mPoW: How to Make Proof of Work Meaningful

Takaki ASANUMA; Takanori ISOBE

doi:10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010

mPoW: How to Make Proof of Work Meaningful

Takaki ASANUMA, Takanori ISOBE

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Proof of Work (PoW), which is a consensus algorithm for blockchain, entails a large number of meaningless hash calculations and wastage of electric power and computational resources. In 2021, it is estimated that the PoW of Bitcoin consumes as much electricity as Pakistan's annual power consumption (91TWh). This is a serious problem against sustainable development goals. To solve this problem, this study proposes Meaningful-PoW (mPoW), which involves a meaningful calculation, namely the application of a genetic algorithm (GA) to PoW. Specifically, by using the intermediate values that are periodically generated through GA calculations as an input to the Hashcash used in Bitcoin, it is possible to make this scheme a meaningful calculation (GA optimization problem) while maintaining the properties required for PoW. Furthermore, by applying a device-binding technology, mPoW can be ASIC resistant without the requirement of a large memory. Thus, we show that mPoW can reduce the excessive consumption of both power and computational resources.

Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals Vol.E106-A No.3 pp.333-340

Publication Date: 2023/03/01

Publicized: 2022/11/09

Online ISSN: 1745-1337

DOI: 10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010

Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Cryptography and Information Security)

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Authors

Takaki ASANUMA
the University of Hyogo
Takanori ISOBE
the University of Hyogo

Keyword

blockchain, proof of work, energy consumption, genetic algorithm, proof of work

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Takaki ASANUMA, Takanori ISOBE, "mPoW: How to Make Proof of Work Meaningful" in IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals, vol. E106-A, no. 3, pp. 333-340, March 2023, doi: 10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010.
Abstract: Proof of Work (PoW), which is a consensus algorithm for blockchain, entails a large number of meaningless hash calculations and wastage of electric power and computational resources. In 2021, it is estimated that the PoW of Bitcoin consumes as much electricity as Pakistan's annual power consumption (91TWh). This is a serious problem against sustainable development goals. To solve this problem, this study proposes Meaningful-PoW (mPoW), which involves a meaningful calculation, namely the application of a genetic algorithm (GA) to PoW. Specifically, by using the intermediate values that are periodically generated through GA calculations as an input to the Hashcash used in Bitcoin, it is possible to make this scheme a meaningful calculation (GA optimization problem) while maintaining the properties required for PoW. Furthermore, by applying a device-binding technology, mPoW can be ASIC resistant without the requirement of a large memory. Thus, we show that mPoW can reduce the excessive consumption of both power and computational resources.
URL: https://global.ieice.org/en_transactions/fundamentals/10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010/_p

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@ARTICLE{e106-a_3_333,
author={Takaki ASANUMA, Takanori ISOBE, },
journal={IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals},
title={mPoW: How to Make Proof of Work Meaningful},
year={2023},
volume={E106-A},
number={3},
pages={333-340},
abstract={Proof of Work (PoW), which is a consensus algorithm for blockchain, entails a large number of meaningless hash calculations and wastage of electric power and computational resources. In 2021, it is estimated that the PoW of Bitcoin consumes as much electricity as Pakistan's annual power consumption (91TWh). This is a serious problem against sustainable development goals. To solve this problem, this study proposes Meaningful-PoW (mPoW), which involves a meaningful calculation, namely the application of a genetic algorithm (GA) to PoW. Specifically, by using the intermediate values that are periodically generated through GA calculations as an input to the Hashcash used in Bitcoin, it is possible to make this scheme a meaningful calculation (GA optimization problem) while maintaining the properties required for PoW. Furthermore, by applying a device-binding technology, mPoW can be ASIC resistant without the requirement of a large memory. Thus, we show that mPoW can reduce the excessive consumption of both power and computational resources.},
keywords={},
doi={10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010},
ISSN={1745-1337},
month={March},}

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TY - JOUR
TI - mPoW: How to Make Proof of Work Meaningful
T2 - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals
SP - 333
EP - 340
AU - Takaki ASANUMA
AU - Takanori ISOBE
PY - 2023
DO - 10.1587/transfun.2022CIP0010
JO - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals
SN - 1745-1337
VL - E106-A
IS - 3
JA - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals
Y1 - March 2023
AB - Proof of Work (PoW), which is a consensus algorithm for blockchain, entails a large number of meaningless hash calculations and wastage of electric power and computational resources. In 2021, it is estimated that the PoW of Bitcoin consumes as much electricity as Pakistan's annual power consumption (91TWh). This is a serious problem against sustainable development goals. To solve this problem, this study proposes Meaningful-PoW (mPoW), which involves a meaningful calculation, namely the application of a genetic algorithm (GA) to PoW. Specifically, by using the intermediate values that are periodically generated through GA calculations as an input to the Hashcash used in Bitcoin, it is possible to make this scheme a meaningful calculation (GA optimization problem) while maintaining the properties required for PoW. Furthermore, by applying a device-binding technology, mPoW can be ASIC resistant without the requirement of a large memory. Thus, we show that mPoW can reduce the excessive consumption of both power and computational resources.
ER -