论文标题
闪电网络的中心性分析
A Centrality Analysis of the Lightning Network
论文作者
论文摘要
诸如Lightning网络之类的支付渠道网络(PCN)为许多在比特币等区块链上运行的加密货币所面临的可伸缩性问题提供了吸引人的解决方案。但是,PCN还继承了区块链的严格可靠性要求。特别是,为了减轻流动性瓶颈以及在路径攻击中,重要的是,支付渠道网络保持高度的权力下放非常重要。在这一要求的推动下,我们对流行的闪电网络,尤其是路由系统的中心分布进行了经验中心性分析。基于我们的广泛数据集(使用数百万个频道更新消息),我们实现了一种Timemachine工具,使我们能够随着时间的推移研究网络的演变。我们发现,尽管网络通常是相当分散的,但少数节点可以吸引大部分交易,从而引入偏斜。此外,我们的分析表明,在过去的两年中,中心性已显着增加,例如,不平等(通过Gini指数衡量)增加了10%以上。
Payment channel networks (PCNs) such as the Lightning Network offer an appealing solution to the scalability problem faced by many cryptocurrencies operating on a blockchain such as Bitcoin. However, PCNs also inherit the stringent dependability requirements of blockchain. In particular, in order to mitigate liquidity bottlenecks as well as on-path attacks, it is important that payment channel networks maintain a high degree of decentralization. Motivated by this requirement, we conduct an empirical centrality analysis of the popular Lightning Network, and in particular, the betweenness centrality distribution of the routing system. Based on our extensive data set (using several millions of channel update messages), we implemented a TimeMachine tool which enables us to study the network evolution over time. We find that although the network is generally fairly decentralized, a small number of nodes can attract a significant fraction of the transactions, introducing skew. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that over the last two years, the centrality has increased significantly, e.g., the inequality (measured by the Gini index) has increased by more than 10%.