Hamza Salem, Hadi Salloum, Manuel Mazzara, Nursultan Askarbekuly ¡ 6 authors
The rapid expansion of the non-fungible token (NFT) market has catalyzed new opportunities for artists, collectors, and investors, yet it has also unveiled critical challenges related to the storage and distribution of associated metadata. This paper examines the current landscape of NFT metadata storage, revealing a significant reliance on centralized platforms, which poses risks to the integrity, security, and decentralization of these digital assets. Through a detailed analysis of top-selling NFTs on the OpenSea marketplace, it was found that a substantial portion of metadata is hosted on centralized servers, making them susceptible to censorship, data breaches, and administrative alterations. Conversely, decentralized storage solutions, particularly the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), were identified as a more secure and resilient alternative, offering enhanced transparency, resistance to tampering, and greater control for creators and collectors. This study advocates for the widespread adoption of decentralized storage architectures, incorporating digital signatures to verify ownership, as a means to preserve the value and trustworthiness of NFTs in an increasingly digital world. The findings underscore the necessity for NFT platforms to prioritize decentralized methodologies to ensure the long-term sustainability and integrity of the NFT
In the rapidly evolving decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, ensuring efficient and interoperable transaction mechanisms is a critical challenge. To address this issue, this paper introduces a strategic optimization model for a blockchain-based token exchange platform. By leveraging the principles of Coincidence of Wants (CoWs) and multi-chain Automated Market Makers (AMMs), our model enhances interoperability and efficiency of token exchange in the DeFi space. Users specify their transaction intents and solvers compete to find the most efficient execution pathways, considering factors such as available liquidity and market constraints. This approach not only facilitates seamless cross-chain transaction flows, but also optimizes the efficiency of existing solvers and reduces the reliance on centralized mechanisms. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed model, we conducted extensive simulation experiments assessing the model's performance with various order inputs and AMM constraints. The results show that our optimization model significantly increases the transaction completion rate. This improvement ranges from 26.1 % to 46.1 % compared to the CoWs-only model under different experimental settings. This enhances user welfare and market fairness. The proposed optimization model has broad applicability to efficient and interoperable cross-chain token transactions. Thus, it has a significant potential impact on the DeFi landscape.
The widespread use of smart contracts results in high repeatability of their source code. The solution seems to lay in reusing the verification rules that check the feasibility of logically related transactions. The software allows for developing a smart contract that may process various transaction types. Besides, employing the package in implementing a smart contract eliminates the redundancy of verification rules. The package structure ensures the ability to handle actual smart contracts and transactions at the abstract level. Moreover, the article presents a proposal to standardize the way of designing the transaction verification function in a smart contract.
Abstract Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure has drawn much attention from listed companies, investors, and regulators. In response to the increasing demand of investors and regulators for nonâfinancial information, listed companies have paid attention to publishing ESG reports consisting of environmental, social, and governance information. Listed companies are increasingly required to provide highâquality information that is clear and comparable. However, the lack of incentive to listed companies makes it hard to improve the quality of ESG disclosure, and the cost of ESG disclosure leads to the uncontrollable quality of ESG reports and may even manipulation by opportunistic behaviors. In this paper, we illustrate the moral hazard problem in ESG disclosure from the perspective of investors and listed companies, in which the effort level for listed companies to provide highâquality ESG report cannot be observed by investors. Then we propose a blockchainâbased incentive mechanism for ESG disclosure from a principalâagent perspective to improve the information quality of ESG disclosure, where investors act as principal and listed companies act as agents. Token in blockchain technology is utilized as the rewards to improve the listed companies' reputation, thus increasing their chance of being promoted to investors for preferential investment opportunities in the blockchain platform. We then design the firstâbest (FB) and secondâbest (SB) optimal contracts based on classic principalâagent model to overcome the moral hazard problem. Extensive simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the incentive mechanism.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DL T) is a decentralised database architecture that allows multiple participants to have simultaneous access to a constantly updated digital ledger or record of information. This study presents a systematic literature review using the PRISMA framework to look at the DL T governance models. Six DL T governance models were identified: network, decentralized autonomous organisations, organisational, corporate, managerial, and operational. These models were then assessed based on how each is influenced by the four DL T governance dimensions, economical, political, technological, and social. Seven components of DL T governance were also considered during the evaluation such as stakeholders, participation, accountability, transparency, flexibility, enforcement, and decision-making. The results show that each governance model has a different level of influence from each dimension and a different level of consideration from key DL T governance components. The selection of which model to use depends on the requirements of each organisation and the users of the DL T system. Promoted results can assist organisations and researchers in selecting the best model that fits their requirements and prioritisation of dimensions and each component.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to address the limitations of traditional methods for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) by proposing a blockchain-based solution. By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, the aim is to create a comprehensive ecosystem that offers advantages such as reduced transaction costs, improved transparency, enhanced security and increased liquidity levels for IP assets. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes using blockchain technology to manage intellectual property rights (IPRs) through a smart contract-based ecosystem. It outlines the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain to represent IPRs, with smart contracts automating interactions and encoding rules for various processes such as applications, licensing, transfers and royalty distribution. Governance mechanisms, such as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), are employed to allow stakeholders to propose and vote on contract changes, ensuring adaptability. This approach aims to streamline IPR workflows, reduce transaction costs, improve transparency and enhance security. Findings The findings of this study suggest that implementing a blockchain-based ecosystem for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) can lead to various benefits. These include reduced transaction costs, improved transparency, enhanced security, increased liquidity levels for IP assets and streamlined automated processes. The use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain allows for detailed management, valuation and trading of IPRs. Furthermore, simulation results demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our proposed ecosystem, outperforming traditional IP management systems in terms of transaction speed and cost-effectiveness. These simulations highlight the practical viability of integrating blockchain technology into IP management workflows. Practical implications The practical implications of adopting this blockchain-based ecosystem for managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) are significant. By streamlining processes, reducing transaction costs and improving transparency and security, organizations can expedite the protection and commercialization of their IP assets. Additionally, the increased liquidity levels and accessibility of IP assets to investors and financiers can spur innovation and economic growth. Originality/value This paper contributes to the field by proposing a novel approach to managing intellectual property rights (IPRs) using blockchain technology and smart contracts. By leveraging non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain, the proposed ecosystem offers a more efficient and transparent way of managing IPRs, reducing reliance on costly and opaque traditional methods. The potential benefits include improved efficiency, transparency, security and collaboration in the management and commercialization of IPRs.
Florian Spychiger, Parminder Kaur Makode, Lukas KĂźng, Claudio J. Tessone
In the evolving landscape of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, the quest for decentralized governance has led to the advent of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). DAOs offer a groundbreaking framework where token holders directly influence the management and strategic direction of decentralized structures. This study delves into the concept of DAO through the lens of No1s1, an experimental project embodying a self-sustaining architecture governed autonomously. No1s1 stands out as a physical space that operates independently, rewarding participants with tokens for performing maintenance tasks crucial for its upkeep. In this contribution, we employ agent-based modelling to simulate interactions between participants and No1s1, exploring the dynamics of the token economy, participatory governance, and the sustainability of such an autonomous entity. By examining the reciprocal maintenance relationship and its impact on No1s1's longevity and wealth, this study sheds light on the potential and challenges of DAO- governed structures.
This research paper investigates how Ethereum blockchain technology can transform real estate investment through crowdfunding. Traditional real estate markets often encounter issues related to liquidity, accessibility, and transparency; this study addresses these challenges by proposing a blockchain-based solution. It examines the use of Ethereum smart contracts, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and ERC20 tokens to facilitate fractional ownership of properties and automate investment processes. The technical stack for the proposed system includes Vue.js for the front-end, Solidity for developing smart contracts, and the Truffle framework for deployment. Ethereum is used as the blockchain platform, with Ganache-CLI providing a local testing environment. MetaMask is integrated for managing digital wallets, and Stripe is used for processing fiat currency, showcasing a robust approach to blending blockchain technology with current financial systems. This paper offers a detailed examination of the practical applications and challenges of using blockchain in real estate crowdfunding. The findings indicate that while this technology holds great potential for resolving persistent issues in real estate investment, important factors such as scalability, regulatory compliance, and user adoption still need to be carefully considered [4]. Keywords: Blockchain, Ethereum, Smart Contracts, Real Estate Crowdfunding, Tokenization, ERC-20 Tokens, ICO, Fractional Property Ownership, Liquidity, Transparency, Ganache, Remix IDE, MetaMask, Solidity, Truffle Framework.ramework.
Togzhan Barakbayeva, Zhuo Cai, Amir Kafshdar Goharshady, Karaneh Keypoor
Correlated equilibria are a standard solution concept in game theory and generalize Nash equilibria. In a 2-player non-cooperative game in which player i has action set A_i, a correlated equilibrium is a self-enforcing probability distribution Ď over A_1 * A_2. Specifically, when a strategy profile (s_1, s_2) in A_1 * A_2 is sampled according to Ď, each player i can observe their own component s_i, but not the other player's component. Knowing s_i and Ď, player i cannot increase their expected payoff by defecting and playing a strategy s'_i different from s_i. Correlated equilibria are ubiquitous and crucial in mechanism design, including in the design of blockchain-based protocols which aim to incentivize honest behavior. A correlated equilibrium depends on a centralized and impartial oracle, often called the ''external signal'' in game theory literature, to sample a strategy profile and disclose each player's component to them, while keeping the other player's component secret. However, there is currently no trustless method to achieve this on the blockchain without centralization or relying on trusted third-parties. In this work, we address this challenge and provide two novel protocols, one based on oblivious transfer and the other based on zkSNARKs to replace the public signal with a smart contract. We prove that our approaches are secure and provide the desired privacy properties of a correlated equilibrium, while also being efficient in terms of gas usage and thus affordable in practice.
We present a decentralized secure data release application built on Ethereum, named Timed Data Release (TDR). TDR allows users to encrypt sensitive data by enabling the decryption of the data only after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. We present the technical foundation for TDR and its implementation on Ethereum. Our demonstration features a microblogging application that enables scheduled publication of microblogs, showing a practical application of timed data release using smart contracts.
Daniel Sousa-Dias, Daniel Amyot, Ashkan RahimiâKian, John Mylopoulos
The transactive energy market (TEM) is a recent development in energy management that enables prosumers to trade directly, promising many environmental and economic benefits. Prosumer trading necessitates sharing information to facilitate transactions. Additionally, many TEMs propose using blockchains to manage auctions and store transactions. These facts introduce privacy concerns: consumption data, trading history, and other identifying information pose risks to users if leaked. Anonymity by trading under a pseudonym is commonly presented as a solution; however, this creates risks for market participants: scammed users will not have recourse, and users with innocent malfunctions may be banned from trading. We propose the Individually Linkable Pseudonymous Trading Scheme (ILPTS), which enables users to trade under a pseudonym, protecting their identity, while a smart contract monitors reputations and can temporarily deanonymize a user, ensuring market integrity. ILPTS was developed in stages. Examination of existing TEM literature was performed to identify desirable features. Analysis of cryptography literature was performed to identify techniques that may confer certain features. It was found through formal analysis that ILPTS adheres to identified design goals, improves upon existing solutions, and resists common attacks against TEMs. Future work includes software simulation and on-device implementation to further verify security and feasibility.
Zhiyang Chen, Ye Liu, Sidi Mohamed Beillahi, Yi Li ¡ 5 authors
Smart contracts, self-executing programs on the blockchain, facilitate reliable value exchanges without centralized oversight. Despite the recent focus on dynamic analysis of their transaction histories in both industry and academia, no open-source tool currently offers comprehensive tracking of complete transaction information to extract user-desired data such as invariant-related data. This paper introduces OpenTracer, designed to address this gap. OpenTracer guarantees comprehensive tracking of every execution step, providing complete transaction information. OpenTracer has been employed to analyze 350,800 Ethereum transactions, successfully inferring 23 different types of invariant from predefined templates. The tool is fully open-sourced, serving as a valuable resource for developers and researchers aiming to extract or validate new invariants from transaction traces. A demonstration video of OpenTracer is available at https://youtu.be/vTdmjWdYd30. The source code of OpenTracer is available at https://github.com/jeffchen006/OpenTracer.
Smart contracts are programs with mutable state. Transactions submitted to these contracts trigger functions that often modify state. Nodes of the Ethereum blockchain schedule such transactions in a nondeterministic order, potentially leading to races between transactions and concurrency issues. When the outcome of a smart contract varies depending on the order in which transactions are processed, we have a Transaction Ordering Dependency (TOD). TOD enables malicious actors to profit from a smart contract, similar to the well-known frontrunning vulnerability. Existing approaches for detecting TOD in Ethereum smart contracts yield a high rate of false positives and false negatives. To help contract developers and testers detect TOD vulnerabilities with enhanced precision, we propose and evaluate an analysis based on information flow in our tool TODChecker1. We evaluate our approach using a benchmark comprising 513 vulnerable transactions involving 235 real-world Ethereum smart contracts susceptible to frontrunning attacks. Our evaluation finds that our approach outperforms existing approaches, including Oyente, Securify, SAILFISH, TODler, and Nyx, in precision, runtime, and in identifying novel TOD vulnerabilities.
Abstract Ethereum, as a leading blockchain platform, has attracted a significant number of practitioners. These practitioners require a platform for communication and collaborative problemâsolving, which led to Ethereum Stack Exchange (ESE), a Q&A site dedicated to Ethereumârelated issues. While the Q&A site facilitates communication among practitioners, it also introduces new challenges. Practitioners adopt code snippets from Q&A sites to address problems encountered. However, the quality of code snippets on ESE remains largely unexplored. Vulnerabilities and gasâinefficient patterns in ESE may spread to the code in Ethereum and threaten its regular operation. In this article, we conduct an empirical study investigating the distribution of vulnerabilities and gasâinefficient patterns in ESE. Further, we analyze the potential impact of vulnerabilities and gasâinefficient patterns from ESE on Ethereum. However, we encounter a problem during the vulnerability and gasâinefficient pattern detection. Established smart contract analysis tools in the mainstream realm necessitate complete source code files for thorough analysis, while codes on ESE are often incomplete code snippets. To address this, we introduce the ASTâbased code clone detection technique to construct detectable files corresponding to code snippets. This enables us to detect vulnerabilities and gasâinefficient patterns in code snippets. In the end, our findings demonstrate that 11.18% of the contractâlevel code snippets and 4.06% of functionâlevel code snippets in ESE have vulnerabilities. And 27.21% of contractâlevel code snippets and 17.89% of functionâlevel code snippets contain gasâinefficient patterns. The additional consumption caused by the gasâinefficient pattern in ESE is approximately $1,695,002. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for both ESE and its users, aiming to foster collaborative efforts and create a more reliable Q&A site for practitioners.
Enhancing privacy on smart contract-enabled blockchains has garnered much attention in recent research. Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) is one of the most popular approaches, however, they fail to provide full expressiveness and fine-grained privacy. To illustrate this, we underscore an underexplored type of Miner Extractable Value (MEV), called Residual Bids Extractable Value (RBEV). Residual bids highlight the vulnerability where unfulfilled bids inadvertently reveal traders' unmet demands and prospective trading strategies, thus exposing them to exploitation. ZKP-based approaches failed to address RBEV as they cannot provide post-execution privacy without some level of information disclosure. Other MEV mitigations like fair-ordering protocols also failed to address RBEV. We introduce Ratel, an innovative framework bridging a multi-party computation (MPC) prototyping framework (MP-SPDZ) and a smart contract language (Solidity), harmonizing the privacy with full expressiveness of MPC with Solidity 's on-chain programmability. This synergy empowers developers to effortlessly craft privacy-preserving decentralized applications (DApps). We demonstrate Ratel's efficacy through two distinguished decentralized finance (DeFi) applications: a decentralized exchange and a collateral auction, effectively mitigating the potential RBEV issue. Furthermore, Ratel is equipped with a lightweight crash-reset mechanism, enabling the seamless recovery of transiently benign faulty nodes. To prevent the crash-reset mechanism abused by malicious entities and ward off DoS attacks, we incorporate a cost-utility analysis anchored in the Bayesian approach. Our performance evaluation of the applications developed under the Ratel framework underscores their competency in managing real-world peak-time workloads.
This paper introduces a blockchain-based procurement system for the enhancement of procurement processes in the public sector. Using smart contracts within a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), our system allows the automatic selection of the winner of an auction and the exclusion of non-competitive bids (anomalies), this proposed solution prevents malicious manipulation and human interaction during the evaluation of the bid results and objectively proves the procurement process. Our work demonstrates, through a running scenario focused on the specific Italian procurement system, the potential of blockchain technology to improve public sector operations through enhanced transparency, security, and trust. The obtained preliminary results highlight the possibility of securing and establishing trust in the e-procurement process, contributing to the broader field of secure decentralized applications in public services. The proposed solution can promote research in this domain and open up various interesting future works.
El-hacen Diallo, Mohameden Dieye, Omar Dib, Pierre Valiorgue
As blockchain technology continues to evolve, it has fostered an extensive ecosystem of applications and platforms. This dynamic landscape is characterized by a myriad of innovative solutions, ranging from decentralized finance and supply chain management to digital identity and voting systems, each contributing to the ongoing advancement and adoption of blockchain technology across various sectors. Achieving interoperability among these applications and platforms poses a significant challenge due to their use of distinct protocols, and remains a bottleneck hindering the widespread adoption of blockchain technologies. Addressing this challenge requires designing a universal interoperability protocol while ensuring compliance with the security and privacy constraints specific to each blockchain, thus adding complexity. We propose an agnostic interoperability protocol designed for seamless asset movement across independent private blockchain networks, regardless of their individual protocols. This protocol leverages incentive-driven smart contract and Zero-Knowledge Proofs to establish a decentralized, secure, and privacy-focused framework for interoperability. We conduct a security analysis using game theory and provide both theoretical and empirical evaluations of the protocol end-to-end delay. Through a comprehensive use case, we demonstrate the secure deployment of the proposed protocol for asset movement between two private blockchains. We also discuss the trade-offs between cost and delay in cross-blockchain transactions. Furthermore, a comparative analysis with existing interoperability schemes showcases the proposed interoperability scheme superiority in terms of robustness, privacy preservation, and verifiability.
Ensuring the reliability of smart contracts is of vital importance due to the wide adoption of smart contract programs in decentralized financial applications. However, statically checking many rich properties of smart contract programs can be challenging. On the other hand, dynamic validation approaches have shown promise for widespread adoption in practice. Nevertheless, as part of the programming environment for smart contracts, existing dynamic validation approaches have not provided programmers with a notion to clearly articulate the interface between components, especially for addresses representing opaque contract instances. We argue that the âdesign-by-contractâ approach should complement the development of smart contract programs. Unfortunately, there is limited linguistic support for it in existing smart contract languages. In this paper, we design a Solidity language extension, ConSol, that supports behavioral contracts. ConSol provides programmers with a modular specification and monitoring system for both functional and latent address behaviors. The key capability of ConSol is to attach specifications to first-class addresses and monitor violations when invoking these addresses. We evaluate ConSol using 20 real-world cases, demonstrating its effectiveness in expressing critical conditions and preventing attacks. Additionally, we assess ConSolâs efficiency and compare gas consumption with programs fixed with manually inserted assertions, showing that our approach introduces only marginal gas overhead. By separating specifications and implementations using behavioral contracts, ConSol assists programmers in writing more robust and readable smart contracts.
This thesis investigates the impact of design solutions on the execution costs of Ethereum smart contracts, focusing on gas consumption at function level. The work analyzes real-world smart contracts and combines transaction data from Etherscan, function similarity analysis through SmartEmbed and ANTLR, and statistical testing to identify design patterns associated with higher execution costs. Starting from a dataset of Solidity smart contract functions, the study identifies highly similar function pairs with divergent gas costs and manually examines the surrounding contract context to detect recurring design differences. These patterns are then grouped into broader categories and evaluated through statistical analysis to assess their relationship with gas consumption. The results provide practical insights for developers and researchers interested in designing more efficient, sustainable, and cost-aware smart contracts on Ethereum.
Dabao Wang, Bang Ye Wu, Xingliang Yuan, Lei Wu ¡ 6 authors
The prosperity of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) unveils underlying risks, with reported losses surpassing 3.2 billion USD between 2018 and 2022 due to vulnerabilities in Decentralized Applications (DApps). One significant threat is the Price Manipulation Attack (PMA) that alters asset prices during transaction execution. As a result, PMA accounts for over 50 million USD in losses. To address the urgent need for efficient PMA detection, this article introduces a novel detection service,DeFiGuard, using Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). In this article, we propose cash flow graphs with four distinct features, which capture the trading behaviors from transactions. Moreover,DeFiGuardintegrates transaction parsing, graph construction, model training, and PMA detection. Evaluations on the collected transactions demonstrate thatDeFiGuardwith GNN models outperforms the baseline MLP model and classical classification models in Accuracy, TPR, FPR, and AUC-ROC. The results of ablation studies suggest that the combination of the four proposed node features enhancesDeFiGuardâs efficacy. Moreover,DeFiGuardclassifies transactions within 0.892 to 5.317 seconds, which provides sufficient time for the victims (DApps and users) to take action to rescue their vulnerable funds. In conclusion, this research offers a significant step towards safeguarding the DeFi landscape from PMAs using GNNs.
With the widespread adoption of blockchain technology, a novel organizational structure known as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) has attracted considerable attention. DAOs facilitate decision-making through member voting, realizing the governance in a decentralized manner. However, DAOs face unique challenges compared to traditional organization. This paper focuses on two key challenges of governance within DAOs: the whale problem and collusion issue. The whale problem is characterized by the concentration of power among specific members, while for the collusion problem, voting results are distorted by fraudulent collaboration. In terms of voting, we consider Quadratic Voting, a voting system expected to deter the concentration of voting power among a subset of participants, analyzing its resistance to the collusion problem. We show with numerical examples that in comparison to Linear Voting, Quadratic Voting lacks resistance to collusion. Then, we propose a voting mechanism that integrates Quadratic Voting with the Vote escrow tokens, demonstrating the mitigation of the whale problem while acquiring resilience to collusion in the decision-making process. The numerical examples confirm the high efficacy of our proposed model.
UTXO-based smart contract platforms face an efficiency bottleneck, in that any transaction sent to a contract must specify the entire updated contract state. This requirement becomes particularly burdensome when the contract state contains dynamic data structures, as needed in many use cases to track interactions between users and the contract. The problem is twofold: on the one hand, a large state in transactions implies a large transaction fee; on the other hand, a large centralized state is detrimental to the parallelization of transactions â a feature that is often cited as a key advantage of UTXO-based blockchains over account-based ones. We propose a novel UTXO-based blockchain model, named hybrid UTXO (hUTXO) , along with a technique to efficiently execute smart contracts on it. The key idea underlying hUTXO is the distribution of the contract state across multiple UTXOs, enabling transactions to access only the specific portions of the state they need, thereby reducing their size (and fees). Our hUTXO model also borrows features from account-based models (in particular, the handling of the contract balance), making it âhybridâ in nature. To simplify the development of smart contracts in hUTXO, we introduce a high-level smart contract language (named hURF), along with a compiler into hUTXO transactions. We show how to exploit our framework to parallelize the validation of transactions on multi-core CPUs. We implement our technique and provide an empirical validation of its effectiveness.