Trust Management of Decentralised Platforms, Sheng-Nan Li (UZH Blockchain Center)

Talk by Sheng-Nan Li (UZH Blockchain Center)
Abstract:
In this presentation, we emphasise three foundational pillars-honesty, fairness, and sustainability-essential for maintaining and reinforcing trust in Blockchains and other Decentralised Platforms. Each pillar is exemplified through a dedicated project, which are focus on monitoring, analysis, and modelling of user behaviour and protocol functioning within reward mechanisms. To effectively manage both inherent internal trust challenges (embedded within protocol design) and external trust issues (arising from strategic behaviour), we uncover anomalies such as selfish and cartel mining in real-world Proof of Work (PoW) systems. We then analyse the fairness of Proof of Stake (PoS) reward distribution mechanisms, finding unexpected relationships between their inclusiveness and the emergent inequality. Furthermore, we introduce a comprehensive framework for PoS staking modelling, poised to bring potential enhancements to the design and evolution of these protocols.