Blockchain Papers

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1,173 papersLast indexed Aug 31, 2026
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May 21, 2024·Proceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems
30 cites
A Closer Look into IPFS: Accessibility, Content, and Performance

Ruizhe Shi, Ruizhi Cheng, Bo Han, Yue Cheng · 5 authors

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) has recently gained considerable attention. While prior research has focused on understanding its performance characterization and application support, it remains unclear: (1) what kind of files/content are stored in IPFS, (2) who are providing these files, (3) are these files always accessible, and (4) what affects the file access performance. To answer these questions, in this paper, we perform measurement and analysis on over 4 million files associated with CIDs (content IDs) that appeared in publicly available IPFS datasets. Our results reveal the following key findings: (1) Mixed file accessibility: while IPFS is not designed for a permanent storage, accessing a non-trivial portion of files, such as those of NFTs and video streams, often requires multiple retrieval attempts, potentially blocking NFT transactions and negatively affecting the user experience. (2) Dominance of NFT (non-fungible token) and video files: about 50% of stored files are NFT-related, followed by a large portion of video files, among which about half are pirated movies and adult content. (3) Centralization of content providers: a small number of peers (top-50), mostly cloud nodes hosted by tech companies, serve a large portion (95%) of files, deviating from IPFS's intended design goal. (4) High variation of downloading throughput and lookup time: large file retrievals experience lower average throughput due to more overhead for resolving file chunk CIDs, and looking up files hosted by non-cloud nodes takes longer. We hope that our findings can offer valuable insights for (1) IPFS application developers to take into consideration these characteristics when building applications on top of IPFS, and (2) IPFS system developers to improve IPFS and similar systems to be developed for Web3.

Open access
2 source records
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Caching and Content Delivery
Advanced Data Storage Technologies
Original source
May 17, 2024·arXiv (Cornell University)
0 cites
On Orchestrating Parallel Broadcasts for Distributed Ledgers

Peiyao Sheng, Chenyuan Wu, Dahlia Malkhi, Michael K. Reiter · 7 authors

This paper introduces and develops the concept of ``ticketing'', through which atomic broadcasts are orchestrated by nodes in a distributed system. The paper studies different ticketing regimes that allow parallelism, yet prevent slow nodes from hampering overall progress. It introduces a hybrid scheme which combines managed and unmanaged ticketing regimes, striking a balance between adaptivity and resilience. The performance evaluation demonstrates how managed and unmanaged ticketing regimes benefit throughput in systems with heterogeneous resources both in static and dynamic scenarios, with the managed ticketing regime performing better among the two as it adapts better. Finally, it demonstrates how using the hybrid ticketing regime performance can enjoy both the adaptivity of the managed regime and the liveness guarantees of the unmanaged regime.

Open access
2 source records
Caching and Content Delivery
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Advanced Data Storage Technologies
Original source
May 14, 2024·International Journal of Parallel Emergent and Distributed Systems
9 cites
Sybil attack vulnerability trilemma

Moritz Platt, Daniel Platt, Peter McBurney

Public and permissionless blockchain systems are challenged by Sybil attacks, in which attackers use multiple identities to gain control.Traditionally, such attacks are prevented by consensus mechanisms relying on resource expenditure.However, such mechanisms (e.g.proof of work) face criticism for being wasteful.To address this and other concerns, novel blockchain systems backed by new consensus mechanisms have recently emerged.We formalise three key characteristics pursued by these systems: permissionlessness, Sybil attack resistance, and freeness.We demonstrate that no blockchain protocol can simultaneously achieve all three characteristics within the paradigm established by our formalisation.Thus, a trilemma emerges for distributed ledger technology designers, who must balance these characteristics thoughtfully.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Spam and Phishing Detection
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
May 6, 2024·NOMS 2024-2024 IEEE Network Operations and Management Symposium, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 2024, pp. 1-7
1 cites
To Squelch or not to Squelch: Enabling Improved Message Dissemination on the XRP Ledger

Lucian Trestioreanu, Flaviene Scheidt, Wazen M. Shbair, Jérôme François · 6 authors

With the large increase in the adoption of blockchain technologies, their underlying peer-to-peer networks must also scale with the demand. In this context, previous works highlighted the importance of ensuring efficient and resilient communication for the underlying consensus and replication mechanisms. However, they were mainly focused on mainstream, Proof-of-Work-based Distributed Ledger Technologies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. In this paper, the problem is investigated in the context of consensus-validation based blockchains, like the XRP Ledger. The latter relies on a Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) consensus mechanism which is proven to have a good scalability in regards to transaction throughput. However, it is known that significant increases in the size of the XRP Ledger network would be challenging to achieve. The main reason is the flooding mechanism used to disseminate the messages related to the consensus protocol, which creates many duplicates in the network. Squelching is a recent solution proposed for limiting this duplication, however, it was never evaluated quantitatively in real-life scenarios involving the XRPL production network. In this paper, our aim is to assess this mechanism using a real-life controllable testbed and the XRPL production network, to assess its benefit and compare it to alternative solutions relying on Named Data Networking and on a gossip-based approach.

Open access
3 source records
cs.NI
Multimedia Communication and Technology
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Original source
Apr 22, 2024·Cryptoeconomic Systems
5 cites
Blockchain Governance in the Wild

Kevin Werbach, Primavera De Filippi, Joshua Tan, Gina Pieters

Blockchain Governance in the Wild 2 Our work differs from the existing literature in three significant ways. Firstly, there has been very little comparative work among different blockchain networks or communities-what exists generally focuses only on Bitcoin and Ethereum at most. Secondly, this is not a theoretical study of potential successes or failures: We instead survey practical implementations, and governance development plans of specific projects. Finally, we do not examine only the governance decisions encoded on-chain. Our work expands to consider social norms, informal practices, and institutional governing entities associated with the project outside of the code. We believe this paper is the first to formally document and highlight the importance of informal governance structures within blockchain projects.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Apr 9, 2024·Scientific Reports
25 cites
A secure and highly efficient blockchain PBFT consensus algorithm for microgrid power trading

Zhongyuan Yao, Yonghao Fang, Heng Pan, Xiangyang Wang · 5 authors

There are a series of challenges in microgrid transactions, and blockchain technology holds the promise of addressing these challenges. However, with the increasing number of users in microgrid transactions, existing blockchain systems may struggle to meet the growing demands for transactions. Therefore, this paper proposes an efficient and secure blockchain consensus algorithm designed to meet the demands of large-scale microgrid electricity transactions. The algorithm begins by utilizing a Spectral clustering algorithm to partition the blockchain network into different lower-level consensus set based on the transaction characteristics of nodes. Subsequently, a dual-layer consensus process is employed to enhance the efficiency of consensus. Additionally, we have designed a secure consensus set leader election strategy to promptly identify leaders with excellent performance. Finally, we have introduced an authentication method that combines zero-knowledge proofs and key sharing to further mitigate the risk of malicious nodes participating in the consensus. Theoretical analysis indicates that our proposed consensus algorithm, incorporating multiple layers of security measures, effectively withstands blockchain attacks such as denial of service. Simulation experiment results demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms similar blockchain algorithms significantly in terms of communication overhead, consensus latency, and throughput.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Smart Grid Energy Management
Original source
Apr 7, 2024·INTERANTIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
1 cites
Blockchain Based Atonomys De-Centralised Online Social Network

Adimulam Sumanth

Online social networks (OSNs) have become integral to daily life, yet the prevalent centralized model of these platforms presents considerable challenges in terms of security, privacy, and management. In response to these concerns, a decentralized architecture underpinned by blockchain technology emerges as a promising solution. This paper delves into the development of an OSN service leveraging blockchain technology to facilitate decentralized operation, thereby addressing the aforementioned issues. Through the utilization of the Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS), large volumes of low-security data are effectively decentralized, contributing to enhanced data integrity and accessibility. Furthermore, the establishment of a decentralized autonomous organization empowers users with greater autonomy, enabling democratic self-governance of the OSN. This innovative approach not only addresses existing shortcomings but also paves the way for a more resilient, transparent, and user-centric social networking paradigm.

Open access
Caching and Content Delivery
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Original source
Apr 3, 2024·Sensors
11 cites
Blockchain Based Decentralized and Proactive Caching Strategy in Mobile Edge Computing Environment

Jingpan Bai, Silei Zhu, Houling Ji

In the mobile edge computing (MEC) environment, the edge caching can provide the timely data response service for the intelligent scenarios. However, due to the limited storage capacity of edge nodes and the malicious node behavior, the question of how to select the cached contents and realize the decentralized security data caching faces challenges. In this paper, a blockchain-based decentralized and proactive caching strategy is proposed in an MEC environment to address this problem. The novelty is that the blockchain was adopted in an MEC environment with a proactive caching strategy based on node utility, and the corresponding optimization problem was built. The blockchain was adopted to build a secure and reliable service environment. The employed methodology is that the optimal caching strategy was achieved based on the linear relaxation technology and the interior point method. Additionally, in a content caching system, there is a trade-off between cache space and node utility, and the caching strategy was proposed to solve this problem. There was also a trade-off between the consensus process delay of blockchain and the caching latency of content. An offline consensus authentication method was adopted to reduce the influence of the consensus process delay on the content caching. The key finding was that the proposed algorithm can reduce latency and can ensure the security data caching in an IoT environment. Finally, the simulation experiment showed that the proposed algorithm can achieve up to 49.32%, 43.11%, and 34.85% improvements on the cache hit rate, the average content response latency, and the average system utility, respectively, compared to the random content caching algorithm, and it achieved up to 9.67%, 8.11%, and 5.95% increases, successively, compared to the greedy content caching algorithm.

Open access
Caching and Content Delivery
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
Mar 29, 2024·International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
0 cites
DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY FOR FILE SHARING SYSTEM

Authors unavailable

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) as an rising alternative for improving safety and transparency in reportsharing structures is very promising. In this regard, the existing have a look at is providing a blockchain-based system for file sharing where allotted ledgers may be used to conquer the restrictions of centralized structures. To make certain that the records shared is secure, unchangeable, and necessary, the gadget applies consensus, hashing, and encryption strategies. The use of clever contracts lets in for automatic execution of documentsharing transactions in a steady manner, thus lowering the capability risks associated with fraud or prison troubles. Furthermore, users are furnished with more control by letting them specify permissions and get right of entry to constraints for his or her documents. To make it smooth to use the blockchain and combine those technologies, the system makes use of decentralized file storage primarily based on Blockchain. Also, the databases used by this machine are FileCoin for login information and Web3 Token for document sharing and storing, which brings protection into the scene, makes storage decentralized, and increases transparency.

Open access
Caching and Content Delivery
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Advanced Data Storage Technologies
Original source
Mar 27, 2024·International Journal of Computer Network and Information Security
2 cites
An Efficient and Secure Blockchain Consensus Algorithm Using Game Theory

Naveen Arali, D. G. Narayan, Altaf Husain M., P. S. Hiremath

Blockchain technology is a decentralized ledger system that finds applications in various domains such as banking, e-governance, and supply chain management. The consensus algorithm plays a crucial role in any blockchain network as it directly impacts the network's performance and security. There have been several proposed consensus mechanisms in the literature, including Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), Robust Proof of Stake (RPoS), and Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). Both Ethereum and Bitcoin utilize the PoW consensus mechanism, where nodes compete to solve puzzles in order to generate blocks, consuming significant processing power. On the other hand, the PoS consensus mechanism selects miners based on the stakes they hold, making it more energy efficient. However, PoS has drawbacks such as vulnerability to coin age accumulation attacks and the potential for partial centralization. In this work, we present a consensus mechanism known as Delegated Proof of Stake with Downgrading Mechanism using Game Theory (DDPoS (GT)). This mechanism employs a two-step game strategy to divide nodes into strong and weak nodes, as well as attack and non-attack nodes. Later, the results of the two games are combined to enhance protocol efficiency and security. Experimental results using a private Ethereum-based network demonstrate that DDPoS (GT) performs better than PoS and DPoS in terms of transaction latency, average block waiting time, and fairness.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Original source
Mar 26, 2024·Distributed Ledger Technologies Research and Practice
3 cites
Card Payment Protocol for Cryptocurrencies with Payment Channel Network

Anupa De Silva, Subhasis Thakur, John G. Breslin

Cryptocurrency, despite the upsurge as a speculative investment, is still a long way from being people’s money. The extreme technicality poses a significant barrier for the general public to adopt it as a medium of exchange. Therefore, simplifying the payment process is a predominant necessity; for example, facilitation in adopting conventional payment instruments can bring convenience to both merchants and consumers. This article proposes a novel cryptocurrency card payment protocol leveraging the Payment Channel Network (PCN) concept, facilitating high throughput and affordable transactions. Our design is based on the Bitcoin-backed Lightning Network (LN) with adjustments to make it executable by a smart card. It also preserves the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, reduces operational costs in several ways, and allows instant settlement for the recipients as compared to both conventional and cryptocurrency card payment systems. Our game theoretical analysis, where we model the engagement between the cardholder and the card agent as a long-run extensive form game, attests that they accord with the protocol without experiencing any honest loss under pragmatic conditions. We also discuss the privacy features compared to conventional card payments and LN. The protocol can function independently, without the need for trust, and can also be regulated for those seeking government mediation. This approach can potentially revolutionize the payment landscape by allowing the public to use cryptocurrency for everyday transactions conveniently and allowing existing cryptocurrency holders to conduct affordable micropayments.

Open access
Caching and Content Delivery
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Original source
Mar 15, 2024·Telematics and Informatics Reports
14 cites
Determinants of trust in Bitcoin: Literature review and results of a survey study

René Riedl‬, Lukas Gschwentner, Frank Krüeger

The rise of Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency built on blockchain technology, marks the onset of a novel era in financial transactions and has generated substantial interest among academics and industry professionals. The fundamental notion of trust lies at the core of Bitcoin's success and broad acceptance. It is imperative to understand better the factors influencing trust in Bitcoin for the progression of scholarly advancement and practical implementations. Against this background, this paper explored the fundamental research question of what factors influence trust in Bitcoin. Firstly, we conducted a literature review and examined 22 empirical articles investigating determinants of trust in Bitcoin. Secondly, we conducted a quantitative survey with 372 participants to investigate the top 20 determinants of trust in Bitcoin. We leveraged our literature review results, considering that most examined articles used qualitative methods and often had a broader focus on blockchain technology rather than Bitcoin itself. Our survey results uncovered the perceived nature and strength of the relationship between the 20 determinants of trust in Bitcoin, particularly emphasizing how Bitcoin ownership status influenced these findings. In summary, our results contribute to an enhanced understanding of the elements shaping trust in Bitcoin, which is vital both from an academic standpoint and for its practical significance, considering the widespread public interest in Bitcoin.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Original source
Mar 14, 2024·CC 2023
0 cites
A Survey on Applications of Distributed Ledger Technology in Healthcare

C. K. Shinzeer, Ajay Shriram Kushwaha, Avinash Bhagat

Blockchain technology is a distributed, accessible, open, and decentralized digital ledger used in healthcare to record transactions between devices. It addresses issues like data integrity, privacy, and confidentiality. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the deployment of digital technologies, such as Distributed Ledger Technology, which enables a decentralized consensus between operational data states. This technology can enhance data access, integrity, and patients’ control over their credentials. A survey was conducted with the help of the World Health Organization, Kaggle, and the Ministry of Health Government of India and Kerala with the aim to identify potential uses for blockchain technology in immunization and the collection of patient data.

Open access
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Mar 4, 2024·Sensors
17 cites
A Redactable Blockchain-Based Data Management Scheme for Agricultural Product Traceability

Shangxiong Yang, Shaowen Li, Wenjia Chen, Yawen Zhao

With the development of agricultural information technology, the Internet of Things and blockchain have become important in the traceability of agricultural products. Sensors collect real-time data in agricultural production and a blockchain provides a secure and transparent storage medium for these data, which improves the transparency and credibility of agricultural product traceability. However, existing agricultural product traceability solutions are limited by the immutability of the blockchain, making it difficult to delete erroneous data and modify the scope of data sharing. This damages the credibility of traceability data and is not conducive to the exchange and sharing of information among enterprises. In this article, we propose an agricultural product traceability data management scheme based on a redactable blockchain. This scheme allows agricultural enterprises to encrypt data to protect privacy. In order to facilitate the maintenance and sharing of data, we introduce a chameleon hash function to provide data modification capabilities. Enterprises can fix erroneous data and update the access permissions of the data. To improve the efficiency of block editing, our scheme adopts a distributed block editing method. This method supports threshold editing operations, avoiding single-point-of-failure issues. We save records of data modifications on the blockchain and establish accountability mechanisms to identify malicious entities. Finally, in this paper we provide a security analysis of our proposed solution and verify its effectiveness through experiments. Compared with the existing scheme, the block generating speed is improved by 42% and the block editing speed is improved by 29.3% at 125 nodes.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Mar 1, 2024·Internet of Things
25 cites
Adaptive Merkle trees for enhanced blockchain scalability

Oleksandr Kuznetsov, Dzianis Kanonik, Alex Rusnak, Anton Yezhov · 6 authors

The scalability of blockchain technology remains a pivotal challenge, impeding its widespread adoption across various sectors. This study introduces an innovative approach to address this challenge by proposing the adaptive restructuring of Merkle and Verkle trees, fundamental components of blockchain architecture responsible for ensuring data integrity and facilitating efficient verification processes. Unlike traditional static tree structures, our adaptive model dynamically adjusts the configuration of these trees based on usage patterns, significantly reducing the average path length required for verification and, consequently, the computational overhead associated with these processes. Through a comprehensive conceptual framework, we delineate the methodology for adaptive restructuring, encompassing both binary and non-binary tree configurations. This framework is validated through a series of detailed examples, demonstrating the practical feasibility and the efficiency gains achievable with our approach. Moreover, we present a comparative analysis with existing scalability solutions, highlighting the unique advantages of adaptive restructuring in terms of simplicity, security, and efficiency enhancement without introducing additional complexities or dependencies. This study's implications extend beyond theoretical advancements, offering a scalable, secure, and efficient method for blockchain data verification that could facilitate broader adoption of blockchain technology in finance, supply chain management, and beyond. As the blockchain ecosystem continues to evolve, the principles and methodologies outlined herein are poised to contribute significantly to its growth and maturity.

Open access
2 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Mar 1, 2024·arXiv (Cornell University)
4 cites
Assessing the Efficacy of Heuristic-Based Address Clustering for Bitcoin

Hugo Schnoering, Pierre Porthaux, Michalis Vazirgiannis

Exploring transactions within the Bitcoin blockchain entails examining the transfer of bitcoins among several hundred million entities. However, it is often impractical and resource-consuming to study such a vast number of entities. Consequently, entity clustering serves as an initial step in most analytical studies. This process often employs heuristics grounded in the practices and behaviors of these entities. In this research, we delve into the examination of two widely used heuristics, alongside the introduction of four novel ones. Our contribution includes the introduction of the \textit{clustering ratio}, a metric designed to quantify the reduction in the number of entities achieved by a given heuristic. The assessment of this reduction ratio plays an important role in justifying the selection of a specific heuristic for analytical purposes. Given the dynamic nature of the Bitcoin system, characterized by a continuous increase in the number of entities on the blockchain, and the evolving behaviors of these entities, we extend our study to explore the temporal evolution of the clustering ratio for each heuristic. This temporal analysis enhances our understanding of the effectiveness of these heuristics over time.

Open access
2 source records
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Mar 1, 2024·Proceedings of the IEEE
45 cites
Drawing the Boundaries Between Blockchain and Blockchain-Like Systems: A Comprehensive Survey on Distributed Ledger Technologies

Badr Bellaj, Aafaf Ouaddah, E. Bertin, Noël Crespi · 5 authors

Bitcoin’s success as a global cryptocurrency has paved the way for the emergence of blockchain, a revolutionary category of distributed systems. However, the growing popularity of blockchain has led to a significant divergence from its core principles in many systems labeled as “blockchain.” This divergence has introduced complexity into the blockchain ecosystem, exacerbated by a lack of comprehensive reviews on blockchain and its variants. Consequently, gaining a clear and updated understanding of the diverse spectrum of current blockchain and blockchain-like systems has become challenging. This situation underscores the necessity for an extensive literature review and the development of thematic taxonomies. This survey seeks to offer a comprehensive and current assessment of existing blockchains and their variations while delineating the boundaries between blockchain and blockchain-like systems. To achieve this objective, we propose a holistic reference model for conceptualizing and analyzing these systems. Our layer-wise framework envisions all distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) as composed of four principal layers: data, consensus, execution, and application (DCEA). In addition, we introduce a new taxonomy that enhances the classification of blockchain and blockchain-like systems, offering a more useful perspective than existing works. Furthermore, we conduct a state-of-the-art review from a layered perspective, employing 23 evaluative criteria predefined by our framework. We perform a qualitative and quantitative comparative analysis of 44 DLT solutions and 26 consensus mechanisms while discussing differences and boundaries between blockchain and blockchain-like systems. We emphasize the significant challenges and tradeoffs encountered by distributed ledger designers, decision-makers, and project managers during the design or adoption of a DLT solution. Finally, we outline crucial research challenges and directions in the field of DLTs.

Open access
4 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Feb 16, 2024·Energy Nexus
24 cites
Energy consumption by cryptocurrency: A bibliometric analysis revealing research trends and insights

V. Anandhabalaji, M. Babu, R. Brintha

Cryptocurrency is rapidly emerging as a prominent player in the global financial system, characterized by its decentralized nature and the absence of centralized government oversight. However, this autonomy raises significant environmental concerns primarily stemming from the energy-intensive mining process. Crypto mining, central to the creation of new coins and transaction validation, results in substantial carbon emissions and energy consumption. This study employs bibliometric analysis using RStudio to scrutinize the data sourced from the Scopus database. Data selection adhered to specific inclusion criteria, focusing on research articles and documents in the English language. Exclusion criteria targeted the elimination of review papers, conference reviews, short surveys, notes, and articles in languages other than English. China emerges as the foremost contributor with a frequency of 348 and a total citation count of 1259, followed by the USA with 594 citations. Notably, the keywords "blockchain" and "bitcoin" surface most frequently, occurring 293 and 148 times, respectively. The study posits that China's decision to ban cryptocurrency due to economic concerns has likely contributed to heightened global awareness of cryptocurrencies. In contrast, the USA has actively embraced cryptocurrencies, fostering their widespread circulation. Consequently, these two countries have emerged as leading contributors to energy consumption in the cryptocurrency sector. Blockchain, originally a broad concept, has found applications in diverse domains such as marketing, finance, healthcare, supply chain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This widespread adoption has expanded the scope of energy consumption considerations from cryptocurrencies to encompass blockchain technology as a whole. Future research should focus on mining regulation, alternative mechanisms, renewable energy sources, technological advancements, and carbon offsetting solutions. The article also addresses its limitations and the future scope of the study in detail.

Open access
2 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Feb 15, 2024·Energies
44 cites
A Blockchain-Based Scalability Solution with Microgrids Peer-to-Peer Trade

Ameni Boumaiza

In recent years, advancements in rooftop solar panel technology have sparked a revolution in the electricity markets. This has given rise to a new concept of energy exchange—the ability for consumers and producers to trade localized energy. This concept has been made possible by the emergence of blockchain technology, which has gained significant traction in the energy markets. Its unique ability to facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) energy transactions has made it a promising solution for the trilemma of scalability, security, and decentralization. However, while blockchain technology has shown great potential, it is still in its early stages of development and has yet to reach its full potential. To fully understand the potential of blockchain technology in P2P energy trading, it is important to explore the trilemma in depth. This study proposes a blockchain-based scalability solution with a focus on P2P energy trading. This strategy is supported by empirical modeling, utilizing data gathered from a trial case study. The results of this study demonstrate that the suggested technique outperforms base-layer models in terms of scalability while still maintaining the essential elements of security and decentralization. This proposed solution not only has the potential to revolutionize the energy markets but also has broader implications. By providing a more secure and decentralized platform for P2P energy trading, it has the potential to address issues of energy distribution inequality and promote the adoption of renewable energy. With blockchain technology, individuals and communities have the opportunity to take control of their energy usage and production, reducing their reliance on traditional centralized energy systems. This not only has the potential to lower energy costs for consumers but also contributes to the overall goal of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change. The combination of rooftop solar panel technology and blockchain applications has the potential to create a significant shift toward decentralized and sustainable energy systems. This will not only benefit individuals and communities but also have a positive impact on the environment and the global energy market. However, for this transition to occur, it is crucial that governments and energy companies continue to support and invest in these advancements.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Cloud Computing and Resource Management
Original source
Feb 15, 2024·arXiv (Cornell University)
4 cites
Scalability limitations of Kademlia DHTs when enabling Data Availability Sampling in Ethereum

Mikel Cortes-Goicoechea, Csaba Király, Dmitriy Ryajov, José L. Muñoz · 5 authors

Scalability in blockchain remains a significant challenge, especially when prioritizing decentralization and security. The Ethereum community has proposed comprehensive data-sharding techniques to overcome storage, computational, and network processing limitations. In this context, the propagation and availability of large blocks become the subject of research to achieve scalable data-sharding. This paper provides insights after exploring the usage of a Kademlia-based Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to enable Data Availability Sampling (DAS) in Ethereum. It presents a DAS-DHT simulator to study this problem and validates the results of the simulator with experiments in a real DHT network, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Our results help us understand what parts of DAS can be achieved based on existing Kademlia DHT solutions and which ones cannot. We discuss the limitations of DHT solutions and discuss other alternatives.

Open access
3 source records
Advanced Data Storage Technologies
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Feb 9, 2024·Tsinghua Science & Technology
5 cites
SnapshotPrune: A Novel Bitcoin-Based Protocol Toward Efficient Pruning and Fast Node Bootstrapping

Pengfei Huang, Xiaojun Ren, Teng Huang, Arthur Sandor Voundi Koe · 6 authors

Node synchronization is essential for the stability of the Bitcoin network. Critics have raised doubts about the ability of a new node to quickly and efficiently synchronize with the Bitcoin network and alleviate the storage pressure from existing full nodes to stockpile new data. Basic pruning and other techniques have been explored to address these concerns but have been insufficient to reduce node synchronization delay and effectively suppress the growth of synchronized data. In this study, we propose SnapshotPrune, a novel pruning and synchronization protocol that achieves fast node bootstrapping in the Bitcoin blockchain. Real Bitcoin historical data are leveraged to measure the synchronization time and monitor the network traffic during node bootstrapping. The protocol requires data downloads that are 99.70% less than Bitcoin Core, 81% less than CoinPrune, and 60% less than SnapshotSave, thereby saving 97.23% of download time. Findings show that the proposed design enhances the storage efficiency and reduces the node synchronization delay compared with existing techniques. We hypothesize that the efficiency of this protocol increases with the block height.

Open access
Algorithms and Data Compression
Caching and Content Delivery
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Original source
Feb 7, 2024·ICT Express
18 cites
Overview and empirical analysis of wealth decentralization in blockchain networks

Mindaugas Juodis, Ernestas Filatovas, Remigijus Paulavičius

The decentralization paradigm has made blockchain one of the most disruptive technologies today. When evaluating the level of decentralization, the key metric for most public blockchain networks is the degree of decentralization of the resources responsible for determining who generates the blocks. In turn, it facilitates a greater understanding of both security and scalability on a blockchain. This work provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art on wealth decentralization, which has not yet received the attention it deserves. We collect data, calculate various wealth decentralization metrics, and compare our results with research on the same methodology. As the amount of data for various blockchains increases rapidly, it is helpful to have techniques to aggregate data for statistical analysis. We introduce and provide conservative estimates of decentralized group metrics based on the reduced data and compare them with full-data measurements. Our research considers both the Layer 1 blockchains of Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with Layer 2 blockchains such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Complex Network Analysis Techniques
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Jan 30, 2024·Wiley
2 cites
A Transformative Shift Towards Blockchain-based IoT Environments: Consensus, Smart Contracts, and Future Directions

Chandan Trivedi, Udai Pratap Rao, Keyur Parmar, Pronaya Bhattacharya · 5 authors

Recently, blockchain-based IoT solutions have been proposed that address trust limitation by maintaining data consistency, immutability, and chronology in IoT environments. However, IoT ecosystems are resource-constrained and have low bandwidth and finite computing power of sensor nodes. Thus, the inclusion of blockchain requires an effective policy design regarding consensus and smart contract environments in heterogeneous IoT applications. Recent studies have presented blockchain as a potential solution in IoT, but an effective view of consensus and smart contract design to meet the end application requirements is an open problem. Motivated by the same, the survey presents the integration of suitable low-powered consensus protocols and smart contract design to assess and validate the blockchain-IoT ecosystems. We discuss the key blockchain concepts and present the scalability and performance issues of consensus protocols to support IoT. Further, we discuss smart contract vulnerabilities and blockchain attacks. Open issues and future directions are presented, supported through a case study of low-powered consensus protocol design in the blockchain- IoT ecosystem. The survey intends to drive novel solutions for future consensus and safe, smart contract designs to support applicative IoT ecosyst

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Caching and Content Delivery
Original source
Jan 23, 2024·arXiv (Cornell University)
0 cites
A Novel Blockchain Based Information Management Framework for Web 3.0

Md Arif Hassan, Cong T. Nguyen, Chi-Hieu Nguyen, Dinh Thai Hoang · 6 authors

Web 3.0 is the third generation of the World Wide Web (WWW), concentrating on the critical concepts of decentralization, availability, and increasing client usability. Although Web 3.0 is undoubtedly an essential component of the future Internet, it currently faces critical challenges, including decentralized data collection and management. To overcome these challenges, blockchain has emerged as one of the core technologies for the future development of Web 3.0. In this paper, we propose a novel blockchain-based information management framework, namely Smart Blockchain-based Web (SBW), to manage information in Web 3.0 effectively, enhance the security and privacy of users’ data, bring additional profits, and incentivize users to contribute information to the websites. Particularly, SBW utilizes blockchain technology and smart contracts to manage the decentralized data collection process for Web 3.0 effectively. Moreover, in this framework, we develop an effective consensus mechanism based on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) to reward the user’s information contribution and conduct game theoretical analysis to analyze the user’s behavior in the considered system. Additionally, we conduct simulations to assess the performance of SBW and investigate the impact of critical parameters on information contribution. The findings confirm our theoretical analysis and demonstrate that our proposed consensus mechanism can incentivize the nodes and users to contribute more information to our systems.

Open access
3 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Caching and Content Delivery
Peer-to-Peer Network Technologies
Original source