# Ethereum resources I put together a list of resources that I found helpful to dive into ethereum research. Most of the resources are actually sourced from yet another list by the fantastic [Ben Edgington](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz) and can be found [here](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/eth2_info). Once you're done here I'd recommend to head over there and find topics that you want to dive into further. ## Fundamental Papers At the end of the day there is no way around these two papers, they are the foundation of everything eth2. You may or may not prefer to read the high-level explainers first. - [Original Casper FFG paper](http://arxiv.org/abs/1710.09437) by [Vitalik Buterin](https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin) and Virgil Griffith - [Combining GHOST and Casper paper](http://arxiv.org/abs/2003.03052) by [Vitalik Buterin](https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin), [Danny Ryan](https://twitter.com/dannyryan), et al. ## High-level Explainers My favourite blog posts on Casper FFG and the beacon chain out there, definitely worth a read. - [The Beacon Chain Ethereum 2.0 explainer you need to read first](https://ethos.dev/beacon-chain/) - [Casper FFG explainer](https://www.adiasg.me/2020/03/31/casper-ffg-explainer.html) and [Casper FFG in eth2 explainer](https://www.adiasg.me/2020/04/09/casper-ffg-in-eth2-0.html) by [Aditya Asgaonkar](https://twitter.com/adiasg) ## Specs The specifications of eth2 are considered to be the groundtruth and are written in exectuable Python code. Whenever you're thinking "I understand it conceptually, but how does it \*really\* work?" refer to the specs. Personally, I used the combination of all links below as they all have their merits and sometimes it's useful to read multiple explanations for the same thing. - The reference for everything eth2: [Eth2 spec](https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs) - [Annotated spec](https://benjaminion.xyz/eth2-annotated-spec/phase0/beacon-chain/) by [Ben Edgington](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz) - [Annotated spec](https://github.com/ethereum/annotated-spec) by [Vitalik Buterin](https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin) - ["Phase 0 for Humans"](https://notes.ethereum.org/@djrtwo/Bkn3zpwxB) by [Danny Ryan](https://twitter.com/dannyryan) ## Attack vectors Personally, I found it very helpful to work through some of the known attack vectors. They make you consider edge cases and notice the intricate and sometimes subtle nuances of the protocol. - [Low-cost attacks on Ethereum 2.0 by sub-1/3 stakeholders](http://arxiv.org/abs/2102.02247) by Neuder et al. - Related: [Vitalik on mitigation of attack](https://notes.ethereum.org/@vbuterin/HF1_proposal#Proposed-fork-choice-changes-for-approximately-simultaneous-deployment-with-HF1) - "Balancing attack": Appendix A of [Ebb-and-Flow Protocols: A Resolution of the Availability-Finality Dilemma](http://arxiv.org/abs/2009.04987) by Neu et al. - Related: [Vitalik on mitigation against balancing attacks to LMD GHOST](https://notes.ethereum.org/@vbuterin/lmd_ghost_mitigation) - Follow up of original paper: [Attacking Gasper without adversarial network delay](https://ethresear.ch/t/attacking-gasper-without-adversarial-network-delay/10187/4) ## Staying up-to-date Staying up-to-date is no easy task at all, but the resources below give you a shot at being aware of half the things happening... - [Ben Edgington](https://twitter.com/benjaminion_xyz)'s fortnightly [newsletter](https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/eth2_news/https%3A%2F%2Fhackmd.io%2F%40benjaminion%2Fwnie2_210827) with all things happening around eth2 is your best friend to catch the most important events. - The community's go-to place for discussing the latest research ideas is the wonderful forum [ethresear.ch](https://ethresear.ch/). Check it out every now and then to stay in the loop about what researchers are currently thinking about.