Homework on UTXO vs Account Model

Ethereum 101
#1725
  1. More transactions can be added to the block.
  2. Fungibility. You can not really distinguish. No anonymity. You cannot initiate a transaction to multiple addresses just the specified destination address.
1 Like
#1726

  1. Ethereum does not use the UTXO method. This is a benefit because the account model uses less space (data) per transaction which gives you more space in a block, increasing speed and decreasing cost per transaction.

  2. The account model has less privacy because cannot send money to multiple addresses which could include your own address.

1 Like
#1727

  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit? UTXOs are not stored. Therefore the reduced space needed makes it faster.

  2. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    There is no builtin possibility to send back Ether to own or other different addresses this makes it easier to track transactions.

1 Like
#1728

  1. It allows for simpler transactions

  2. UTXO model is great for privacy because with it you can send back to yourself and/or someone else, which makes it hard to track. With the account model you simply add/remove from one address to another.

1 Like
#1729

  • The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?
    Decreases hardware and bandwidth requirements of the network - since nodes have to store the entire ETH blockchain, having it take up less space is reduces the cost of running a node. In the same vein, transactions and blocks need to be propagated throughout the network, which requires bandwidth. A smaller transaction size leads to lower bandwidth requirements for the network and speeds up propagation.

  • How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    In the UTXO model, you always have to spend an entire UTXO, so you can obfuscate the amount of coins that actually change hands by spreading the outputs between different wallets, some of which may belong to you. In the account model, one can always spend the exact amount they need to spend, so it’s much clearer where the ETH flows.

1 Like
#1730

  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?Verifying scripts and storing witness data increases the computational and storage burdens on a UTXO-based blockchain. The Account model can create one contract to share mining profits. It also requires just one signature to create many transfers.

  2. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    There is less of it in the account model.

#1731
  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?

Transactions are much smaller, require less resources from nodes, allows lower fees (cost per byte).

  1. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?

In the account model the transaction shows exactly the amount moved from one address to the other. It’s harder to obfuscate the real transaction intention, as you can do in UTXO model via multiple outputs for multiple addresses.

1 Like
#1732

  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?
    The transaction sizes are smaller. which in turn lesser fees and reduces the expansion of nodes at a slower rate.

  2. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    Transactions can be easily tracked and you cant send funds back to yourself

1 Like
#1733
  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?
    • It requires less space because UTXO history is not required. A balance is calculated for each address and the balances is simply added to or subtracted from.
  2. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    • It is less transparent because it is easier to trace the amount as well as the sender and recipient addresses.
1 Like
#1734
  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?
    faster transactions, more efficient.
  2. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
    There is only one output and one input, not like UTXO model where you can hide information splitting outputs
1 Like
#1735

  1. Whenever we can save space is a benefit. In the case of Ethereum, the account model requires less space than an UTXO, meaning that more transactions will fit into a block, ending up in faster transactions.

  2. In the account model, as opposed to the UTXO model, transactions can’t be tracked to its origins, which makes it more fungible.

1 Like
#1736

  1. The no UTXO model provides a faster blockchain with more TX’s per block.

  2. You can not send eth back to yourself in a TX has a from of camouflage.

1 Like
#1737
  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?
  • The account model keeps track of all balances as a global state.
  1. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?
  • Because you can’t trace back transactions as you would with the UTXO
1 Like
#1738

How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?

Indeed sir, but could you please describe a little bit why?

If you have any more questions, please let us know so we can help you! :slight_smile:

Carlos Z.

#1739

1 allows for more transactions faster

2 we can see the account owner of where it came from and where it is going.

1 Like
#1740

  1. The reason the account model doesn’t require as much space as the UTXO model, is because with the UTXO model you need to constantly calculate and update unspent transactions to assess how much is being “stored” on each wallet, which is quite an amount of data to process. The account model is less costly in terms of data and space, and is much simpler. Each transaction simply updates accounts and the numbers within them, meaning no need for multiple UTXO calculations to be carried out simply to calculate the users balance. The account model doesn’t use inputs/outputs like the UTXO model, where it is a little more messy and space-consuming.
    Saving space in any industry is and advantage, especially with data. It means the same product can service more people. It also means more data (transactions) can be included per block, opening the doors to including smart contract data within blocks. Smaller blocks also means faster transactions and processing.

  2. All wallet interactions and transfers and funds on the account model can be seen by anyone on the blockchain, there is nothing that can be hidden, therefore the privacy is much less than the UTXO model. The UTXO model only follows unspent transactions and their amounts in every block, so you can’t see who is receiving exactly what. You just see the total inputs and outputs per block and the wallets that are part of the block in terms of transactions, but not how much is going to each wallet. You can send funds to yourself and nobody would be able to see it in the block, if the block contains both a send and receive tx back to yourself, in the UTXO model. With the UTXO model you don’t actually see a number that represents your balance, it doesn’t exist, the UTXO model updates the total number of unspent transactions to calculate how much your balance is. The account model DOES however have a number that represents your balance in the database (the blockchain), and that database is public for anyone to see.

2 Likes
#1741
  1. The Ethereum Account Model requires less space than the Bitcoin UTXO Model since :

Bitcoin UTXO Model stores ALL UTXOs independently without never aggregating
whereas
Ethereum Account Model stores the aggregated balance per address of the sum of transactions per address

  1. The Ethereum Account Model is working on the basis of 1 Input & 1 Output
    whereas the Bitcoin UTXO Model can have several outputs and between these outputs, one or several can be controlled by the sender of the transaction himself/ herself

With Ethereum a sender could send to another address he/she controls as well.
It would just be harder to track with the Bitcoin UTXO Model so a higher level of privacy.

1 Like
#1742

Homework on UTXO vs Account Model - Questions

  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?

The information held by each node is smaller than a bitcoin node. Transaction size is smaller.

  1. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?

The account model shows which accounts are transferring funds to other accounts, whereas the bitcoin blockchain shows the movement of utxos but it does not show if an account is being funded or reimbursed for not using the full utxo in the transaction.

1 Like
#1743
  1. You can fit more tx’s in one block, smaller fees.
  2. UTXO model sends funds to several adresses including the owner’ adress. It is harder to track.
1 Like
#1744
  1. The account model doesn’t require much space as the UTXO model, why is that a benefit?

The code is a lot simpler and just updates each account directly, meaning it is not storing all unspent transaction outputs data rather, it simply just updates the balance on each account.

  1. How is the account model not as great as the UTXO model for privacy?

It is a bit less private. Each transaction just updates the sender and receiver account. It is easy to see who sent money where. The UTXO model is harder to follow because you are constantly sending your entire balance to receivers and then the remaining balance back to yourself, with ETH it just sends the money from one account to another without the need to send the remaining balance back to yourself making it more easily trackable.

1 Like