A Proof of Work Based on Key Recovery Problem of Cascade Block Ciphers with ASIC Resistance

【Author】 Asanuma, Takaki; Isobe, Takanori

【Source】IEICE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION AND SYSTEMS

【影响因子】0.695

【Abstract】Hashcash, which is a Proof of Work (PoW) of bitcoin, is based on a preimage problem of hash functions of SHA-2 and RIPEMD. As these hash functions employ the Merkle-Damgard (MD) construction, a preimage can be found with negligible memory. Since such calculations can be accelerated by dedicated ASICs, it has a potential risk of a so-called 51% attack. To address this issue, we propose a new PoW scheme based on the key recovery problem of cascade block ciphers. By choosing the appropriate parameters, e.g., block sizes and key sizes of underlying block ciphers, we can make this problem a memory-hard problem such that it requires a lot of memory to efficiently solve it. Besides, we can independently adjust the required time complexity and memory complexity, according to requirements by target applications and progress of computational power.

【Keywords】blockchain; Proof of Work; cascade block ciphers; key recovery problem

【发表时间】2022 FEB

【收录时间】2023-02-17

【文献类型】实验仿真

【主题类别】

区块链技术-核心技术-加密算法