A Survey on Cross-Chain Technology: Challenges, Development, and Prospect

With the continuous development of blockchain technology, many blockchain applications, such as digital currencies in the form of tokens, are deployed. However, due to the lack of data and value inter-blockchain transmission methods, these chain applications form many data islands. Therefore, cross-chain technology is proposed and applied in distributed transaction platforms, digital finance, e-government and many other different fields. Although cross-chain technology just started, the cross-chain technology and its applications are gradually improving to meet the development needs of blockchain system. At the same time, they have already realized asset transfers across heterogeneous blockchains and platforms, and some projects have realized cross-chain information exchange. At present, cross-chain technology includes the following typical methods: Hash-locking, Notary scheme, Distributed private key control, Sidechains/Relays and Tight coupling. This paper analyzes the above methods from the aspect of techniques, security requirements, and technical limitation, and compares their applicability. With public blockchains and consortium blockchains, this paper analyzes their problems and challenges in cross-chain technology and introduces the main approaches of existing solutions. By analyzing the existing cross-chain technologies and problems, this paper further introduces eight popular cross-chain projects and their application prospects. Finally, this paper summarizes and proposes the future research topics and development trends of cross-chain technology.

[1]  Wei Wang,et al.  A Decentralized Cross-Chain Service Protocol based on Notary Schemes and Hash-Locking , 2022, 2022 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (SCC).

[2]  Ming Li,et al.  ZeroCross: A sidechain-based privacy-preserving Cross-chain solution for Monero , 2022, J. Parallel Distributed Comput..

[3]  Bo Xu,et al.  HERMS: A Hierarchical Electronic Records Management System Based on Blockchain with Distributed Key Generation , 2022, IEEE International Conference on Services Computing.

[4]  Yubin Xia,et al.  Colony: A Privileged Trusted Execution Environment With Extensibility , 2022, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[5]  Yue Zhang,et al.  BCPPT: A blockchain-based privacy-preserving and traceability identity management scheme for intellectual property , 2022, Peer-to-Peer Netw. Appl..

[6]  H. Johansen,et al.  TFHE-rs: A library for safe and secure remote computing using fully homomorphic encryption and trusted execution environments , 2021, Array.

[7]  H. Asghar,et al.  A Blockchain-enabled Anonymous-yet- Traceable Distributed Key Generation , 2021, International Congress on Blockchain and Applications.

[8]  Burkhard Stiller,et al.  Security and Standardization of a Notary-based Blockchain Interoperability API , 2021, 2021 Third International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications (BCCA).

[9]  Lanlin Yu,et al.  A Lyapunov analysis of the continuous-time adaptive Bellman-Ford algorithm , 2021, Syst. Control. Lett..

[10]  Shahriar Ebrahimi,et al.  Enhancing Cold Wallet Security with Native Multi-Signature schemes in Centralized Exchanges , 2021, ArXiv.

[11]  Subhi Alrubei,et al.  Securing IoT-Blockchain Applications Through Honesty-Based Distributed Proof of Authority Consensus Algorithm , 2021, 2021 International Conference on Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics and Assessment (CyberSA).

[12]  Shaofeng Lin,et al.  Research on Cross-chain Technology of Blockchain , 2021, 2021 6th International Conference on Smart Grid and Electrical Automation (ICSGEA).

[13]  Dinesh Dash,et al.  BLWN: Blockchain-Based Lightweight Simplified Payment Verification in IoT-Assisted e-Healthcare , 2021, IEEE Systems Journal.

[14]  Shaofeng Lin,et al.  Overview of Block Chain Cross Chain Technology , 2021, 2021 13th International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation (ICMTMA).

[15]  Jie Wu,et al.  Local Pooling of Connected Supernodes in Lightning Networks for Blockchains , 2020, 2020 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain).

[16]  Emmanuel Bertin,et al.  Authentication and Access Control based on Distributed Ledger Technology: A survey , 2020, 2020 2nd Conference on Blockchain Research & Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS).

[17]  Wilhelm Stork,et al.  Integration, Execution and Monitoring of Business Processes with Chaincode , 2020, 2020 2nd Conference on Blockchain Research & Applications for Innovative Networks and Services (BRAINS).

[18]  Balaram D. Behera,et al.  Sorting an Array Using the Topological Sort of a Corresponding Comparison Graph , 2020, Theor. Comput. Sci..

[19]  Hamzeh Khazaei,et al.  Performance Evaluation of Blockchain Systems: A Systematic Survey , 2020, IEEE Access.

[20]  Miguel Correia,et al.  A Survey on Blockchain Interoperability: Past, Present, and Future Trends , 2020, ACM Comput. Surv..

[21]  Alfonso Cevallos,et al.  Overview of Polkadot and its Design Considerations , 2020, IACR Cryptol. ePrint Arch..

[22]  S. Secci,et al.  Game theoretical framework for analyzing Blockchains Robustness , 2020, IACR Cryptol. ePrint Arch..

[23]  Grigore Rosu,et al.  Formalizing Correct-by-Construction Casper in Coq , 2020, 2020 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC).

[24]  Alfonso Cevallos,et al.  A verifiably secure and proportional committee election rule , 2020, AFT.

[25]  Beng Chin Ooi,et al.  A Transactional Perspective on Execute-order-validate Blockchains , 2020, SIGMOD Conference.

[26]  Ge Yu,et al.  Improved Blockchain Consensus Mechanism Based on PBFT Algorithm , 2020, 2020 2nd International Conference on Advances in Computer Technology, Information Science and Communications (CTISC).

[27]  Christof Spanring,et al.  Testimonium: A Cost-Efficient Blockchain Relay , 2020, ArXiv.

[28]  Roman Oliynykov,et al.  Zendoo: a zk-SNARK Verifiable Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol Enabling Decoupled and Decentralized Sidechains , 2020, 2020 IEEE 40th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS).

[29]  Qi Zhang,et al.  Sidechain technologies in blockchain networks: An examination and state-of-the-art review , 2020, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[30]  Stefano Secci,et al.  Game theoretical analysis of Atomic Cross-Chain Swaps , 2019, ICDCS 2019.

[31]  Fuchun Guo,et al.  Accountable identity-based encryption with distributed private key generators , 2019, Inf. Sci..

[32]  Riri Fitri Sari,et al.  Evaluation of Hash Rate-based Double-Spending based on Proof-of-Work Blockchain , 2019, 2019 International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence (ICTC).

[33]  F. Richard Yu,et al.  A Survey on the Scalability of Blockchain Systems , 2019, IEEE Network.

[34]  Wazir Zada Khan,et al.  Enhanced and Lock-Free Tendermint Blockchain Protocol , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT).

[35]  Noboru Koshizuka,et al.  Fork Rate-Based Analysis of the Longest Chain Growth Time Interval of a PoW Blockchain , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain).

[36]  Hossain Shahriar,et al.  Blockchain Development Platform Comparison , 2019, 2019 IEEE 43rd Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC).

[37]  Chen Feng,et al.  A Measurement Study of Bitcoin Lightning Network , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain).

[38]  Yongseok Son,et al.  Enabling SQL-Query Processing for Ethereum-based Blockchain Systems , 2019, WIMS.

[39]  Dominik Harz,et al.  Refinement and Verification of CBC Casper , 2019, 2019 Crypto Valley Conference on Blockchain Technology (CVCBT).

[40]  Nikos Fotiou,et al.  IoT Resource Access utilizing Blockchains and Trusted Execution Environments , 2019, 2019 Global IoT Summit (GIoTS).

[41]  Zhongcheng Li,et al.  Privacy protection for blockchains with account and multi-asset model , 2019, China Communications.

[42]  Hongzhi Wang,et al.  An efficient distributed storage strategy for blockchain , 2019, ACM TUR-C.

[43]  Divyakant Agrawal,et al.  Atomic commitment across blockchains , 2019, Proc. VLDB Endow..

[44]  Aggelos Kiayias,et al.  Proof-of-Stake Sidechains , 2019, 2019 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP).

[45]  Xiang Fu,et al.  LS4BUCC: A Low Overhead Storage Architecture for Blockchain Based Unmanned Collaborative Cognition System , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Service-Oriented System Engineering (SOSE).

[46]  M Harikrishnan,et al.  Secure Digital Service Payments using Zero Knowledge Proof in Distributed Network , 2019, 2019 5th International Conference on Advanced Computing & Communication Systems (ICACCS).

[47]  Vitalik Buterin,et al.  Incentives in Ethereum’s Hybrid Casper Protocol , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC).

[48]  Aggelos Kiayias,et al.  Proof-of-Work Sidechains , 2019, IACR Cryptol. ePrint Arch..

[49]  Edgar R. Weippl,et al.  (Short Paper) A Wild Velvet Fork Appears! Inclusive Blockchain Protocol Changes in Practice , 2018, IACR Cryptol. ePrint Arch..

[50]  Qichao Zhang,et al.  Reputation-Based Byzantine Fault-Tolerance for Consortium Blockchain , 2018, 2018 IEEE 24th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS).

[51]  Qiang Chen,et al.  A New Election Algorithm for DPos Consensus Mechanism in Blockchain , 2018, 2018 7th International Conference on Digital Home (ICDH).

[52]  Murat Demirbas,et al.  Bridging Paxos and Blockchain Consensus , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData).

[53]  Z. Jane Wang,et al.  A Strong Adaptive, Strategic Double-Spending Attack on Blockchains , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData).

[54]  Philipp Jovanovic,et al.  OmniLedger: A Secure, Scale-Out, Decentralized Ledger via Sharding , 2018, 2018 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP).

[55]  Kishor S. Trivedi,et al.  Performance Modeling of PBFT Consensus Process for Permissioned Blockchain Network (Hyperledger Fabric) , 2017, 2017 IEEE 36th Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems (SRDS).

[56]  Thomas P. Keenan,et al.  Alice in Blockchains: Surprising Security Pitfalls in PoW and PoS Blockchain Systems , 2017, 2017 15th Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust (PST).

[57]  Dasari Kalyani,et al.  Robust distributed key issuing protocol for identity based cryptography , 2016, 2016 International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communications and Informatics (ICACCI).

[58]  Michael Szydlo,et al.  Merkle Tree Traversal in Log Space and Time , 2004, EUROCRYPT.

[59]  Ryosuke Matsumoto,et al.  Low Overhead TCP/UDP Socket-based Tracing for Discovering Network Services Dependencies , 2022, Journal of Information Processing.

[60]  Bingsheng Zhang,et al.  Bool Network: An Open, Distributed, Secure Cross-Chain Notary Platform , 2022, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.

[61]  Cheqing Jin,et al.  SQL-Middleware: Enabling the Blockchain with SQL , 2021, DASFAA.

[62]  Carsten Baum,et al.  P2DEX: Privacy-Preserving Decentralized Cryptocurrency Exchange , 2021, IACR Cryptol. ePrint Arch..

[63]  Marieke Huisman,et al.  Automated Verification of the Parallel Bellman-Ford Algorithm , 2021, SAS.

[64]  Ruiyuan Lu,et al.  A Scheme about Agricultural Produce Traceability Using Blockchain Based on Hyperledger Fabric , 2020 .

[65]  Bitcoin Proof of Stake: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System , 2020 .

[66]  Rami A. Khalil.  Commit-Chains: Secure, Scalable Off-Chain Payments , 2019 .

[67]  Shen De-rong,et al.  The Challenge and Prospect of Distributed Data Management Techniques in Blockchain Systems , 2019 .

[68]  Ge Yu,et al.  区块链技术与应用前瞻综述 (Survey on Blockchain Technology and Its Application Prospect) , 2017, 计算机科学.

[69]  Stefan Thomas,et al.  A Protocol for Interledger Payments , 2016 .

[70]  DR. Gavin Wood.  POLKADOT: VISION FOR A HETEROGENEOUS MULTI-CHAIN FRAMEWORK , 2016 .

[71]  Pieter Wuille,et al.  Enabling Blockchain Innovations with Pegged Sidechains , 2014 .

[72]  FUSION Whitepaper An Inclusive Cryptofinance Platform Based on Blockchain FUSION , 2022 .