Overview
What is anyrand VRF?
anyrand is a permissionlessly verifiable random number generator for any EVM network. The derived randomness comes from EVM-optimised drand beacons provided by the League of Entropy. Using anyrand, you can very quickly have a verifiable random number source for any new EVM rollup or chain!
Problem
Why do we need VRFs?
Blockchains are inherently deterministic, ensuring transparency and consistency but lacking intrinsic randomness. This poses challenges for applications needing random values, such as gaming or lotteries, because traditional methods of generating randomness aren't suitable for blockchain environments where results must be independently verifiable.
Verifiable Random Functions (VRFs) solve this problem by generating randomness that is both unpredictable and publicly verifiable. VRFs produce random outputs that can be proven correct without revealing information that could compromise future randomness. This ensures all blockchain participants can trust the random values used, enabling secure and fair decentralised applications and smart contracts.
Centralisation and Availability
Incumbent solutions like Chainlink VRF face trade-offs with centralisation, risking censorship and control by single nodes. This undermines the trust and fairness essential for decentralised applications. In addition, there is no universal VRF solution that is immediately available on the growing number of layer-2 solutions and rollups (with their own quirks), limiting access to verifiable randomness for new EVM networks. To support the evolving blockchain landscape, more decentralised and universally accessible VRF solutions are needed. That's where anyrand fills the gap.
Solution
anyrand addresses the centralisation and availability issues faced by incumbent VRF solutions. By deriving randomness from the drand network, operated by the League of Entropy, anyrand leverages a decentralised threshold BLS network. This network produces publicly verifiable randomness beacons that are permissionless and accessible to anyone, ensuring that no single node can censor the delivery of random numbers.
With anyrand, developers can integrate secure and verifiable randomness into their applications across a wide range of blockchain platforms, including the latest rollups no matter what their quirks are (as long as they support the basic EVM precompiles!). This makes anyrand a universally scalable solution for all EVM networks. Lastly, it's important to note that the anyrand contracts are open-source, allowing anyone to immediately deploy and operate their own VRFs on any compatible EVM network without having to wait for external teams to deploy the infrastructure.