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GasToken : A Journey Through Blockchain Resource Arbitrage

Discover GasToken, a revolutionary approach to trading Ethereum gas for profit and managing volatile transaction fees in the blockchain landscape. Dive into the details and explore the potential of GasToken at MIT's Bitcoin Expo 2018.

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GasToken : A Journey Through Blockchain Resource Arbitrage

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  1. GasToken: A Journey Through Blockchain Resource Arbitrage Florian Tramèr Stanford University MIT Bitcoin Expo 18 March 2018

  2. Imagine if… Monday: It’s $4 for the cappuccino… and the transaction fee is $0.10. Friday: It’s $4 for the cappuccino… and the transaction fee is $6.25. MIT Bitcoin Expo

  3. Transaction fees / Ethereum gas prices are super volatile MIT Bitcoin Expo

  4. Same in Bitcoin… source: bitinfocharts.com MIT Bitcoin Expo

  5. How do ordinary businesses handle volatility? • Stock up when prices are low! • Or buy financial instruments… • How do you “speculate on” or stockpile transaction fees? MIT Bitcoin Expo

  6. GasToken: Stockpiling and trading Ethereum gas Phil Daian, Lorenz Breidenbach, FT + Ari Juels https://gastoken.io MIT Bitcoin Expo

  7. Ethereum Gas 1 GWei = 109 Wei 1 Ether = 1018 Wei MyContract func(x): a = x +1 b =hash(a) Mem[0] = b 3 gas 30 gas 20000 gas 20033 gas How Much? I want to run func(1) User Miner(s) 1 GWei per gas? (0.00002 eth) Meh… MIT Bitcoin Expo

  8. Ethereum Gas 1 GWei = 109 Wei 1 Ether = 1018 Wei MyContract func(x): a = x +1 b =hash(a) Mem[0] = b 3 gas 30 gas 20000 gas 20033 gas How Much? I want to run func(1) User Miner(s) 10 GWei per gas? (0.00002 eth) OK! MIT Bitcoin Expo

  9. GasToken in a nutshell • To encourage state cleanup, Ethereum offers a gas refund for: • Released contract storage • Destroyed contracts • Write to state when gas price is low • Trade state slots as an ERC20 token • Release state when gas price is high • Refund pays up to half of transaction fee MIT Bitcoin Expo

  10. An example Regular Regular 0 0 0 4 0 1 GWei GWei Store 10 words Total Gas: 200,000 Price: $0.20 Breed kitties Total Gas: 250,000 Price: $9 MIT Bitcoin Expo

  11. An example Regular Regular 0 0 4 0 0 1 GWei GWei Store 10 words Total Gas: 200,000 Price: $0.20 Free 10 words & breed kitties refund Total Gas: 250,000 – 100,000 Price: $9 $5 MIT Bitcoin Expo

  12. Nifty details • Two variants of GasToken: • GST1: uses storage, SSTORE(1), SSTORE(0) • GST2: uses contracts, CREATE, SELFDESTRUCT • GST2 more complex but also more efficient • SSTORE: 20k to stock, for 10k refund (50%) • CREATE: 32k to stock, for ~17k refund (53%) • Refund is interesting when gas volatility is >2x MIT Bitcoin Expo

  13. Nifty details • Two variants of GasToken: • GST1: uses storage, SSTORE(1), SSTORE(0) • GST2: uses contracts, CREATE, SELFDESTRUCT • Refund is interesting when gas volatility is >2x • GST2 more complex but also more efficient • SSTORE: 20,000 to stock, for 10,000 refund • CREATE: 32,000 to stock, for ~17,000 refund MIT Bitcoin Expo

  14. FAQ • Who “pays” for the refund? • Technically, the miner by only being paid for half the transaction cost • Why wouldn’t miners blacklist GasToken then? • Ethereum is naturally “censorship resistant” • GasToken can increase transaction demand when gas prices are low • Is GST1/2 an investment vehicle / security / financial product? No! We make absolutely no promises of any returns, profit…GasToken is not based on any currency, asset, or other financial product… We encourage users to expect zero further effort from its developers… it is likely that the developers of GasToken will advocate for changes to the network that render GasToken unusable.  MIT Bitcoin Expo

  15. FAQ • Who “pays” for the refund? • Technically, the miner by only being paid for half the transaction cost • Why wouldn’t miners blacklist GasToken then? • Ethereum is naturally “censorship resistant” • GasToken can increase transaction demand when gas prices are low • Is GST1/2 an investment vehicle / security / financial product? No! We make absolutely no promises of any returns, profit…GasToken is not based on any currency, asset, or other financial product… We encourage users to expect zero further effort from its developers… it is likely that the developers of GasToken will advocate for changes to the network that render GasToken unusable.  So many 0s… 40 bits MIT Bitcoin Expo

  16. The issue with storage pricing • Blockchain state is (a priori) permanent • Smart contract storage, UTXO set, etc. • One time transaction fee ⇒ recurring & indefinite costs to network • Writing to state must be expensive to deter DOS attacks • Yet incentivize users to clean up… • E.g., many transactions in Bitcoin’s UTXO have no positive incentive to be spent Why 20k gas for SSTORE? MIT Bitcoin Expo

  17. Storage Rent • EIP 35/87: Charge “rent” for contract storage • If rent unpaid, storage is removed from chain • Refund scheme could be removed entirely • Great idea but tricky execution • Developers must guard against storage loss • Entire contracts could disappear if unpaid • Doesn’t work for UTXO set… MIT Bitcoin Expo

  18. The big picture: Cryptocommodities • Blockchain transactions require a number of “raw” resources or commodities • Memory: block space, UTXO set, etc. • Computation: e.g., gas in Ethereum • How do we accurately price and freely trade these commodities (and their derivatives)? MIT Bitcoin Expo

  19. Project Chicago: beyond GasToken • More efficient transaction-fee derivatives Bob: I’ll pay Alice’s transaction on April 1st Avg. gas price is 5 GWei Alice: Run my transaction Transfer funds from Bob to Alice • Other cryptocommodities? • In-protocol futures • Could stable & efficient cryptocommodity markets be supported at the consensus level? MIT Bitcoin Expo

  20. Learn More https://gastoken.io https://projectchicago.io Thanks! MIT Bitcoin Expo

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