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2020 Volume 35
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RESEARCH ARTICLE   Open Access    

The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains

  • Protocol Engineering Group and Systems (PegaSys), ConsenSys, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, e-mail: peter.robinson@consensys.net

  • School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia

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  • Abstract: A Coordination Blockchain is a blockchain that coordinates activities of multiple private blockchains. This paper discusses the pros and cons of using Ethereum MainNet, the public Ethereum blockchain, as a Coordination Blockchain. The requirements Ethereum MainNet needs to fulfil to perform this role are analyzed within the context of Ethereum Private Sidechains, a private blockchain technology which allows many blockchains to be operated in parallel, and allows atomic crosschain transactions to execute across blockchains. We found that Ethereum MainNet is best suited to storing long-term static data that need to be widely available, such as the Ethereum Registration Authority information. However, due to Ethereum MainNet’s probabilistic finality, it is not well suited to information that needs to be available and acted upon immediately, such as the Sidechain Public Keys and Atomic Crosschain Transaction state information that need to be accessible prior to the first atomic crosschain transaction being issued on a sidechain. Although this paper examined the use of Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain within reference to Ethereum Private Sidechains, the discussions and observations of the typical tasks a Coordination Blockchain may be expected to perform are applicable more widely to any multi-blockchain system.
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  • Cite this article

    Peter Robinson. 2020. The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains. The Knowledge Engineering Review 35(1), doi: 10.1017/S0269888920000296
    Peter Robinson. 2020. The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains. The Knowledge Engineering Review 35(1), doi: 10.1017/S0269888920000296
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RESEARCH ARTICLE   Open Access    

The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains

  • Protocol Engineering Group and Systems (PegaSys), ConsenSys, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, e-mail: peter.robinson@consensys.net

  • School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Australia

  • Received: 11 June 2019
  • Revised: 08 April 2020
  • Accepted: 09 April 2020
  • Published online: 22 June 2020
The Knowledge Engineering Review  35,  2020, 35(1)  |  Cite this article

Abstract: Abstract: A Coordination Blockchain is a blockchain that coordinates activities of multiple private blockchains. This paper discusses the pros and cons of using Ethereum MainNet, the public Ethereum blockchain, as a Coordination Blockchain. The requirements Ethereum MainNet needs to fulfil to perform this role are analyzed within the context of Ethereum Private Sidechains, a private blockchain technology which allows many blockchains to be operated in parallel, and allows atomic crosschain transactions to execute across blockchains. We found that Ethereum MainNet is best suited to storing long-term static data that need to be widely available, such as the Ethereum Registration Authority information. However, due to Ethereum MainNet’s probabilistic finality, it is not well suited to information that needs to be available and acted upon immediately, such as the Sidechain Public Keys and Atomic Crosschain Transaction state information that need to be accessible prior to the first atomic crosschain transaction being issued on a sidechain. Although this paper examined the use of Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain within reference to Ethereum Private Sidechains, the discussions and observations of the typical tasks a Coordination Blockchain may be expected to perform are applicable more widely to any multi-blockchain system.

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    Acknowledgments

    • This research has been undertaken while I have been employed full-time at ConsenSys and have been completing my PhD part-time at University of Queensland. The author acknowledge the support of his PhD supervisor Dr Marius Portmann. The author thank Dr Catherine Jones, Horacio Mijail Anton Quiles, David Hyland-Wood, and Sandra Johnson for reviewing this paper and providing astute feedback.

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    • © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press2020Cambridge University Press
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    Peter Robinson. 2020. The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains. The Knowledge Engineering Review 35(1), doi: 10.1017/S0269888920000296
    Peter Robinson. 2020. The merits of using Ethereum MainNet as a Coordination Blockchain for Ethereum Private Sidechains. The Knowledge Engineering Review 35(1), doi: 10.1017/S0269888920000296
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