A Comparative Analysis of Distributed Ledger Technology Platforms

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has emerged as one of the most disruptive technologies in the last decade. It promises to change the way people do their business, track their products, and manage their personal data. Though the concept of DLT was first implemented in 2009 as Bitcoin, it has gained significant attention only in the past few years. During this time, different DLT enthusiasts and commercial companies have proposed and developed several DLT platforms. These platforms are usually categorized as public vs private, general-purpose vs application-specific and so on. As a growing number of people are interested to build DLT applications, it is important to understand their underlying architecture and capabilities in order to determine which DLT platform should be leveraged for a specific DLT application. In addition, the platforms need to be evaluated and critically analyzed to assess their applicability, resiliency and sustainability in the long run. In this paper, we have surveyed several leading DLT platforms and evaluated their capabilities based on a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria. The comparative analysis presented in this paper will help the DLT developers and architects to choose the best platform as per their requirement(s)

For Love or For Profit? – Crafting a Suitable Securities Framework for Initial Coin Offerings

The spectacle of Bitcoin has largely overshadowed the development of the cryptocurrency’s underlying structure – the blockchain. The blockchain is a type of digital ledger that performs a number of traditional record-keeping functions in a more efficient and reliable manner. Organizations around the globe continue to invest heavily in blockchain technology for a myriad of purposes. To fund these innovative projects, many organizations hold an Initial Coin Offering (“ICO”) in which “tokens” -- a blockchain’s primary means of exchanging value, proving ownership, and/or paying for network services -- are sold to purchasers in exchange for U.S. dollars. In many ways, ICOs are the modern equivalent of a traditional initial public offering (“IPO”). Tokens are often bought as a financial investment, with purchasers hoping to capitalize on cryptocurrency mania and reap a large return. Indeed, some ICOs have exploited overzealous investors by holding fraudulent ICOs without any real intention of developing a functioning blockchain network. As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission largely regulates ICOs in the same manner as IPOs, imposing stringent reporting requirements and liability on startups and developers. However, these bad apples are in the minority and moreover, certain tokens sold through ICOs do not meet the classic definition of a “security.” Utility tokens, in particular, are functionally distinct from a traditional security with any rise in value being incidental to the token’s primary utility. Treating all crypto-tokens sold through ICOs as securities stifles development by imposing onerous requirements upon novice developers. Current securities law exemptions are inadequate and given the popularity and success of many ICOs, their offerings should not be forced into poorly tailored regulations. The SEC should acknowledge the unique nature of certain blockchain tokens and provide tailored guidance for future ICOs if this burgeoning industry is to flourish

BLOCKCHAIN: ANALYSIS, COMPARISON AND CRITIQUES

Nowadays, we are witnessing a rapid development in newer technologies that might change our lives in future. Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Blockchain are part of the fourth industrial revolution. While it might be easier to imagine how AI, robotics and IoT are changing our future, blockchain is surrounded with hype and doubts. Billions of dollars flooding into blockchain projects, large cooperate are working on enterprise solutions, and countries considering blockchain digital currencies motivated by political reasons. On the other side, enthusiasts driven by the idea to change the financial system, anti-capitalist, criminals, and hackers found alternative in the blockchain. This thesis aims toward understanding blockchain technically and to highlight the main differences between the main three blockchain solutions available today. Understanding the concepts of the blockchain and trying to answer questions regarding the future of blockchain and how the technology can be utilized to solve problems other technologies have failed. This master thesis explores this exciting technology of blockchain and analysis its strengths, challenges, opportunities, and future. Starting from Bitcoin, then going through Ethereum and finally toward Hyperledger enterprise solutions. The study presents technical details, programming concepts, usages, limitations and critiques. Blockchain is a new technology and in few years, researches and experimental projects will reveal where the technology would stand. It might disturb fundamentally many Industries or just return back to where it originated from, the Bitcoin.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Post-quantum blockchain for internet of things domain

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonIn the evolving realm of quantum computing, emerging advancements reveal substantial challenges and threats to existing cryptographic infrastructures, particularly impacting blockchain technologies. These are pivotal for securing the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. The traditional blockchain structures, integral to myriad IoT applications, are susceptible to potential quantum computations, emphasizing an urgent need for innovations in post-quantum blockchain solutions to reinforce security in the expansive domain of IoT. This PhD thesis delves into the crucial exploration and meticulous examination of the development and implementation of post-quantum blockchain within the IoT landscape, focusing on the incorporation of advanced post-quantum cryptographic algorithms in Hyperledger Fabric, a forefront blockchain platform renowned for its versatility and robustness. The primary aim is to discern viable post-quantum cryptographic solutions capable of fortifying blockchain systems against impending quantum threats enhancing security and reliability in IoT applications. The research comprehensively evaluates various post-quantum public-key generation and digital signature algorithms, performing detailed analyses of their computational time and memory usage to identify optimal candidates. Furthermore, the thesis proposes an innovative lattice-based digital signature scheme Fast-Fourier Lattice-based Compact Signature over NTRU (Falcon), which leverages the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) algorithm as a trapdoor sampler to augment its security attributes. The research introduces a post-quantum version of the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain that integrates post-quantum signatures. The system utilizes the Open Quantum Safe (OQS) library, rigorously tested against NIST round 3 candidates for optimal performance. The study highlights the capability to manage IoT data securely on the post-quantum Hyperledger Fabric blockchain through the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. Such a configuration ensures safe data transfer from IoT sensors directly to the blockchain nodes, securing the processing and recording of sensor data within the node ledger. The research addresses the multifaceted challenges of quantum computing advancements and significantly contributes to establishing secure, efficient, and resilient post-quantum blockchain infrastructures tailored explicitly for the IoT domain. These findings are instrumental in elevating the security paradigms of IoT systems against quantum vulnerabilities and catalysing innovations in post-quantum cryptography and blockchain technologies. Furthermore, this thesis introduces strategies for the optimization of performance and scalability of post-quantum blockchain solutions and explores alternative, energy-efficient consensus mechanisms such as the Raft and Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), providing sustainable alternatives to the conventional Proof-of-Work (PoW) approach. A critical insight emphasized throughout this thesis is the imperative of synergistic collaboration among academia, industry, and regulatory bodies. This collaboration is pivotal to expedite the adoption and standardization of post-quantum blockchain solutions, fostering the development of interoperable and standardized technologies enriched with robust security and privacy frameworks for end users. In conclusion, this thesis furnishes profound insights and substantial contributions to implementing post-quantum blockchain in the IoT domain. It delineates original contributions to the knowledge and practices in the field, offering practical solutions and advancing the state-of-the-art in post-quantum cryptography and blockchain research, thereby paving the way for a secure and resilient future for interconnected IoT systems

Decentralised computer systems

The architecture of the Web was designed to enable decentralised exchange of information. Early architects envisioned an egalitarian yet organic society thriving in cyberspace. The reality of the Web today, unfortunately, does not bear out these visions: information networks have repeatedly shown a tendency towards consolidation and centralisation with the current Web split between a handful of large corporations. The advent of Bitcoin and successor blockchain networks re-ignited interest in developing alternatives to the centralised Web and paving a way back to the earlier architectural visions for the Web. This has led to immense hype around these technologies with the cryptocurrency market valued at several hundred billions of dollars at the time of writing. With great hype, apparently, come great scams. I start off by analysing the use of Bitcoin as an enabler for crime and then present both technical solutions as well as policy recommendations to mitigate the harm these crimes cause. These policy recommendations then lead us on to look more closely at cryptocurrency's tamer cousin: permissioned blockchains. These systems, while less revolutionary in their premise, nevertheless aim to provide sweeping improvements in the efficiency and transparency of existing enterprise systems. To see whether they work in practice, I present the results of my work in delivering a production permissioned blockchain system to real users. This involves comparing several permissioned blockchain systems, exploring their deficiencies and developing solutions for the most egregious of those. Lastly, I do a deep dive into one of the most persistent technical issues with permissioned blockchains, and decentralised networks in general: the lack of scalability in their consensus mechanisms. I present two novel consensus algorithms that aim to improve upon the state of the art in several ways. The first is designed to enable existing permissioned blockchain networks to scale to thousands of nodes. The second presents an entirely new way of building decentralised consensus systems utilising a trie-based data structure at its core as opposed to the usual linear ledgers used in current systems

Blockchain Design for a Secure Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

In the realm of pharmaceuticals, particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply chain for drugs has faced significant strains. The increased demand for vaccines and therapeutics has revealed critical weaknesses in the current drug supply chain management systems. If not addressed, these challenges could lead to severe societal impacts, including the rise of counterfeit medications and diminishing trust in government authorities. The study identified that more than the current strategies, such as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the U.S., which focuses on unique authentication and traceability codes for prescription drugs, is needed to eliminate the risk of drug counterfeiting. The study noted the need for a centralized, secure system for authenticating drugs before distribution. This investigation explores the potential of blockchain technology as a solution to these challenges. Blockchain’s decentralized, immutable, and transparent nature could revolutionize drug supply chain management by enhancing traceability, security, and transparency. This technology combats counterfeit drugs, builds stakeholder trust through cryptographic security, improves monitoring and compliance with realtime data access, and automates processes through smart contracts. Furthermore, blockchain facilitates data exchange, fostering collaboration across the supply chain. Our work focuses explicitly on utilizing blockchain technology to address information security concerns in the pharmaceutical supply chain. While it involves leveraging existing innovations like DNA tagging and unique identities for drug identification, it is essential to clarify that the development of these specific technologies is attributed to other researchers and teams. We contribute to integrating these existing technologies into a blockchain framework to enhance drug tracking and data management. Each drug’s unique characteristics are recorded and stored on the blockchain via smart contracts. Moreover, the research compares three major open-source consortium blockchain solutions, assessing their functionality and scalability. Simulated attacks were conducted on these blockchain platforms to evaluate their resilience against data breaches and service disruptions. The results indicate that adherence to security design principles is crucial for data security, and the unique architecture of each platform significantly influences its performance in terms of speed, scalability, and fault tolerance

SoK: Consensus in the Age of Blockchains

The core technical component of blockchains is consensus: how to reach agreement among a distributed network of nodes. A plethora of blockchain consensus protocols have been proposed---ranging from new designs, to novel modifications and extensions of consensus protocols from the classical distributed systems literature. The inherent complexity of consensus protocols and their rapid and dramatic evolution makes it hard to contextualize the design landscape. We address this challenge by conducting a systematization of knowledge of blockchain consensus protocols. After first discussing key themes in classical consensus protocols, we describe: (i) protocols based on proof-of-work; (ii) proof-of-X protocols that replace proof-of-work with more energy-efficient alternatives; and (iii) hybrid protocols that are compositions or variations of classical consensus protocols. This survey is guided by a systematization framework we develop, to highlight the various building blocks of blockchain consensus design, along with a discussion on their security and performance properties. We identify research gaps and insights for the community to consider in future research endeavours