Feedback Control for Distributed Ledgers: An Attack Mitigation Policy for DAG-Based DLTs

Abstract

In this article, we present a feedback approach to the design of an attack mitigation policy for directed acyclic graph (DAG)-based distributed ledgers. We develop a model to analyze the behavior of the ledger under the so-calledTips Inflation Attack, which endangers the liveness of transactions, and we design a control strategy to counteract this attack strategy. The efficacy of this approach is showcased through a theoretical analysis, in the form of two theorems about the stability properties of the ledger with and without the controller, and extensive Monte Carlo simulations of an agent-based model of the distributed ledger.