Towards Credential-based Device Registration in DApps for DePINs with ZKPs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a credential-based device registration system for DePINs that uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify device credentials on-chain while preserving confidentiality, addressing trust and privacy issues.

Contribution

It proposes a novel CDR mechanism combining blockchain verification with ZKPs, providing a privacy-preserving solution for device registration in DePINs.

Findings

ZkSNARKs with Groth16 and Marlin evaluated for performance.

Tradeoff identified between different proof systems.

First insights into performance impacts of ZKP integration.

Abstract

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINS) are secured and governed by blockchains but beyond crypto-economic incentives, they lack measures to establish trust in participating devices and their services. The verification of relevant device credentials during device registration helps to overcome this problem. However, on-chain verification in decentralized applications (dApp) discloses potentially confidential device attributes whereas off-chain verification introduces undesirable trust assumptions. In this paper, we propose a credential-based device registration (CDR) mechanism that verifies device credentials on the blockchain and leverages zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to protect confidential device attributes from being disclosed. We characterize CDR for DePINs, present a general system model, and technically evaluate CDR using zkSNARKs with Groth16 and Marlin. Our experiments give first insights into performance impacts and reveal a tradeoff between the applied proof systems.