An Improved Hash Time-Locked Cross-Chain Asset Transfer Mechanism

Abstract

As blockchain technology deepens its integration into various fields, the challenges of blockchain as an isolated distributed ledger are becoming increasingly prominent. Effectively breaking the isolation of various blockchain ledgers and enabling information flow and value transfer between blockchains is a key area of current blockchain research. Hash timelocks are a key technology for achieving this cross-chain nature, offering advantages such as decentralization, ease of implementation, and high cross-chain efficiency. However, the hash timelock mechanism still suffers from issues such as the inability to consistently match cross-chain transaction partners and the inability to transfer assets. This severely impacts the user experience and hinders the usability of hash timelocks in cross-chain transactions. Therefore, building on existing hash timelock technology, this paper proposes a mechanism that utilizes an intermediate user pool to enable instant cross-chain asset transfers. This mechanism also incorporates a dynamic transaction matching algorithm to achieve efficient transaction matching. This mechanism not only enables decentralized cross-chain asset transfers, but also eliminates the indeterminate waiting time required for matching by traditional hash timelock mechanisms. Finally, experiments demonstrate the feasibility of this new mechanism, demonstrating significant efficiency advantages for small and medium-sized cross-chain transactions, eliminating the need for additional transaction matching time.