Christoph Lenzen, Julian Loss, Kecheng Shi, Benedikt Wagner
Byzantine Agreement and Broadcast are traditionally studied in one of two extremes: the authenticated setting, where a public key infrastructure (PKI) enables universally verifiable signatures and yields higher fault tolerance, and the unauthenticated setting, where no PKI is available and resilience necessarily drops. Motivated by Proof-of-Stake blockchains, where only a stable subset of participants (e.g., validators) have registered long-term keys while others do not, we initiate a systematic study of consensus in the \emph{partially authenticated} setting, where a subset of parties are \emph{registered} in a PKI and the remaining parties are \emph{unregistered}. We provide a nearly complete feasibility characterization of the resilience as a function of the number $s$ of registered parties among $n$ total parties. First, we show that Byzantine Agreement or Byzantine Broadcast with an \emph{unregistered} sender is possible if and only if $t \le \max\{\lceil s/2\rceil,\lceil n/3\rceil\}-1$, matching a simple protocol and an impossibility bound. Second, for Byzantine Broadcast with a \emph{registered} sender, we give a deterministic synchronous broadcast protocol tolerating up to $t \le s + \lceil (n-s)/3\rceil - 1$ Byzantine faults (equivalently, $3t
Y Jin, Shuohan Wu, Chong Chen, Lingfeng Bao · 6 authors
The Internet is transitioning from Web3 toward Web4, where autonomous agents serve as independent economic actors. These agents can now hold crypto wallets, execute on-chain trades, and pay for external API calls. This transition calls for a new infrastructure stack capable of supporting key agent operations, including agent-to-tool interaction, agent-to-agent payments, and verifiable agent identity, represented by emerging protocols such as the Model Context Protocol, x402, and EIP-8004. Despite growing industrial interest in these protocols, the real-world Web4 agent ecosystem remains largely underexplored. To bridge this gap, we conduct the first large-scale empirical study of the Web4 ecosystem. Specifically, our study targets three interconnected questions: how Web4 agents are deployed and used in practice; what engineering challenges developers face when building Web4 agents; how current project communities respond to these challenges. To answer these questions, we analyze 99,448 multi-chain identity registrations, 317,596,323 transaction logs, the source code of 341 MCP projects, and 349 filtered GitHub issues. Our findings reveal that autonomous agents have established a highly active machine-to-machine payment economy, processing millions of daily transactions. However, this growth is built on immature infrastructure, including identity/authorization practice, cross-environment operation, and payment interoperability. Our follow-up analysis shows that community responses are visible but unevenly distributed across repositories, and payment interoperability remains the most persistent unresolved bottleneck. Overall, this study reveals a critical gap between the rapid growth of the Web4 agent economy and its fragile underlying infrastructure, highlighting future directions for building a more secure Web4 agent ecosystem.
Ramya K, Anbu Karuppusamy Dr S, Ragunathan Dr Aravindhan
The internet has become integral to daily life, facilitating commerce, communication, and services; however, it also presents significant security vulnerabilities. I have been looking at 2025 online security, accumulating patterns both popular and non-popular until March. AI plays a critical role in identifying security threats in real time. However, it also empowers malicious actors to orchestrate more sophisticated attacks, it's also but it also empowers malicious actors to orchestrate sophisticated cyberattacks. Another major issue is Zero trust architecture, which aligns with decentralized and remote environments, it's all about not believing anyone until they prove it. Web3 comes next, a free-for-all paradise where decentralization seems great until you run across issues—hacks are plentiful. The worst things? ransomware that keeps individuals from using the internet, outdated injection methods, IoT trash that basically gives crooks access. People aren't just sitting there, though; cloud trickery and privacy breaches are fighting the war and keeping momentum. Still, it's a fight with absurd costs, inadequate help, and thieves always changing the goalposts. Remarkable, isn't it? Innovations such as prospective quantum shielding and self-repairing technologies intrigue me. I am presenting my findings regarding our current situation, the factors contributing to our failures, and potential solutions for overcoming these challenges—not a traditional lecture This paper presents a comprehensive synthesis of the author’s research and analysis aimed at enhancing internet resilience in 2025.
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Non Fungible Token (NFT) Industry has been witnessing 16 million dollar trade in recent times.The following is the development of the decentralized NFT marketplace divided into three principal phases: smart contract development on the Ethereum blockchain using Solidity, creation of the frontend using React.js,Next.js,Node.js,HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and backend development using Express.jsand MongoDB.The aim of this project is to offer a transparent and safe digital marketplace to mint, buy, and trade NFTs.The project employs ERC-721 standards for the uniqueness of tokens, Web3.js for interaction with smart contracts, and off-chain metadata storage with the help of REST APIs and MongoDB.Results indicate that the marketplace functions securely and efficiently, with seamless user interaction and successful on-chain transaction execution.Challenges related to deployment cost, metadata storage, and smart contract gas optimization were addressed during development.The final product demonstrates a fully functional, scalable, and decentralized NFT marketplace platform.
Pham Van Huong, Nguyen Ngoc Tuyen, D. H. Long, Trần Quốc Toanh · 5 authors
The paper proposes a comprehensive data security model for blockchain-based web applications. This model can be used as a general template for Web3 applications. The model consists of two parts: a blockchain core with integrated database encryption modules, replacing Fabric CA; and an application part that also integrates file encryption, database encryption, and digital signatures. The proposed model was tested on a VBCC management website using Hyperledger Fabric. File and database encryption uses AES, and digital signatures use ECDSA. To improve performance, we also replaced the GolevelDB database management system with LevelDB. Experimental results confirm the accuracy and good performance.
With the rapid development of the Low-Altitude Economy (LAE) ecosystem, Low-Altitude Embodied Artificial Intelligence (LAEAI) agents have become the core carriers of autonomous aerial services, thereby enabling dynamic Low-altitude Computility Networks (LACNets) for distributed computing resource sharing. However, resource-constrained LAEAI agents in decentralized LACNets face a fundamental trilemma of autonomy, security, and efficiency. Existing solutions primarily focus on either optimizing computational performance or enhancing security in isolation, failing to address the inherent trade-offs among trust, performance, and overhead in untrusted dynamic environments with malicious agents. To tackle this challenge, this paper proposes SkyChain Intelligence, a holistic framework that synergistically integrates agentic AI, consortium blockchain, and Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning (MADRL). We design a lightweight blockchain-based decentralized trust management system with a dynamic reputation mechanism and develop a hybrid-action-space MADDPG algorithm that embeds on-chain reputation scores into the reward function to jointly optimize offloading decisions, resource allocation, and drone 3D trajectories. Extensive simulations demonstrate that our framework outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in task completion latency and energy consumption, while achieving a 94.1% task completion rate in the baseline scenario and stable convergence within 300 training episodes. This work provides a viable path for building secure, autonomous, and efficient machine-to-machine computing ecosystems in the low-altitude domain.
Abdu A. Adamu, Kamal A. Ibrahim, Hyelhirra Adamu, Firdausi Umar-Sadiq
Abstract Under Nigeria’s 2014 National Health Act, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) was created as a key health financing mechanism to bolster primary healthcare and promote progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The BHCPF, disbursed through four gateways, has catalyzed important health systems gains, including improved facility financing predictability and the nationwide creation of State Social Health Insurance Agencies. However, persistent bottlenecks, including weak oversight, lax fiduciary controls, poor accountability, and disparities in implementation quality, have constrained progress. These challenges precipitated a comprehensive set of reforms outlined in the 2025 BHCPF guidelines (BHCPF 2.0). These reforms introduce performance-linked disbursement, tiered direct facility financing, capitation-plus payment systems, and strengthened governance structures. Yet policy reform alone does not guarantee equitable and effective implementation, particularly in Nigeria’s complex, decentralized, and heterogeneous health system. This Commentary argues that institutionalizing implementation research in BHCPF’s governance framework offers a structured, evidence-driven pathway to bridge the gap between reform intent and real-world outcomes. Specifically, implementation research can: build theory-driven understanding of why and how reforms succeed or fail across diverse subnational contexts; monitor implementation fidelity and outcomes during rollout; distinguish necessary adaptations from fidelity drift; and test context-specific strategies to overcome barriers and promote facilitators. Ultimately, country-led, integrated implementation research is essential for fully realizing the transformative potential of BHCPF.
I Nyoman Teja Kusuma, Ika Devy Pramudiana, Nihayatus Sholichah
The enactment of Law Number 1 of 2022 concerning Financial Relations between the Central and Regional Governments (HKPD Law) introduced a pivotal shift in Indonesia’s fiscal decentralization through the Motor Vehicle Tax (PKB) "opsen" (option) mechanism. This study analyzes the impact of HKPD Law implementation on local revenue (PAD) strengthening in Probolinggo City and Regency. Utilizing a qualitative comparative case study approach, the research evaluates administrative readiness and policy impacts derived from Ministry of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 3 of 2024. The findings reveal an asymmetrical transition, where fiscal effectiveness is highly contingent on digital infrastructure maturity and geographical constraints. Probolinggo City demonstrates successful host-to-host system integration, ensuring daily liquidity and bureaucratic efficiency. Conversely, Probolinggo Regency faces "geospatial gaps," characterized by transaction data delays and high collection costs in remote areas. This study identifies a lack of target alignment between provincial and local governments and emphasizes the necessity of "budget tagging" for road infrastructure to enhance the social contract with taxpayers. This research contributes to fiscal decentralization theory by proposing a "geographic coefficient" model for operational cost distribution in developing regions.
“What remains after exclusion is not absolute truth, but the non-excluded readout within a given coupling, projection, and question.” — LHFT, Exclusion Readout Principle The present readout is the only directly accessible physical state. The past is reconstructed from trace-code encoded in that present readout. The future is the admissible continuation space constrained by the present readout. In LHFT, a readout is the stabilized foreground form that remains after coupling, projection, and exclusion; non-required modes are excluded into the complement/background sector, where they remain structurally effective through Schur-complement backaction. full system: H = H_foreground ⊕ H_background H_background is not absent from reality. It is excluded from the explicit foreground representation of the current readout, but its influence remains effective through Schur-complement backaction. effective readout: K_eff = A - B† C⁻¹ B Since every perception is a reconstruction of what has already occurred, we always require a model to decode the present trace of the past and to constrain the dynamically admissible continuations of the future. Trace-Code, Model Decoding, Exclusion, Schur Complement, and Defect-Controlled Reconstruction Author Christian Baganz (1969, Potsdam/Germany) Framework Log-Harmonic Field Theory (LHFT) Document type Theoretical framework / ontological decoding module / defect-controlled recovery subtheory Version 26.06.23 — Working draft License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Status [Strictly curated LHFT subtheory] / [Framework formulated] / [Candidate Schur-coding mechanism] / [Defect architecture formulated] / [Microscopic derivation open] Overview This publication introduces LHFT Trace-Readout Theory as a strictly bounded module within Log-Harmonic Field Theory (LHFT). It formulates physical knowledge as model-based decoding of present trace-code. The central thesis is that the present is not directly possessed as reality itself. Rather, the present is treated as a trace-state in which past coupling, exclusion, and readout history are encoded. Scientific models act as decoders: they reconstruct past histories from present traces and project constrained spaces of possible future readouts. P≤tphys → R≤tO → P̂≤tO → P̂>tO Here P≤tphys denotes the physical past history, R≤tO denotes present trace-code available to observer or apparatus O, P̂≤tO denotes the reconstructed past, and P̂>tO denotes the constrained space of possible future readouts. Core Principles The framework is organized around six core principles: Principle Meaning Status Trace-Code Principle The present contains encoded past coupling, exclusion, and readout history. [Definition] Model-as-Decoder Principle Scientific models decode present trace-states into reconstructed histories and possible future readouts. [Definition] Time-as-Encoding Principle Time is treated as the ordered encoding of past readout history into the present trace-state. [Candidate LHFT ontology] Exclusion-Readout Principle Readout arises by exclusion, not by primitive positive inclusion. [Definition] / [Candidate LHFT principle] Schur-as-Coding Candidate The Schur complement is proposed as the candidate normal form of exclusion-based coding. [Candidate] Defect-Control Principle A readout closes only when its defect vanishes or is controlled small inside a specified recovery window. [Definition] Main Demonstration: The Double-Slit Experiment The double-slit experiment is used as the central demonstration of Trace-Readout Theory. The document separates three different readout claims: Detector hit: closed as a localized trace. Which-path partition: not closed without path detection. Interference pattern: closed statistically as an ensemble trace. The key interpretation is: The interference pattern is a macroscopic statistical trace of microscopic non-which-path closure. In compact closure form: Closed(xᵢ) = 1, Closed(L|R) = 0, Closed(pattern) = 1 Thus, the interference pattern is not treated as a path trace. It is treated as a trace that the slit region was not read as an exclusive left-or-right path partition. Schur Complement as Candidate Coding Mechanism The publication introduces the Schur complement as a candidate mathematical normal form for exclusion-based coding: Kvis = A − B† C⁻¹ B In this reading, the visible readout is not simply the directly visible block A. It is a residue of an excluded complement C, including hidden backreaction through the coupling block B. The visible readout is a residue of exclusion with hidden backreaction. This is treated as a candidate normal-form mechanism, not as a completed microscopic derivation. Defect Architecture The theory is organized by explicit defect gates. The minimal master defect is: DTRTO = DtraceO + DdecodeO + DexclusionO + DSchurO + DreadoutO + DpredictionO + DtranslationO A defect-zero statement is always read as projective recovery closure inside a specified observer window, not as absolute closure of the full structural layer. DXO = 0 ⇒ X is closed inside the stated observer window. Scientific Boundary This document does not claim: a complete derivation of quantum mechanics, a complete derivation of the Born rule, microscopic necessity of the Schur complement, observer-created reality, reality as mere information, a fully prewritten future, or absolute closure of the full structural layer. The main theorem target remains open: S1L ⇒ DTRTO = 0 This means that the deeper LHFT structural action boundary should eventually derive the trace-code, exclusion, Schur, readout, prediction, and translation closures in an admissible observer window. In the present document, this implication is a theorem target, not a completed proof. Contents Scope, Trace-Code, and Models as Decoders Time, Past, Future, and Prediction Exclusion and Schur Coding Incompatible Readouts and Trace Accessibility Double-Slit Demonstration Defect Architecture, Final Status, and Open Proof Obligations An additional appendix lists the required non-LHFT reference sources for quantum foundations, uncertainty, complementarity, decoherence, quantum eraser experiments, Schur complement mathematics, forensic trace reasoning, measurement uncertainty, and model-based inference. Keywords Log-Harmonic Field Theory; LHFT; Trace-Readout Theory; trace-code; model decoding; exclusion; Schur complement; defect principle; quantum measurement; double-slit experiment; which-path information; interference; decoherence; complementarity; scientific reconstruction; observer-relative recovery; projective recovery closure. Suggested Citation Baganz, Christian. “LHFT Trace-Readout Theory: Trace-Code, Model Decoding, Exclusion, Schur Complement, and Defect-Controlled Reconstruction.” Log-Harmonic Field Theory (LHFT), 26.06.23 working draft. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Formal software verification systems aim to provide rigorous mathematical proofs that programs adhere to their specifications. In particular, proof assistants like Agda, Rocq and Lean can express programs, specifications and proofs within a single unifying language called Dependent Type Theory (DTT). This thesis makes contributions to parametricity within the setting of DTT and proof assistants. As a first approximation, parametricity is a uniformity property regarding polymorphic, i.e. generic programs. A generic program behaves identically regardless of the type it is instantiated with, because it cannot inspect its type argument. This simple observation leads to useful knowledge when performing proofs about the program (Wadler calls such knowledge ``theorems for free''). More generally, Reynolds mathematically defined the notion of parametricity as relational parametricity, the statement that every type can be turned into a certain reflexive graph. An edge in the graph between two values is a proof that the values have a similar structure. For instance an edge between polymorphic programs is a proof that they map related types to related outputs, and this formalizes what it means to be uniform. The parametricity translation, mapping types to reflexive graphs, is defined externally as a meta-operation on DTT expressions and is not an operation that is available inside, or internal to DTT. For example, given a type of polymorphic functions, one cannot prove inside DTT the formal statement expressing that every such function is uniform (we call such statements global free theorems). Internally parametric type theories (PTTs) achieve this by equipping DTT with a so-called Bridge type former, whose role is to represent the parametricity translation inside the theory. A landmark example is the interval-based theory of Cavallo and Harper (the CH theory), in which bridges are functions from a postulated bridge interval, in analogy with the path types of cubical type theory. Within the CH theory, global free theorems become provable. However, a practical limitation persists: contrary to the Reynolds translation of a type, the Bridge translation of a type does not directly provide an actionable parametricity result. Indeed tedious case-by-case rote work is required of the user to establish that the Bridge type former commutes with each type former appearing in the type under consideration. The first main contribution of this thesis is to improve the practical usability of internally parametric type theories. Firstly, we address the lack of a full-fledged proof-assistant implementation of binary internal parametricity and contribute the Agda-bridges proof assistant. Agda-bridges is an extension of the Agda proof assistant and implements an interactive typechecker for the CH parametric type theory. More precisely, Agda-bridges extends Agda-cubical, itself an implementation of cubical type theory. In fact, Agda-bridges typechecks the standard library of Agda-cubical, hence important theorems provided by Agda-cubical, like univalence, remain available to the user of Agda-bridges. Moreover, Agda-bridges validates key theorems for internal parametricity, in particular the relativity equivalence. This makes it possible to provide formal proofs of free theorems, including global ones. Yet the rote work challenge described above persists. Hence, secondly, we contribute Relational Observational Type Theory (ROTT), a library, or domain-specific language, written in Agda-bridges that eliminates the rote work in a principled way. ROTT lets the user obtain concise and modular proofs of actionable parametricity statements. Once a type is written using the ROTT DSL, a corresponding proof can be extracted as a one-liner. Using this methodology we are able to formalize global free theorems of practical and theoretical relevance. Notably, we expand on a proof communicated to us by Andrea Vezzosi and can show that higher-order abstract syntax is an adequate representation of the untyped lambda calculus (previously known proofs relied on the strictly stronger notion of Kripke parametricity). The second main contribution of this thesis concerns nullary internal parametricity and its relationship to the formal study of languages with variable binding. When studying a language on paper it is common to think of variables as strings, and to adopt the convention that alpha-equivalent terms are equal. However, when working formally it is preferable to represent the syntax of the object language in such a way that alpha-equivalent terms are equal by construction. Nominal frameworks are type systems featuring a so-called name abstraction type former, used to give a type to the binders of the object language. This type former enables a string-like but alpha-equivalence-respecting representation of syntax with binders. Yet existing nominal frameworks either feature typing rules hard to implement in a proof assistant environment, or lack expressivity to reason about nominal syntax. We solve these issues by contributing Parametric Nominal Type Theory, which is an extension of the nullary CH theory, a version of the CH theory where bridges have zero endpoints instead of two. Firstly, we recognize that the nullary CH theory is itself the basis of a nominal framework in which name abstraction corresponds to the nullary bridge type former. In fact the other primitives of the CH theory can be understood from a nominal point of view and existing nominal primitives can be implemented in terms of the CH ones. Secondly, we identify the missing piece that suffices to turn the nullary CH theory into an actual nominal framework, in which one can reason about object languages in a nominal fashion without the aforementioned lack of expressivity. The missing piece is a type of names Nm such that its nullary Bridge type/nullary translation is the sum type 1+Nm. We provide an induction principle for Nm that entails the property. We demonstrate that Parametric Nominal Type Theory is a suitable nominal framework. One of our examples involves emulating a restricted form of Kripke parametricity by nullary parametricity.
Cryptocurrencies have received long-term interest among investors because of the features of Bitcoin since its introduction in 2009. However, it is the same features that pose serious and diverse threats. These risks are very dangerous to the security of investors and the integrity of the market. Although their urgency is immense, there are very few systematic analyses that incorporate both regulatory and technological views. In this research, the mixed-method design is used, and an empirical investigation of high-profile security events is combined with the critical analysis of regulatory and technical literature in order to define, classify, and track the causes of the most widespread risks. The article explores the weaknesses and strengths of the existing laws and strategies that would curb identified risks that cryptocurrencies present. It also suggests practical and tangible solutions, which would make use of new technologies to minimize the damages and risks of cryptocurrencies to a greater extent. The analysis in this study proves that properly reducing risks should be performed in a two-faceted way; it should be done with the help of the regulation gaps in action and the utilization of new, protocol-infused technological limits. This study presents a moderate structure that is meant to achieve market security that does not suppress the dynamism and transparency of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This study analyzes the problem of cryptocurrency security, financial regulation, blockchain technology, risk mitigation, and decentralized finance.
The financial sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has become increasingly important in the context of economic volatility, technological disruption, and growing sustainability demands. However, existing studies remain fragmented and often examine financial, organizational, technological, and environmental factors in isolation. This study systematically reviews 49 articles indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases published between 2014 and 2026 to identify the dominant determinants, thematic patterns, and conceptual structure of financial sustainability in SMEs. Using the PRISMA protocol and NVivo-based bibliometric and thematic analyses, this study examines publication trends, geographic distribution, lexical structures, and thematic relationships across the literature. The results show that research is concentrated primarily in Asia and Europe, reflecting increasing scholarly attention to financial literacy, governance quality, resilience, digital transformation, FinTech adoption, ESG practices, and green finance. Thematic synthesis reveals three interconnected pillars—Internal Capability, Adaptive Resilience, and Digital–Green Transformation—which collectively form an architecture of endurance framework that explains how SMEs maintain financial viability under conditions of uncertainty and change. This framework advances prior reviews by integrating organizational capability, resilience-building mechanisms, and sustainability-oriented transformation into a unified model of financial sustainability for SMEs. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of strengthening financial literacy, governance quality, risk management capability, digital adoption, and sustainability-oriented financing, while emphasizing the role of policy support and financial inclusion in fostering SME resilience. Future research should further explore the implications of generative artificial intelligence, blockchain-based finance, and decentralized finance (DeFi) on SME financial sustainability.
Anas Azenzoul, Nacer MAHOUAT, Ouissale El Gharbaoui, Jihane Tayazime · 6 authors
Tax systems worldwide face a compliance gap that OECD data places at USD 100–240 billion annually in corporate avoidance alone, before accounting for the shadow economy and crypto-asset transactions. FinTech mandatory e-invoicing, real-time transaction matching, and machine-learning audit selection is narrowing the informational conditions that enable evasion, while simultaneously introducing governance risks: opaque algorithmic audit targeting, contested blockchain forensic evidence, and the surveillance potential of programmable money. This article presents a PRISMA 2020 systematic literature review of 59 peer-reviewed articles (Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect), complemented by IRAMUTEQ lexicometric analysis and an extension of the Allingham Sandmo compliance model to incorporate algorithmic detection probabilities, bomb-crater belief dynamics, and Zero-Knowledge Proof verification. Four thematic clusters emerge: tax compliance behaviour and FinTech adoption (19.92%), digital transformation and corporate performance (35.34%), bibliometric and emerging-technology research (16.54%), and cryptocurrency markets and regulatory challenges (28.20%). Across them, FinTech reduces evasion where institutional and technical conditions allow but generates distributional, evidentiary, and constitutional risks that existing legal frameworks have yet to resolve. In response, we propose the Techno-Legal Due Process Framework (TLDPF) three pillars (Techno-Proportionality, Cryptographic Burden of Proof, and Algorithmic Constitutionalism) grounded in EU/OECD constitutional doctrine as a normative design proposal awaiting empirical validation.
Terrorist financing is a major fuel for political violence and extremist operations in the world. The increasing advancement of digital technologies, cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding platforms, and social media has significantly transformed how extremist groups raise, transfer, and conceal funds, yet little has been done to examine the broader digital transformation of terrorist financing and its implications for the United States. This scoping review examined evolving trends, financing strategies, and operational challenges associated with terrorist financing networks and assessed their implications for the United States counterterrorism agenda. Following the Arksey and O’Malley guidelines for scoping reviews, relevant studies were identified through systematic database searches and screened using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ten studies were selected and analyzed thematically. The findings underscored four major themes: the digitalization of terrorist financing, the fusion of lawful and unlawful funding mediums, administrative and institutional weaknesses, and the growing need for collaborative and intelligence-driven disruption strategies. The review found that extremist financing increasingly operates within ordinary digital and financial ecosystems, making detection more difficult for regulators, financial institutions, and law enforcement agencies. The study concludes that terrorist financing has become more decentralized, adaptive, and technologically sophisticated than many existing counterterrorism frameworks are prepared to address. Hence, strengthening United States national security will require a more proactive digital financial monitoring, sophisticated regulatory systems, and stronger inter-sectoral collaborations to disrupt evolving extremist financing networks before they escalate into acts of violence.
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Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Background: Indonesia’s simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada serentak) constitute a key component of post-Reformasi decentralization. While designed to strengthen democratic local governance, recent fiscal rationalization policies have increased central control over election financing, raising concerns about their impact on substantive democratic representation. Objectives: This study examines whether fiscal rationalization in Pilkada implementation supports or undermines constitutional principles of democratic, participatory, and accountable local government. It analyzes the constitutional framework of Pilkada, identifies key fiscal rationalization mechanisms, and evaluates their effects on local political representation. Methods: A qualitative normative empirical approach was employed. Normative analysis examined the 1945 Constitution, electoral and regional governance laws, fiscal decentralization regulations, and Constitutional Court decisions. Empirical analysis was conducted through comparative case studies of regional election budget management. Results: Four major mechanisms were identified: NPHD budget revisions, APBD burden-shifting, compressed electoral timelines, and intensified central fiscal steering under Law No. 1 of 2022. These mechanisms reduced electoral capacity, limited voter-candidate engagement, and disproportionately affected less-resourced regions. Although elections formally complied with constitutional requirements, substantive representation was weakened, creating a persistent gap between procedural legality and democratic quality. Conclusion: Fiscal rationalization has strengthened formal compliance but constrained substantive democratic representation. Greater fiscal stability and regional autonomy are needed to ensure competitive, equitable, and accountable local elections. Keywords: fiscal rationalization; Pilkada serentak; constitutional compliance; democratic representation; decentralization.
This short position paper suggests there may be greater deception and influence of an attacker’s perceptions of a fictional ‘Agentic AI Army’ swarm of LLM sock puppet network defenders than deploying real LLM agent swarms. We model a counterintuitive industry approach integrating Whaley’s lesser-known Theory of Outs and “turnabout” deception techniques to encourage a human or LLM attacker’s discovery of deception on an industry network. While we recognize that the knowledge of real or imagined deception can deter an attacker, we also recognize that attackers may demonstrate greater confidence on a network after discovering what appears to be deception artifacts. We visualize how ‘noisy’ LLM sock puppets inside of a network that prompt optimized query returns on their content and placement on the network could draw attackers to later stage deception functions and effects and enhanced defender alerting and analysis on human or LLM attacker interaction with those deception functions. We find in anecdotal operational research that highlighting ‘noisy’ sock puppet content enhances high-fidelity detection. We frame these findings using this integrated industry model in the context of LLM swarm narratives for deception. There has been an increasing concentration on swarming as a military technique and military strategy, as modern military conflicts continue to adapt to irregular warfare environments. The renewed concentration on developing and integrating swarm intelligence with LLM agents continues to face limitations, in terms of simulating natural swarm behaviors and operating autonomously as part of a decentralized model. This short position paper proposes a more immediate deception and influence effect, namely projecting fictional LLM swarm narratives suggesting there is an ‘Agentic AI Army’ assisting human defenders. We use organizational perception management as a design framework to visualize a deception and influence narrative communicating this fictional narrative using ‘noisy’ LLM sock puppets and our integrated model of Whaley’s Theory of Outs and “turnabout” deception techniques.
Gefei Tan, Adria Gascon, Sarah Meiklejohn, Mariana Raykova
In machine learning, model certification has been identified as an important method for gaining assurance about a model's trustworthiness and quality. A model's quality is largely determined by its ability to generalize, i.e., to perform well on data beyond what it was trained on. It is not possible to certify generalization directly, however, as it depends on unknown data and is not directly measurable. Proxies such as test accuracy can be misleading when the training process is perturbed (intentionally or accidentally), and metrics such as sharpness -- which has an empirically supported link to generalization -- are computationally expensive and can also serve as unreliable signals when training deviates from a prescribed procedure. In this work, we propose directional sharpness, a metric designed to efficiently and reliably indicate generalization despite potential training deviations. We provide empirical and analytical evidence that directional sharpness (1) correlates more strongly with generalization than existing metrics and (2) identifies models with poor generalization more reliably than existing metrics. Furthermore, directional sharpness is efficiently computable in model auditing settings, where the verifier has access to training data, and via zero-knowledge proofs that certify quality without revealing training data.
Fariq Wastu Nuzlul Qurani, R. Eriska Ginalita Dwi Putri
Perkembangan teknologi Blockchain telah menghasilkan inovasi baru berupa Non-Fungible Token (NFT), yang memungkinkan karya digital diperdagangkan sebagai aset digital yang unik dalam ekosistem berbasis Blockchain. Kehadiran NFT membuka peluang ekonomi baru bagi para kreator digital untuk memonetisasi karya mereka secara lebih luas. Akan tetapi, praktik minting dan perdagangan NFT juga memunculkan masalah hukum, terutama terkait pelanggaran hak cipta pada karya digital yang dimanfaatkan tanpa persetujuan dari penciptanya. Studi ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji jenis perlindungan hukum yang bersifat represif bagi para pencipta digital dari duplikasi karya dalam ekosistem NFT serta pertanggungjawaban hukum bagi pelanggaran hak cipta. Metode yuridis normatif digunakan dengan pendekatan perundang-undangan, konseptual dan kasus. Penelitian ini menunjukkan, bahwa pelanggaran hak cipta dalam ekosistem NFT biasanya terjadi melalui penggunaan dan pengubahan karya digital menjadi NFT tanpa persetujuan dari pencipta aslinya. Perlindungan hukum represif terhadap pelanggaran ini dapat diambil melalui jalur perdata yaitu tuntutan ganti rugi dan penghapusan NFT yang melanggar hak cipta, serta melalui jalur pidana berdasarkan UUHC Nomor 28 Tahun 2014. Dengan demikian, penegakan hukum masih menghadapi tantangan karena sifat desentralisasi teknologi Blockchain dan kurangnya regulasi khusus terkait NFT di Indonesia.
We introduce \textit{OptChain}, a permissionless blockchain state machine replication (SMR) protocol that achieves optimal throughput. We first establish a theoretical upper bound on the throughput of any SMR protocol under a fixed error probability, and OptChain is the first protocol to approach this limit. Conceptually, OptChain is a sharding protocol that optimizes both vertical and horizontal scalability. Vertically, we introduce \textit{Shardis}, a novel permissionless verifiable information dispersal mechanism that maximizes intra-shard throughput to its physical limit, determined by the fastest node's bandwidth within each shard. Horizontally, we propose \textit{diffusion mining}, which ensures security as long as each shard includes at least one honest node, thereby allowing for the maximum number of shards. We provide a formal security and efficiency analysis, demonstrating that OptChain approaches the established upper bound while maintaining robust security. Finally, we implement a full prototype of OptChain and deploy it on AWS EC2 nodes across various regions. Experimental results indicate that OptChain outperforms state-of-the-art permissionless protocols and closely approaches the theoretical optimal throughput.
Mohammed Benseddik, Benjamin Kraner, Claudio J. Tessone
Ethereum's beacon chain hosts over 920,000 active validators, a number inflated by the legacy 32 ETH stake cap. The Pectra upgrade (May 2025) addresses this by introducing 0x02 compounding validators, raising the maximum stake per validator from 32 to 2,048 ETH and enabling automatic reward reinvestment. This paper examines how compounding affects consensus-layer rewards, whether higher balances provide execution-layer advantages, and whether the APR uplift justifies migration for different staker types. We analyse adoption patterns across solo stakers and staking providers, investigate the role of consolidation (merging multiple 32 ETH validators into one) in early migration, and identify barriers slowing the transition. Through simulation, we find that compounding provides roughly +5% relative consensus-layer APR uplift for small balances, diminishing to under 1% for large staking providers. Empirical analysis of all active beacon chain validators shows 0x02 validators achieving modestly higher median CL APR. Solo stakers show higher relative adoption but face operational barriers, whilst providers cite infrastructure costs and protocol constraints. The results suggest that without improved reward accessibility and stronger economic incentives, 0x02 migration will remain gradual despite its network efficiency benefits.
Automated Market Makers based on concentrated liquidity, such as Uniswap v3, significantly improve capital efficiency but expose Liquidity Providers (LPs) to adverse selection costs, formalized as Loss-Versus-Rebalancing (LVR). While theoretical literature quantifies these costs, the interplay between realistic blockchain microstructure and endogenous pricing mechanisms remains under-explored. This paper develops a granular Agent-Based Model of a Uniswap v3 pool interacting with a stochastic reference market governed by Heston volatility dynamics. The framework incorporates discrete block propagation, mempool latency, and a heterogeneous population of agents, including latency-sensitive arbitrageurs, smart routers, Maximal Extractable Value searchers, and active LPs benchmarked against a frictionless rebalancing strategy. We propose and evaluate dynamic fee schedules driven by volatility and order-flow toxicity proxies intended to compensate LPs for adverse-selection losses. Our simulations investigate the conditions under which LPs can achieve positive hedged Profit and Loss (fees minus LVR). The analysis suggests that dynamic fee adjustments can improve hedged LP profitability mainly by increasing fee income in states associated with stale-price risk. Depending on the configuration, these rules may also affect realized LVR, but the current aggregate results support compensation for LVR more directly than a reduction of LVR itself.