---
_id: '8296'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: While showing great promise, smart contracts are difficult to program correctly,
    as they need a deep understanding of cryptography and distributed algorithms,
    and offer limited functionality, as they have to be deterministic and cannot operate
    on secret data. In this paper we present Protean, a general-purpose decentralized
    computing platform that addresses these limitations by moving from a monolithic
    execution model, where all participating nodes store all the state and execute
    every computation, to a modular execution-model. Protean employs secure specialized
    modules, called functional units, for building decentralized applications that
    are currently insecure or impossible to implement with smart contracts. Each functional
    unit is a distributed system that provides a special-purpose functionality by
    exposing atomic transactions to the smart-contract developer. Combining these
    transactions into arbitrarily-defined workflows, developers can build a larger
    class of decentralized applications, such as provably-secure and fair lotteries
    or e-voting.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Enis Ceyhun
  full_name: Alp, Enis Ceyhun
  last_name: Alp
- first_name: Eleftherios
  full_name: Kokoris Kogias, Eleftherios
  id: f5983044-d7ef-11ea-ac6d-fd1430a26d30
  last_name: Kokoris Kogias
- first_name: Georgia
  full_name: Fragkouli, Georgia
  last_name: Fragkouli
- first_name: Bryan
  full_name: Ford, Bryan
  last_name: Ford
citation:
  ama: 'Alp EC, Kokoris Kogias E, Fragkouli G, Ford B. Rethinking general-purpose
    decentralized computing. In: <i>Proceedings of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating
    Systems</i>. ACM; 2019:105-112. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448">10.1145/3317550.3321448</a>'
  apa: 'Alp, E. C., Kokoris Kogias, E., Fragkouli, G., &#38; Ford, B. (2019). Rethinking
    general-purpose decentralized computing. In <i>Proceedings of the Workshop on
    Hot Topics in Operating Systems</i> (pp. 105–112). Bertinoro, Italy: ACM. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448">https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448</a>'
  chicago: Alp, Enis Ceyhun, Eleftherios Kokoris Kogias, Georgia Fragkouli, and Bryan
    Ford. “Rethinking General-Purpose Decentralized Computing.” In <i>Proceedings
    of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems</i>, 105–12. ACM, 2019. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448">https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448</a>.
  ieee: E. C. Alp, E. Kokoris Kogias, G. Fragkouli, and B. Ford, “Rethinking general-purpose
    decentralized computing,” in <i>Proceedings of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating
    Systems</i>, Bertinoro, Italy, 2019, pp. 105–112.
  ista: 'Alp EC, Kokoris Kogias E, Fragkouli G, Ford B. 2019. Rethinking general-purpose
    decentralized computing. Proceedings of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating
    Systems. HotOS: Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems, 105–112.'
  mla: Alp, Enis Ceyhun, et al. “Rethinking General-Purpose Decentralized Computing.”
    <i>Proceedings of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems</i>, ACM, 2019,
    pp. 105–12, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3317550.3321448">10.1145/3317550.3321448</a>.
  short: E.C. Alp, E. Kokoris Kogias, G. Fragkouli, B. Ford, in:, Proceedings of the
    Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems, ACM, 2019, pp. 105–112.
conference:
  end_date: 2019-05-15
  location: Bertinoro, Italy
  name: 'HotOS: Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems'
  start_date: 2019-05-13
date_created: 2020-08-26T11:45:45Z
date_published: 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2021-01-12T08:17:56Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1145/3317550.3321448
extern: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '05'
oa_version: None
page: 105-112
publication: Proceedings of the Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems
publication_identifier:
  isbn:
  - '9781450367271'
publication_status: published
publisher: ACM
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Rethinking general-purpose decentralized computing
type: conference
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2019'
...