Scripting smart contracts for distributed ledger technology

Thompson, Simon and Lamela Seijas, Pablo and Adams, Darryl (2016) Scripting smart contracts for distributed ledger technology. Technical report. Cryptology ePrint Archive (Unpublished) (Full text available)

Abstract

We give an overview of the scripting languages used in existing cryptocurrencies, and in particular we review in some detail the scripting languages of Bitcoin, Nxt and Ethereum, in the context of a high-level overview of Distributed Ledger Technology and cryptocurrencies. We survey different approaches, and give an overview of critiques of existing languages. We also cover technologies that might be used to underpin extensions and innovations in scripting and contracts, including technologies for verification, such as zero knowledge proofs, proof-carrying code and static analysis, as well as approaches to making systems more efficient, e.g. Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees.

Item Type:	Monograph (Technical report)
Uncontrolled keywords:	applications / electronic commerce and payment, blockchain, scripting language, cryptocurrency, smart contract
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) > QA 76 Software, computer programming, Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) > QA 76 Software, computer programming, > QA76.76 Computer software
Divisions:	Faculties > Sciences > School of Computing Faculties > Sciences > School of Computing > Programming Languages and Systems Group
Depositing User:	Simon Thompson
Date Deposited:	01 Apr 2017 16:04 UTC
Last Modified:	01 Apr 2017 16:04 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/61162 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)