Significance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography in Blockchain IoT with Comparative Analysis of RSA Algorithm

Abstract

In the past few years, the blockchain emerged as peer-to-peer distributed ledger technology for recording transactions, maintained by many peers without any central trusted regulatory authority through distributed public-key cryptography and consensus mechanism. It has not only given the birth of cryptocurrencies, but it also resolved various security, privacy and transparency issues of decentralized systems. This article discussed the blockchain basics overview, architecture, and blockchain security components such as hash function, Merkle tree, digital signature, and Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). In addition to the core idea of blockchain, we focus on ECC's significance in the blockchain. We also discussed why RSA and other key generation mechanisms are not suitable for blockchain-based IoT applications. We also analyze many possible blockchain-based applications where ECC algorithm is better than other algorithms concerning security and privacy assurance. At the end of the article, we will explain the comparative analysis of ECC and RSA.