An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks
There is an increasing demand for digital crypto-currencies to be more secure and robust to meet the following business requirements: (1) low transaction fees and (2) the privacy of users. Nowadays, Bitcoin is gaining traction and wide adoption. Many well-known businesses have begun accepting bitcoi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Array |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590005622000613 |
| _version_ | 1828239610883342336 |
|---|---|
| author | Muntadher Sallal Ruairí de Fréin Ali Malik Benjamin Aziz |
| author_facet | Muntadher Sallal Ruairí de Fréin Ali Malik Benjamin Aziz |
| author_sort | Muntadher Sallal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is an increasing demand for digital crypto-currencies to be more secure and robust to meet the following business requirements: (1) low transaction fees and (2) the privacy of users. Nowadays, Bitcoin is gaining traction and wide adoption. Many well-known businesses have begun accepting bitcoins as a means of making financial payments. However, the susceptibility of Bitcoin networks to information propagation delay, increases the vulnerability to attack of the Bitcoin network, and decreases its throughput performance. This paper introduces and critically analyses new network clustering methods, named Locality Based Clustering (LBC), Ping Time Based Approach (PTBC), Super Node Based Clustering (SNBA), and Master Node Based Clustering (MNBC). The proposed methods aim to decrease the chances of performing a successful double spending attack by reducing the information propagation delay of Bitcoin. These methods embody proximity-aware extensions to the standard Bitcoin protocol, where proximity is measured geographically and in terms of latency. We validate our proposed methods through a set of simulation experiments and the findings show how the proposed methods run and their impact in optimising the transaction propagation delay. Furthermore, these new methods are evaluated from the perspective of the Bitcoin network’s resistance to partitioning attacks. Numerical results, which are established via extensive simulation experiments, demonstrate how the extensions run and also their impact in optimising the transaction propagation delay. We draw on these findings to suggest promising future research directions for the optimisation of transaction propagation delays. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:25:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4b07f14f2d0c43d2abca3ba86a093529 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-0056 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T21:25:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Array |
| spelling | doaj.art-4b07f14f2d0c43d2abca3ba86a0935292022-12-22T03:16:10ZengElsevierArray2590-00562022-09-0115100221An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networksMuntadher Sallal0Ruairí de Fréin1Ali Malik2Benjamin Aziz3Department of Computing and Informatics, Bournemouth University, United KingdomSchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Technological University Dublin, IrelandSchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Technological University Dublin, Ireland; Corresponding author.School of Computing, University of Portsmouth, United KingdomThere is an increasing demand for digital crypto-currencies to be more secure and robust to meet the following business requirements: (1) low transaction fees and (2) the privacy of users. Nowadays, Bitcoin is gaining traction and wide adoption. Many well-known businesses have begun accepting bitcoins as a means of making financial payments. However, the susceptibility of Bitcoin networks to information propagation delay, increases the vulnerability to attack of the Bitcoin network, and decreases its throughput performance. This paper introduces and critically analyses new network clustering methods, named Locality Based Clustering (LBC), Ping Time Based Approach (PTBC), Super Node Based Clustering (SNBA), and Master Node Based Clustering (MNBC). The proposed methods aim to decrease the chances of performing a successful double spending attack by reducing the information propagation delay of Bitcoin. These methods embody proximity-aware extensions to the standard Bitcoin protocol, where proximity is measured geographically and in terms of latency. We validate our proposed methods through a set of simulation experiments and the findings show how the proposed methods run and their impact in optimising the transaction propagation delay. Furthermore, these new methods are evaluated from the perspective of the Bitcoin network’s resistance to partitioning attacks. Numerical results, which are established via extensive simulation experiments, demonstrate how the extensions run and also their impact in optimising the transaction propagation delay. We draw on these findings to suggest promising future research directions for the optimisation of transaction propagation delays.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590005622000613BitcoinBlockchainsClusteringInformation propagationSecurityPerformance |
| spellingShingle | Muntadher Sallal Ruairí de Fréin Ali Malik Benjamin Aziz An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks Array Bitcoin Blockchains Clustering Information propagation Security Performance |
| title | An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks |
| title_full | An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks |
| title_fullStr | An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks |
| title_short | An empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for Bitcoin networks |
| title_sort | empirical comparison of the security and performance characteristics of topology formation algorithms for bitcoin networks |
| topic | Bitcoin Blockchains Clustering Information propagation Security Performance |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590005622000613 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT muntadhersallal anempiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT ruairidefrein anempiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT alimalik anempiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT benjaminaziz anempiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT muntadhersallal empiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT ruairidefrein empiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT alimalik empiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks AT benjaminaziz empiricalcomparisonofthesecurityandperformancecharacteristicsoftopologyformationalgorithmsforbitcoinnetworks |