Abstract The Internet of Things Application (IOTA) is an innovative public blockchain system tailored for the Internet of Things (IoT), focusing on challenges such as micro-payments, concurrency, and scalability. However, its distributed ledger, which utilizes a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure, is vulnerable to double-spending attacks. To mitigate this risk, we propose a countermeasure employing zero-determinant (ZD) strategies to encourage honest transactions among nodes. First, we analyze the game-theoretic interactions between the IOTA committee and nodes, modeling them as an iterated prisoner's dilemma and deriving the conditions under which this dilemma holds. Next, we explore the conditions under which the IOTA committee can adopt ZD strategies, demonstrating the feasibility of unilaterally controlling node payoffs. Finally, theoretical analysis and experimental validation confirm the effectiveness of the proposed countermeasure, offering a novel game-theoretic solution for enhancing IOTA's security.
Fund: Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia, China (Grant No. 2024LHMS06013), Basic Research Funds for Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s Directly Affiliated Universities in 2025 (Grant No. NCYWS25019), the Regional Digital Economy and Digital Governance Research Center (Grant No. szzl202401), the Research Project on Education and Teaching Reform at Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics (Grant No. JXZD2405), and the 2025 High-Quality Research Achievement Cultivation Fund Project of Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics (Grant No. GZCG2529).
Yin-Feng Chen(陈银凤) and Zhong-Hua Fu(付中华) Zero-determinant game design for preventing double-spending in IOTA 2025 Chin. Phys. B 34 068904
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