1. “Improving Proof of Stake Economic Security via MEV Redistribution” by Tarun Chitra and Kshitij Kulkarni

TLDR:

• Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) has been shown to cause negative externalities to regular users, such as increased slippage rates in DEXs as well as increased transactional costs.

• This paper evaluates MEV in a Proof-of-Stake context where developed lending markets for the staked asset exist. It provides interesting context and formalized mathematical models describing the competitive nature of lending and staking.

• The authors propose a fascinating schema to attempt to avoid bad competitive equilibria between staking and lending via a redistribution mechanism.

• This mechanism effectively enables MEV revenue to be shared with PoS validators and further incentivizes staking.

2. “zk-PCN: A Privacy-Preserving Payment Channel Network Using zk-SNARKs” by Wenxuan Yu, Minghui Xu, Dongxiao Yu, Xiuzhen Cheng, Qin Hu, and Zehui Xiong

TLDR:

• Payment Channel Networks (PCNs), like Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, provide a scalable way to transfer funds between users.

• However, there are concerns around their privacy guarantees and many proof-of-concept privacy attacks on Lightning have been published.

• This paper provides a new approach to the construction of PCNs, leveraging Zero Knowledge Proofs to theoretically increase the privacy and efficiency of layer 2 payments.

3. “To EVM or Not to EVM: Blockchain Compatibility and Network Effects” by Ruizhe Jia and Steven Yin

TLDR:

• Smart contracts have been popularized by Ethereum, in part due to the high functionality enabled by its execution engine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

• Competing layer 1s, such as Avalanche, have attempted to gain market share by enabling applications built on Ethereum to be executed on their platforms. This is predominantly done by copying the EVM and reusing all open-source software built for it.

• This paper provides a fascinating analysis of this trend and features insights on why the EVM became an industry standard as well as the strategic significance of building EVM-compatible applications.

4. “Exploring Price Accuracy on Uniswap V3 in Times of Distress” by Lioba Heimbach, Eric Schertenleib, and Roger Wattenhofer

TLDR:

• Decentralized exchanges (DEXs), such as Uniswap, may at times settle more trades than the largest centralized exchanges. In order to better compete with them, Uniswap recently released the third iteration of its protocol, Uniswap v3, which attempts to further improve price efficiency in its markets.

• This paper provides an empirical evaluation of efficiency in Uniswap v3 in times of price shocks and compares these markets to their centralized counterparts.

• The authors find critical pricing inefficiencies in Uniswap v3 and highlight some of the structural problems that impact the liquidity providers of these markets.

5. “Analysis of Non-Fungible Token Pricing Factors with Machine Learning” by Kin-Hon Ho, Yun Hou, Tse-Tin Chan, and Haoyuan Pan

TLDR:

• The pricing of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) is susceptible to multiple factors. Generally speaking, the rarity of an NFT can be a major determinant of its price.

• This paper evaluates the role that rarity plays in pricing NFTs, especially in the field of gaming, by looking at on-chain data from Axie Infinity.

• They find that, although rarity plays a major role in valuation, the utility provided by the NFT can also drastically impact its value.

**About SCRF **The Smart Contract Research Forum’s (SCRF) bold mission is to advance web3 through actionable research and knowledge-sharing. To this end, SCRF connects researchers and builders, sponsors projects, and constructs collaborative forums. SCRF’s community is an active, international network of academics, industry architects, and blockchain advocates.

1. “Improving Proof of Stake Economic Security via MEV Redistribution” by Tarun Chitra and Kshitij Kulkarni

TLDR:

• Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) has been shown to cause negative externalities to regular users, such as increased slippage rates in DEXs as well as increased transactional costs.

• This paper evaluates MEV in a Proof-of-Stake context where developed lending markets for the staked asset exist. It provides interesting context and formalized mathematical models describing the competitive nature of lending and staking.

• The authors propose a fascinating schema to attempt to avoid bad competitive equilibria between staking and lending via a redistribution mechanism.

• This mechanism effectively enables MEV revenue to be shared with PoS validators and further incentivizes staking.

2. “zk-PCN: A Privacy-Preserving Payment Channel Network Using zk-SNARKs” by Wenxuan Yu, Minghui Xu, Dongxiao Yu, Xiuzhen Cheng, Qin Hu, and Zehui Xiong

TLDR:

• Payment Channel Networks (PCNs), like Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, provide a scalable way to transfer funds between users.

• However, there are concerns around their privacy guarantees and many proof-of-concept privacy attacks on Lightning have been published.

• This paper provides a new approach to the construction of PCNs, leveraging Zero Knowledge Proofs to theoretically increase the privacy and efficiency of layer 2 payments.

3. “To EVM or Not to EVM: Blockchain Compatibility and Network Effects” by Ruizhe Jia and Steven Yin

TLDR:

• Smart contracts have been popularized by Ethereum, in part due to the high functionality enabled by its execution engine, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

• Competing layer 1s, such as Avalanche, have attempted to gain market share by enabling applications built on Ethereum to be executed on their platforms. This is predominantly done by copying the EVM and reusing all open-source software built for it.

• This paper provides a fascinating analysis of this trend and features insights on why the EVM became an industry standard as well as the strategic significance of building EVM-compatible applications.

4. “Exploring Price Accuracy on Uniswap V3 in Times of Distress” by Lioba Heimbach, Eric Schertenleib, and Roger Wattenhofer

TLDR:

• Decentralized exchanges (DEXs), such as Uniswap, may at times settle more trades than the largest centralized exchanges. In order to better compete with them, Uniswap recently released the third iteration of its protocol, Uniswap v3, which attempts to further improve price efficiency in its markets.

• This paper provides an empirical evaluation of efficiency in Uniswap v3 in times of price shocks and compares these markets to their centralized counterparts.

• The authors find critical pricing inefficiencies in Uniswap v3 and highlight some of the structural problems that impact the liquidity providers of these markets.

5. “Analysis of Non-Fungible Token Pricing Factors with Machine Learning” by Kin-Hon Ho, Yun Hou, Tse-Tin Chan, and Haoyuan Pan

TLDR:

• The pricing of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) is susceptible to multiple factors. Generally speaking, the rarity of an NFT can be a major determinant of its price.

• This paper evaluates the role that rarity plays in pricing NFTs, especially in the field of gaming, by looking at on-chain data from Axie Infinity.

• They find that, although rarity plays a major role in valuation, the utility provided by the NFT can also drastically impact its value.

**About SCRF **The Smart Contract Research Forum’s (SCRF) bold mission is to advance web3 through actionable research and knowledge-sharing. To this end, SCRF connects researchers and builders, sponsors projects, and constructs collaborative forums. SCRF’s community is an active, international network of academics, industry architects, and blockchain advocates.