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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.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
6

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • arXiv:2310.14821https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.14821
  • The source URL is not a GitHub repository. No code remote is invented.
  • Full text is not mirrored. Public availability is not a licence to copy the file onto this site.
  • Add to a reading list

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    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.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The proposal

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

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

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

    The commit rule has to be safe anyway.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    The bound

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

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

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

    Model

    What has to hold

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

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does a block need a certificate before it is ordered?

  2. 02 The proposal

    Observation

    What the study says

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

    Model

    What has to hold

    Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does a block need a certificate before it is ordered?

  3. 03 Uncertified means the block is in the graph before a quorum has signed i

    Observation

    What the study says

    The commit rule has to be safe anyway.

    Model

    What has to hold

    Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does a block need a certificate before it is ordered?

  4. 04 The bound

    Observation

    What the study says

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

    Model

    What has to hold

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

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Does a block need a certificate before it is ordered?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01A validator publishes a signed block pointing at earlier blocks.
  2. 02The local DAG updates without waiting for a certificate.
  3. 03The commit rule decides which prefix is safe to execute.
  4. 04What is the commit rule?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. What the paper is for

    The cut

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

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.

  2. What happened after

    The cut

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

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Cryptography · Not re-measured

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

  • Model · Not re-measured

    Skipping certificates changes the failure handling. Read the commit rule, not the slogan.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The committee is known.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

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

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it 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 the desk still reads it

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

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

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.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

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.