The Blocklace: A Partially-Ordered Generalization of the Blockchain | a16z crypto research talks

Introducing the blocklace, a partially ordered generalization of the totally ordered blockchain. In this presentation, Ehud Shapiro (Weizmann Institute of Science) shows how the blocklace can realize all algorithmic tasks required for ordering consensus: dissemination, equivocation-exclusion, and ordering. These capabilities are integrated in Cordial Miners - a family of efficient Byzantine Atomic Broadcast (permissioned blockchain consensus) protocols, with optimal instances for the models of asynchrony and eventual synchrony. Their efficiency - almost half the latency of state-of-the-art DAG-based protocols - stems from their use of the blocklace not only for ordering, as DAG-based protocols do, but also for dissemination and equivocation exclusion.

For more, see these three papers:
* https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.13650
* https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.05619
* https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09174

About the speaker
Udi is a multi-disciplinary scientist, artist, and entrepreneur. He holds the Harry Weinrebe Professorial Chair of Computer Science and Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He has made fundamental contributions to many scientific disciplines, from biomolecular computing to internet democracy. Shapiro was also an internet pioneer and a successful entrepreneur. He is a winner of two ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grants.

About a16z crypto research
a16z crypto research is a multidisciplinary lab that works closely with our portfolio companies and others toward solving the important problems in the space, and toward advancing the science and technology of the next generation of the internet.

Our researchers are technologists, scientists, cryptographers, and cryptocurrency experts, working to bridge the worlds of academic theory with industry practice, and to help shape crypto and web3 as a formal area of study. More about us: a16z.com/2022/04/21/announcing-a16z-crypto-research

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