#40 - Decrypting “The Oracle”
A Conversation with Ari Juels on Writing a Crypto Thriller
Stanford Blockchain Review
Volume 4, Article No. 10
📚Interview Guest: Ari Juels
🌟Technical Prerequisite: None
Note: This article is a long-form exploration of the discussions and ideas between Ari Juels, author of “The Oracle”, and Jay Yu, Co-Chief Editor of the Stanford Blockchain Review during an interview conducted in February 2024.
Full Interview:
Introduction
What happens when smart contracts “go rogue”? That’s the premise that Ari Juels explores in his new crypto thriller “The Oracle” [1], where a blockchain developer becomes the target of a bounty on his death, ostensibly commanded by the Greek god Apollo. In this article, we will explore the conception of this crypto-themed thriller novel, one that blends together themes as disparate as blockchains, ancient Greek mythology, and art crime. First, we will explore the sources of inspiration for this novel, then we will dive into some of the themes within the novel, before finally reflecting on the wider significance of the novel in illuminating the notoriously complex crypto space for the general public.
Origins of the Novel
The crypto industry has been, from its inception, a cradle of lore and legend. From Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, to the spectacular rise and fall of Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) and FTX, the blockchain space is known for its colorful personalities and seemingly absurd tales. All this makes the nascent industry almost uniquely suited for a thriller novel like “The Oracle,” one where every page keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.
In many ways, the novel serves an introduction to the potential ramifications of blockchain technology for the general public. Unlike academic papers or blog posts, whose focuses are often on technical details for a blockchain-native audience, perhaps the most important part of a thriller novel is its ability to maintain a sense of tension that keeps the reader “hooked” in. Like many novels, although elements within the book may be arranged for literary purposes, many of the key ideas in the plot are inspired by real events and technologies.
The idea for the novel primarily came from two different sources: a place and a paper. Within the book, the hero works in a skybridge office in lower Manhattan, inspired by the author’s fascination with skybridges in lower Manhattan and his former office in Chelsea. As for the overall plot, much of the novel is inspired by a 2016 research paper discussing the potential of smart contracts and authenticated data feeds (oracles) for criminal cases [2]. Although at the time, much of the technology discussed in the book seemed to be several decades away, with the advent of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLM) over the past year, the systems described within the book have become much more technically plausible. Thus, the timing of “The Oracle” as a cautionary tale could not be more well-placed.
Themes and Concepts in “The Oracle”
As a novel, “The Oracle” is unique in its blend of historical references, magical realism, and modern blockchain technologies – a combination that stems from Ari Juels’ diverse interests and hobbies. Despite being a Computer Science professor at Cornell Tech, the author has always considered himself to have a dual personality, double majoring in Mathematics and Latin Literature. Although throughout his career, Juels has pursued the more mathematical and computer science of his background, “The Oracle” is a project that brings together both sides of his personality. Indeed, the book touches upon many different themes and disciplines, from Greek mythology to art trafficking to blockchains, and the process of bringing all these elements together in a plot has been itself a process of exploration and discovery for the author – half-planned, half-serendipity, allowing the story to grow in a natural direction of its own amongst the interleaving of the various themes and ideas.
The core concept of the novel centers around a “rogue smart contract,” a special type of “smart contract” code deployed on a blockchain network with an explicit purpose to solicit crime. In the context of the novel, the crime is the attempted murder of a blockchain developer who is claimed to have defiled the Greek god Apollo [3]. While today, we see many cases of “rogue smart contracts” in the wider sense of the term, typically used to conduct financial fraud and manipulation, “rogue smart contracts” of the type mentioned in “The Oracle” are not possible with current blockchain infrastructure. In this regard, the novel stands as an important cautionary tale about the future.
As mentioned within the book, the process of the criminal “rogue smart contract” is roughly as follows [4]:
The smart contract is activated, with a bounty target on a certain individual
Someone commits the crime, and submits an early “private” summary of what happened in sealed in a “cryptographically signed envelope” – this is called a “calling card”
News reports of this crime occur later, containing a “public” summary of what happened
The agent “unseals” the cryptographic envelope, and gives the results to a “blockchain oracle,” which judges whether the “calling card” matches the “public” summary.
If there is a match, this means the agent pre-empted the news articles, sufficiently proving that they committed the act. The oracle then sends a message to the smart contract to unlock the bounty.
Previously, the reason why it seemed as if this technology was years or decades away was because of step (4), that required matching the private and public summaries, as for a single event there are infinite ways of reporting it. Yet, with the advance of ChatGPT and other advanced AI systems, this no longer seems so far-fetched, and the central concept itself within the novel now seems much more technically plausible.
Interestingly, the victim and hero of the plot seems to bear many resemblances to Ari Juels himself – such as specializing in the development of blockchain oracles, working in New York and loving chocolates. Yet, he remains unnamed throughout the novel. When asked, the author claimed that this is intentional. The character himself “refused to be named,” as doing so would decrease his ability to identify with the hero in the novel – an act of anonymity that brings to mind the origin myth of Bitcoin and its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Reflections on Wider Significance
As a landmark work of fiction that combines the cutting-edge technology in the crypto space with the accessibility and attraction of a thriller novel, “The Oracle” is far more than just a hobby project for Ari Juels, but rather a work with significant educational, moral, and philosophical messages. Novels such as “The Oracle” are in many ways excellent mediums to impart “fresh and blood” ideas to people, serving as a gentle introduction to the unique challenges and opportunities that blockchains bring – not just technologically, but also morally and philosophically.
The nascent crypto industry today already stands at an over $2 trillion dollar market capitalization [5], and blockchain technology is poised to play a growing role in the way we interact and conduct business internationally. Yet, there is still a large stigma attached to the public perception of the industry – one perpetuated by debacles such as the FTX fraud case. What “The Oracle” represents, in effect, is a unique bridge to allow the industry to reach a much broader audience, and allow people to imagine a technologically plausible future where blockchains pose pressing social, moral, and philosophical questions of life and death.
Remember Uncle August, The Unhappy Inventor (1919) by George Grosz, showing a scientist confused and disillusioned by the use of his inventions in the massacres of World War I. Image source [6].
Amongst these, perhaps one of the most important questions is how to manage the relationship between the “inventor” and the “invention”. In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” for example, Victor the inventor grows to hate his creation, Frankenstein, a monster which goes on to threaten other people as well as Victor himself [7]. This cautionary tale raises the question: should the inventor of a groundbreaking technology be held accountable to all the social effects of his invention, even those that they did not anticipate?
Ari Juels reprises this Frankensteinian theme within “The Oracle,” as the protagonist, a blockchain developer focusing on oracles and privacy solutions, becomes threatened by an agent that uses these very technologies that he develops. For Juels himself, this is a very personal topic, since his research group pre-empted the concept behind what is now known as Maximal Extractive Value (MEV), coauthoring a seminal paper describing how transaction ordering can be manipulated for profit in DeFi (Decentralized Finance) applications [8]. Instead of establishing sufficient guardrails against these practices, this feature eventually became heavily exploited, undermining key principles of trustless, decentralized applications.
Cases like these, where genuine innovation ends up backfiring and becomes relegated for profit, may contribute to the general public’s overall perception of crypto as a wild, “dark-forest” like industry filled with fraudulent actors. Going forward, to prevent more cases of innovation from backfiring, it may be necessary to establish more comprehensive guidelines – whether regulatory rulings or industry norms – for responsible disclosure, thus allowing the blockchain space to be more inline with traditional cryptographic and computer security standards.
Indeed, one of “The Oracle”’s goals is to present a more comprehensive account of the blockchain industry’s significance, introducing to a new audience how this industry represents a new frontier of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), for example, which govern major Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols such as Uniswap, Compound, and Aave, blends together innovation in technological, financial, and sociopolitical research to innovate new forms of socioeconomic organization [9]. In many ways, the blockchain space’s potential is much like that of the early Internet, where underneath the financial speculation of the space there is a wealth of technological innovation that can dramatically impact the way we lead our ordinary lives.
Conclusion
In a space where unbiased, relevant, and pertinent information is inaccessible to the general public, “The Oracle” stands out as a groundbreaking work that combines a riveting thriller narrative with profound philosophical reflections on the future of the blockchain space. As blockchain technology continues to mature and onboard more and more everyday users, works such as “The Oracle” may prove crucial to understanding the crypto space and the questions that it brings.
So will Ari Juels bring us a sequel? Perhaps only time will tell.
About the Interviewees
Ari Juels
Ari Juels has a short but hard-to-spell name and a long job title. He’s the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor in the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech in New York City, as well as a Computer Science faculty member at Cornell University. He co-founded and co-directs the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3). He also serves as Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs, where his contributions to oracle networks and blockchain industry are commemorated in the name of the smallest denomination of the LINK token: a Juel. He is the author of well over one hundred widely cited and influential research publications, along with a previous techno-thriller, Tetraktys, published in 2010.
Jay Yu
Jay, or 0xFishylosopher, is an undergrad at Stanford pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy. He serves as the Co-Chief Editor of the Stanford Blockchain Review, which he founded in 2022 and Vice President of the Stanford Blockchain Club. He is currently researching designs for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and blockchain governance with Stanford Law School faculty. Previously, he worked on research and investments at Pantera Capital.
References
[1] For more about “The Oracle,” see: https://oraclenovel.com/
[2] See Juels et al. “The Ring of Gyges” (2016): https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/358
[3] The Greek god Apollo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
[4] See Juels’ discussion of rogue smart contracts at the Ethereum Denver Conference 2024: Oracles Science Fiction and Not So Science Fiction | Ari Juels - Cornell Tech + Chainlink Labs
[5] Coinmarketcap, accessed Feb 28, 2024: https://coinmarketcap.com/
[6] Remember Uncle August from the Pompidou Museum: https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/oeuvre/tNdteTj
[7] Tale of Frankenstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein
[8] See Daian et al. “Flash Boys 2.0” (2019), a seminal work on MEV (Maximal Extractive Value): https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.05234
[9] For a survey on DAOs, see Tan et al. “Open Problems in DAOs” (2023): https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.19201