Blockchains Vulnerable to Centralized Control, DARPA Report Finds
The report points to a handful of, “unintended centralities,” it argues could concentrate blockchain power in the hands of a few select individuals or groups.
gizmodo.com
A newly released report commissioned by the Defense Advanced Research Project (DARPA) titled “Are Blockchains Decentralized?” found key vulnerabilities potentially capable of jeopardizing blockchain tech’s supposed “decentralized” ethos.
The report, conducted in partnership with the research firm Trail of Bits, specifically points to a handful of, “unintended centralities,” that the authors argue can potentially concentrate blockchain power in the hands of a few select individuals or groups. Those unintended centralities range from powerful new cryptocurrency miners and outdated computers vulnerable to attacks, to a select cohort of internet service providers responsible for handling Bitcoin traffic.
The authors notably don’t discover exploits or weaknesses of blockchain’s lauded cryptography (those are actually described as “quite robust”—at least until quantum computing becomes a great reality). Instead, they dig up issues by “subverting the properties of a blockchain’s implementations.”
Nearly two-thirds (60%) of all Bitcoin traffic travelled through just three ISPs over at least the past five years, according to the report. Additionally, around half of all Bitcoin, traffic was reportedly routed through Tor. If so inclined, Trail of Bits CEO Dan Guido said in an interview with NPR, those providers could potentially possess the ability to “rewrite history” by restricting certain transactions and preventing Bitcoin from changing hands altogether.