Clear DefinitionsCasper
1 min read
Pronunciation
[kas-per]
Analogy
Imagine Ethereum's original PoW system was like a city secured by many competing construction crews (miners) constantly building. Casper was the ambitious city-wide renovation project to switch to a new security system managed by invested property owners (stakers) who vote on the city's state. It involved multiple blueprints (FFG, CBC) and phases to ensure a smooth and secure transition.
Definition
The name given to a series of research and development projects by the Ethereum Foundation aimed at transitioning the Ethereum network from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Different versions like Casper FFG (Friendly Finality Gadget) and Casper CBC (Correct-by-Construction) were explored.
Key Points Intro
Casper represents Ethereum's journey to Proof-of-Stake, focusing on finality and validator incentives.
Key Points
A research project for implementing Proof-of-Stake on Ethereum.
Casper FFG (Friendly Finality Gadget) was designed as a hybrid PoW/PoS mechanism to provide finality to PoW blocks, acting as an overlay.
Casper CBC (Correct-by-Construction) is a broader family of PoS protocols focusing on safety and liveness properties derived from first principles.
The research and implementations under the Casper umbrella were foundational to Ethereum's eventual move to PoS via 'The Merge'.
Example
Casper FFG was implemented on Ethereum's Beacon Chain (before The Merge) to provide finality. Validators on the Beacon Chain would vote on checkpoints, and once a checkpoint gained a supermajority vote, it (and all preceding blocks) would be considered finalized.
Technical Deep Dive
Casper FFG introduced the concepts of 'checkpoints' in the blockchain and had validators vote on pairs of checkpoints to finalize them. It relied on mechanisms like justifiable and finalized epochs. Slashing conditions were defined for validators who violated voting rules (e.g., voting for conflicting checkpoints). Casper CBC takes a more abstract approach, defining consensus safety based on an estimator of future fault tolerance. The actual PoS mechanism implemented by Ethereum in The Merge and beyond draws heavily from the research and principles developed under the Casper project.
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