K-Time Modifiable and Epoch-Based Redactable Blockchain

Shengmin Xu, Jianting Ning, Jinhua Ma, Xinyi Huang, Robert H. Deng

Abstract: As an immutable append-only distributed ledger, blockchain allows a group of participants to reach a consensus in an untrustworthy ecosystem. Immutability is a blockchain feature that persists data forever, but it is no longer legal in reality. Blockchain has unchangeable improper contents that violate laws. Moreover, data regulation toward “the right to be forgotten” requires blockchain must be modifiable. To address this problem, redactable blockchain has been introduced to relax immutability in a controlled way. However, once a participant is authorized, she/he can rewrite any content and no penalty for the malicious behavior that hinders the wide deployment of redactable blockchain in practice. In this paper, we introduce a new notion, dubbed k-time modifiable and epoch-based redactable blockchain (KERB) with a monetary penalty to control rewriting privileges and penalize malicious behaviors. Our solution is built up from simple building blocks: digital signatures and chameleon hashes. We give a formal definition and security models of KERB, and present a generic construction along with formal proofs. The extensive comparison and experimental analysis illustrate that our solution enjoys superior functionalities and performances than the state-of-the-art solutions.