Paper 2021/1306

Probabilistic micropayments with transferability

Taisei Takahashi and Akira Otsuka

Abstract

Micropayments are one of the challenges in cryptocurrencies. The problems in realizing micropayments in the blockchain are the low throughput and the high blockchain transaction fee. As a solution, decentralized probabilistic micropayment has been proposed. The winning amount is registered in the blockchain, and the tickets are issued to be won with probability $p$, which allows us to aggregate approximately $\frac{1}{p}$ transactions into one. Unfortunately, existing solutions do not allow for ticket transferability, and the smaller $p$, the more difficult it is to use them in the real world. We propose a novel decentralized probabilistic micropayment Transferable Scheme. It allows tickets to be transferable among users. By allowing tickets to be transferable, we can make $p$ smaller. We also propose a novel Proportional Fee Scheme. This is a scheme where each time a ticket is transferred, a portion of the blockchain transaction fee will be charged. With the proportional fee scheme, users will have the advantage of sending money with a smaller fee than they would generally send through the blockchain. For example, sending one dollar requires only ten cents.