@inproceedings{8299, abstract = {Permissionless blockchain-based cryptocurrencies commonly use proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS) to ensure their security, e.g. to prevent double spending attacks. However, both approaches have disadvantages: PoW leads to massive amounts of wasted electricity and re-centralization, whereas major stakeholders in PoS might be able to create a monopoly. In this work, we propose proof-of-personhood (PoP), a mechanism that binds physical entities to virtual identities in a way that enables accountability while preserving anonymity. Afterwards we introduce PoPCoin, a new cryptocurrency, whose consensus mechanism leverages PoP to eliminate the dis-advantages of PoW and PoS while ensuring security. PoPCoin leads to a continuously fair and democratic wealth creation process which paves the way for an experimental basic income infrastructure.}, author = {Borge, Maria and Kokoris Kogias, Eleftherios and Jovanovic, Philipp and Gasser, Linus and Gailly, Nicolas and Ford, Bryan}, booktitle = {2017 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops}, location = {Paris, France}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Proof-of-personhood: Redemocratizing permissionless cryptocurrencies}}, doi = {10.1109/eurospw.2017.46}, year = {2017}, }