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Update 3

This is my update for week 3-4. During those two weeks, I iterated on the feedback I received for my last update about the proposal to remove some trust from the relay. Furthermore, I worked on my project proposal.

Feedback

The main feedback I received was that the builder does not need to be a validator. This is because the builder could just stake X amount of ETH in a smart contract and we could still have these slashing mechanisms. Benefits include a barrier to entry of potentially less than 32 ETH and the elimination of the obligations associated with taking part in the consensus protocol. Furthermore, the EigenLayer hasn't been released, and if we had used it, we would have run into the principal agent problem. Consequently, the consensus protocol's security would be weakened. We do not have this issue while utilizing an own staking contract. However, this also makes it simpler for builders to create new identities, which is problematic for anti-spam systems that are meant to safeguard the proposers.

The second feedback was that builders could grief proposers by submitting invalid blocks. This can be prevented if we assume that the builder will always send an invalid block and by default remove some stake unless the builder includes a transaction with a function call to the staking contract in his block which signals that it is not an invalid block. Because if it was, he wouldn't be able to call this function.

The third feedback was that by signing the block through the proposer but failing to deliver it to the builder in time, proposers could grief builders. Barnabe suggested, setting up a committee to determine if a proposer's header was received on time by the builder.

Next steps

  • Update the proposal with those new ideas
  • Learn more about the operation of such a "synthetic" EigenLayer.
  • Explore the idea of a committee to assert the header in time
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Final EPF update

This is the final update for the "Reducing trust in the PBS relay" project by echno. The project aimed to reduce the required trust assumptions in the PBS relay either by proposing a new approach or adopting an existing one Status report The goal of the project was defined as follows: The goal is to have developed a solution and specification, with the fewest possible drawbacks, that to some degree reduces the trust of the relay. Additionally, it would be nice to have a prototype implementation of this specification. The approach we created is called the Rollup-Relay, which is a PBS solution that utilizes a rollup as the intermediary between the builder and the proposer. Additionally, we described how this approach could be further abstracted to utilize other intermediaries, such as a modified MEV-Boost-Relay or a Data Availability Layer (DA). We also extended the approach with an additional Data Availability Layer to reduce trust assumptions even further.

Feb 27, 2023
Update 9

Over the past two weeks, I have mainly been exploring the 'Further Work' section of the Rollup-Relay approach, with a focus on further reducing the trust assumptions through a data availability layer, as well as further abstracting the approach. Abstraction Since I didn't emphasize this enough in my earlier posts, the off-chain commitment between the builder and the proposer does not need to have a rollup as the intermediary. It can also be done via a mev-boost-relay or a data availability layer, as shown in the illustration below. Trust assumptions are reduced with this approach regardless of which intermediary is used. However, there are different trade-offs to consider beyond the trust assumptions, which is why I initially chose to use a rollup as the intermediary. However, I can also see a world where all these different intermediaries can co-exist, and proposers and builders can choose which one to use based on their trade-offs. This leaves room for experimentation and lets the market decide what intermediary works best. Here is the full approach with the abstracted intermediary: Reducing trust assumption further with a data availability layer

Feb 19, 2023
Rollup-relay

The goal of the project was to reduce the trust assumption in the PBS relay. While the Rollup-Relay may not be the ultimate solution for solving PBS, we still believe it accomplishes this goal. Additionally, this solution could be implemented relatively quickly today compared to other solutions, since the infrastructure is already in place. It also serves as a solid foundation for more sophisticated solutions. The Problem Currently, relays serve as the link between the builders and proposers. Builders can submit bids to the relay to have their block included in the proposers slot. The relay selects the highest valid bid and forwards the block header the proposer. The proposer picks the best block from all the relays and returns the signed header back to the chosen relay. After the signed block header is received, the whole block is released to the network. This strategy has some fundamental trust assumptions, e.g. relying on the relay to release the block on time, unbiased in selecting the blocks for the proposer (e.g. the relay operators do not prefer their own blocks over others), does not censor blocks based on their content and do not steal the builder’s mev opportunities. To reduce these trust assumptions, we propose the rollup-relay. The Approach The Rollup-Relay approach involves using a rollup to facilitate the exchange of minimal information needed for the builder and proposer to accomplish the auction. In the following section, we will provide a more detailed explanation of how this process takes place.

Feb 19, 2023
Update 8

The last two weeks, I have been mainly focused on cleaning up the approach and writing a comprehensive doc that explains the entire mechanism. I'm also in the process of collecting feedback from various people about the it. Additionally, I looked further into data availability layers with their own consensus algorithms, such as Celestia. The doc with the entire approach can be found at: https://hackmd.io/@echno/rollup-relay If you want to leave some feedback, dms are open on twitter or leave some feedback here: https://collective.flashbots.net/t/rollup-relay-reducing-trust-assumptions-in-the-relay/1212 I have also started a Github repo a while back: https://github.com/ogechno/rollup-relay There isn't much in the repo, except for some boilerplate code, but I will probably try to hack on it during the builder week at ETHDenver 2023.

Feb 6, 2023
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