ethp2psim: Evaluating and deploying privacy-enhanced peer-to-peer routing protocols for the Ethereum network

TL;DR

This paper introduces ethp2psim, a modular simulator for evaluating and deploying privacy-enhanced peer-to-peer routing protocols in Ethereum, addressing the less-studied network-level privacy in cryptocurrencies.

Contribution

The work provides a new simulation framework for testing and optimizing privacy-preserving P2P routing protocols in Ethereum networks.

Findings

Enables implementation of custom privacy protocols in the simulator

Allows evaluation of privacy guarantees of routing algorithms

Assists in selecting optimal protocol parameters for deployment

Abstract

Network-level privacy is the Achilles heel of financial privacy in cryptocurrencies. Financial privacy amounts to achieving and maintaining blockchain- and network-level privacy. Blockchain-level privacy recently received substantial attention. Specifically, several privacy-enhancing technologies were proposed and deployed to enhance blockchain-level privacy. On the other hand, network-level privacy, i.e., privacy on the peer-to-peer layer, has seen far less attention and development. In this work, we aim to provide a peer-to-peer network simulator, ethp2psim, that allows researchers to evaluate the privacy guarantees of privacy-enhanced broadcast and message routing algorithms. Our goal is two-fold. First, we want to enable researchers to implement their proposed protocols in our modular simulator framework. Second, our simulator allows researchers to evaluate the privacy guarantees of privacy-enhanced routing algorithms. Finally, ethp2psim can help choose the right protocol parameters for efficient, robust, and private deployment.