An Anonymous Verifiable Random Function with Applications in Blockchain

Abstract

Verifiable random function is a powerful function that provides a noninteractively public verifiable proof for its output. Recently, verifiable random function has found essential applications in designing secure consensus protocols in blockchain. How to construct secure and practical verifiable random functions has also attracted more and more attention. In this paper, we propose a practical anonymous verifiable random function. Security proofs show that the proposed anonymous verifiable random function achieves correctness, anonymity, uniqueness, and pseudorandomness. In addition, we show a concrete application of our proposed anonymous verifiable random function in blockchain to improve the consensus mechanism for Hyperledger fabric. Finally, we implement the proposed anonymous verifiable random function and evaluate its performance. Test results show that the proposed anonymous verifiable random function supports faster computing operations and has a smaller proof size.