Verifiable Anonymous Identities and Access Control in Permissioned Blockchains

Abstract

In this paper we address the issue of identity and access control within\nshared permissioned blockchains. We propose the ChainAchor system that provides\nanonymous but verifiable identities for entities on the blockchain. ChainAchor\nalso provides access control to entities seeking to submit transactions to the\nblockchain to read/verify transactions on the the permissioned blockchain.\nConsensus nodes enforce access control to the shared permissioned blockchain by\na simple look-up to a (read-only) list of anonymous members' public-keys.\nChainAnchor also provides unlinkability of transactions belonging to an entity\non the blockchain. This allows for an entity to optionally disclose their\nidentity when a transaction is called into question (e.g. regulatory or\ncompliance requirements), but without affecting the anonymity and unlinkability\nof their remaining transactions.\n