The article examines financial and investment mechanisms of ensuring sustainable development of enterprises in the context of decentralization reform and change management. It is substantiated that decentralization processes change the configuration of financial flows and powers, strengthen the role of territorial communities and form new conditions for making investment decisions, which requires adapting the financial policy of enterprises and revising investment priorities. It is shown that sustainable development in a decentralized economy acquires a multidimensional nature and requires the integration of economic, social, environmental and management goals into a single strategic model of enterprise development. The research determined that financial and investment mechanisms under decentralization conditions are transformed from instruments for providing resources to levers of strategic transformation aimed at increasing the sustainability, innovation and adaptability of enterprises. The focus is on the growing importance of combined financing models that combine resources from business, local budgets, institutional investors and international programs, as well as on the need to strengthen financial discipline, transparency and control over investment performance.It is proven that change management requires a financial and strategic approach that ensures the coordination of investment projects with organizational transformations and territorial development priorities. It is concluded that the effective combination of financial and investment mechanisms, change management and sustainable development principles creates the basis for the formation of adaptive and competitive enterprises that are able not only to respond to institutional transformations, but also to actively influence the socio-economic development of territorial communities in the long term
Unintended behavior in smart contracts can lead to major financial losses. Due to the immutable nature of blockchains, it is of utmost importance to ensure the functional correctness of smart contracts before deployment. Formal verification is a powerful technology for such critical applications, as it can show the absence of errors. Current approaches focus on verifying programs on specific blockchains, such as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Consequently, the SmartML smart contract modeling language was developed to design smart contracts independently of any particular blockchain. In this work, we present a novel approach for formally verifying SmartML contracts via an automatic translation to Java Card and the Java Modeling Language (JML). We extend SmartML with SmartJML, a JML-like specification language, and describe how SmartML and SmartJML can be automatically translated into Java Card and JML. With this, the established deductive verification tool KeY can be used for conducting proofs on the generated Java Card program. The faithfulness of our translation ensures that the obtained guarantees hold for the original SmartML models. In addition to the theoretical work, we provide a prototypical implementation of the automatic translation and evaluate it with a case study of an escrow.
d IoT security perspective. It makes use of three essential Blockchain features— transparency, immutability, and decentralization— to build environment that are reliable and impenetrable. This application is realized through the utilization of features such as AI-driven fraud detection, Blockchain security, data privacy, the reliability of Smart Contracts, transaction speed, and system scalability. The result is, Blockchain-IoT Security Perspective, the first rank is System Scalability, the lowest rank is AI-based Fraud Detection, Blockchain Security is the fourth rank, Data Privacy is the fifth rank, Smart Contract Reliability is the third rank, and Transaction Speed is the first rank.
In the process of building materials supply chain management, there are problems such as information opacity, low logistics coordination efficiency, difficulty in material quality traceability, and weak trust mechanism among supply chain entities, which lead to rising costs, low efficiency, and waste of resources. In addition, the construction industry has a large amount of carbon emissions, and the impact of supply chain management on carbon emission reduction cannot be ignored. To this end, this paper introduces blockchain technology to improve supply chain transparency, optimize logistics management, enhance material quality traceability, and explore its role in carbon emission reduction. This paper constructs a blockchain-based building materials supply chain management system, using distributed ledgers to ensure data transparency, smart contracts to automate procurement, acceptance and payment, which is a material traceability system to ensure quality control, the Internet of Things combined with blockchain to optimize logistics management, and establish a carbon emission monitoring and optimization mechanism to achieve real-time data recording and low-carbon scheduling. The system built in this study shows significant advantages in multiple key indicators. The overall carbon emissions of the supply chain in the experimental group are 88 tons of CO2, a 12% decrease compared to 100 tons of CO2 in the control group. The average transportation time in the experimental group is 4.5 hours, while that in the control group is 8.2 hours, a 45.1% decrease. The application of blockchain technology has effectively improved the efficiency and transparency of building materials supply chain management, optimized logistics and material quality control, and played a positive role in carbon emission reduction.
This paper analyzes the shortcomings of traditional authentication mechanisms in web applications operating over the secure TLS 1.3 protocol. It is established that even with an encrypted channel, the transmission of secret data (passwords, tokens) remains a primary attack vector. An improved protocol is proposed that integrates an authentication mechanism based on zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARK) immediately after session establishment via Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDHE) key exchange. This approach completely eliminates the transmission of client credentials, significantly increasing resistance to phishing and server database compromises.
In the digital age, Bitcoin remains the first and most notable cryptocurrency. Over the years, its value has increased, making it a desirable digital asset with millions of enthusiasts who trade and invest daily. Bitcoin is highly volatile in comparison with traditional assets and in absolute terms. Understanding its volatility history helps investors decide whether to buy, sell, or hold. A mathematical model that accounts for volatility is essential for these decisions. Unfortunately, Bitcoin’s vast profit potential for investors comes with the dilemma of its negative impact on global environmental health, which needs serious attention. This study aims to model Bitcoin’s return volatility that can support investment decisions and, on the other hand, the negative impact of Bitcoin mining and outline the actions necessary to mitigate it.
Taras Maksymyuk, Francesco Meloni, Matias Torres Diaz, Domenico Romano · 6 authors
This paper presents a blockchain-centered system architecture for cultural heritage provenance that replaces fragmented, paper-based tracking with a tamper-evident, auditable digital workflow. We assume that each object can be reliably bound to a stable physical fingerprint through an established scan-based pipeline, and we focus on how that fingerprint is represented, stored, and verified within a practical distributed ledger design. The proposed framework separates high-assurance settlement events, such as registration and ownership transfer, from high-volume operational records, such as condition updates and monitoring logs, by routing data across multiple layers and committing verifiable summaries of frequent activity to a high-security anchor chain. We also describe a deployable decentralized application stack that integrates standard token interfaces for asset representation, event-driven synchronization for user-facing services, and scalable node access to reduce read latency without requiring institutions to maintain their own node infrastructure. The result is a concrete system model that clarifies how the end-to-end provenance trail remains verifiable under realistic performance constraints.
This article argues that the extraction of value through informational asymmetry, what the article formalizes as the Blaeu rent, is categorically distinct from Ricardian scarcity rents and Schumpeterian innovation rents: it scales with the counterparty’s blindness, is invariant to productive merit, and is dissolved entirely by symmetric closure. The argument proceeds in three interlocking registers. The first is philosophical: drawing on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s account of motor intentionality, Martin Heidegger’s analysis of the ready-to-hand, and Antonio Damasio’s somatic-marker hypothesis, the article defends the existential claim that some intentional states carry content before they are verbalized, and that pre-articulate knowledge, alongside acquired, derived, received, and inherited knowledge, constitutes a legitimate and analytically distinct mode of knowledge entry. The second is formal: the article introduces a fiber bundle topology to represent semantically overloaded concepts without metric distortion; formalizes the Blaeu rent as a function of the information set differential between counterparties, subject to strict conditions of merit-invariance; presents a mechanism-design proof, grounded in adverse selection dynamics, demonstrating that institutional adoption of symmetric instruments is the dominant rational strategy for capital; and formalizes the irreversible loss of cognitive potential under asymmetric conditions as a cognitive entropy law, drawing on Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s thermodynamic framework, showing that the waste is path-dependent and permanent. The third is architectural: the article specifies the federated, homomorphically encrypted governance structure required to make the sovereignty claim real rather than nominal, and addresses the warrant-adjudication problem through cryptographically verifiable zero-knowledge credential systems. The central finding is that symmetric closure of the information gap dissolves the Blaeu rent entirely while leaving earned competitive advantage, including first-mover position, execution capacity, and risk tolerance, wholly intact.
Amar Razaq, Muhammad Asad ur Rehman Naseer, Muhammad Naseer, Saher Jabeen
Decentralization has become one of the main governance reforms through which developing economies try to make food security policy more responsive to local conditions. The reform promise is straightforward: subnational governments and community institutions may know local agroecological conditions, household vulnerability, market constraints, and social exclusion better than central ministries. Yet decentralization can also reproduce weak service delivery when authority is transferred without finance, staff, data systems, accountability, or coordination. This chapter argues that local food governance should be assessed as a design problem rather than as a general reform ideal. Effective devolution links clear functional assignments, predictable finance, capable local administration, public participation, and national standards. The chapter develops a multilevel framework for food governance, compares fiscal and institutional patterns in selected developing economies, and uses case boxes from Pakistan, India, Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. It concludes that decentralized governance can strengthen inclusion and responsiveness, but only when local discretion is embedded in transparent institutions and coherent intergovernmental systems.
José Antonio Siqueira Pontes, Clara Coelho Mangolin
Abstract: Access to financial resources by individuals, corporations, and governments must undergo impact assessments concerning human rights. Public and private governance bodies exert influence over the global financial landscape, ensuring compliance with frameworks such as the UN’s 2030 SDGs through the "Equator Principles" and the "Principles for Responsible Investment." The article aims to analyze the effects of digital tools on responsible financing, such as through the decentralization of financial systems for credit access. It explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) integrated into "smart contracts," the consumer credit market, especially on peer-to-peer lending platforms, and other fintech solutions for achieving ESG goals like poverty reduction. However, the use of AI and "smart contracts" may also pose risks to human rights. The primary approach involves reviewing international literature to identify emerging risks. The expected outcome is a comprehensive analysis of recent trends and challenges related to corporate social responsibility in the financial sector, particularly regarding human rights in the digital era.
Open access
FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance
Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges
Smart contracts represent a specific synthesis of technology and law. They are agreements that are automatically executed and, owing to blockchain technology, relatively immutable. Due to their automation and immutability, smart contracts constitute a useful instrument of contemporary digital transactions. At the level of the European Union, smart contracts are comprehensively regulated by Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 on fair access to and use of data. In the first part of the paper, the author analyzes the concept of smart contracts, along with a brief explanation of blockchain technology as their underlying basis. In the second part, the author examines the legislation of the Member States of the European Union concerning smart contracts prior to the adoption of the aforementioned Regulation. The central part of the paper is devoted to an analysis of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 relating to smart contracts, with particular emphasis on the essential requirements for smart contracts used in the performance of data sharing agreements, as well as on the procedure for assessing the compliance of smart contracts with those essential requirements. In the conclusion, the author elaborates the thesis that the new European Union legislation, including that relating to smart contracts, represents a qualitative leap compared to previous solutions, as it provides a detailed regulation of some of the most significant issues concerning the functioning of smart contracts and offers appropriate legal and technical guarantees for their successful application.
This Online Appendix provides forty supplementary sections supporting the main manuscript. The principal contributions are: (i) a complete multi-input atomicity proof for the UTXO Consistency Result under crash-fault semantics, with six-case exhaustive analysis and sourcecode correspondence; (ii) a formal liveness theorem establishing bounded recovery from Validator crashes during the compensating-unspend protocol; (iii) three alternative scalingefficiency models (η(M): logarithmic, power-law, Amdahl) with cross-validation, bootstrap prediction intervals, and architectural justification for model selection; and (iv) an SPV verification analysis demonstrating that Simplified Payment Verification remains feasible at 10 11-TPS fleet scale without requiring archival nodes. Additional sections provide the full G/G/c throughput-ceiling derivation, 60-point derating calibration methodology, NVMe-spill and mixed-workload production estimates with uncertainty propagation, Aerospike strongconsistency formal model, and responses to all reviewer concerns including a mathematical foundation audit.