In this project we developed a secure-by-design framework for multi-party asset swaps across heterogeneous Blockchain Ecosystems.

Abstract

The heterogeneity of the blockchain landscape has motivated the design of blockchain protocols tailored to specific blockchains and applications that, hence, require custom security proofs. We observe that many blockchain protocols share common security and functionality goals, which can be captured by an atomic transfer graph (ATG) describing the structure of desired transfers. Based on this observation, we contribute a framework for generating secure-by-design protocols that realize these goals. The resulting protocols build upon Conditional Timelock Contracts (CTLCs), a novel minimal smart contract functionality that can be implemented in a large variety of cryptocurrencies with a restricted scripting language (e.g., Bitcoin), and payment channels. We show how ATGs, in addition to enabling novel applications, capture the security and functionality goals of existing applications, including many examples from payment channel networks and complex multi-party cross-currency swaps among Ethereum-style cryptocurrencies. Our framework is the first to provide generic and provably secure protocols for all these use cases while matching or improving the performance of existing use-case-specific protocols.

Implementation Code

Now at GitHub!

Publications

• Research Paper to be presented at IEEE CSF 2025 in Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
• Short version presented at FCS 2023 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
• Full Version with technical details at arXiv (coming soon)

Citation

@inproceedings{duebler2024atomictransfergraphs,
  title={Atomic Transfer Graphs: Secure-by-design Protocols for Heterogeneous Blockchain Ecosystems},
  author={Dübler, Stephan and Badaloni, Federico and Moreno-Sanchez, Pedro and Schneidewind, Clara},
  booktitle={2025 IEEE 38th Computer Security Foundations Symposium (CSF)},
  pages={},
  year={2025},
  organization={IEEE Computer Society}
}