In this analysis, we examine and fact check the claims in the recent DARPA blockchain report which claims that Bitcoin’s blockchain is susceptib

Fact Check: DARPA Funded Report on Blockchain Centralization

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2022-07-06 10:30:07

In this analysis, we examine and fact check the claims in the recent DARPA blockchain report which claims that Bitcoin’s blockchain is susceptible to centralized control.

On June 21, 2022, a DARPA-funded report on blockchain centralization was released by Trail of Bits, a security research firm. 

In this analysis, we will examine and fact check some of the claims in the report. We will focus primarily on Bitcoin, as that is the only blockchain that has demonstrated true resilience to attack in real world conditions. We will also contrast the academic findings in the paper with real world tests of these theories. 

There is constant research into attacks in Bitcoin space, and much of it is interesting, relevant, and worth considering. As Bitcoin’s fundamental purpose is resistance to state-level attack, the premise of new attack vectors is exciting and worthy of discussion. With the system transmitting more than a trillion dollars of value yearly, it is also constantly subject to real world conditions for attack as one of the biggest financial honeypots in the world.

We concur with the report that most blockchains are centralized to varying degrees, ranging from “decentralization theater” to being fully centralized without any pretense of decentralization. Unfortunately, we find many significant problems with the paper’s analysis of Bitcoin. Below we will address most of the major claims in the report. 

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