Bitcoin network propagation

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Soon the core issue was determined and described in terms of block propagation time or block propagation delay. In a large decentralized network like Bitcoin, whenever the new block is generated, it is broadcasted according to the Gossip protocol.

If some node has the new valid block, it informs nodes connected to it about its new possession. Then the node transfers this block to those nodes which asked it to do that. Before the block reaches each full node in the network, it passes through seven intermediary nodes. Obviously, the whole thing takes a while.

Every new block shakes the network and makes nodes and ethernet connections between them working at full power. One might argue that since the launch of the network, there have been many improvements to the Gossip protocol. For example, the Bitcoin improvement proposal BIP introduced the option to transfer only short transaction IDs, instead of the whole list of transactions, in the block body. If there is a large number of such transactions in the block, then improvement from BIP disappears.

It was found that for blocks larger than 20kB, the block propagation delay is nearly proportional to the block size. According to research published in , every extra kB of data in the block caused an extra 80ms of block propagation delay. Since then, a couple of academic papers and surveys on this topic have been published every year. They update the aforementioned data and discuss various improvement proposals. Moreover, the site monitors the current state of the Bitcoin network and the block propagation time.

Also, it provides charts with historical data on this subject. The majority of well-established blockchain networks have the same design as Bitcoin. As a result, the block propagation time in these networks obeys the same rules. Unfortunately, the block propagation time has a massive effect on blockchain security. The longer the propagation time in the network, the more often miners mine on top of old blocks.

As a result, forking of the main chain occurs more often, and the percentage of orphan blocks rises. The long propagation delay leads to the so-called Verifiers Dilemma. Some nodes may find that skipping the block verification step could be a profitable strategy. In this case, they face the risk of mining on top of the wrong block.

TradeBlock maintains an extensive bitcoin network data architecture with multiple nodes across geographies. With the ability to view and record every message broadcast to the network, including those that are not extensively relayed, unique insights regarding the network may be derived.

The chart above shows the average block propagation speed in This is measured by tracking when each node on the bitcoin network relays the block data, and then calculating the time between the very first relay and all subsequent relays. In this piece we explore various aspects of data propagation within the network, how it could change with larger block sizes, and the impact on miner incentives and behavior.

Propagation Speed and Orphan Races When two or more miners solve a block at similar times, the network is presented with two or more alternatives to serve as a reference when solving the next block. Since miners focus their hashing power on the chain with the most work, which generally means the longest chain by number of blocks, speed of propagation is vital during such situations. The chart below shows the number of orphan blocks mined each day since mid-April.

The average equates to 1. The figure below delves a step further into orphan races observed within the last three months. Notwithstanding a few scenarios, it is evident that unsuccessful blocks typically reach a fewer number of nodes relative to the winners of an orphan race.

Lastly, it appears that in most orphan races, the winning block is typically the first to be initially sent to the network, evidenced by the fact that majority of races are in the positive section of the x-axis in the chart below.

Next, we examine the size of confirmed blocks that were involved in an orphan race relative to period averages. This is likely the result of larger blocks taking longer to relay. As a result, each transaction can potentially add more time at each hop through the network, in addition to increased data transfer time. This means other miners are spending more time hashing on the previous block while found blocks are being propagated.

Propagation Speed vs. Block Size and Miner Given the importance of timely data propagation, we analyzed the relationship between speed of propagation relative to block sizes and miner location. Our data set includes data from April — June

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Also, it provides charts with historical data on this subject. The majority of well-established blockchain networks have the same design as Bitcoin. As a result, the block propagation time in these networks obeys the same rules.

Unfortunately, the block propagation time has a massive effect on blockchain security. The longer the propagation time in the network, the more often miners mine on top of old blocks. As a result, forking of the main chain occurs more often, and the percentage of orphan blocks rises. The long propagation delay leads to the so-called Verifiers Dilemma.

Some nodes may find that skipping the block verification step could be a profitable strategy. In this case, they face the risk of mining on top of the wrong block. However, if block verification time is significant, this strategy could be profitable. This is true for Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major blockchain networks that are based on proof-of-work consensus. Although fast block relay, like the one described in BIP , reduces the average block propagation time, in the worst-case scenario it could take more time than the basic protocol.

Whenever people talk about scalability of the blockchain, they mention the transaction throughput of the system. These modifications could decrease the number of independent transaction validators in the network, thereby reducing decentralization. Obviously, transaction throughput could be increased by increasing the block size, by reducing the transaction record size, or by reducing the interval between blocks.

One might instead try the other two options. However, these actions will increase the percentage of time that is spent on block propagation. Thus, the security and decentralization of the network could get compromised. One might notice that in the described Bitcoin protocol, network resources are used inefficiently.

Every node processes and transmits the vital data about a new block only a small fraction of time. Its network bandwidth is really important, but it is used in full for only a few seconds at a time. The rest of the time, this node transmits only pending transactions and auxiliary data. This observation has inspired researchers to look for more efficient protocol designs that could dramatically improve transaction throughput without compromising security and decentralization of the network.

In our next post, we will discuss approaches for solving the block propagation problem that have been proposed in recent years. Propagation Speed and Orphan Races When two or more miners solve a block at similar times, the network is presented with two or more alternatives to serve as a reference when solving the next block. Since miners focus their hashing power on the chain with the most work, which generally means the longest chain by number of blocks, speed of propagation is vital during such situations.

The chart below shows the number of orphan blocks mined each day since mid-April. The average equates to 1. The figure below delves a step further into orphan races observed within the last three months. Notwithstanding a few scenarios, it is evident that unsuccessful blocks typically reach a fewer number of nodes relative to the winners of an orphan race. Lastly, it appears that in most orphan races, the winning block is typically the first to be initially sent to the network, evidenced by the fact that majority of races are in the positive section of the x-axis in the chart below.

Next, we examine the size of confirmed blocks that were involved in an orphan race relative to period averages. This is likely the result of larger blocks taking longer to relay. As a result, each transaction can potentially add more time at each hop through the network, in addition to increased data transfer time.

This means other miners are spending more time hashing on the previous block while found blocks are being propagated. Propagation Speed vs. Block Size and Miner Given the importance of timely data propagation, we analyzed the relationship between speed of propagation relative to block sizes and miner location.

Our data set includes data from April — June Per the chart below, there appears to be a direct relationship between the size of the block and the time taken to reach the critical 3,node relay threshold discussed earlier in this analysis. We also explored the relationship between individual miners and the average time taken for a block to propagate to 3, nodes. With an average time of 9. Outliers include BW Pool, a Chinese mining entity on the high-end 21 seconds and Polmine, a Polish mining company on the low-end 4 seconds.

Per the second chart below, it appears regional differences account for very minor variations in propagation speeds.