BlAnC

Abstract

Distributed credit networks, such as Ripple~\citeripple and Stellar~\citestellar, are becoming popular as an alternative means for financial transactions. % However, the current designs do not preserve user privacy or are not truly decentralized. % In this paper, we explore the creation of a distributed credit network that preserves user and transaction privacy and unlinkability. We propose BlAnC, a novel, fully decentralized blockchain-based credit network where credit transfer between a sender-receiver pair happens on demand. In BlAnC, multiple concurrent transactions can occur seamlessly, and malicious network actors that do not follow the protocols and/or disrupt operations can be identified efficiently. % for potential debarring by the users from future transactions. % We perform security analysis of our proposed protocols in the universal composability framework to demonstrate its strength, and discuss how our network handles operational dynamics. % We also present preliminary experiments and scalability analyses.