PoW-less Bitcoin with Confidential Byzantine PoA

Abstract

Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), when managed by a few trusted validators, require most but not all of the machinery available in public DLTs. To profit from this s tate of affairs, we inject a PoA (Proof-of-Authority) protocol into Bitcoin, replacing its PoW. Our PoA consensus algorithm-built on top of PBFT and FROST-exhibits Byzantine Fault Tolerance and Confidentiality of the network configuration an d of th e quorum of signers. As such, it may become a modern and safe foundation for payment systems used in stablecoins, sidechains, and CBDCs.