CCN: Decentralized Cross-Chain Channel Networks Supporting Secure and Privacy-Preserving Multi-Hop Interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces CCN, a decentralized cross-chain network that enables secure, privacy-preserving multi-hop transactions by addressing offline failures and unlinkability through innovative protocols and cryptographic techniques.

Contribution

The paper presents CCN and R-HTLC, novel protocols that enhance multi-hop cross-chain interactions with offline failure resilience and privacy preservation, filling gaps in existing solutions.

Findings

R-HTLC ensures correct settlement despite node offline scenarios.

CCN maintains user unlinkability even under adversarial offline conditions.

Experimental results demonstrate improved security and privacy in cross-chain transactions.

Abstract

Cross-chain technology enables interoperability among otherwise isolated blockchains, supporting interactions across heterogeneous networks. Similar to how multi-hop communication became fundamental in the evolution of the Internet, the demand for multi-hop cross-chain interactions is gaining increasing attention. However, this growing demand introduces new security and privacy challenges. On the security side, multi-hop interactions depend on the availability of multiple participating nodes. If any node becomes temporarily offline during execution, the protocol may fail to complete correctly, leading to settlement failure or fund loss. On the privacy side, the need for on-chain transparency to validate intermediate states may unintentionally leak linkable information, compromising the unlinkability of user interactions. In this paper, we propose the Cross-Chain Channel Network (CCN), a decentralized network designed to support secure and privacy-preserving multi-hop cross-chain transactions. Through experimental evaluation, we identify two critical types of offline failures, referred to as active and passive offline cases, which have not been adequately addressed by existing solutions. To mitigate these issues, we introduce R-HTLC, a core protocol within CCN. R-HTLC incorporates an hourglass mechanism and a multi-path refund strategy to ensure settlement correctness even when some nodes go offline during execution. Importantly, CCN addresses not only the correctness under offline conditions but also maintains unlinkability in such adversarial settings. To overcome this, CCN leverages zero-knowledge proofs and off-chain coordination, ensuring that interaction relationships remain indistinguishable even when certain nodes are temporarily offline.