Low-latency partition tolerant distributed ledger

Abstract

In this work, we present a low-latency partition tolerant distributed ledger using a novel directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure. By forcing information to be published at specific deterministic locations, we avoid complex consensus algorithms and eliminate confirmation periods. We implement our DAG over a fully decentralized overlay network, leveraging BitTorrent concepts for peer-to-peer (P2P) rendezvous and block propagation. We compute overall expected latency using Erd¨os-R´enyi random graph models and present initial proof-of-concept software. The resulting work will allow anyone to create fully decentralized services (records, databases, etc.) resistant to attack, manipulation, and censorship.