2212788
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
SBIR Phase I: Lightweight Scalable Auctions for Decentralized Martketplaces and Beyond - The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to increase the security and privacy controls in today's financial (crypto or traditional) exchanges and auction platforms.
Currently, such exchanges suffer from information leakage, meaning that third parties can see aspects of the bidding or auction processes, and this ability allows them to gain an advantage or unfairly outbid (i.e. front-run) the competition. A related issue is the lack of transparency in exchanges, which often results from their efforts to limit information leakage. The lack of transparency has led to significant issues at several centralized exchanges.
This project proposes to build an innovative decentralized exchange that will empower traders with a fair and efficient marketplace. The proposed solution will employ state-of-the-art cryptographic protocols based on secure multiparty computation (MPC) to guarantee the necessary confidentiality without compromising transparency. The project is not bound by the tradeoff between security and transparency - it will seek to provide both in an efficient system.
Furthermore, the tools developed under this project will have potential beyond the financial sector, including improving methods to securely and privately operate with sensitive data.
This SBIR Phase I project investigates the design of a decentralized marketplace by scaling secure multiparty computation (MPC) to a large number of parties. MPC provides a decentralized solution for executing an auction that is automatically front-running resistant, as the protocol only allows the winning bid (or bidder) to be revealed to anyone.
The proposed solution will address a key challenge of developing a concretely efficient mechanism to execute the MPC off-chain and certify the results on-chain with minimal transaction fees while guaranteeing maximal security. The proposed solution will take advantage of quantum secure primitives and star network topology to get robust security and minimal communication overhead.
In this project, the first application to validate the designed auction MPC will be a decentralized non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and instantaneous withdrawal mechanism from L2 to L1.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Currently, such exchanges suffer from information leakage, meaning that third parties can see aspects of the bidding or auction processes, and this ability allows them to gain an advantage or unfairly outbid (i.e. front-run) the competition. A related issue is the lack of transparency in exchanges, which often results from their efforts to limit information leakage. The lack of transparency has led to significant issues at several centralized exchanges.
This project proposes to build an innovative decentralized exchange that will empower traders with a fair and efficient marketplace. The proposed solution will employ state-of-the-art cryptographic protocols based on secure multiparty computation (MPC) to guarantee the necessary confidentiality without compromising transparency. The project is not bound by the tradeoff between security and transparency - it will seek to provide both in an efficient system.
Furthermore, the tools developed under this project will have potential beyond the financial sector, including improving methods to securely and privately operate with sensitive data.
This SBIR Phase I project investigates the design of a decentralized marketplace by scaling secure multiparty computation (MPC) to a large number of parties. MPC provides a decentralized solution for executing an auction that is automatically front-running resistant, as the protocol only allows the winning bid (or bidder) to be revealed to anyone.
The proposed solution will address a key challenge of developing a concretely efficient mechanism to execute the MPC off-chain and certify the results on-chain with minimal transaction fees while guaranteeing maximal security. The proposed solution will take advantage of quantum secure primitives and star network topology to get robust security and minimal communication overhead.
In this project, the first application to validate the designed auction MPC will be a decentralized non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and instantaneous withdrawal mechanism from L2 to L1.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Awardee
Funding Goals
NOT APPLICABLE
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Place of Performance
Pittsford,
New York
14534-2244
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
NOT APPLICABLE
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have decreased 100% from $252,754 to $0.
Ligero was awarded
Project Grant 2212788
from in May 2023 with work to be completed primarily in Pittsford New York United States.
The grant
has a duration of 7 months and
was awarded through assistance program 47.084 NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships.
SBIR Details
Research Type
SBIR Phase I
Title
SBIR Phase I:Lightweight Scalable Auctions for Decentralized Martketplaces and Beyond
Abstract
The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to increase the security and privacy controls in today's financial (crypto or traditional) exchanges and auction platforms.Currently, such exchanges suffer from information leakage, meaning that third parties can see aspects of the bidding or auction processes and this ability allows them to gain an advantage or unfairly outbid (i.e. front-run) the competition.A related issue is the lack of transparency in exchanges, which often results from their efforts to limit information leakage.The lack of transparency has led to significant issues at several centralized exchanges.This project proposes to build an innovative decentralized exchange that will empower traders with a fair and efficient marketplace.The proposed solution will employ state-of-the-art cryptographic protocols based on secure multiparty computation (MPC) to guarantee the necessary confidentiality without compromising transparency.The project is not bound by the tradeoff between security and transparency - it will seek to provide both in an efficient system. Furthermore, the tools developed under this project will have potential beyond the financial sector, including improving methods to securely and privately operate with sensitive data._x000D__x000D_
This SBIR Phase I project investigates the design of a decentralized marketplace by scaling secure multiparty computation (MPC) to a large number of parties. MPC provides a decentralized solution for executing an auction that is automatically front-running resistant as the protocol only allows the winning bid (or bidder) to be revealed to anyone. The proposed solution will address a key challenge of developing a concretely efficient mechanism to execute the MPC off-chain and certify the results on-chain with minimal transaction fees while guaranteeing maximal security. The proposed solution will take advantage of quantum secure primitives and star network topology to get robust security and minimal communication overhead. In this project, the first application to validate the designed auction MPC will be a decentralized Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace and instantaneous withdrawal mechanism from L2 to L1._x000D_
_x000D_
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Topic Code
DL
Solicitation Number
NSF 21-562
Status
(Complete)
Last Modified 10/6/23
Period of Performance
5/15/23
Start Date
12/31/23
End Date
Funding Split
$0.0
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$0.0
Total Obligated
Transaction History
Modifications to 2212788
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
2212788
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI EXEMPT
Awardee Classifications
For-Profit Organization (Other Than Small Business)
Awarding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Funding Office
491503 TRANSLATIONAL IMPACTS
Awardee UEI
NTMCETX3LXL3
Awardee CAGE
97SL9
Performance District
NY-25
Senators
Kirsten Gillibrand
Charles Schumer
Charles Schumer
Modified: 10/6/23