Privacy in blockchain systems


OSMANOĞLU M., SELÇUK A. A.

TURKISH JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCES, cilt.30, sa.2, ss.344-360, 2022 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus, TRDizin) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3906/elk-2105-183
  • Dergi Adı: TURKISH JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Applied Science & Technology Source, Compendex, Computer & Applied Sciences, INSPEC, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.344-360
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, privacy, anonymity
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Privacy of blockchains has been a matter of discussion since the inception of Bitcoin. Various techniques with a varying degree of privacy protection and complexity have been proposed over the past decade. In this survey, we present a systematic analysis of these proposals in four categories: (i) identity, (ii) transaction, (iii) consensus, and (iv) smart contract privacy. Each of these categories have privacy requirements of its own, and various solutions have been proposed to meet these requirements. Almost every technique in the literature of privacy enhancing technologies have been applied to blockchains: mix networks, zero-knowledge proofs, blind signatures, ring signatures, secure MPC, homomorphic encryption, to name just a few. We analyze each category separately in the paper. We first define the related privacy issues, and then review the proposed solutions. The limitations of each solution and the attacks discovered are also discussed along with the proposals. For each category, we first define the relevant privacy issues, and then review the proposed solutions along with their features and limitations.