YACL Talk | Oct 31 | Sarisht Wadhwa, Duke University - Security of Blockchains with Strategic Players

[Aviv Yaish]

We're thrilled to have Sarisht Wadhwa as our next speaker, do join his very interesting talk!

• Abstract: Blockchains face two fundamental and intertwined challenges: censorship, characterized by the selective exclusion of transactions, and strategic manipulation of transaction ordering. This talk examines the deep connection between these two issues and highlights the inherent limitations of purely cryptographic approaches in mitigating them. I will then explore the underlying economic mechanisms that give rise to such vulnerabilities and present the design of Auction-Based Inclusion Lists (AUCIL)-- a protocol that achieves robustness against bribery-based attacks and provides a promising pathway toward censorship resistance in blockchain systems.

• Bio: Sarisht is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Duke University, advised by Prof. Kartik Nayak and Prof. Fan Zhang. His research lies at the intersection of consensus and game theory, with a focus on designing secure and incentive-compatible blockchain protocols. His work explores questions of censorship resistance, transaction fee mechanisms, and mechanism design for decentralized systems. His broader research aims to formalize and resolve fundamental incentive and efficiency challenges in blockchain infrastructure.

• Livestream: https://yale.zoom.us/j/94311398970?pwd=xsujqLr7XCvHDXiLSqWnRhBl8kc4hS.1

• More details: https://yacl.cs.yale.edu

[Aviv Yaish]

Reminding everyone of today's highly anticipated talk by the great Sarish Wadhwa (Duke University)!