Rich by Coin

One of the best examples is Cardano’s Ouroboros Phalanx Upgrade and its ability to thwart grinding attacks.
Grinding attacks refer to situations where unscrupulous validators try to manipulate the randomness used in Proof-of-Stake blockchain selection.
Attackers leverage stake, randomness, and protocol rules to determine when a block can be produced.
These attackers adopt a type of “spray-and-pray” approach to generate and test seed phrases – randomly-generated cryptographic word sequences that act as a password to access a crypto wallet.

When they come across one that suits their staking position, they pounce to cash in on block rewards.
Cardano has rolled out the Ouroboros Phalanx Upgrade.
Ouroboros Phalanx was developed by Input Output Global (IOG), a global leader in blockchain research and engineering.
It integrates verifiable delay functions, or VDFs, into the mechanism that generates randomness for Cardano.

The beauty of VDFs is that they create a “time gap” that knocks grinding attackers off kilter.
The system effectively increases randomness across numerous crypto epochs – fixed timeframes on a blockchain that serve as a cycle for events on the network.
VDFs had already been used by Cardano in its Ouroboros Praos protocol but there was a flaw: randomness could still only be generated within one epoch.
This offered a window of opportunity to grinding attackers as they could still test many seed phrases before it closed.

In response, the Ouroboros Phalanx has done some closing of its own.
Stopping grinding attackers dead in their tracks is not the only benefit the upgrade has brought.
IOG claims there is potential to improve transaction settlement times by as much as 30% due to the more deterministic nature of the randomness function and a reduction in clashes over slot leader selection.

The greater levels of decentralisation that occur in the Ouroboros Phalanx protocol also mitigate whale investors dominating the slot leadership space, thereby making reward distribution more equitable.
Strengthening crypto security invariably creates positive market sentiment, the Ouroboros Phalanx Upgrade being no exception.
While its introduction did not trigger a massive spike in the Cardano to USD price, it certainly helped stabilise it.
Now that Cardano has come to grips with VDFs, one can expect future upgrades to be even more secure.

Cardano’s Ouroboros Phalanx Upgrade introduces verifiable delay functions into the randomness mechanism that governs block production.
This change is designed to thwart grinding attacks, where validators attempt to test numerous seed phrases to gain an edge in staking.
The upgrade, developed by Input Output Global (IOG), aims to harden the protocol’s security while preserving decentralization.

By inserting VDFs, Ouroboros Phalanx creates a time gap that disrupts attackers’ ability to quickly test seeds across epochs.
It increases randomness over multiple crypto epochs, reducing clashes in slot leader selection and potentially improving transaction settlement times by up to 30%.
The upgrade also promotes more equitable reward distribution by limiting the influence of whale participants on slot leadership.

While the upgrade did not trigger a massive spike in Cardano’s price, it contributed to stability and demonstrates that future upgrades could be even more secure.