Bitcoin Blockchain Compression Algorithm for Blank Node Synchronization

Abstract

The blockchain provides an immutable, transparent, and decentralized method for data storage. However, as the volume of data gradually increases, the public blockchain system requires significant storage space. Also the synchronization of blank nodes needs much transmission bandwidth. This paper introduces a method to compress the size of transactions in the Bitcoin blockchain by replacing hash pointers with index pointers. Simulations show that the proposed method can reduce the storage space of the Bitcoin blockchain by up to 12.71%.