet. https://rivet.cloud/, 2022. [48] SENSEINODE. SenseiNode. https://senseinode.com/, 2022. [49] SETTLEMINT. SettleMint. https://console.settlemint.com/, 2022. [50] SOLANA FOUNDATION. Validator requirements. https://docs.solana.co m/running-validator/validator-reqs, 2022. [51] SONG, Y.-D., AND ASTE, T. The cost of bitcoin mining has never really increased. Frontiers in Blockchain (2020), 44. [52] WATCHDATA. WatchData. https://watchdata.io/, 2022. [53] XRP LEDGER. System requirements. https://xrpl.org/system-requireme nts.html, 2022. [54] YAISH, A., AND ZOHAR, A. Correct cryptocurrency asic pricing: Are miners overpaying. arXiv preprint arXiv:2002.11064 (2020). [55] ZMOK. ZMOK. https://zmok.io/, 2022. Authors: (1) Zhongtang Luo, Purdue University (luo401@purdue.edu); (2) Rohan Murukutla, Supra (r.murukutla@supraoracles.com); (3) Aniket Kate, Purdue University / Supra (aniket@purdue.edu). Authors: Authors: (1) Zhongtang Luo, Purdue University (luo401@purdue.edu); (2) Rohan Murukutla, Supra (r.murukutla@supraoracles.com); (3) Aniket Kate, Purdue University / Supra (aniket@purdue.edu). This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

Balancing Blockchain Access: Local Nodes vs. Third-Party Services

Our ever-evolving digital landscape and the technologies that support it have enabled us to take care of everything from banking and shopping to socializing online. Yet our increased reliance on digital services has also led to growing concerns about security and privacy and the access that third parties have to our data. The emergence of represents a promising evolution in the eyes of many experts. Web 3.0 That’s because Web 3.0 technologies use a decentralized framework that puts control back into the hands of users and allows them to interact online without sacrificing privacy. The increasing prominence of , decentralized finance, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) further emphasizes the demand for a new way of safeguarding our digital interactions. blockchain-driven applications A new breed of tech visionaries has been instrumental in driving this change and helping to deliver Web 3.0 solutions to the masses. These leaders possess a profound understanding of the complexities of cybersecurity and the limitless possibilities of Web 3.0 to embrace the potential of decentralized networks while acknowledging the unique of 2023. security challenges Here, we celebrate 15 experts who are helping to shape the future of Web 3.0 and deliver powerful new cybersecurity solutions to create a digital infrastructure where decentralized technologies redefine the internet and safeguard its most valuable assets – our data and privacy. Jan Lunter, CEO & CTO of Innovatrics Jan Lunter graduated at the Télécom ParisTech University in France before becoming co-founder and CEO of Innovatrics, a company that has been developing and providing fingerprint recognition solutions since 2004. Lunter is an author of the algorithm for fingerprint analysis and recognition, which regularly ranks among the top in prestigious comparison tests (NIST PFT II, NIST Minex). In recent years he is also dealing with image processing and the use of neural networks for face recognition. , CEO and Cofounder of Lightning Labs Elizabeth Stark Elizabeth Stark is a strong advocate of open source and decentralized protocols, who brings her vast knowledge in peer-to-peer technology, privacy, open source software, and memes to her roles as a co-founder and CEO of Lightning Labs. Her company focuses on constructing a programmable financial layer for the Internet through fast and scalable blockchain transactions. With a law degree from Harvard and a background in teaching at Stanford and Yale, Stark remains a prominent figure in shaping the future of the internet and empowering startups in various fields, including AI and decentralized technology. Her dedication to Internet freedom was evident during the successful efforts to defeat SOPA/PIPA, engaging millions of people worldwide. , CEO of ManagedMethods Charlie Sander Charlie Sander is the CEO of Managed Methods, a Colorado-based data security and student safety platform for K-12 schools. With more than three decades of experience in the IT industry, Sander has been an executive at some of the fastest-growing companies in business. He holds 10 patents and graduated from the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin with a BSEE degree. , Founder & CEO of Custodia Bank Caitlin Long Caitlin Long is a Wall Street veteran deeply involved in Bitcoin and blockchain since 2012. With a remarkable career at major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, Long holds a law degree from Harvard, further solidifying her exceptional qualifications. Custodia Bank, a Wyoming-based institution, serves as a compliant bridge to the US dollar payments system while providing secure custodial services for digital assets at institutional standards. As a fully compliant entity, Custodia adheres to the Bank Secrecy Act and federal regulations, including “know your customer,” anti-money laundering, and related laws. Additionally, the bank follows Wyoming’s special purpose depository institution and digital asset laws, ensuring 100% reserved fiat deposits and offering the highest level of consumer protection in the digital asset industry. Founder & CEO, BreachQuest Shaun Gordon, Gordon founded BreachQuest, a cybersecurity company focused on minimizing breach costs and downtime. He is also the founder and Managing Partner of AGI Partners, an investment firm dedicated to growing exceptional mid-sized companies. His achievements include successfully leading the sale of Pristine Environments and contributing to educational initiatives. Gordon’s expertise spans business services, cybersecurity, SaaS, real estate, financial services, and healthcare. Cathy Hackl, Chief Futurist & Founder, Journey Cathy Hackl, a prominent business executive and tech futurist, boasts an impressive background working with major companies like Amazon Web Services, Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE. In her leading role at Journey’s Virtual Studio, she advises companies and governments on gaming, AR, AI, spatial computing, and virtual world strategies. Hackl’s expertise has influenced brands such as Louis Vuitton, Nike, Walmart, and Clinique. She is a recognized Vogue Business 100 Innovator and Vogue Singapore’s Metaverse Editor. In 2023, Hackl launched VerseLuxe, her luxury tech label disrupting the fashion and luxury industries with connected jewelry called Frillz. Journey, the global design and innovation studio, empowers clients to create next-gen customer experiences that engage and elevate, spanning the creator economy, immersive destinations, and new generations of fans. , Founder & CEO, Eden Data Taylor Hersom Taylor Hersom has extensive experience advising Fortune 500 companies and serving as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). His expertise lies in building tailored security programs for decentralized and cloud-centric organizations. Eden Data is dedicated to integrating security and privacy into the core of next-generation businesses. The company disrupts traditional cybersecurity consulting by prioritizing relationships, cultivating leaders, and offering a fresh approach. They actively contribute as a security thought leader, serving on industry advisory boards and sharing insights through speaking engagements and online content. Eugenia Kuyda, Founder and CEO at Replika Eugenia Kuyda is a Russian-born entrepreneur and computer scientist based in the United States. She is renowned as the co-founder and CEO of Replika, a cutting-edge AI-powered chatbot app for human-like conversation simulation. With over 10 million users worldwide and a remarkable 35% usage increase since 2020, Replika has garnered widespread attention and acclaim for its unique approach to mental health support. Prior to Replika, Kuyda co-founded Luka, an AI-driven messaging app that recommended local venues. Kuyda’s groundbreaking work in the AI and mental health spheres has earned her numerous speaking engagements and media features. , Co-Founder, Sensei Node Ignacio Roizman Ignacio Roizman is a seasoned Digital Marketing Executive and Entrepreneur, boasting over 25 years of experience leading operations in Latin America and the US. With a strong track record, he has successfully overseen organizations providing a range of digital advertising services, including Creative, Digital Media Planning and Buying, and website development for renowned Fortune 500 brands. SenseiNode is the first blockchain infrastructure independent service provider in Latin America. They automate and simplify the deployment and monitoring of nodes on leading protocols, providing access via their APIs to organizations looking to build their blockchain infrastructure with a high availability and low total cost of ownership. Kelly Max, Founder & CEO, Solvv Kelly Max is a visionary founder with a deep commitment to creating impactful products and companies that make a difference in people’s lives. His passion lies in assembling exceptional teams and driving focused efforts toward achieving ambitious goals. Currently, his primary focus is on Solvv, the pioneering Social Podcasting platform. At Solvv Inc, They strive to develop a sustainable product that empowers individuals to progress in life, shape their identities, and cultivate their personal brands. Solvv invites others to join their journey of learning, creation, and growth. In their past ventures. , Co-Founder and CEO at Everyrealm Janine Yorio Janine Yorio has established a metaverse innovation and investment platform. Everyrealm holds a significant position as one of the largest owners of digital real estate NFTs across metaverses like Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Axie Infinity. The company actively develops in-metaverse projects, including the Metajuku shopping center and the Fantasy Islands ultra-luxury master-planned community NFT project. Yorio’s previous achievements include being the CEO of Compound, a real estate fintech app acquired by Republic in 2020, and her work in private equity and real estate and hotel development. Jasmine Brunson, Founder, Rektify AI Jasmine Brunson is a dynamic founder and risk-taker who has ventured into data science, blockchain and technology. She sees data as her creative currency and actively contributes to the social entrepreneurial community, leveraging her passions to drive meaningful change. Brunson is a dedicated advocate for user data awareness, fighting against exploiting consumer data that fuels harmful algorithm biases and fosters misleading consumer identities. Her company, Rektify AI, is a Web3 Security & Risk Analytics company making cryptocurrency more secure and intelligent. , Founder and CEO of Crescite Eddie Cullen Eddie Cullen is the Founder and CEO of Crescite, which is building a Web 3.0 community for faith-based institutions and ESG investments. He was earlier the Director of Fordham University’s incubator program, and was a Candidate to be Mayor of NYC. He also served as a Fellow and Faith Advisor for the Biden for President campaign. Mike Starr, CEO and Founder of trackd Mike Starr is a cross-functional leader and former NSA engineer with experience building and launching products in new and disruptive markets. Mike received his Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Alfred and enjoys nerding out on wine and reading fantasy novels in his free time. His company trackd is delivering a modern patch management platform that collects patching experience data from patches applied using the platform, then anonymizes that data and shares it with all other users. The trackd platform unifies vulnerability and patch management and provides insight into how patches have affected systems previously, helping operators identify which patches might be disruptive when applied in their environment, and which are safe to designate for auto-patching. , Co-Founder of Cyber Security Capital Jane Frankland Jane Frankland brings two decades of cybersecurity expertise to Cyber Security Capital, holding senior executive roles and actively participating in esteemed cybersecurity organizations. Her mission is to promote women in security and create a safer, stronger, and more prosperous world for all. Cyber Security Capital operates globally, connecting people, opportunities, and resources within the cybersecurity ecosystem. Their London-based headquarters house a passionate and skilled team of cyber security entrepreneurs, consultants, facilitators, and resources. Cyber Security Capital emphasizes outstanding services and innovation to drive positive changes within the industry, achieving more together and making quantum leaps towards progress. This article was originally published by on Alexander García The Sociable.

15 Advanced Cybersecurity & Web 3.0 Executives

Background The hype train is at an all time high! There are countless articles and news stories calling it the greatest invention since the internet. On the other hand, there is an equally large camp saying that although the tech is great, there is no use case. blockchain real Until recently, I’ve been somewhere in the middle. Intrigued by blockchain I began researching it. After reading several articles and white papers, I felt comfortable with some of the terms and concepts. However, I still didn’t have that moment_._ The content I was reading was too high level, and didn’t clearly convey the power and potential of building distributed, decentralized applications. “aha” Two weeks ago TLV kicked off its inaugural session. Blockchain Academy’s premise is to promote active and productive technical blockchain discussion. Blockchain Academy My aim is to explain what I’ve learned so far on my blockchain journey, and to walk you through an Ethereum inspired blockchain implementation I’ve been working on the past 4 weeks. What I cannot create, I do not understand During Blockchain TLV’s first meeting, discussed blockchain basics, and live coded a in Typescript. The implementation included the following functionality: Leonid Beder basic blockchain implementation a continuously growing list of , called , which are linked and secured using . Each block typically contains a pointer as a link to a previous block, a and transaction data. We defined an initial class with the following interface: Blockchain: records blocks cryptography hash timestamp We’d store all the blocks in the blockchain. We’d store the pool of all of the transactions waiting to be processed. Method for creating new blocks Method for submission of new transactions into the pool. Every block in our chain will contain Blocks: Block number (i.e. “3rd block in chain) transactions Timestamp — block creation time Nonce — arbitrary number that can only be used once The hash of the previous block — by using the previous hash, we make the blockchain immutable Transactions: We defined a transaction class that contained The public address of the sender The public address of the recipient The value of the transaction. A blockchain is a distributed, decentralized database, where every Since we’re developing a permissions-less blockchain — everyone is free to join. This method allows us to add nodes to the network. Submit a Node : node on the network holds a complete copy of transaction history . : A blockchain serves as a record of transaction history. Although a transaction can be defined broadly, it’s most popular use case is a transfer of funds from user A to user B. This method lets us create transactions, waiting to be mined. Submit a Transaction : Transactions aren’t reflected across the network immediately. We need to invest computational power into validating transactions. This is called Proof of Work. Mining a block is the action of performing “Proof Of Work” on all of the transactions that have recently been emitted but not yet validated. No free lunches in cryptocurrencies ;) Mine a Block : Consensus is the process of all nodes reaching agreement on the current state of the network. We choose “the longest chain” (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree) approach. This approach states that all nodes will accept the blockchain of the node with the most blocks. The rationale behind this, is that (remember, we require blocks to be validated via PoW), and is therefore the most reliable / believable. Consensus the longest blockchain has the most computational power invested in it Check out the workshops source code here. Although it was a lot of new material to process in a hour, I was hooked :) Towards the end of the workshop Leonid announced a surprise! I like surprises There would be a competition to see who could make the most creative and “awesome” pull request to the basic blockchain we had just built. My work over the past 2 weeks I had been itching to learn more about blockchain, and believe that building one is the best way to do that. I set out to build a blockchain inspired by the Ethereum implementation with the following features: - users will be able to register accounts (external accounts) with a balance, and initiate transfers of funds. Additionally, users can register contract accounts and deploy smart contracts across the network Accounting system Transaction-based state machine transactions and state transitions Secured and validated Enable users to write and where they can create their own arbitrary rules for ownership, transaction formats and state transition functions. smart contracts decentralized applications Accounts The global shared state of nodes on the network is composed of accounts. Accounts holds important information such as this will serve as the name of the account, similar to what we did in the workshop. address: amount of funds owned by the account balance: : If the account is an externally owned account, this number represents the number of transactions sent from the account’s address. nonce My blockchain implementation has 2 different types of accounts: External accounts, which are controlled by private keys (via RSA encryption) Contract accounts, which are controlled by their contract code. Single Shared State Across Network Accounts are public, and you can view any account given its address, and node it was registered on. I made accounts “global” by informing all nodes of the creation of an account on the network. So when account transactions are dispatched to a node, I propagate that transaction to all nodes on the network. This way, the blockchain is truly decentralized, and we don’t depend on single nodes for valuable information like account existence or account balances. Essentially we have created a singular “shared-state” between nodes. We register each account on every node, so that it is “global” Differences between External and Contract Accounts The main difference between both types of accounts is rooted in with other accounts across the network. An external account can communicate in 2 ways they can communicate how Messaging other external accounts (i.e. a transaction which moves funds from account A to B). Invoking method execution on contract accounts. These methods vary, as they are solely dependent on the contract author and the contract that he / she created. It is important to clarify that contract accounts, in contrast to external accounts, to the network. Instead, contract accounts can only in response to other transactions they have received. cannot explicitly dispatch transactions emit transactions External Accounts Authenticating accounts is done via RSA encryption. Upon account initialization a private, public key pair is created and written to disk. Keys being created in the ExternalAccounts constructor. On the right, we view the public key These keys are used to digitally sign outgoing transaction requests with the account credentials. A more robust implementation would always ask an account, whether or not he wants to sign the request before sending it. You can view a rudimentary implementation of this in requestAuthForTransaction.sh. requestAuthForTransaction.sh An assumption I’ve made for this implementation is that all accounts agree to sign all transactions requests with their credentials. Contract Accounts Contract accounts are controlled by their code. They simply execute a specific piece of code when invoked, and have direct control over their balance. One of the challenges here was figuring out how to support this in a dynamic, distributed, decentralized, trust less manner. Ethereum uses a globally accessible virtual machine (given a pointer to the contract’s byte code) to execute the contract’s code. But JS doesn’t have a globally accessible VM out of the box for all the nodes to refer to. I initially tried to deploy a contract to all nodes on the network as a stringified JSON object, so that contract execution could be invoked independently on each node by parsing the received object. Unfortunately, ignores methods and functions, therefore stripping smart contracts of their functionality on writes. My workaround for sending contracts dynamically (not hard coded on every node instance) across the network was as follows: JSON.stringify Deploying a Contract Write a smart contract as a plain JS object. 2. Wrap it with parenthesis to make it a string, and remove all newlines so it can be processed via the built in JS method when other nodes receive it. eval 3. Send the string as data to all nodes on the network. Deploying a contract across the network This allows nodes to create contracts on the fly and deploy them across the network. Now, a node can receive a contract it didn’t know about before, and execute its code! 😀😀😀 Writing contract updates Initially we can parse the stringified contract by using the built-in JS eval method, which takes a string and evaluates it as a JS statement. After executing a method that mutates contract state (i.e. changes balance of contract) we want to store the contract in its entirety, without losing access to our methods. Therefore, we will use the JSON stringify method, and pass a custom , instructing it on how to stringify functions. “replacer” function In the future, to read the specially stringified version of the contract we will pass to the JSON.parse method. a custom “reviver” Emitting Transactions via Contract Execution Some contract mutations may only update the internal state of the contract. Other contract executions can “emit” transactions that effect the state of the network. For example, a contract holding funds (contracts govern their own funds) can send them to a specific user upon a certain condition being met. These emitted transactions are listened for, and placed into the mining queue, similar to other transactions in the network. They must be validated before being written to the blockchain. The flow looks like this: An emitted transaction via a contract mutation request, appended to the mempool Smart Contracts with Permissions Calling a smart contract simply invokes a method that results in a transaction emission. Contracts are deployed globally and we’d like an easy way to control who can invoke contract methods. We’d like to enable users to build contracts that support user permissions. For example in an election, we’d only want eligible users to be able to vote (we can determine eligibility however we see fit.). Because all requested transactions are digitally signed via RSA encryption by the requester, we can safely check the user who requested to execute the contract and decide whether or not he is authorized to do so. DAOVotingContract.ts example with permissions Transaction Validation During the first workshop we implemented a raw version of transactions. Because we had no accounts, no form of identification, and no balances to update, they had no meaning. After implementing the above, we can now verify the legality, or “correctness” of a requested transaction State Transition Function Ethereum’s white paper describes a cryptocurrency ledger as a state transition system, where state is composed of ownership status of currency within the system. In my implementation every node has accounts who hold a specific balance. But how does state (balance) change over time? Ethereum specifies a State Transition Function as follows: Illustration from the Ethereum White Paper In our implementation we will take a similar approach to validating state transitions. We will: Check if a transaction adheres to the requested structure and has all the necessary values. All transactions have a and a Although this is an unsafe assumption, for the current implementation and for lack of a proper user client, we will assume that all accounts agree and digitally sign all outgoing transaction requests with their credentials. Before being submitted to the mining queue, we will . senderNodeId senderAddress. verify this digital signature Check that the . nonce matches the nonce in the sender’s account blockchain.ts After verifying the transaction via the method we can add the transaction to the mining queue and mine. It is important to note that these transactions have . Upon consensus, if these transactions belong to the longest chain, and it is a transaction that moves funds we will validate that the sender has an adequate account balance. An example of filtering illegal transactions (sender A sending more funds then he owns) can be see in stateTransitionValidation not yet mutated the network state adequateFunds.sh. adequateFunds.sh To visualize this process: Example Contracts Now that our blockchain has accounts, validated transactions and a way to create and propagate contracts across the network we can look at some real contracts. These contracts are pretty straight forward, and showcase the flexibility and potential of authoring smart contracts on the blockchain. Counter Contract To start things off let’s look at a simple contract that acts as a counter. Every time the contract’s method is called we will increment the counter. Notice, that can invoke this contract code. incrementValue anyone We invoke the contract code by dispatching a request. This contract has its own internal state which it governs. When is called the contract state emits a transaction, requesting to mutate the contract state. After being mined, the mutation is written to the blockchain, so that we have a record of who used the contract (initiated the mutation request) and how the contract was used. mutateContract/:CounterContract PUT incrementValue This contract can be executed via the Postman client or by running the script in the shell-scripts directory. counter_contract.sh Transfer funds after arbitrary date Contract A more realistic scenario for a smart contract is moving funds from account A to account B. The following contract is based on the scenario that Bob wants to transfer 400 coins to Alice, after an arbitrary date has passed. Instead of using a third party service, or escrow system, he can create a smart contract that checks when the date has passed, and initiate a transfer of funds. When the contract’s method is invoked it will check the date, see that it has passed and transfer funds to Alice. moveFunds This contract can be executed via the Postman client or by running the script in the shell-scripts directory. move_funds_after_data_contract.sh DAO Vote for Bonus Contract This scenario involves a DAO (Decentralized autonomous organization) that wants to give one of its employees a bonus. Because this DAO is a completely fair organization 😀😀😀, we should vote on who is deserving of the bonus. But remember, the blockchain is a Therefore, the moment we upload to contract to the network, anyone can see it, and make calls to the contract code. We’d like a way to restrict the voting to only the DAO’s employees. As I mentioned earlier, every request with an accounts credentials, is digitally signed by that account, with their private key. This way, it is easy to verify the voters true origin. So this contract has an “authorizedVoters” field which we will check against, every time an account tries to cast a vote. public ledger! This contract can be executed via the Postman client or by running the script in the shell-scripts directory. voting_permissions_contract.sh These are only several examples of smart contracts. The current structure allows anyone to upload any contract (as long as it adheres to parsable format I am using), deploy it to the network in session, and start executing it. We can create contracts for elections, distributed file storage and more. Conclusion Programming this proof-of-concept blockchain was quite a challenge! It is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of ways it can be improved and secured. I had a great time researching the concepts, and learning about blockchain implementations and mechanisms. A huge thank you, to for the , and to , and for organizing . Leonid Beder graceful blockchain introduction Kin Contributors Orbs Samsung Next Blockchain Academy You can check out my full implementation here. If you’d like to continue the blockchain discussion, feel free to reach out via, or . Instagram Linkedin Lastly, if you have made it this far, thanks for sticking with it 🤗🤗🙌🙌🖖🏼✌️🏼 _A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Blockchain has been…_hackernoon.com Blockchain - Hacker Noon

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