Mehak Zia, Muhammad Kamran, Naeem Aslam, Muhammad Fuzail
Smart contracts, a unique form of blockchain technology, enable financial transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. However, the blockchain paradigm's decentralized structure raises security concerns and has been linked to significant financial losses. Contrary to typical financial entities, Ethereum lacks centralized controls to solve these challenges. These problems have been addressed and Ethereum's security has been enhanced by symbolic execution, which has grown to be a well-known technique for guaranteeing programme integrity. The security of the blockchain can be improved more efficiently by using this method to assess Ethereum's security and identify areas that require the attention of security experts.
Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
IoT and Edge/Fog Computing
Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques
Advances in blockchain technology have attracted significant attention across the world. The practical blockchain applications emerging in various domains, ranging from finance, healthcare, and entertainment, have quickly become attractive targets for adversaries. The novelty of the technology coupled with the high degree of anonymity it provides made malicious activities even less visible in the blockchain environment. This made their robust detection challenging. This article presents EtherShield, a novel approach for identifying malicious activity on the Ethereum blockchain. By combining temporal transaction information and contract code characteristics, EtherShield can detect various types of threats and provide insight into the behavior of contracts. The time-interval-based analysis used by EtherShield enables expedited detection, achieving comparable accuracy to other approaches with significantly less data. Our validation analysis, which involved over 15,000 Ethereum accounts, demonstrated that EtherShield can significantly expedite the detection of malicious activity while maintaining high accuracy levels (86.52% accuracy with 1 hour of transaction history data and 91.33% accuracy with 1 year of transaction history data).
The concept of Blockchain-based Smart Sukuk involves the use of Blockchain technology and smart contracts in the issuance and execution of Sukuk. Smart Sukuk and Blockchain: One of the innovations of Blockchain systems is smart sukuk. Effective issuance of smart sukuk allows small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to take advantage of it. Because it increases transparency and eliminates the possibility of fraud or speculation in sukuk transactions, Blockchain is a technology that builds trust between issuers and investors. Smart Contracts: Smart contracts run on the Ethereum Blockchain and allow smart sukuk to be automated and executed digitally. Smart contracts eliminate some of the components and parties involved in conventional sukuk, such as trustees, registrars, payment agents, calculation agents, arrangers, listing agents, transfer agents, and security depository. MSME Financing Potential: Blockchain-based Smart Sukuk has the potential to support the development of MSMEs and the deepening of the Islamic financial sector. Efficiency and Transparency: The use of Blockchain technology in Smart Sukuk can increase efficiency, transparency, and cost, allowing companies to utilize sukuk structures more efficiently
Blockchain technology contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is UNESCO’s education sector response to the urgent and dramatic challenges the planet faces. The traditional way of donating money to charitable causes, such as education, has been through centralized methods and organizations that lack transparency, and donors often do not have a clear understanding of how their contributions are being utilized. Blockchain technology, particularly, platforms like Ethereum and Polygon, has the potential to address the issues associated with traditional donation systems. This paper proposes a decentralized web3 application that utilizes blockchain technology to enhance transparency and efficiency in educational donations in the context of sustainable development. The platform leverages decentralized protocols and smart contracts to ensure secure and transparent transactions, enabling donors to track the utilization of their contributions and ensuring their funds reach their intended beneficiaries. This paper discusses the design and implementation of the platform, highlighting its features and potential for transforming the landscape of charitable donations. This software application can be used in education, and a demo plus some scenarios/work cases are presented/analyzed. The main results and contributions open other future research directions for not only authors.
Abstract: The problem we are facing is how to efficiently use renewable energy sources like solar and wind, which are sometimes unpredictable. Current energy systems struggle to handle this unpredictability, which can lead to wasted energy and more pollution. There is also a lack of trust and transparency in the energy market. The effective tracking and management of renewable energy present complex challenges. Traditional energy tracking systems often lack transparency, security and trust among stakeholders, hindering the realization of a fully sustainable energy ecosystem. To fix these issues, we are looking at using blockchain technology. Blockchain is like a secure and transparent digital ledger. It can help automate energy trading and make it more trustworthy. By using smart contracts, we can make sure energy transactions happen quickly and with fewer costs. We will also use data analytics and devices that connect to the internet to better predict when we will have energy and how to use it efficiently. Our solution is to create a platform for renewable energy trading using blockchain. We will use technologies like Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum to make sure everything works securely. Smart contracts will help with automatic energy trading, and AI will help us predict when we will have energy. Devices connected to the internet will give us real-time data to manage the energy grid better. With this plan, we want to make renewable energy trading easy and help the world switch to cleaner energy sources faster
Research in recent years has shown that Bitcoin is a virtual asset that is used as a medium of exchange and investment tool other than shares and bonds, the development of the digital era has opened up opportunities for Bitcoin to be chosen as part of an investor’s portfolio. The focus of this study is to examine the impact of nine key determinants on Bitcoin price. The data used in the study are daily data starting from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2022. The main data source is taken from Investing.com, and the estimation method applied is the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The main finding shows that Bitcoin Volume impacts Bitcoin Price negatively, which is in line with the demand theory. Another finding is related to the substitute effect of Ethereum Volume, Litecoin Volume, and Gold Volume, each of which influences Bitcoin Price positively, suggesting that these three commodities are substitutes to Bitcoin. In contrast, whereas Oil Volume has an insignificant effect on Bitcoin price in the short term, it has a negative significant impact in the long term. In addition, LQ45 stock index Volume influences Bitcoin Price positively in the short term, suggesting that LQ45 stock index and Bitcoin substitute for each other. Moreover, Google Trends impacts Bitcoin price positively in the long term. In terms of the income effect, either the Indonesian GDP or US GDP has a strong positive effect on Bitcoin price in both the short and long term.
Shahabeddin Abhari, Plinio Pelegrini Morita, Pedro Augusto Da Silva E. Souza Miranda, Ali Garavand · 6 authors
Introduction: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are verified using blockchain technology to ensure authenticity and ownership. NFTs have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by addressing various issues in the industry. Method: The goal of this study was to identify the applications of NFTs in healthcare. Our scoping review was conducted in 2023. We searched the Scopus, IEEE, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Cochrane scientific databases using related keywords. The article selection process was based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 13 articles were chosen. Then extracted data was summarized and reported. The most common application of NFTs in healthcare was found to be in health data management with 46% frequency, followed by supply chain management with 31% frequency. Furthermore, Ethereum is the main blockchain platform that is applied in NFTs in healthcare with 70%. Discussion: The findings from this review indicate that the NFTs that are currently used in healthcare could transform it. Also, it appears that researchers have not yet investigated the numerous potentials uses of NFTs in the healthcare field, which could be utilized in the future.
On 16th March 2022, U.S. Federal Reserve increased the interest rate the first time, and in the whole year, U.S. Federal Reserve made seven increments on interest rate. As this will affect the value of dollar, many American financial assets were also affected by it, including ETH, one of the most famous cryptocurrencies. This paper uses the history data of ETH price from January 2018 to July 2023 and constructs ARIMA model without Federal Reserve increasing the interest rate to compare with the reality in order to comprehend how the increasing interest rate affected the price of ETH, and use the model to predict the trend of Ethereum’s price. With the influence of increasing interest rate, the price of Ethereum should decrease. However, after the U.S. Federal Reserve increased interest rate, the price of Ethereum went up for a while then dropped dramatically. And the reasons why this delay appears are the delay of policy and the first increment of interest rate is not attractive enough for investors to change their strategies. That can bring some inspirations to policymakers. They should acknowledge that there will be a delay in the market after the policy is released and they could give some potential signs or preferences on the new policy to reduce the shock to market. For investors, they could pay more attention on relevant policy and make use of the delay to make more money.
Md. Rahat Hasan, Ammar Alazab, Siddhartha Barman Joy, Mohammed Nasir Uddin · 9 authors
The Internet of Things (IoT) has recently attracted much interest from researchers due to its diverse IoT applications. However, IoT systems encounter additional security and privacy threats. Developing an efficient IoT system is challenging because of its sophisticated network topology. Effective access control is required to ensure user privacy in the Internet of Things. Traditional access control methods are inappropriate for IoT systems because most conventional access control approaches are designed for centralized systems. This paper proposes a decentralized access control framework based on smart contracts with three parts: initialization, an access control protocol, and an inspection. Smart contracts are used in the proposed framework to store access control policies safely on the blockchain. The framework also penalizes users for attempting unauthorized access to the IoT resources. The smart contract was developed using Remix and deployed on the Ropsten Ethereum testnet. We analyze the performance of the smart contract-based access policies based on the gas consumption of blockchain transactions. Further, we analyze the system’s security, usability, scalability, and interoperability performance.
In an era of global commerce and digital interconnectedness, the inefficiencies and complexities of cross-border payment systems have become a significant hindrance to seamless international transactions.This project explores the transformative potential of blockchain technology, specifically focusing on the utilization of smart contracts, Solidity programming language, and the Ethereum platform, to revolutionize cross-border payments.This research delves into the core concepts of decentralized transactions, shedding light on how blockchain technology can disintermediate traditional financial intermediaries, mitigate transactional inefficiencies, and enhance the transparency, security, and trust in cross-border financial transactions.The utilization of smart contracts as self-executing, tamper-proof digital agreements offers a novel approach to automate and streamline cross-border payments, reducing the risk of fraud and errors while eliminating the need for intermediaries.By evaluating the benefits and challenges of decentralized transactions, this offers insights into the potential for latest technologies to disrupt the status quo of international payments and foster financial inclusion on a global scale.
Peiman Tavakoli, İbrahim Yitmen, Habib Sadri, Afshin Taheri
Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on structured data provision and asset information model maintenance and develop a data provenance model on a blockchain-based digital twin smart and sustainable built environment (DT) for predictive asset management (PAM) in building facilities. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research data were collected through a comprehensive scoping review of secondary sources. Additionally, primary data were gathered through interviews with industry specialists. The analysis of the data served as the basis for developing blockchain-based DT data provenance models and scenarios. A case study involving a conference room in an office building in Stockholm was conducted to assess the proposed data provenance model. The implementation utilized the Remix Ethereum platform and Sepolia testnet. Findings Based on the analysis of results, a data provenance model on blockchain-based DT which ensures the reliability and trustworthiness of data used in PAM processes was developed. This was achieved by providing a transparent and immutable record of data origin, ownership and lineage. Practical implications The proposed model enables decentralized applications (DApps) to publish real-time data obtained from dynamic operations and maintenance processes, enhancing the reliability and effectiveness of data for PAM. Originality/value The research presents a data provenance model on a blockchain-based DT, specifically tailored to PAM in building facilities. The proposed model enhances decision-making processes related to PAM by ensuring data reliability and trustworthiness and providing valuable insights for specialists and stakeholders interested in the application of blockchain technology in asset management and data provenance.
In this paper, we present the first bare metal comparison of modern blockchains, including Algorand, Avalanche, Diem, Ethereum, Quorum and Solana. This evaluation was conducted with the recent Diablo benchmark suite, a framework to evaluate the performance of different blockchains on the same ground. By tuning network delays in our controlled environment we were able to reproduce performance trends obtained in geo-distributed settings, hence demonstrating the relevance of bare metal evaluations to better understand blockchain performance.
Erkan Tairi, Pedro Moreno-Sánchez, Clara Schneidewind
The scalability and interoperability challenges in current cryptocurrencies have motivated the design of cryptographic protocols that enable efficient applications on top and across widely used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Examples of such protocols include (virtual) payment channels, atomic swaps, oracle-based contracts, deterministic wallets, and coin mixing services. Many of these protocols are built upon minimal core functionalities supported by a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Most prominently, adaptor signatures (AS) have emerged as a powerful tool for constructing blockchain protocols that are (mostly) agnostic to the specific logic of the underlying cryptocurrency. Even though AS-based protocols are built upon the same cryptographic principles, there exists no modular and faithful way for reasoning about their security. Instead, all the works analyzing such protocols focus on reproving how adaptor signatures are used to cryptographically link transactions while considering highly simplified blockchain models that do not capture security-relevant aspects of transaction execution in blockchain-based consensus.
We introduce the first practical protocols for fully decentralized sealed-bid auctions using timed commitments. Timed commitments ensure that the auction is finalized fairly even if all participants drop out after posting bids or if n bidders collude to try to learn the nth bidder's bid value. Our protocols rely on a novel non-malleable timed commitment scheme which efficiently supports range proofs to establish that bidders have sufficient funds to cover a hidden bid value. This allows us to penalize users who abandon bids for exactly the bid value, while supporting simultaneous bidding in multiple auctions with a shared collateral pool. Our protocols are concretely efficient and we have implemented them in an Ethereum-compatible smart contract which automatically enforces payment and delivery of an auctioned digital asset.
Marco Gerardi, Francesca Fallucchi, Fabio Orecchini
The growing adoption of renewable energy sources and the need for more efficient and secure energy grids are revolutionizing the energy sector. Electricity monitoring becomes an issue of utmost importance, as current traditional energy meters have several problems in terms of lack of transparency, very high operational costs, and the possibility of being easily tampered with. This paper proposes a new system for electricity production metering that leverages blockchain and IoT for decentralized and secure data recording while protecting user privacy and reducing operational costs. The architecture results in improvements over the traditional energy meter. The system also contributes to the generation of big data that is reliable, traceable, error-proof, and highly resistant to cyber attacks. The architectural project outputs are a smart energy meter, a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain, and a decentralized application to manage the information recording. The experimental prototype outcomes confirm the use of these new technologies to improve energy metering, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and traceability, with reduced costs and increased user privacy.
Currently, over 90% of Ethereum blocks are built using MEV-Boost, an auction that allows validators to sell their block-building power to builders who compete in an open English auction in each slot. Shortly after the merge, when MEV-Boost was in its infancy, most block builders were neutral, meaning they did not trade themselves but rather aggregated transactions from other traders. Over time, integrated builders, operated by trading firms, began to overtake many of the neutral builders. Outside of the integrated builder teams, little is known about which advantages integration confers beyond latency and how latency advantages distort on-chain trading. This paper explores these poorly understood advantages. We make two contributions. First, we point out that integrated builders are able to bid truthfully in their own bundle merge and then decide how much profit to take later in the final stages of the PBS auction when more information is available, making the auction for them look closer to a second-price auction while independent searchers are stuck in a first-price auction. Second, we find that latency disadvantages convey a winner's curse on slow bidders when underlying values depend on a stochastic price process that change as bids are submitted.
Nils Fleischhacker, Gottfried Herold, Mark Simkin, Zhenfei Zhang
Multi-signatures allow for compressing many signatures for the same message that were generated under independent keys into one small aggregated signature. This primitive is particularly useful for proof-of-stake blockchains, like Ethereum, where the same block is signed by many signers, who vouch for the block's validity. Being able to compress all signatures for the same block into a short string significantly reduces the on-chain storage costs, which is an important efficiency metric for blockchains.
We present and analyze an attack on Ethereum 1's consensus mechanism, which allows miners to obtain higher mining rewards compared to their honest peers. This attack is novel in that it relies on manipulating block timestamps and the difficulty-adjustment algorithm (DAA) to give the miner an advantage whenever block races ensue. We call our attack Uncle Maker, as it induces a higher rate of uncle blocks. We describe several variants of the attack. Among these, one that is risk-free for miners.
The prosperity of Ethereum attracts many users to send transactions and trade crypto assets. However, this has also given rise to a new form of transaction-based phishing scam, named TxPhish. Specifically, tempted by high profits, users are tricked into visiting fake websites and signing transactions that enable scammers to steal their crypto assets. The past year has witnessed 11 large-scale TxPhish incidents causing a total loss of more than 70 million.
A S M Touhidul Hasan, Shabnam Sabah, Apubra Daria, Rakib Ul Haque
The lack of new and advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Fog computing, makes it challenging to trace the origin of agricultural products in supply chains. In addition, the system’s traditional centralized architecture cannot provide a trusted traceability service for farming goods in these supply chains. This paper proposes a peer-to-peer Blockchain-based architecture integrating self-sovereign identity (SSI) and a decentralized key management system (DKMS) for a trusted and reliable traceability service for agricultural food products in the supply chain networks. The public Blockchain network Fantom will provide faster and cheaper transactions. In contrast, SSI will ensure the identity of each entity by adopting DKMS technology on top of Blockchain to facilitate faster authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality service of the supply chain’s transaction and verification process. The system is deployed on the different public networks, i.e., Fantom and Ethereum, and shows that the proposed Fantom-based Blockchain network outperforms in terms of transaction and verification timing.
Purpose This study analyzes the static and dynamic risk spillover between US/Chinese stock markets, cryptocurrencies and gold using daily data from August 24, 2018, to January 29, 2021. This study provides practical policy implications for investors and portfolio managers. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover indices based on the forecast error variance decomposition from vector autoregression framework. This approach allows the authors to examine both return and volatility spillover before and after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. First, the authors used a static analysis to calculate the return and volatility spillover indices. Second, the authors make a dynamic analysis based on the 30-day moving window spillover index estimation. Findings Generally, results show evidence of significant spillovers between markets, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, cryptocurrencies and gold markets are net receivers of risk. This study provides also practical policy implications for investors and portfolio managers. The reached findings suggest that the mix of Bitcoin (or Ethereum), gold and equities could offer diversification opportunities for US and Chinese investors. Gold, Bitcoin and Ethereum can be considered as safe havens or as hedging instruments during the COVID-19 crisis. In contrast, Stablecoins (Tether and TrueUSD) do not offer hedging opportunities for US and Chinese investors. Originality/value The paper's empirical contribution lies in examining both return and volatility spillover between the US and Chinese stock market indices, gold and cryptocurrencies before and after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This contribution goes a long way in helping investors to identify optimal diversification and hedging strategies during a crisis.
The growing demand for batteries, in particular lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, brings attention to new challenging issues such as second-life for batteries and tracking and recycling of critical raw materials. This study suggests a solution to the problem of tracking batteries along the supply chain and their recycling process. The use of nested tokens allows battery transactions to be tracked and information about raw materials inside them to be retrieved with an easy accounting of those. The joint use of blockchain and distributed data storage solutions like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) guarantees the availability, integrity and non-repudiation of the data and allows interoperation with digital twin models. A smart contract system allows each actor of the business model to carry out only the operations for which he is authorized through the use of rules and certifications issued by a regulator. A prototype was realized and a cost analysis of used gas and the equivalent costs in USD was carried out for the Ethereum and Polygon blockchain networks.
Yang Liu, Zhiyuan Lin, Yuxi Zhang, Lin Jiang · 5 authors
Ethereum, currently the most widely utilized smart contracts platform, anchors the security of myriad smart contracts upon its own robustness. Its foundational peer-to-peer network facilitates a dependable node connection mechanism, whereas an efficient data-sharing protocol constitutes as the bedrock of Blockchain network security. In this paper, we propose NodeHunter, an Ethereum network detector implemented through the application of simulation technology, which is capable of aggregating all node records within the network and the interconnectedness between them. Utilizing this connection information, NodeHunter can procure more comprehensive insights for network status analysis compared to preceding detection methodologies. Throughout a three-month period of unbroken surveillance of the Ethereum network, we obtained an excess of two million node records along with over one hundred million node acquaintances. Analysis of the gathered data revealed that an alarming 49% or more of these node records were maliciously forged.