2023/08/29 by Tzuo Hann Law, Law, Tzuo Hann, Selman Erol +3
Business, Management and Accounting · Computer Science · #Blockchain Technology Applications and Security #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #Distributed #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Parallel #Supply Chain and Inventory Management #and Cluster Computing (cs.DC)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.15312
openalex publication_date 2023/08/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study an adversary who attacks a Proof-of-Work (POW) blockchain by selfishly constructing an alternative longest chain. We characterize optimal strategies employed by the adversary when a difficulty adjustment rule alà Bitcoin applies. As time (namely the times-tamp specified in each block) in most permissionless POW blockchains is somewhat subjective, we focus on two extreme scenarios: when time is completely verifiable, and when it is completely unverifiable. We conclude that an adversary who faces a difficulty adjustment rule will find a longest-chain attack very challenging when timestamps are verifiable. POW blockchains with frequent difficulty adjustments relative to time reporting flexibility will be substantially more vulnerable to longest-chain attacks. Our main fining provides guidance on the design of difficulty adjustment rules and demonstrates the importance of timestamp verifiability.