Verifiable Random Function Schemes Based on SM2 Digital Signature Algorithm and its Applications for Committee Elections

Abstract

A verifiable random function (VRF) is a pseudorandom function that enables source verification. By providing a public verification key and accompanying proof with the output, all parties can verify the correctness of the output without interaction. VRF has gained widespread adoption in blockchain applications, including Algorand, Ouroboros, and ChainLink. This article introduces SM2VRF, the first VRF based on the Chinese standard SM2 cryptographic algorithm, and extends it to a batch construction called SM2VRF-B for efficient verification of multiple sources. We showcase the applicability of SM2VRF in an electronic random committee election scenario, where the blockchain is utilized for storing candidate parameters and votes. By employing the Hamming distance, our scheme eliminates the risk of election failure. We provide a security proof for the proposed scheme, followed by an evaluation of the performance of both SM2VRF and SM2VRF-B. We implement our committee election scheme with Ethereum to assess the feasibility and efficiency.