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Greetings IC3 Friends😊! 

Welcome to the May edition of the IC3 Newsletter! This month, we spotlight our new research on Avalanche Consensus. Additionally, we also share a recording of our recent X Space discussion on this research featuring IC3 researchers and Ava Labs engineers. Don't forget to check out our signature events—the Summer Blockchain Camp and the Science of Blockchain Conference. Registrations and sponsorship calls are still open!

NEW RESEARCH

Eating Sandwiches: Modular and Lightweight Elimination of Transaction Reordering Attacks by Orestis Alpos (University of Bern), Ignacio Amores-Sesar (University of Bern, IC3), Christian Cachin (University of Bern, IC3), Michelle Yeo (National University of Singapore):

  • Sandwich attacks have drained over $1.1 million from Ethereum users within the last month alone, according to Eigenphi. To mitigate the effects of these attacks, the authors have introduced a new, decentralized protocol that transforms any blockchain's consensus algorithm without compromising on network security.


Avalanche Consensus — Does it Perform as Promised? by Philipp Schneider (University of Bern, IC3) with contributions by Ignacio Amores-Sesar (University of Bern, IC3), and Christian Cachin (University of Bern, IC3):

  • In a three-part series, the authors examined the "Snow" protocols that tackle the fundamental consensus issue. This series is divided into three parts. Part 1 can be found here, while parts 2 and 3 are available on the Crypto@Bern blog.


Decentralization of Ethereum Builder Market by Sen Yang (Yale University), Kartik Nayak (Duke University), and Fan Zhang (Yale University, IC3 Alum):

  • The authors investigate the decentralization of Ethereum, focusing on its builder market designed to avoid centralization from Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). Despite being permissionless, this market is highly centralized, with three builders producing over 90% of blocks. The study, based on auction data from 2022, reveals significant entry barriers and inequalities in block-building capabilities. It highlights issues in the competitiveness and efficiency of MEV-Boost auctions, which impact overall decentralization and security.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTS

🔥 IC3 faculty Prof. Andrew Miller (UIUC) gave a tutorial on a self-contained application using Gramine, and also demonstrated the simplest form of controlled channel attack: the "spicy printf". Notes can be found here.

🎙️ IC3 and Ava Labs co-hosted a Space discussion featuring IC3 faculty Prof. Christian Cachin (University of Bern) and PhD student Phillipp Schneider (University of Bern) and Ava Labs Senior Engineers (Aaron Buchwald, Stephen Buttolph & Patrick O'Grady). Click below to review this fascinating discussion on Avalanche Consensus.

⭐️IC3 Co-Director Prof. Ari Juels (Cornell Tech) provides his perspective on

"What the DOJ’s First MEV Lawsuit Means for Ethereum?" in the new op-ed (Written by Daniel Kuhn) from CoinDesk. Click the image below to read.

EVENTS

Register for SBC 2024 in NYC!

Mark your calendars! IC3 is thrilled to announce that the Science of Blockchain Conference (SBC) 2024 will be held in New York City from August 7-9, 2024. SBC 2024 is hosted by IC3, and co-organized with Stanford CBR and Berkeley RDI.


Attendance is free but please register by June 7, 2024.

Join SBC 2024!

Important Dates


  • Final acceptance notification: June 13, 2024
  • Conference registration deadline June 7, 2024


Sponsorship opportunities are still available, co-create this incredible experience with us by becoming a sponsor! Apply here today!

Last Call for IC3 2024 Summer Blockchain Camp in NYC!

We are excited to announce the upcoming IC3 2024 Summer Blockchain Camp, scheduled for June 10th to June 16th. This year, we are delighted to bring our signature IC3 Blockchain experience back to the vibrant city of New York at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Registration is now open to IC3 members and partners! 


Registration closes on June 3, 2024. See registration details here.

Please send any new research or presentations to jh2584@cornell.edu to be included in the next research update. Thanks for reading!

 

Best wishes, 

Bria Han

IC3 Community Manager

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