This repository relates to the paper "X-Transfer: Enabling and Optimizing Cross-PCN Transactions" by Lukas Aumayr, Zeta Avarikioti, Iosif Salem, Stefan Schmid, and Michelle Yeo.
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xtransfer.py: implementation of X-transfer protocol's aggregation phase and its (proof of concept) performance evaluation. -
channels.csv: channel info contained in a snapshot of the Lightning Network in August 2023.
Parametrization done by editing the following lines in xtransfer.py (sample values appear below):
nhubs = 5
nClientsPerPCN = 10000
# capacity_utilization is the ratio of sum of all transactions from a client
# over the total client-to-hub channel capacity
# the ratio is the same for all clients and channels
capacity_utilization = (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8)
repetitions = 10 #number of times to compute each data point. Then take average.
plot_file_extension = '.pdf'
Blockchain interoperability solutions allow users to hold and transfer assets among different chains, and in so doing reap the benefits of each chain. To fully reap the benefits of multi-chain financial operations, it is paramount to support interoperability and cross-chain transactions also on Layer-2 networks, in particular payment channel networks (PCNs). Nevertheless, existing works on Layer-2 interoperability solutions still involve on-chain events, which limits their scalability and throughput.
In this work, we present X-transfer, the first secure, scalable, and fully off-chain protocol that allows payments across different PCNs. We formalize and prove the security of X-transfer against rational adversaries with a game theoretic analysis. In order to boost efficiency and scalability, X-transfer also performs transaction aggregation to increase channel liquidity and transaction throughput while simultaneously minimizing payment routing fees. Our empirical evaluation of X-transfer shows that X-transfer achieves at least twice as much throughput compared to the baseline of no transaction aggregation, confirming X-transfer's efficiency.
Keywords: Payment channel networks, Layer-2, interoperability, optimization, transaction aggregation, cryptocurrencies