Token-based incentive schemes in decentralized P2P storage networks

ABSTRACTToken-based incentives are promising schemes to increase participation in decentralized peer-to-peer networks. They encourage peers to share resources in exchange for tokens. A concern is that decentralized services need a large number of participants to benefit from the network effect, for instance, to assure certain system properties, such as reliability and availability. In this regard, there is not sufficient research study on the effectiveness of token-based incentives. Also, choosing a suitable mechanism for a particular application remains a subtle task. During this doctoral study, I plan to measure the impact of different incentive schemes on system properties of current real-world P2P networks such as Swarm. Primarily, at this stage, I use complex adaptive systems computer-aided design for simulating and understanding incentives schemes to share bandwidth and storage resources. Later I want to apply what I learn to design more efficient schemes.