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NetChain: Authenticated Blockchain Top-k Graph Data Queries and its Application in Asset Management

Hongguang Zhao, Xu Yang, Saiyu Qi, Qiuhao Wang, Ke Li

TL;DR

NetChain tackles the lack of verifiable analytical queries over on-chain graph data by introducing an authenticated two-layer index: a compound-key SMT for block-level (non-)existence proofs and bottom-layer ordered hash chains for matched objects, enabling efficient top-$k$ graph queries with verifiable results. NetChain$^{+}$ further reduces authentication overhead via verifiable inter-block links and a two-round scan, cutting proof and verification costs. Security analysis confirms unforgeability and completeness, while experiments on real datasets show up to $85\times$ ADS construction speedup and substantial reductions in ADS size, communication, and verification for NetChain$^{+}$ relative to vChain. Overall, the framework enables scalable, authenticated graph data asset management on blockchain, with meaningful implications for asset sharing and analytics in decentralized systems.

Abstract

As a valuable digital resource, graph data is an important data asset, which has been widely utilized across various fields to optimize decision-making and enable smarter solutions. To manage data assets, blockchain is widely used to enable data sharing and trading, but it cannot supply complex analytical queries. vChain was proposed to achieve verifiable boolean queries over blockchain by designing an embedded authenticated data structure (ADS). However, for generating (non-)existence proofs, vChain suffers from expensive storage and computation costs in ADS construction, along with high communication and verification costs. In this paper, we propose a novel NetChain framework that enables efficient top-k queries over on-chain graph data with verifiability. Specifically, we design a novel authenticated two-layer index that supports (non-)existence proof generation in block-level and built-in verifiability for matched objects. To further alleviate the computation and verification overhead, an optimized variant NetChain+ is derived. The authenticity of our frameworks is validated through security analysis. Evaluations show that NetChain and NetChain+ outperform vChain, respectively achieving up to 85X and 31X improvements on ADS construction. Moreover, compared with vChain, NetChain+ reduces the communication and verification costs by 87% and 96% respectively.

NetChain: Authenticated Blockchain Top-k Graph Data Queries and its Application in Asset Management

TL;DR

NetChain tackles the lack of verifiable analytical queries over on-chain graph data by introducing an authenticated two-layer index: a compound-key SMT for block-level (non-)existence proofs and bottom-layer ordered hash chains for matched objects, enabling efficient top- graph queries with verifiable results. NetChain further reduces authentication overhead via verifiable inter-block links and a two-round scan, cutting proof and verification costs. Security analysis confirms unforgeability and completeness, while experiments on real datasets show up to ADS construction speedup and substantial reductions in ADS size, communication, and verification for NetChain relative to vChain. Overall, the framework enables scalable, authenticated graph data asset management on blockchain, with meaningful implications for asset sharing and analytics in decentralized systems.

Abstract

As a valuable digital resource, graph data is an important data asset, which has been widely utilized across various fields to optimize decision-making and enable smarter solutions. To manage data assets, blockchain is widely used to enable data sharing and trading, but it cannot supply complex analytical queries. vChain was proposed to achieve verifiable boolean queries over blockchain by designing an embedded authenticated data structure (ADS). However, for generating (non-)existence proofs, vChain suffers from expensive storage and computation costs in ADS construction, along with high communication and verification costs. In this paper, we propose a novel NetChain framework that enables efficient top-k queries over on-chain graph data with verifiability. Specifically, we design a novel authenticated two-layer index that supports (non-)existence proof generation in block-level and built-in verifiability for matched objects. To further alleviate the computation and verification overhead, an optimized variant NetChain+ is derived. The authenticity of our frameworks is validated through security analysis. Evaluations show that NetChain and NetChain+ outperform vChain, respectively achieving up to 85X and 31X improvements on ADS construction. Moreover, compared with vChain, NetChain+ reduces the communication and verification costs by 87% and 96% respectively.
Paper Structure (9 sections, 2 theorems, 10 figures, 3 tables, 2 algorithms)

This paper contains 9 sections, 2 theorems, 10 figures, 3 tables, 2 algorithms.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Preliminaries
  4. System Overview
  5. NetChain
  6. NetChain$^{+}$: Optimized Authentication Cost
  7. Security Analysis
  8. Experimental Evaluation
  9. Conclusion

Key Result

theorem thmcountertheorem

Following the definition of Unforgeability in conference:vchain, NetChain satisfies the Unforgeability security property.

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: The data structures of MHT, SMT and MPT.
  • Figure 2: System overview.
  • Figure 3: The ADS designs.
  • Figure 4: Authenticated two-layer index.
  • Figure 5: Global data distribution.
  • ...and 5 more figures

Theorems & Definitions (4)

  • theorem thmcountertheorem
  • proof
  • theorem thmcountertheorem
  • proof