DROPS

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.AFT.2026.23

RANDAO Manipulation in the Presence of MEV

Authors: Kaya Alpturer, Nicholas Hope, and S. Matthew Weinberg

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 395, 8th Conference on Advances in Financial Technologies (AFT 2026)

Abstract

Ethereum’s randomness beacon (RANDAO) is well-known to be manipulable, and prior work [Alpturer and Weinberg, 2024] computes the precise fraction of blocks a strategic proposer can propose. The fraction of blocks proposed, however, is only a proxy for participants' rewards. We propose a generalized reward model capturing many canonical forms of rewards: consensus reward rollover, multi-block MEV, CEX-DEX arbitrage, oracle manipulation, and others. We provide a methodology that computes an ε-optimal strategy for any reward scheme in our model (and in particular, any combination of the above rewards). Finally, we apply our methodology to several canonical examples, and establish the sensitivity of RANDAO manipulation to the underlying rewards. We find that if rewards partially roll over, or scale super-linearly with consecutive blocks, the incentive to manipulate RANDAO is amplified. Lastly, we investigate tail-slot slashing, which can be modeled as a reward function, and show that honest equilibria can be recovered.

Cite as

Kaya Alpturer, Nicholas Hope, and S. Matthew Weinberg. RANDAO Manipulation in the Presence of MEV. In 8th Conference on Advances in Financial Technologies (AFT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 395, pp. 23:1-23:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{alpturer_et_al:LIPIcs.AFT.2026.23,
  author =	{Alpturer, Kaya and Hope, Nicholas and Weinberg, S. Matthew},
  title =	{{RANDAO Manipulation in the Presence of MEV}},
  booktitle =	{8th Conference on Advances in Financial Technologies (AFT 2026)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-451-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{395},
  editor =	{Kiayias, Aggelos and Kyropoulou, Maria},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.AFT.2026.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-278776},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.AFT.2026.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: Proof of Stake, Consensus, Blockchain, Ethereum, Randomness manipulation}
}

Search Results

Documents authored by Hope, Nicholas

RANDAO Manipulation in the Presence of MEV

Abstract

Cite as

Thanks for your feedback!

Could not send message