Mithril 🛡️

☀️ Introduction

Mithril is a research project the goal of which is to provide stake-based threshold multi-signatures(STM) on top of the Cardano network.

In a nutshell, Mithril can be summarized as:

A protocol that enables stakeholders in a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network to individually sign messages, which are then aggregated into a multi-signature, guaranteeing that they represent a minimum share of the total stake.

In other words, an adversarial participant with less than this share of the total stake will be unable to produce valid multi-signatures. 🔐.

The goal of the first implementation of the Mithril network protocol is to provide a way to fast bootstrap a fully operating Cardano node in less than two hours, compared to the days it used to take before.

To unleash the power of Mithril and leverage new use cases, we have also implemented a framework in the Mithril network that allows the certification of multiple types of data, provided they can be computed deterministically.

🛡️ Mainnet availability

Mithril is currently a work in progress, and is available in its beta version on mainnet.

✔️ It is ready to be safely deployed in the SPO production infrastructure for Cardano mainnet.

⚠️ It is NOT yet completely ready for production usage of the artifacts produced before a minimum level of participation in the network (which depends on the artifact type).

Disclaimer

By using Mithril protocol, you understand the protocol is in development and that use of the mithril-signer, mithril-aggregator and mithril-client on mainnet is entirely at your own risk.

You also acknowledge and agree to have an adequate understanding of the risks associated with use of the Mithril network and that all information and materials published, distributed or otherwise made available on mithril.network and Mithril Github Repository is available on an ‘AS IS’ and ‘AS AVAILABLE’ basis, without any representations or warranties of any kind. All implied terms are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. For details, see also sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Apache 2.0 License.

🚀 Getting started with Mithril

If you are a Cardano SPO, a good entry point is the SPO onboarding guide. Additionally, you can find detailed instructions for running a signer node in this guide.

If you are interested in fast bootstrapping of a Cardano node, please refer to this guide.

Get access to tutorials, user manual, guides and plenty of documentation on our website!

Mithril wiki is also available here.

📡 Structure of the repository

This repository consists of the following parts:

• Mithril aggregator: the node of the Mithril network responsible for collecting individual signatures from the Mithril signers and aggregating them into a multi-signature. The Mithril aggregator uses this ability to provide certified snapshots of the Cardano blockchain.

• Mithril client: this is the client library that can be used by developers to interact with Mithril certified data in their applications.

• Mithril client CLI: the CLI used for retrieving the certified artifacts produced by the Mithril network, eg the Cardano chain certified snapshots used to securely restore a Cardano node.

• Mithril client WASM: the WASM compatible library used for retrieving the certified artifacts produced by the Mithril network.

• Mithril common: this is the common library that is used by the Mithril network nodes.

• Mithril STM: the core library that implements Mithril protocol cryptographic engine.

• Mithril explorer: the explorer website that connects to a Mithril aggregator and displays its Certificate chain and artifacts.

• Mithril infrastructure: the infrastructure used to power a Mithril network in the cloud.

• Mithril signer: the node of the Mithril network responsible for producing individual signatures that are collected and aggregated by the Mithril aggregator.

• Internal: the shared tools and API used by Mithril crates.

  • Mithril build script: a toolbox for Mithril crates using a build scripts phase.

  • Mithril doc: an API that generates markdown documentation for a crate command lines arguments.

  • Mithril doc derive: a macro implementation used by Mithril doc.

  • Mithril persistence: the persistence library that is used by the Mithril network nodes.

• Mithril test lab: the suite of tools that allow us to test and stress the Mithril protocol implementations.

  • Mithril devnet: the private Mithril/Cardano network used to scaffold a Mithril network on top of a Cardano network.

  • Mithril end to end: the tool used to run tests scenarios against a Mithril devnet.

• Protocol demonstration: a simple CLI that helps understand how the Mithril protocol works and the role of its protocol parameters.

• Examples: out of the box working examples to get familiar with Mithril.

🌉 Contributing

The best way to contribute right now is to provide feedback. Start by giving a look at our documentation.

Should you have any questions, ideas or issues, we would like to hear from you:

• #ask-mithril on the IOG Discord server
• Create a GitHub Discussion
• Create a GitHub Issue
• Ask on Cardano StackExchange using the mithril tag

When contributing to this project and interacting with others, please follow our Code of Conduct and our Contributing Guidelines.

🙏 Credits

• Logo created by Alexander Wende