Anonymous Auction Protocol Based on Time-Released Encryption atop Consortium Blockchain

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Ethereum block chain as a decentralized platform is so successful that many applications deployed on it. However, for the inherent transparency properties and the lack of privacy, deploying a financial application on top of it is always a challenge. In this paper, we tackle this challenge and propose an anonymous sealed-bid auction protocol based on time-released encryption atop Consortium Block chain. We adopt a strict digital certificate-based identity mechanism of the consortium block chain to permit legitimate participants, and utilize the blind signature based on elliptic curve technology to allowing anonymous participation. Moreover, a timed release public key encryption algorithm is adopted to encrypt bids and prevent auctioneer from colluding with bidders. This is completely different from the method (zero-knowledge proof) used in other papers to prevent collusion between auctioneer and bidder. We provide a specific analysis of our protocol, which shows that our protocol meets anonymity and applicability. KEYWORDS Consortium Block chain, Smart Contract, Sealed-Bid Auction, Time-Released Encryption, Blind signature