TY  - GEN
EP  - 16
Y1  - 2021/06/11/
AV  - public
TI  - Stochastic modelling of blockchain consensus
N1  - This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions.
PB  - ArXiv
UR  - https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2106.06465
ID  - discovery10180002
N2  - Blockchain and general purpose distributed ledgers are foundational technologies which bring significant innovation in the infrastructures and other underpinnings of our socio-economic systems. These P2P technologies are able to securely diffuse information within and across networks, without need for trustees or central authorities to enforce consensus. In this contribution, we propose a minimalistic stochastic model to understand the dynamics of blockchain-based consensus. By leveraging on random-walk theory, we model block propagation delay on different network topologies and provide a classification of blockchain systems in terms of two emergent properties. Firstly, we identify two performing regimes: a functional regime corresponding to an optimal system function; and a non-functional regime characterised by a congested or branched state of sub-optimal blockchains. Secondly, we discover a phase transition during the emergence of consensus and numerically investigate the corresponding critical point. Our results provide important insights into the consensus mechanism and sub-optimal states in decentralised systems.
A1  - Tessone, Claudio J
A1  - Tasca, Paolo
A1  - Ianelli, Flavio
CY  - Ithaca, NY, USA
ER  -