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Censorship resistance is a core promise of blockchain technology. Still, achieving it isn’t straightforward. Securing a blockchain network against censorship requires careful consideration of:
I want to outline key best practices that developers and node operators can implement to maximize censorship resistance, followed by a look at how Distributed Remote Procedure Call (dRPC) is approaching this challenge.
One of the primary factors in achieving censorship-resistance is decentralizing control. A blockchain network that depends on a few large node operators is vulnerable to censorship. Why? Those operators can easily be targeted. By contrast, networks with widely distributed nodes are harder to attack.
Key strategies here:
Most blockchain applications rely on APIs or remote procedure calls (RPCs) to interact with blockchain nodes. If these access points are controlled by centralized entities, they present a single point of failure. They can be exploited by adversaries seeking to block access to the network.
Key strategies here:
Even if a network is decentralized, the data being transmitted between nodes and users can still be censored if it’s easily identifiable. To further increase resistance to censorship, networks should encrypt and obfuscate their data.
Key strategy here:
Networks that incentivize a broad and diverse range of participants are more resistant to censorship. Without proper incentives, centralization occurs naturally over time. This is because larger operators dominate the ecosystem. This can lead to censorship if those operators come under pressure from external forces.
Key strategies here:
Governance structures need to be decentralized to prevent censorship. Centralized governance allows a few entities to make decisions about the future of the network, which can lead to censorship if those entities are compromised or act in their own interest.
Key strategies here:
On-chain governance. Networks that use on-chain governance mechanisms (token holders vote on changes) can reduce the risk of centralized control. One example is Polkadot, where governance decisions are made on-chain. Community resists external pressures.
Community-driven proposals. I am sure major changes to the protocol should come from the community itself. No centralized foundation or development team should take part in this process. Bitcoin's development process is one of the most decentralized. Protocol changes are discussed openly by a wide range of stakeholders before being implemented.
These were the best practices. Now, I want to present you dRPC and show you how dRPC applies these strategies to secure censorship-resistance for blockchain applications. What I want to highlight:
dRPC is designed with decentralization at its core. How? It incentivizes small and medium-sized node operators to join its network. These node operators are distributed globally. As a result, no single region or operator holds too much influence over the network.
By distributing its infrastructure, dRPC reduces the risk of censorship at a regional level. If a government or corporation attempts to censor nodes in one area, nodes in other regions can continue serving requests. Blockchain applications will remain functional under any circumstances.
While decentralization is critical, maintaining the quality of nodes in the network is also important. dRPC implements a permissioned pool model to maintain a high level of service quality. Nodes are carefully vetted to ensure that they can handle the demands of the network while remaining distributed across a wide range of locations.
This permissioned approach ensures that dRPC can avoid the pitfalls of poorly performing nodes without sacrificing the benefits of decentralization. Node operators are spread across different regions. Still, each is subject to strict performance criteria, guaranteeing that the network remains both reliable and censorship-resistant.
A major challenge in decentralized systems is managing traffic efficiently. dRPC solves this with an AI-supported load-balancing system. This AI dynamically distributes requests across the network. It prevents any single node from becoming overloaded. By spreading requests across multiple nodes, dRPC ensures that the network remains resilient. Even during periods of high demand.
This solution also prevents traffic bottlenecks that could make the network more vulnerable to attacks. Suppose one node is compromised or censored. In this case, the AI can immediately reroute traffic to other nodes in the pool.
dRPC is an example of how best practices can be implemented to create a resilient, censorship-resistant infrastructure. dRPC:
dRPC offers a powerful solution for developers looking to ensure that their blockchain applications remain open, accessible, and secure.