Hashing algorithms : A comparison for blockchains in Internet of things

Abstract: In today’s society blockchains and the Internet of things are two very discussed subjects this has led to thoughts about combining them by using a blockchain in Internet of things. This objective of this study has been to solve the problem which hashing algorithms is the best for a blockchain used in an Internet of things network. This have been done by first selecting a few hashing algorithms and setting up a scenario where a blockchain can be used in an Internet of things network. After that I specified what to compare, speed, input length and output length. The study has been conducted with the aid of literary studies about the hashing algorithms and a program that implements the algorithms and tests their speed. The study has shown that out of the selected hashing algorithms MD5, SHA-256, SHA3-256 with the conditions specified for the study that the hashing algorithm SHA3-256 is the best option if speed is not of the utmost importance in the scenario since it is from a newer standard and do not have a max input length. If speed is the very important in other words if SHA3-256 is to slow then SHA-256 would be best for the Internet of things network.