Mitigating Malicious Activities in Blockchain Mining: The Role of Reputation‐Based Protocol

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rise of mining pools in Blockchain networks has improved reward distribution but introduced critical challenges related to centralization and malicious miner activity, which threaten the integrity of decentralized consensus. Addressing this gap, this paper proposes the Reputation‐based Consensus Protocol (RCP), a novel framework designed to enhance trust and security in mining pools by incorporating a transparent and dynamic reputation system. Unlike traditional consensus algorithms like Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS), which do not differentiate between trustworthy and malicious participants, RCP evaluates miners based on a multi‐dimensional scoring mechanism, including historical reputation, willingness reputation, and indirect feedback reputation. This targeted approach allows the network to prioritize reputable miners for block creation, thereby mitigating attacks and improving consensus reliability. By integrating RCP with modular Blockchain frameworks such as Hyperledger, this protocol not only strengthens miner accountability but also sets the foundation for more secure and trustworthy decentralized networks. The proposed model has the potential to redefine mining pool operations and significantly contribute to the evolution of secure Blockchain consensus protocols.