This paper presents a novel architecture for secure, high-throughput digital token management and transaction systems tailored for closed institutional environments, specifically corporate and university cafeterias. Traditional centralized Point-of-Sale (POS) systems exhibit significant vulnerabilities, including single points of failure, limited transparency, and cumbersome auditing processes. The proposed solution implements a Permissioned Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) framework utilizing a modified ERC-20 utility token standard and the Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. This architecture is explicitly engineered to handle high volumes of rapid micro- transactions characteristic of peak institutional demand periods. Security is reinforced through cryptographic data linkage via SHA-256 hashing and smart contracts that enforce institutional policies and prevent fraud. Empirical results from simulation demonstrate that the system achieves transaction throughput exceeding 300 transactions per second (TPS) and maintains average transaction latency below 450 milliseconds under stress testing, confirming the system's viability for real-world deployment where swift transaction finality is essential. This research establishes a validated, secure, and scalable framework for institutional automation using DLT.
The rapid growth of decentralized systems in theWeb3 ecosystem has introduced numerous challenges, particularly in ensuring data security, privacy, and scalability [3, 8]. These systems rely heavily on distributed architectures, requiring robust mechanisms to manage data and interactions among participants securely. One critical aspect of decentralized systems is key management, which is essential for encrypting files, securing database segments, and enabling private transactions. However, securely managing cryptographic keys in a distributed environment poses significant risks, especially when nodes in the network can be compromised [9]. This research proposes a decentralized database scheme specifically designed for secure and private key management. Our approach ensures that cryptographic keys are not stored explicitly at any location, preventing their discovery even if an attacker gains control of multiple nodes. Instead of traditional storage, keys are encoded and distributed using the BFLUT (Bloom Filter for Private Look-Up Tables) algorithm [7], which enables secure retrieval without direct exposure. The system leverages OrbitDB [4], IPFS [1], and IPNS [10] for decentralized data management, providing robust support for consistency, scalability, and simultaneous updates. By combining these technologies, our scheme enhances both security and privacy while maintaining high performance and reliability. Our findings demonstrate the system's capability to securely manage keys, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure privacy, making it a foundational solution for Web3 applications requiring decentralized security.
We introduce FlashChain, a decentralized framework that integrates IO-aware attention mechanisms—especially FlashAttention—into scalable, trustless AI systems. As Transformer-based models become foundational to Web3 infrastructure (e.g., DAOs, decentralized search, autonomous agents), their quadratic compute and memory bottlenecks present critical challenges. FlashChain adapts block-sparse FlashAttention into a modular architecture optimized for multi-node, low-bandwidth environments typical of blockchain and edge networks. We propose a hybrid protocol combining attention kernel optimization with zero-knowledge verifiability, enabling real-time, trustless AI inference across distributed nodes. Benchmarks show 3–5× speedups and up to 30× gas savings per inference compared to baseline on-chain models.
INTRODUCTION: Each node keeps the identical block data in the decentralized, tamper-proof distributed ledger known as the blockchain. OBJECTIVES: A blockchain network's working time lengthens, the amount of data that nodes must preserve and synchronize increases noticeably. METHODS: This brings up significant storage performance difficulties. We have started a study from a blockchain data storage standpoint to address this storage performance issue. We propose a distributed hash table (DHT)-based blockchain data archiving approach by analyzing the redundancy state caused by every node in the current blockchain network containing the same data. The block data is introduced in three ways: archived data building, lookup, and interaction with the underlying chain. RESULTS: This is done to ensure that blockchain data is not lost and can be accessed. This reduces storage redundancy and satisfies the practical requirements of storage and access in the blockchain's initial application. CONCLUSION: Experiments on energy transaction data show that the technique suggested in this article has a considerably lower storage occupancy increase rate than fabric storage.
In primary-backup replication, consensus latency is bounded by the time for backup nodes to replay (re-execute) transactions proposed by the primary. In this work, we present Ira, a framework to accelerate backup replay by transmitting compact \emph{hints} alongside transaction batches. Our key insight is that the primary, having already executed transactions, possesses knowledge of future access patterns which is exactly the information needed for optimal replay. We use Ethereum for our case study and present a concrete protocol, Ira-L, within our framework to improve cache management of Ethereum block execution. The primaries implementing Ira-L provide hints that consist of the working set of keys used in an Ethereum block and one byte of metadata per key indicating the table to read from, and backups use these hints for efficient block replay. We evaluated Ira-L against the state-of-the-art Ethereum client reth over two weeks of Ethereum mainnet activity ($100,800$ blocks containing over $24$ million transactions). Our hints are compact, adding a median of $47$ KB compressed per block ($\sim5\%$ of block payload). We observe that the sequential hint generation and block execution imposes a $28.6\%$ wall-time overhead on the primary, though the direct cost from hints is $10.9\%$ of execution time; all of which can be pipelined and parallelized in production deployments. On the backup side, we observe that Ira-L achieves a median per-block speedup of $25\times$ over baseline reth. With $16$ prefetch threads, aggregate replay time drops from $6.5$ hours to $16$ minutes ($23.6\times$ wall-time speedup).
Christopher Blake, Chen Feng, Xuachao Wang, Qianyu Yu
Proof of work blockchain protocols using multiple hash types are considered. It is proven that the security region of such a protocol cannot be the AND of a 51\% attack on all the hash types. Nevertheless, a protocol called Merged Bitcoin is introduced, which is the Bitcoin protocol where links between blocks can be formed using multiple different hash types. Closed form bounds on its security region in the $Δ$-bounded delay network model are proven, and these bounds are compared to simulation results. This protocol is proven to maximize cost of attack in the linear cost-per-hash model. A difficulty adjustment method is introduced, and it is argued that this can partly remedy asymmetric advantages an adversary may gain in hashing power for some hash types, including from algorithmic advances, quantum attacks like Grover's algorithm, or hardware backdoor attacks.
Michael G. Xevgenis, Maria Polychronaki, Dimitrios G. Kogias, Helen C. Leligkou · 5 authors
Zero-Touch Network (ZTN) represents a cornerstone approach of Next Generation Networks (NGNs), enabling fully automated and AI-driven network and service management. However, their distributed and multi-domain nature introduces critical security challenges, particularly regarding service identity and data integrity. This paper proposes a novel blockchain-based framework to enhance the security of ZTN through two complementary mechanisms: decentralized digital identity management and oracle-assisted network monitoring. First, a Decentralized Identity Management framework aligned with Zero-Trust Architecture principles is introduced to ensure tamper-proof authentication and authorization in a trustless environment among network components. By leveraging decentralized identifiers, verifiable credentials, and zero-knowledge proofs, the proposed Decentralized Authentication and Authorization component eliminates reliance on centralized authorities, while preserving privacy and interoperability across domains. Second, the paper investigates blockchain oracle mechanisms as a means to extend data integrity guarantees beyond the blockchain, enabling secure monitoring of Network Services and validation of Service-Level Agreements. We propose a four-dimensional framework for oracle design, based on qualitative comparison of oracle types—decentralized, compute-enabled, and consensus-based—to identify their suitability for NGN scenarios. This work proposes an architectural and design framework for Zero-Touch Networks, focusing on system integration and security-aware orchestration rather than large-scale experimental evaluation. The outcome of our study highlights the potential of integrating blockchain-based identity and oracle solutions to achieve resilient, transparent, and self-managed network ecosystems. This research bridges the gap between theory and implementation by offering a holistic approach that unifies identity security and data integrity in ZTNs, paving the way towards trustworthy and autonomous 6G infrastructures.
Blockchain technology offers decentralized and secure transaction processing but suffers from critical limitations in scalability, energy efficiency, and latency, hindering its adoption in real-time high-throughput applications. This study proposes a novel Adaptive Global Best–Worst Particle Swarm Optimization (AGBWPSO) algorithm integrated with dynamic sharding to address these challenges effectively. Unlike traditional GBWPSO, the proposed AGBWPSO employs a dual-extremum influence mechanism that combines both global best and worst positions, along with adaptive nonlinear parameter adjustment strategies for the inertia weight, cognitive, and social coefficients. This enhances exploration–exploitation balance, prevents premature convergence, and ensures efficient shard reallocation under dynamic transaction loads. The integration with dynamic sharding enables parallel transaction processing across optimally configured shards, significantly improving blockchain performance metrics. Extensive simulations conducted on Ethereum, Bitcoin, Hyperledger Fabric, financial, and IoT transaction datasets demonstrate that the proposed AGBWPSO achieves up to 5.88% improvement in transaction throughput (TPS), 14.3% reduction in latency, and 20% reduction in energy consumption per transaction compared to existing optimization methods. These results establish AGBWPSO as a robust and scalable solution for enhancing the operational efficiency and sustainability of blockchain networks in real-world applications.
Modern web applications permanently process large quantities of sensitive information such as personal records, financial information, confidential documents. Typical centralized architectures for web systems are highly susceptible to data breaches, unauthorized access and single-point failures. These limitations pose severe problems in preserving user privacy and data integrity in distributed environment . Block chain technology offers a decentralized and tamperproof framework for secure storage and controlled access of digital information without being based on a single trusted authority. By combining cryptographic hashing, distributed ledger mechanisms and permission-based access control, blockchain can do a lot to improve privacy preservation for web applications. This paper presents the idea of a blockchain enabled privacy preservation system for web applications that provides security of data storage, transparency of accessing verification, and against unauthorized modification.
Transaction propagation delay limits the block interval and is one of the main bottlenecks in improving Bitcoin throughput. However, transaction relay in Bitcoin is entirely voluntary, which results in low bandwidth and high transaction propagation delay. Improving relay motivation by introducing incentives can effectively reduce delay, but it still faces challenges such as Sybil attacks during reward allocation, leakage of network layer privacy, and high on-chain/off-chain overhead. Therefore, this paper proposes Txtail, a practical transaction relay incentive scheme for Bitcoin, based on continuously attaching relay evidence representing the relays’ identity and contribution during transaction propagation. We employ a free pricing mechanism based on the game between relays to allocate rewards fairly. We design an order-insensitive relay evidence structure based on aggregate signatures and public key mapping, which reduces off-chain data overhead while alleviating the leakage of relay paths by obfuscating the relay order. We construct a verifiable lottery mechanism based on Merkle tree commitments to reduce the data that needs to be uploaded to the chain. Both theoretical and experimental results show that Txtail reduces the per-hop off-chain overhead and the overall on-chain overhead by 96.6% and 79.8%, respectively, compared with state-of-the-art baselines, while remaining practical for deployment.
Chonghe Zhao, Deen Ma, Xicheng Zhang, Taotao Wang · 5 authors
Ethereum is a leading blockchain system whose security and performance depend critically on efficient transaction propagation. Currently, to curb bandwidth, Ethereum employs a hybrid protocol wherein nodes eager-push full transactions to a random peer subset and announce hashes to the remainder for on-demand lazy-pull. Yet, our MainNet measurements reveal that this strategy suffers from “blind” forwarding—indiscriminately transmitting full transactions without evaluating receiver acceptance. This causes peers to receive multiple redundant copies of non-viable transactions that are ultimately discarded by local pools. Also, randomized peer selection results in substantial redundant transmission, excessive hops, and a high lazy-pull rate (the proportion of transactions acquired via the slower request-response mechanism). These two inefficiencies collectively prolong propagation latency and limit further bandwidth savings. To address these limitations, we propose BELLTP, aBandwidth-Efficient andLow-LatencyTransactionPropagation protocol that incorporates two key awareness modules.Transaction Awarenessclassifies transactions into “urgent” and “leisure” using a lightweight predictor trained on Mainnet data to forecast receiver acceptance. Based on this, leisure transactions (with low predicted acceptance) are propagated via full lazy-pull to ensure that each node receives the full payload once, while urgent transactions utilize strategically targeted eager-push guided by node awareness to rectify random selection inefficiencies.Node Awarenessidentifies hub and common nodes for urgent transaction propagation by combining a theoretical network model, enabling hub nodes to eagerly push to all peers (shortening hop count while maintaining low redundant transmission) and common nodes to leverage a peer need score to eagerly push only to high-need peers (lowering lazy-pull rate). Extensive experiments on Ethereum MainNet and in a controlled local testbed demonstrate that BELLTP significantly outperforms the current protocol in both bandwidth consumption and propagation latency.
As vehicles become increasingly intelligent, the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is gaining widespread popularity. However, security concerns in the IoV are becoming increasingly critical, particularly regarding vehicle identity authentication, which directly affects system stability and trust. Therefore, designing an efficient and secure authentication mechanism has become an essential challenge in IoV development. This study focuses on the identity authentication problem between vehicles and roadside units (RSUs) in the IoV. To address the computational overhead challenges posed by the rapid increase in the number of vehicles, we propose a lightweight authentication scheme based on a zero-knowledge proof and design a batch verification mechanism for it. Furthermore, to address the dynamic nature of vehicular traffic, we introduce a Federated Intelligent Dynamic Batching Algorithm (FIDBA) based on a lightweight Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP). This algorithm dynamically predicts the optimal batch size to minimize verification latency and computational cost. This approach ensures security while significantly reducing computational and communication costs, improving scalability and real-time performance. To further address delays in the handover process, we are integrating blockchain technology. Leveraging its decentralized, immutable, and transparent nature, the blockchain securely stores authenticated vehicle information, avoiding repeated verifications and reducing handover delays. To mitigate inefficiencies in blockchain queries, we design a caching mechanism that enables fast data access. Through theoretical analysis and experimental validation, this study demonstrates the superiority of the proposed scheme in security, efficiency, and scalability. This scheme meets current IoV needs and provides a promising reference for future intelligent transportation systems.
Jitao Wang, Nong Tang, Yuzhou Wang, Kai Wang · 5 authors
Cross-chain technology, as a key driver for enhancing interoperability of blockchains, enables asset transfer and exchange between different blockchains. At present, cross-chain models based on light clients are widely adopted due to their fully decentralized nature and applicability to diverse scenarios. However, the rapid advancement of on-chain analysis techniques, such as address linkage and fund flow tracking, has significantly increased risks of de-anonymization in cross-chain transactions, posing serious privacy challenges. In this paper, we propose SharedRXC, a privacy-preserving asset cross-chain scheme for the light-client cross-chain model, which guarantees address unlinkability without extra privacy trust assumptions. First, to hide cross-chain addresses during interchain transmission, we propose the Ring Account (RA) to replace a single address for sending or receiving funds. In addition, we propose a zero-knowledge proof-based method to verify virtual identity ownership, allowing the virtual identity to track fund balances without exposing the addresses. Second, to prevent the exposure of the link between an address and its virtual identity caused by fund amount differences during deposits or withdrawals, which would compromise address unlinkability, we propose the Shared Burn/Mint method to obscure on chain fund change differences. Based on the liability equalization mechanism, we design two privacy-preserving cross-chain protocols: the cross-chain asset transfer (SharedRXC.T) and exchange (SharedRXC.E) protocols. Finally, we evaluateSharedRXC.TandSharedRXC.E, which reduce gas costs by 30% to 40% compared to zkCross and achieve execution times in the millisecond range. Therefore, SharedRXC provides a practical privacy-preserving solution for cross-chain financial applications in the multi-chain ecosystem.
Sangita Lade, Muhammad Parkar, Shreyas Nagarkar, Om Shintre · 5 authors
This paper focuses on the design and development of a decentralized blogging platform aimed at overcoming the limitations of existing centralized content publishing systems through the use of blockchain technology. Most mainstream blogging platforms remain vulnerable to censorship, data breaches, content manipulation, and arbitrary content removal. To address these challenges, the proposed system leverages Ethereum smart contracts for transaction validation and content management, along with the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) for secure, reliable, and distributed storage. The integration of these technologies ensures immutability, author verification, and strong resistance to censorship. Additionally, the platform incorporates an incentive mechanism that rewards content creators through a token-based economy and wallet-driven identity management. The system was evaluated on the Ethereum testnet and demonstrated significant improvements in content persistence, ownership verification, and censorship resistance compared to traditional platforms. Performance analysis indicates stable transaction confirmation times and efficient storage utilization, with potential for further optimization of gas consumption. User interface testing further confirms that the platform effectively abstracts blockchain complexity, offering a user-friendly experience. Overall, this work presents a practical Web3-based content publishing solution that supports creator empowerment and content integrity in a trustless digital environment.
K.S. Weedagamaarachchi, H. D. Vithanage, H. M. S. N. Dehipola, K.D.R. Manditha · 6 authors
Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain enable automation and transparency in decentralized applications; however, their scalability is often constrained by high gas costs resulting from inefficient code design. This research investigates the relationship between cyclomatic code complexity and gas consumption, proposing a design pattern-based approach to optimize gas efficiency in Ethereum smart contracts. Three common Solidity patterns Factory, Registry, and State Machine were optimized using both existing and novel techniques, including variable packing, the use of fixed-size data types (uint256, bytes32), immutable variables, and mapping simplification. These optimizations were implemented and tested within a real-world coco peat supply chain management system to measure their impact on gas usage. Experimental results showed that deployment gas costs decreased by approximately 19 % and runtime execution gas by around 14 %, confirming that design-level optimization can significantly reduce costs without affecting functionality. The findings demonstrate that structured refinement of contract design can enhance scalability, making blockchainbased enterprise solutions more efficient and economically sustainable.
The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is rapidly evolving to provide high throughput, low bandwidth, and enhanced security for high-quality information transfer with minimal latency. However, before effectively adopting all these services, IoV faces various hurdles, including secure information sharing, tampering with information, and network overhead. IoV with blockchain provides substantial advantages for secure information sharing, tamper-proof storage of information, and efficient network administration. We propose EtherChain, a blockchain-based secure approach for IoV to provide information integrity, tamperproof distributed storage, and efficient network administration. EtherChain uses transaction validation, trust, and miner selection algorithms to verify transactions, manage trust between nodes, and select the miner to append the block to the blockchain. Following that, EtherChain compares security strength in terms of several forms of security attacks with other cutting-edge techniques, as well as performance outcomes in terms of throughput, cryptography operation time, and communication overhead. The research demonstrates that EtherChain outperforms state-of-the-art solutions in terms of performance and security.
With the rapid evolution of the Decentralized Web (DWeb), decentralized technologies have paved new avenues for Web3 applications and the authentication of digital assets. Among them, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have gained significant popularity due to their immutability and uniqueness, reshaping the landscape of artistic creation, marketing, and intellectual property protection. However, current blockchain-based NFT implementations still face core challenges within decentralized architecture: how to maintain decentralization while ensuring the visual uniqueness of digital assets and reducing storage costs. The rampant issue of duplication undermines the scarcity of digital art and erodes market confidence in copyright authenticity. Moreover, high gas fees and energy consumption further hinder the widespread adoption of NFTs, while reliance on external storage solutions like InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) introduces risks of data instability and loss. To address these challenges, this article presents the UniqueNFT framework, a novel architecture that deeply integrates blockchain oracles with decentralized storage verification mechanisms. The framework achieves three key technological breakthroughs: Using image inversion and generation techniques based on Encoder for Editing (E4E) and StyleGAN3, it extracts compact and expressive semantic features from NFT images, enabling efficient data compression and significantly reducing on-chain storage volume; The Crypto-Mask algorithm, by utilizing the hash value of blockchain user information (user-controlled SHA-256 digest of Ethereum address, user nickname, and registration time), ensures the visual uniqueness of NFTs; A smart contract extension compatible with the ERC721 standard, demonstrating UniqueNFT’s seamless integration within the blockchain ecosystem. By leveraging the technologies of the Decentralized Web, our framework represents an important step forward in enhancing the security and uniqueness of digital assets. It not only innovatively resolves the issues of NFT duplication and homogenization but also injects new vitality and long-term momentum into the creation of a trusted, sustainable blockchain-based digital asset ecosystem.
The Internet Computer (IC) is a secure, fast and efficient decentralized blockchain-based platform for the execution of general-purpose applications. It has been operational since May 2021, running over 900K smart contracts and serving over 1M users.; AB@Over time, the IC has grown significantly in the number of smart contracts, their size, and the application scope, including social media, messengers and even games. In contrast, most other blockchain platforms focus on simple applications related to token transfers and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). In Fall 2024, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain was deployed on the IC. This blockchain grew quickly and reached over 20,000 miners in just days, creating operational challenges for other applications on the IC.; AB@Initial operational data showed degraded performance, but in a few weeks, the IC execution layer was fine-tuned and enhanced such that the PoW blockchain and other unrelated applications can now be supported in tandem with good quality of service. The IC's modular design allowed for targeted changes without protocol modifications. The changes concerned the operating system optimizations and scheduling algorithm tweaks. This article presents the journey navigating these with insights from operational data.
Cross-chain technology enables interoperability among otherwise isolated blockchains, supporting interactions across heterogeneous networks. Similar to how multi-hop communication became fundamental in the evolution of the Internet, the demand for multi-hop cross-chain interactions is gaining increasing attention. However, this growing demand introduces new security and privacy challenges. On the security side, multi-hop interactions depend on the availability of multiple participating nodes. If any node becomes temporarily offline during execution, the protocol may fail to complete correctly, leading to settlement failure or fund loss. On the privacy side, the need for on-chain transparency to validate intermediate states may unintentionally leak linkable information, compromising the unlinkability of user interactions. In this paper, we propose the Cross-Chain Channel Network (CCN), a decentralized network designed to support secure and privacy-preserving multi-hop cross-chain transactions. Through experimental evaluation, we identify two critical types of offline failures, referred to as active and passive offline cases, which have not been adequately addressed by existing solutions. To mitigate these issues, we introduce R-HTLC, a core protocol within CCN. R-HTLC incorporates an hourglass mechanism and a multi-path refund strategy to ensure settlement correctness even when some nodes go offline during execution. Importantly, CCN addresses not only the correctness under offline conditions but also maintains unlinkability in such adversarial settings. To overcome this, CCN leverages zero-knowledge proofs and off-chain coordination, ensuring that interaction relationships remain indistinguishable even when certain nodes are temporarily offline.
This research paper presents the design, architecture, and evaluation of a Hybrid Blockchain Database System, a decentralized–distributed model that integrates blockchain’s immutability with the high-performance data processing capabilities of traditional database systems. The proposed hybrid architecture addresses key limitations of fully on-chain storage—such as scalability constraints, high transaction costs, and limited query efficiency—by combining on-chain verification layers with off-chain distributed storage engines. The system introduces a multi-layered architectural model consisting of: (1) a blockchain consensus and validation layer for ensuring trust and tamper-resistant auditability; (2) a distributed database layer for high-speed read/write operations; (3) an interoperability layer that synchronizes state between on-chain and off-chain data; and (4) an IPFS/Filecoin-based decentralized storage framework for storing large datasets and metadata. This design enables secure state anchoring, cryptographic data integrity, and scalable data indexing across heterogeneous storage environments. A detailed performance evaluation is conducted using a combination of Ethereum-compatible smart contracts, IPFS storage, and distributed NoSQL/SQL databases. Key metrics such as transaction throughput, read/write latency, storage overhead, and consistency verification time are analyzed under varying workloads. Experimental results demonstrate that the hybrid system improves data scalability by 70–85%, reduces storage costs by over 90%, and maintains strong auditability through periodic blockchain state commitments. Security analysis is performed using static and dynamic testing tools to identify common vulnerabilities such as broken access control, inconsistent state updates, or missing verification boundaries, ensuring robustness of the hybrid synchronization logic. Additionally, the paper discusses design trade-offs involving decentralization vs. performance, on-chain transparency vs. gas efficiency, and consistency vs. latency across distributed components. This work provides a comprehensive blueprint for the development of real-world hybrid blockchain database systems suitable for supply chain management, enterprise data systems, government registries, financial applications, and Web3 infrastructure. The results highlight how hybrid architectures can bridge the gap between decentralized trust and scalable data management in next-generation digital ecosystems.