2016/12/16 by Andrew Miller, Iddo Bentov, Miller, Andrew +1 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Psychology · #Blockchain Technology Applications and Security #Cryptography and Data Security #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Gambling Behavior and Treatments
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1612.05390
openalex publication_date 2016/12/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
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(log N) 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.