Online social networks (OSNs) have become integral to daily life, yet the prevalent centralized model of these platforms presents considerable challenges in terms of security, privacy, and management. In response to these concerns, a decentralized architecture underpinned by blockchain technology emerges as a promising solution. This paper delves into the development of an OSN service leveraging blockchain technology to facilitate decentralized operation, thereby addressing the aforementioned issues. Through the utilization of the Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS), large volumes of low-security data are effectively decentralized, contributing to enhanced data integrity and accessibility. Furthermore, the establishment of a decentralized autonomous organization empowers users with greater autonomy, enabling democratic self-governance of the OSN. This innovative approach not only addresses existing shortcomings but also paves the way for a more resilient, transparent, and user-centric social networking paradigm.
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) as an rising alternative for improving safety and transparency in reportsharing structures is very promising. In this regard, the existing have a look at is providing a blockchain-based system for file sharing where allotted ledgers may be used to conquer the restrictions of centralized structures. To make certain that the records shared is secure, unchangeable, and necessary, the gadget applies consensus, hashing, and encryption strategies. The use of clever contracts lets in for automatic execution of documentsharing transactions in a steady manner, thus lowering the capability risks associated with fraud or prison troubles. Furthermore, users are furnished with more control by letting them specify permissions and get right of entry to constraints for his or her documents. To make it smooth to use the blockchain and combine those technologies, the system makes use of decentralized file storage primarily based on Blockchain. Also, the databases used by this machine are FileCoin for login information and Web3 Token for document sharing and storing, which brings protection into the scene, makes storage decentralized, and increases transparency.
Cryptocurrency, despite the upsurge as a speculative investment, is still a long way from being people’s money. The extreme technicality poses a significant barrier for the general public to adopt it as a medium of exchange. Therefore, simplifying the payment process is a predominant necessity; for example, facilitation in adopting conventional payment instruments can bring convenience to both merchants and consumers. This article proposes a novel cryptocurrency card payment protocol leveraging the Payment Channel Network (PCN) concept, facilitating high throughput and affordable transactions. Our design is based on the Bitcoin-backed Lightning Network (LN) with adjustments to make it executable by a smart card. It also preserves the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, reduces operational costs in several ways, and allows instant settlement for the recipients as compared to both conventional and cryptocurrency card payment systems. Our game theoretical analysis, where we model the engagement between the cardholder and the card agent as a long-run extensive form game, attests that they accord with the protocol without experiencing any honest loss under pragmatic conditions. We also discuss the privacy features compared to conventional card payments and LN. The protocol can function independently, without the need for trust, and can also be regulated for those seeking government mediation. This approach can potentially revolutionize the payment landscape by allowing the public to use cryptocurrency for everyday transactions conveniently and allowing existing cryptocurrency holders to conduct affordable micropayments.
The widespread availability of tools to collect and share spatial data enables us to produce a large amount of geographic information on a daily basis. This enormous production of spatial data requires scalable data management systems. Geospatial architectures have changed from clusters to cloud architectures and more parallel and distributed processing platforms to be able to tackle these challenges. Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems as a backbone of distributed systems have been established in several application areas such as web3, blockchains, and crypto-currencies. Unlike centralized systems, data storage in P2P networks is distributed across network nodes, providing scalability and no single point of failure. However, managing and processing queries on these networks has always been challenging. In this work, we propose a spatio-temporal indexing data structure, DSTree. DSTree does not require additional Distributed Hash Trees (DHTs) to perform multi-dimensional range queries. Inserting a piece of new geographic information updates only a portion of the tree structure and does not impact the entire graph of the data. For example, for time-series data, such as storing sensor data, the DSTree performs around 40% faster in spatio-temporal queries for small and medium datasets. Despite the advantages of our proposed framework, challenges such as 20% slower insertion speed or semantic query capabilities remain. We conclude that more significant research effort from GIScience and related fields in developing decentralized applications is needed. The need for the standardization of different geographic information when sharing data on the IPFS network is one of the requirements.
Beginning with a comprehensive definition of Decentralized Applications (DApps) and their developmental trajectory, this treatise delves into their inception around 2010. It is intriguing to note that by 2020, DApps had already found preliminary applications in diverse sectors, ranging from finance to archaeology. Yet, there remains vast untapped potential awaiting exploration and refinement within the realm of DApps. The discourse then navigates the intricate web of DApps' system architecture, illuminating the cardinal aspects of their design, evolution, and eventual deployment. Herein, the essence of systematic planning during the design phase is underscored, underpinning its pivotal role in shaping the efficacy of the application. Further shedding light on DApps' expansive utility, the paper underscores their transformative influence in areas such as authentication systems and real-time operational control. However, the journey of DApps is not without its challenges. The document elucidates the complexities associated with crafting robust smart contracts, mitigating scalability concerns, and nurturing user acceptance and integration. In light of these hurdles, a clarion call is made for persistent research and avant-garde innovation, propelling DApps to their true potential in the evolving digital landscape.
Hugo Schnoering, Pierre Porthaux, Michalis Vazirgiannis
Exploring transactions within the Bitcoin blockchain entails examining the transfer of bitcoins among several hundred million entities. However, it is often impractical and resource-consuming to study such a vast number of entities. Consequently, entity clustering serves as an initial step in most analytical studies. This process often employs heuristics grounded in the practices and behaviors of these entities. In this research, we delve into the examination of two widely used heuristics, alongside the introduction of four novel ones. Our contribution includes the introduction of the \textit{clustering ratio}, a metric designed to quantify the reduction in the number of entities achieved by a given heuristic. The assessment of this reduction ratio plays an important role in justifying the selection of a specific heuristic for analytical purposes. Given the dynamic nature of the Bitcoin system, characterized by a continuous increase in the number of entities on the blockchain, and the evolving behaviors of these entities, we extend our study to explore the temporal evolution of the clustering ratio for each heuristic. This temporal analysis enhances our understanding of the effectiveness of these heuristics over time.
Andreea Raluca Duguleană, Cristina Tănăsescu, Mihai Duguleană
This research aims to establish the primary drivers influencing the development and consumers’ decision-making process in web3 games—decentralized games that function according to the play-to-earn paradigm. We observe several types of micro-economies developed within five play-to-earn games and highlight four roles consumers play at any given time. Our study offers a different perspective on rational consumer behaviour in cryptocurrency-based games and paves the way to better understanding their dynamics and evolution. Results shed light on the construction of in-game economies and how individuals of a given type engage in different playing activities. Furthermore, we compare the key features of web3 games with those similar to classic online games and assess if the play-and-earn implementations represent an evolution from previous revenue models. Using our proposed methodology, researchers can compare and classify any P2E games. We conclude by establishing a set of actions that enable consumers to benefit from this new phenomenon.
Mikel Cortes-Goicoechea, Csaba Király, Dmitriy Ryajov, José L. Muñoz · 5 authors
Scalability in blockchain remains a significant challenge, especially when prioritizing decentralization and security. The Ethereum community has proposed comprehensive data-sharding techniques to overcome storage, computational, and network processing limitations. In this context, the propagation and availability of large blocks become the subject of research to achieve scalable data-sharding. This paper provides insights after exploring the usage of a Kademlia-based Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to enable Data Availability Sampling (DAS) in Ethereum. It presents a DAS-DHT simulator to study this problem and validates the results of the simulator with experiments in a real DHT network, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Our results help us understand what parts of DAS can be achieved based on existing Kademlia DHT solutions and which ones cannot. We discuss the limitations of DHT solutions and discuss other alternatives.
Naomi A. Arnold, Peijie Zhong, Cheick Tidiane Bâ, Benjamin A. Steer · 8 authors
Distributed ledger technologies have opened up a wealth of fine-grained transaction data from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This allows research into problems like anomaly detection, anti-money laundering, pattern mining and activity clustering (where data from traditional currencies is rarely available). The formalism of temporal networks offers a natural way of representing this data and offers access to a wealth of metrics and models. However, the large scale of the data presents a challenge using standard graph analysis techniques. We use temporal motifs to analyse two Bitcoin datasets and one NFT dataset, using sequences of three transactions and up to three users. We show that the commonly used technique of simply counting temporal motifs over all users and all time can give misleading conclusions. Here we also study the motifs contributed by each user and discover that the motif distribution is heavy-tailed and that the key players have diverse motif signatures. We study the motifs that occur in different time periods and find events and anomalous activity that cannot be seen just by a count on the whole dataset. Studying motif completion time reveals dynamics driven by human behaviour as well as algorithmic behaviour.
Pengfei Huang, Xiaojun Ren, Teng Huang, Arthur Sandor Voundi Koe · 6 authors
Node synchronization is essential for the stability of the Bitcoin network. Critics have raised doubts about the ability of a new node to quickly and efficiently synchronize with the Bitcoin network and alleviate the storage pressure from existing full nodes to stockpile new data. Basic pruning and other techniques have been explored to address these concerns but have been insufficient to reduce node synchronization delay and effectively suppress the growth of synchronized data. In this study, we propose SnapshotPrune, a novel pruning and synchronization protocol that achieves fast node bootstrapping in the Bitcoin blockchain. Real Bitcoin historical data are leveraged to measure the synchronization time and monitor the network traffic during node bootstrapping. The protocol requires data downloads that are 99.70% less than Bitcoin Core, 81% less than CoinPrune, and 60% less than SnapshotSave, thereby saving 97.23% of download time. Findings show that the proposed design enhances the storage efficiency and reduces the node synchronization delay compared with existing techniques. We hypothesize that the efficiency of this protocol increases with the block height.
Daniel Melero Martinez, Mohammed El‐Hajj, Dipti Kapoor Sarmah
Motivated by the need for an equitable and decentralized music streaming service, this paper presents a comprehensive solution focused on ensuring fair compensation for creators of musical content. It is anchored in five critical design principles: Security, scalability, anonymity, legality, and user incentivization. The implementation utilizes the IoTA distributed ledger technology to align closely with these essential criteria. Thereby offering valuable insights on the inherent challenges and possibilities of this innovative technology. The proposed solution consists of four primary components: a user-friendly mobile application enabling intuitive music playback, a distribution software that simplifies the dissemination of music, a website facilitating music management, and a smart contract that forms the decentralized foundation for handling payments and storing metadata. The study also incorporates a detailed analysis of the platform's scalability, focusing on its ability to accommodate an expanding user base and increasing data volume, ensuring sustained performance and security. Significant strides have been made in designing user-centric interfaces for decentralized music streaming, establishing a robust validation system to safeguard intellectual property rights, and pioneering novel strategies to optimize music distribution within the platform.
This paper presents a cryptographic solution for establishing trust in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, addressing issues of privacy, performance, and anonymity. Our protocol utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) for continuous trust validation during data transfers. This procedure compels each node to continually demonstrate its integrity, significantly decreasing the potential for network at- tacks. Upon evaluation, the protocol proved to be highly scalable and efficient, expanding network reach without requiring additional control messages. This result validates the protocol’s robustness, suggesting its potential use in larger and more intricate P2P network architectures.
Md Arif Hassan, Cong T. Nguyen, Chi-Hieu Nguyen, Dinh Thai Hoang · 6 authors
Web 3.0 is the third generation of the World Wide Web (WWW), concentrating on the critical concepts of decentralization, availability, and increasing client usability. Although Web 3.0 is undoubtedly an essential component of the future Internet, it currently faces critical challenges, including decentralized data collection and management. To overcome these challenges, blockchain has emerged as one of the core technologies for the future development of Web 3.0. In this paper, we propose a novel blockchain-based information management framework, namely Smart Blockchain-based Web (SBW), to manage information in Web 3.0 effectively, enhance the security and privacy of users’ data, bring additional profits, and incentivize users to contribute information to the websites. Particularly, SBW utilizes blockchain technology and smart contracts to manage the decentralized data collection process for Web 3.0 effectively. Moreover, in this framework, we develop an effective consensus mechanism based on Proof-of-Stake (PoS) to reward the user’s information contribution and conduct game theoretical analysis to analyze the user’s behavior in the considered system. Additionally, we conduct simulations to assess the performance of SBW and investigate the impact of critical parameters on information contribution. The findings confirm our theoretical analysis and demonstrate that our proposed consensus mechanism can incentivize the nodes and users to contribute more information to our systems.
Yu Gao, Carlo Campajola, Nicolò Vallarano, Andreia Sofia Teixeira · 5 authors
IOTA is a distributed ledger technology that relies on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network for communications. Recently an auto-peering algorithm was proposed to build connections among IOTA peers according to their "Mana" endowment, which is an IOTA internal reputation system. This paper's goal is to detect potential vulnerabilities and evaluate the resilience of the P2P network generated using IOTA auto-peering algorithm against eclipse attacks. In order to do so, we interpret IOTA's auto-peering algorithm as a random network formation model and employ different network metrics to identify cost-efficient partitions of the network. As a result, we present a potential strategy that an attacker can use to eclipse a significant part of the network, providing estimates of costs and potential damage caused by the attack. On the side, we provide an analysis of the properties of IOTA auto-peering network ensemble, as an interesting class of homophile random networks in between 1D lattices and regular Poisson graphs.
Fueled by the growing popularity of proof-of-stake blockchains, there has been increasing interest and progress in permissioned consensus protocols, which could provide a simpler alternative to existing protocols, such as Paxos and PBFT. In particular, the recently proposed Streamlet protocol provides a surprisingly simple and streamlined consensus approach, which crystallizes years of research in simplifying and improving classical consensus protocols. While the simplicity of Streamlet is a major accomplishment, the protocol lacks certain practical features, such as supporting a stable block proposer, and it makes strong assumptions, such as synchronized clocks and the implicit echoing of all messages. Most importantly, it requires sending $O(N^3)$ messages per block in a network of $N$ nodes, which poses a significant challenge to its application in larger networks. To address these limitations, we introduce Pipelet, a practical streamlined consensus protocol. Pipelet employs the same block-finalization rule as Streamlet, but attains state-of-the-art performance in terms of communication complexity and provides features that are crucial for practical applications, such as clock synchronization and stable block proposers. At the same time, Pipelet retains the simplicity of Streamlet, which presents significant practical advantages, such as ease of implementation and verification.
Abstract Decentralized applications (DApps) built on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and coded in languages such as Solidity, have recently gained attention for their potential to disrupt traditional centralized systems. Despite their rapid adoption, limited research has been conducted to understand the underlying code structure of these applications. In particular, each DApp is composed of multiple smart contracts, each containing a number of functions that can be called to trigger a specific event, e.g., a token transfer. In this paper, we reconstruct and analyse the network of contracts and functions calls within the DApp, which is helpful to unveil vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious attackers. We show how decentralization is architecturally implemented, identifying common development patterns and anomalies that could influence the system’s robustness and efficiency. We find a consistent network structure characterized by modular, self-sufficient contracts and a complex web of function interactions, indicating common coding practices across the blockchain community. Critically, a small number of key functions within each DApp play a central role in maintaining network connectivity, making them potential targets for cyber attacks and highlighting the need for robust security measures.
In recent years, decentralized applications (dApps) built on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and coded in languages such as Solidity, have gained attention for their potential to disrupt traditional centralized systems. Despite their rapid adoption, limited research has been conducted to understand the underlying code structure of these applications. In particular, each dApp is composed of multiple smart contracts, each containing a number of functions that can be called to trigger a specific event, e.g., a token transfer. In this paper, we reconstruct and analyse the network of contracts and functions calls within the dApp, which is helpful to unveil vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious attackers. We show how decentralization is architecturally implemented, identifying common development patterns and anomalies that could influence the system's robustness and efficiency. We find a consistent network structure characterized by modular, self-sufficient contracts and a complex web of function interactions, indicating common coding practices across the blockchain community. Critically, a small number of key functions within each dApp play a pivotal role in maintaining network connectivity, making them potential targets for cyber attacks and highlighting the need for robust security measures.
Fernando Román-García, Juan Hernández‐Serrano, Óscar Esparza
This article introduces the Non-Repudiable Data Exchange (NoRDEx) protocol, designed to ensure non-repudiation in data exchanges. Unlike traditional non-repudiation and fair exchange protocols, NoRDEx can be considered decentralized as it eliminates the need for a centralized Trusted Third Party (TTP) by using a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to store cryptographic proofs without revealing the exchanged message. NoRDEx is an optimistic non-repudiation protocol, as it only uses the DLT in case of a dispute. The protocol has been implemented and tested in real-world environments, with performance assessments covering cost, overhead, and execution time. A formal security analysis using the Syverson Van Oorschot (SVO) logical model demonstrates NoRDEx’s ability to resolve disputes securely.
The last decade has changed the trends of using peering networks. One of the areas of use of P2P networks is communication between people. Today, it is very important that communication is as protected as possible, especially if it is carried out between employees of the enterprise, because the number of cyber threats is constantly increasing. Modern approaches to the security of peering networks consist of data encryption, node authentication, detection and prevention of malicious nodes, access restriction, traffic monitoring, etc. However, one of the very first steps is the exchange of identification data itself, and this process must be as secure and secure as possible. The article proposes a method of secure exchange of identification data between peering network nodes, based on the use of NFC technology in combination with proof of zero knowledge. NFC is used for direct data exchange over the radio interface, which, thanks to its short range, makes it impossible to intercept data. To establish a connection, nodes must exchange identifiers, public encryption keys, and network addresses. In order to find out whether a node is not malicious, mutual verification of nodes using zero-knowledge proof is assumed. A unique identifier of the GUID type generated by each of the nodes acts as a secret that is not disclosed. Nodes first exchange public keys that encrypt and exchange identifiers. After decryption with their private keys, the nodes check whether the received value is equal to the initial one. In case of equality of values, the nodes are mutually verified and exchange identification data. The method proposed in the article is aimed at ensuring fault tolerance and confidentiality. It also provides protection against traffic interception attacks and the reliability of the verification process.
Cryptocurrency markets exhibit high volatility, necessitating accurate forecasting methods for effective decision-making. This paper presents an innovative approach that integrates web scraping from cryptocurrency websites with various deep-learning networks to predict cryptocurrency values for the following day. Our web scraping technique integrated with concept like multi-threading focuses exclusively on cryptocurrency websites, extracting essential data such as live price records making use of crucial computer technology concepts like multi-threading. Combined with a suite of deep learning models including LSTM, GRU, and XgBoost, this data facilitates the modelling of temporal dependencies crucial for understanding cryptocurrency price dynamics. Through empirical evaluation, we determine the model that outperforms others and integrate it into a dashboard for real-time prediction. By leveraging real-time insights from web scraping, our model aims to enhance prediction accuracy. This research contributes to the advancement of predictive analytics in cryptocurrency trading, providing actionable insights for investors and analysts amidst fluctuating market conditions.
Daniel Mawunyo Doe, Jing Li, Dusit Niyato, Yuqing Hu · 8 authors
In this paper, we address key challenges in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains, with a particular focus on Ethereum 2.0. We introduce an innovative mechanism that combines Tullock contests and signaling games to optimize weight assignments based on security deposits from heterogeneous nodes. While Tullock contests motivate participants to allocate resources for potential rewards, signaling games enable efficient information transfer, thereby enriching decision-making. This approach enhances network security, efficiency, and resilience by incentivizing resource investment and facilitating effective information exchange. Our framework significantly outperforms existing methods, achieving a 45.43% increase in blockchain utility and a 47.92% rise in node utility. Additionally, it yields marked improvements in user participation rates (26.89 − 32.21%) and service coverage (24 − 29.54%), and also proves to be resilient against attacks from selfish nodes.