When talking about the word 'fairness', especially in the crypto world, everyone's first reaction might be to smile. I still remember a few years ago participating in a popular NFT project’s whitelist lottery, where the team posted a list of addresses in the community, just to announce the results. The whole process was a black box; we participants could only silently accept the outcome, but we were left wondering: how was this list selected? Was it really random? Or did the team already reserve spots for 'insiders'? This kind of 'randomness' that cannot self-verify is actually the greatest drain on community trust, and it is precisely the root problem that the technology of 'verifiable randomness' aims to completely solve.
Understanding this seemingly hardcore concept is actually not difficult. Today, let's follow my train of thought to first see why it is so hard to create 'true randomness' on the blockchain, then dissect how APRO cleverly realizes it, and finally discuss what tangible changes this technology can bring to our Web3 world.
First, we need to understand a basic premise: blockchain itself is 'deterministic'. This means that for any input, all nodes must obtain exactly the same result after computation to reach consensus and record the transaction. It's like a globally synchronized public exam where everyone uses the same set of standard answers to grade the papers. In this mechanism, you cannot introduce a true random number because 'random' means 'uncertain', which would directly lead to a collapse of consensus across the network. In the past, some projects tried to simplify things by using the hash value of a future block as a source of randomness, but this was quickly proven to be extremely unsafe. Miners who control computing power can completely predict or even manipulate the results by choosing which transactions to package to generate a block hash favorable to themselves, which is akin to letting the referee play the game personally, destroying fairness.
So, facing this dilemma, how does the core component adopted by APRO—the Verifiable Random Function (VRF)—break the deadlock? We can think of it as an extremely rigorous and honest magician. When you need a random number, you send a request to APRO's system. The system will not directly tell you the result but will perform two steps. The first step is that it will use its private key (an absolutely confidential 'magical secret') combined with a public input (such as the current block information) to generate a random number. The second step, which is the most critical, is that it will simultaneously generate a 'proof'. This random number and this 'proof' will be sent to the chain together. As users, although we cannot know its 'magical secret', we can verify it using the system's public key (the public 'magical rules') and this 'proof'. This verification process can unmistakably tell you two things: first, this random number is indeed generated by that legitimate magician; second, there was no cheating during the generation process, and the result is unique.
Through the clever design of 'off-chain generation + on-chain verification', APRO ensures the unpredictability of random numbers while solving the consensus problem of the blockchain. This process is akin to separating the drawing of lots and the verification of results, ensuring data availability and making fraud proofs possible. This mechanism has a wide range of application scenarios in the APRO ecosystem. For example, in a decentralized game, the drop of rare items is no longer determined by the project party's server, but by the VRF, allowing each player to verify the fairness of the drop results. Alternatively, in some governance proposal votes, a random selection of community members is needed to form a supervisory committee, and the VRF can ensure that the selection process is free from human intervention. It upgrades the fragile trust of 'we believe the project party is fair' to 'we do not need to trust anyone because the code and mathematics prove that it is fair.'
Ultimately, the technology of 'verifiable randomness' aims to construct the most scarce resource in the Web3 world: permissionless trust. It is not just a technical component but rather a cornerstone that ensures that the applications built upon it can possess true fairness and transparency. When results can be verified and processes can be trusted, a healthier, consensus-driven digital world may truly arrive.
In addition to game lotteries and NFT draws, what other unexpected scenarios do you think this technology of 'verifiable randomness' can be applied to, making our digital lives fairer? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Disclaimer: This article is for personal learning and thinking only and does not constitute any investment advice. The market has risks, and investments should be cautious.
