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The Monotone Priority System: Foundations of Contract-Specific Sequencing

Naveen Durvasula

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of allowing smart contracts to impose sequencing constraints on transactions interacting with them while keeping block production tractable. It introduces the Monotone Priority System, where each contract call is assigned a global integer priority constrained by its references, and blocks are ordered from high to low priority. The authors formalize a rights-system design space with five axioms (Existence, Priority, Extension, Reducibility, Independence of Irrelevant Calls), prove that a unique system $ rac{R^*(p)}{}$ satisfies all five, and show that this system is the only one that does so under a richness assumption. They further connect the existence of a global integer priority to orderability results, showing that under the axioms one can construct a $\\lambda$ mapping calls to a finite integer range, enabling tractable, static block-building. The work offers a principled framework for contract-specific sequencing with a simple, verifiable algorithm for block formation and establishes both expressivity guarantees and formal uniqueness, with implications for developer reasoning and practical blockchain design.

Abstract

Modern blockchain applications benefit from the ability to specify sequencing constraints on the transactions that interact with them. This paper proposes a principled and axiomatically justified way of adding sequencing constraints on smart contract function calls that balances expressivity with the tractability of block production. Specifically, we propose a system in which contract developers are allowed to set an integer global priority for each of their calls, so long as that the call's chosen priority is no higher than the priority of any of its referenced calls. Block builders must then simply sequence transactions in priority order (from high to low priority), breaking ties however they would like. We show that this system is the unique system that satisfies five independent axioms.

The Monotone Priority System: Foundations of Contract-Specific Sequencing

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of allowing smart contracts to impose sequencing constraints on transactions interacting with them while keeping block production tractable. It introduces the Monotone Priority System, where each contract call is assigned a global integer priority constrained by its references, and blocks are ordered from high to low priority. The authors formalize a rights-system design space with five axioms (Existence, Priority, Extension, Reducibility, Independence of Irrelevant Calls), prove that a unique system satisfies all five, and show that this system is the only one that does so under a richness assumption. They further connect the existence of a global integer priority to orderability results, showing that under the axioms one can construct a mapping calls to a finite integer range, enabling tractable, static block-building. The work offers a principled framework for contract-specific sequencing with a simple, verifiable algorithm for block formation and establishes both expressivity guarantees and formal uniqueness, with implications for developer reasoning and practical blockchain design.

Abstract

Modern blockchain applications benefit from the ability to specify sequencing constraints on the transactions that interact with them. This paper proposes a principled and axiomatically justified way of adding sequencing constraints on smart contract function calls that balances expressivity with the tractability of block production. Specifically, we propose a system in which contract developers are allowed to set an integer global priority for each of their calls, so long as that the call's chosen priority is no higher than the priority of any of its referenced calls. Block builders must then simply sequence transactions in priority order (from high to low priority), breaking ties however they would like. We show that this system is the unique system that satisfies five independent axioms.
Paper Structure (24 sections, 17 theorems, 17 equations, 2 figures)

This paper contains 24 sections, 17 theorems, 17 equations, 2 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Contract-Specific Sequencing
  3. Monotone Priorities: Simple, but Expressive Sequencing Constraints
  4. Expressivity
  5. Simplicity
  6. Alternate Designs
  7. Existence.
  8. Priority.
  9. Extension.
  10. Reducibility.
  11. Independence of Irrelevant Calls.
  12. Model
  13. Calls, Contracts, and References
  14. Rights Systems and Axioms
  15. A Unique Rights System
  16. ...and 9 more sections

Key Result

Theorem 1

For any $p: \mathbb{C} \to \mathbb X$ with a deployment order $>_D$, $\mathbb{R}^*(p)$ satisfies Existence, Priority, Extension, Reducibility, and Independence of Irrelevant Calls.

Theorems & Definitions (35)

  • Theorem 1
  • proof
  • Lemma 1
  • proof
  • Lemma 2
  • proof
  • Lemma 3
  • proof
  • Lemma 4
  • proof
  • ...and 25 more