As part of a new open source implementation project, I've written a research paper presenting a new, complentary protocol to increase anonymity to Bitcoin.
The
preliminary paper is the first of two papers describing the algorithmic underpinnings of the project, building on ideas from this forum (CoinJoin, CoinSwap, CoinShuffle, and atomic transfers)
The new algorithm, called
Byzantine Cycle Mode, extends the application of Bitcoin mixing primitives (CoinJoin, etc) to large numbers of players mixing unequal inputs. I use an analogy to how encryption modes such as CTR and CBC extend the application of block ciphers (AES, 3DES) to large inputs of non whole block sizes.
Abstract:
We present a new distributed algorithm, called Byzantine Cycle Mode (BCM), that mixes bitcoins of different sizes. Most known decentralized, riskless Bitcoin mixing algorithms (CoinShuffle, CoinShift, DarkWallets CoinJoin) either require the numbers of bitcoin being mixed to be equal or their anonymity strongly depends on it. Some also do not scale easily to large number of players. BCM relaxes these constraints by transforming large instances with unequal bitcoin amounts into smaller sub-instances on equal amounts allowing players to mix using the known algorithms while preserving their degree of semantic security.
Appreciate feedback.
The second paper, forthcoming, is on a new mixing primitive,
CoinShift, based on TierNolan's atomic cross-chain solution.