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LibraryConsensus2023Design paperCorpus record

Mysticeti: Reaching the Limits of Latency with Uncertified DAGs

Mysticeti. Kushal Babel, Andrey Chursin, George Danezis, Anastasios Kichidis, Lefteris Kokoris-Kogias, Arun Koshy, Alberto Sonnino and Mingwei Tian.

Mysticeti commits from an uncertified DAG: blocks are signed by their authors and the commit rule does not require a certificate first.

A reading of the public paper. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not a claim about any later network.

If a protocol removed certificates to go faster, ask what replaces the quorum as evidence that a block was seen.

The five-minute read

The defect

A certified DAG waits for a quorum certificate before a block can even sit in the graph. That wait is a latency floor.

The proposal

Mysticeti commits from an uncertified DAG: blocks are signed by their authors and the commit rule does not require a certificate first.

Uncertified means the block is in the graph before a quorum has signed i

The commit rule has to be safe anyway.

The bound

This is not a proof-of-work DAG and not PHANTOM.

One action, walked through

  1. A validator publishes a signed block pointing at earlier blocks.
  2. The local DAG updates without waiting for a certificate.
  3. The commit rule decides which prefix is safe to execute.
  4. What is the commit rule?

The argument, unpacked

What the paper is for

If a protocol removed certificates to go faster, ask what replaces the quorum as evidence that a block was seen.

What happened after

Later Sui consensus work cites this uncertified path. A different chain's DAG may still be certified.

What has to be true

  • This is not a proof-of-work DAG and not PHANTOM.
  • Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.
  • The committee is known.

What happened after the paper

Later Sui consensus work cites this uncertified path. A different chain's DAG may still be certified.

What to check before you use the idea

  • Does a block need a certificate before it is ordered?
  • What is the commit rule?
  • Who is in the committee?

Terms

Uncertified DAG
A graph of signed blocks that are not waiting on a quorum certificate to be included.
Commit rule
The rule that turns a prefix of the DAG into a final order.

The problem the paper names

A certified DAG waits for a quorum certificate before a block can even sit in the graph. That wait is a latency floor.

What the design proposes

  • Uncertified means the block is in the graph before a quorum has signed it.
  • The commit rule has to be safe anyway.
  • The paper is aimed at the latency of a permissioned protocol.

How the mechanism is specified

  • A validator publishes a signed block pointing at earlier blocks.
  • The local DAG updates without waiting for a certificate.
  • The commit rule decides which prefix is safe to execute.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • This is not a proof-of-work DAG and not PHANTOM.
  • Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.
  • The committee is known.

Why a venture studio still reads it

If a protocol removed certificates to go faster, ask what replaces the quorum as evidence that a block was seen.

This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.

Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.