Demo -- Zelig: Customizable Blockchain Simulator

Abstract: As blockchain-based systems see wider adoption, it becomes increasingly critical to ensure their reliability, security, and efficiency. Running simulations is an effective method of gaining insights on the existing systems and analyzing potential improvements. However, many of the existing blockchain simulators have various shortcomings that yield them insufficient for a wide range of scenarios. In this demo paper, we present Zelig: our blockchain simulator designed with the main goals of customizability and extensibility. To the best of our knowledge, Zelig is the only blockchain simulator that enables simulating custom network topologies without modifying the simulator code. We explain our simulator design, validate via experimental analysis against the real-world Bitcoin network, and highlight potential use cases.