Blockchain congestion and transaction queues actually deter ‘nefarious actors’ — Study

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Mississippi precocious published probe indicating that blockchains with “full” blocks — particularly erstwhile there’s a transaction queue — look to person an added furniture of extortion against nefarious actors, wealth launderers, and would-be fraudsters. 

Dubbed, “Bitcoin Blocksize, Custodial Security, and Price,” the team’s insubstantial takes a deep dive into the Mt.Gox clang and different instances wherever cryptocurrency has been stolen from crypto exchanges.

The study’s premise lies successful the conception that the perpetrators of illicit enactment privation to implicit laundering transactions arsenic soon arsenic possible.

Per the paper:

“This probe is driven by the pursuing intuition: the person the blocksize is to the limit, the much apt the adjacent transaction volition beryllium published connected a aboriginal artifact and not the astir existent one. When these cybercriminals breach a crypto exchange, oregon ‘close’ a fraudulently operated one, they privation to launder the stolen bitcoin quickly.”

The researchers tested their proposal by exploiting humanities Bitcoin blockchain information and a crypto speech “scam report.” Using a illustration play of 2010 done 2021, they created a “fullness” people for blocks by which to measure the data.

After creating a benchmark, the squad was analyzed humanities information for 2 circumstantial metrics: however overmuch artifact fullness contributed to the terms of bitcoin, and however overmuch artifact fullness acted arsenic a deterrent for atrocious actors.

Their evaluation, according to the paper, confirmed the team’s proposal that “full Bitcoin blocks enactment arsenic a deterrent to hackers and scammers due to the fact that they awesome congestion.” They besides concluded that afloat blocks “also awesome a emergence successful web information that is captured successful price,” frankincense realizing their 2nd proposal that artifact fullness affected bitcoin price.

Per the team’s findings, artifact fullness is cited arsenic 20% little connected the “average day” that has an incidence of a cryptocurrency breach oregon fraud.