On the Impact of Attachment Strategies for Payment Channel Networks

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Konferenzbericht/Sammelband/GutachtenBeitrag in KonferenzbandBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Kimberly Lange - (Autor:in)
  • Elias Rohrer - (Autor:in)
  • Florian Tschorsch - , Technische Universität Berlin (Autor:in)

Abstract

Payment channel networks, such as Bitcoin's Lightning Network, promise to improve the scalability of blockchain systems by processing the majority of transactions off-chain. Due to the design, the positioning of nodes in the network topology is a highly influential factor regarding the experienced performance, costs, and fee revenue of network participants. As a consequence, today's Lightning Network is built around a small number of highly-connected hubs. Recent literature shows the centralizing tendencies to be incentive-compatible and at the same time detrimental to security and privacy. The choice of attachment strategies therefore becomes a crucial factor for the future of such systems. In this paper, we provide an empirical study on the (local and global) impact of various attachment strategies for payment channel networks. To this end, we introduce candidate strategies from the field of graph theory and analyze them with respect to their computational complexity as well as their repercussions for end users and service providers. Moreover, we evaluate their long-term impact on the network topology.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
TitelProceedings of the International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC~'21)
Seiten1-9
ISBN (elektronisch)9781665435789
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Mai 2021
Peer-Review-StatusJa
Extern publiziertJa

Externe IDs

Scopus 85114471830

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • Attachment Strategies, Autopilot, Join Strategies, Lightning Network, Payment Channel Networks