Resist the type of BWH attack: through introducing discount factor and withdrawal threshold into Bitcoin

Abstract

Aim: Since the emergence of the Block Withholding (BWH) attack, the prevailing approach in the environment has been to avoid attacking each other as a means of eliminating the threat posed by this attack. However, there is currently no effective and simple scheme to entirely prevent such attacks. To address this issue, this study proposes a novel blockchain model that combines the discount factor and withdrawal threshold to resist the risks associated with these attacks. Methods: This paper provides an overview of blockchain models and the BWH attack. We constructed a network simulation model based on the physical logic of Bitcoin and introduced the discount factor and withdrawal threshold as new parameters to enhance the model's resistance to BWH attacks. We evaluated the effect of these parameters on the model's ability to defend against BWH attacks from the perspective of rewards. Results: This paper presents a novel blockchain model that integrates discount factors and withdrawal thresholds and examines attacker behavior in this model from a rewards-based perspective by comparing different computational environments. Our experimental data indicate that this model has significant advantages in resisting BWH attacks. Conclusion: The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is highly effective in resisting profit-driven BWH attacks, with a 98% chance of successfully resisting such attacks at a fixed computational power. This indicates that the proposed model can effectively eliminate the potential threat posed by BWH attacks.