Researchers at the origin of the SPECTER and GHOST distributed ledger projects proposed a new blockchain scalability proposal.

Called PHANTOM, the protocol claims to provide transaction confirmation "secured by any throughput that the network can support" – smart contracts included.

Yonatan Sompolinsky and Dr. Aviv Zohar described the new protocol in an article published this week, relying on SPECTER, which proposes to replace the normal block structure with "acyclic directed block diagrams" more scalable (blockDAG). The team describes the technology as "a generalization of the Satoshi chain that is best suited to a fast or large block configuration [s]."

Unlike off-line solutions such as the Lightning Network, where transactions are performed on a separate layer, Phantom offers a chain way to reach scalability.

The authors explain that the main objective of PHANTOM is to allow the linear ordering of blocks, which is not possible in the SPECTER protocol. To do this, it uses a "greedy algorithm" on the DAG block to identify the blocks extracted by "honest" nodes, but not those from "non-cooperating" nodes that deviate from the exploitation protocol.

The document states:

"Using this distinction, PHANTOM provides a complete order on the DAG block in a way that is ultimately accepted by all honest nodes."

Solving the problem of linear scheduling, say the authors, allows PHANTOM to evolve any calculation, including smart contracts.

However, Sompolinsky and Zohar note that, by adopting a linear order, the protocol sacrifices a portion of the confirmation rate previously obtained by SPECTER. The researchers have indicated their plans to solve this problem in future work.

Image of the bicycle chain via Shutterstock

Leader in blockchain information, CoinDesk is an independent media company that strives to achieve the highest journalistic standards and adheres to a strict set of editorial policies. Do you have any breaking news or a tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at news@coindesk.com.

