AeRChain: An Anonymous and Efficient Redactable Blockchain Scheme Based on Proof-of-Work

Area of Science:

• Blockchain Technology
• Cryptography
• Distributed Systems

Background:

• Redactable blockchains offer controlled data mutability for applications like illegal content removal.
• Existing solutions suffer from inefficient redaction and inadequate voter privacy during consensus.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an anonymous and efficient redactable blockchain scheme for permissionless settings.
• To address the limitations of current redactable blockchains regarding redaction speed and voter anonymity.

Main Methods:

• Developed an improved Back's Linkable Spontaneous Anonymous Group (bLSAG) signatures scheme for voter identity protection.
• Introduced a moderate puzzle with variable target values for efficient voter selection.
• Implemented a voting weight function to assign differential weights to puzzles.

Main Results:

• The proposed AeRChain scheme achieves efficient anonymous redacting consensus.
• Demonstrated low overhead and reduced communication traffic compared to existing methods.
• Successfully protected the identity information of voters in the redacting consensus.

Conclusions:

• AeRChain provides a viable solution for efficient and private data redaction in permissionless blockchains.
• The integration of bLSAG signatures and novel puzzle mechanisms enhances security and performance.
• This work contributes to the advancement of secure and practical blockchain applications.