A Minimalist Approach to Blockchain Design: Enhancing Immutability and Verifiability with Scalable Peer-to-Peer Systems

The introduction of Bitcoin has sparked significant interest in blockchain technology, with Bitcoin and Ethereum emerging as the dominant platforms. However, both rely on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism with unrestricted membership, which results in increasingly unsustainable resource usage. While token coins are integral to the functionality of these systems, their complexity introduces scalability challenges that may undermine their long-term viability. This paper argues that the primary value of a blockchain lies in its ability to create a totally ordered, immutable, and third-party verifiable sequence of events within a distributed system. We propose that additional functionalities, beyond ensuring these core capabilities, unnecessarily complicate the system, reduce scalability, and degrade overall performance. In response, the paper introduces a lightweight peer-to-peer, permitted blockchain model that focuses solely on achieving immutability and verifiability, minimizing resource consumption, and scaling linearly with the number of permitted writers. The approach maintains high transaction throughput while supporting a variety of practical applications, offering a more sustainable and efficient blockchain framework for the future.