Modeling the Block Verification Time of Zcash

TL;DR

This paper introduces JOIST, a new model for Zcash's block verification time that accounts for transaction features, improving accuracy over size-based models and aiding blockchain simulation and optimization.

Contribution

The paper presents JOIST, a novel, transaction-feature-based model for Zcash's verification time, surpassing existing size-only models in accuracy.

Findings

JOIST outperforms existing models in accuracy.

Verification time depends on transaction complexity.

Model aids in blockchain network simulation.

Abstract

An important aspect of the propagation delay in blockchain networks is the block verification time, which is also responsible for the so-called verifier's dilemma. Models for the block verification time can help to understand and improve the verification process. Moreover, modeling the verification time is necessary for blockchain network simulations. In this paper, we present JOIST, a new model for the block verification time of Zcash. We identify computationally complex operations in the verification process of Zcash, and derive our model based on characteristic transaction features. We evaluate JOIST and show that the model is consistently more accurate than existing models, which consider the block size only.