Permanent Anchors and Adaptive Throughput: Extending Proof‐of‐Access Consensus to Resolve the Blockchain Trilemma

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Abstract
Contemporary distributed ledgers face an inherent trilemma when attempting to simultaneously optimize three critical properties: transaction throughput (measured in transactions per second [TPS]), network security, and node decentralization. Current decentralized storage platforms such as Filecoin encounter constraints in managing peak transaction loads effectively. We propose a novel storage architecture that integrates Arweave’s permanent data layer with an enhanced proof‐of‐access (PoA) consensus protocol and adaptive block management. While control‐theoretic methods are established, their novel integration with Arweave’s permanent storage and PoA consensus creates a unique symbiotic relationship that directly tackles the blockchain trilemma. Through transaction metadata compression to 48‐byte entries, our framework achieves a transaction density of 7200 entries per megabyte of block capacity. Under baseline conditions (1 MB blocks generated every 44 s), this yields 162 TPS, scaling to a simulated peak of 7200 TPS with 200 MB blocks under optimal network parameters. Experimental validation through simulation and a multiphase global testbed (25–112 nodes) demonstrates robust security characteristics with 0.82 chain quality under 40% adversarial presence, defense mechanisms against prevalent network attacks, and 99% reduction in annual storage growth compared to conventional blockchain systems, outperforming modern alternatives including Sui (5.3× storage efficiency) and Avalanche (3.5× storage efficiency). Game‐theoretic proofs establish formal security guarantees, while extended adversarial modeling confirms resilience under worst‐case conditions. To ensure reproducibility and foster further research, all simulation code and deployment tools for the testbed have been made publicly available on GitHub. These findings present a viable equilibrium between essential blockchain properties for practical implementations.

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