Guy Goren, Andrew Hariri, Timothy D. R. Hartley, Ravi Kappiyoor · 6 authors
Existing decentralized storage protocols fall short of the service required by real-world applications. Their throughput, latency, cost-effectiveness, and availability are insufficient for demanding workloads such as video streaming, large-scale data analytics, or AI training. As a result, Web3 data-intensive applications are predominantly dependent on centralized infrastructure. Shelby is a high-performance decentralized storage protocol designed to meet demanding needs. It achieves fast, reliable access to large volumes of data while preserving decentralization guarantees. The architecture reflects lessons from Web2 systems: it separates control and data planes, uses erasure coding with low replication overhead and minimal repair bandwidth, and operates over a dedicated backbone connecting RPC and storage nodes. Reads are paid, which incentivizes good performance. Shelby also introduces a novel auditing protocol that provides strong cryptoeconomic guarantees without compromising performance, a common limitation of other decentralized solutions. The result is a decentralized system that brings Web2-grade performance to production-scale, read-intensive Web3 applications.
Ridesharing and on-demand mobility systems offer societal benefits that include reduced traffic, lower parking demand and less environmental impact from vehicle usage. However, the problem of user impersonation has compromised the safety of both riders and drivers, sometimes ending in fatal tragedy. To address the safety concerns resulting from user impersonation, this paper proposes a blockchain-based and zero-knowledge approach for decentralized and privacy-preserving identity verification in ridesharing. The proposed permissioned blockchain facilitates our privacy-aware verification scheme and provides fine-grained access control policies to protect on-chain trip records. We developed the proposed system on the Hyperledger Fabric platform, with Chaincode smart contracts and Hyperledger Ursa cryptographic library. To measure the performance of the system, we conduct extensive experiments utilizing the Hyperledger Caliper benchmark tool. Our results show that the zero-knowledge proof module can perform the privacy-preserving identity verification at the millisecond level while the blockchain network offers low latency and high throughput for transactions. The non-resource-intensive authentication scheme and the proposed secure-by-design blockchain with access control policies make the proposed approach fitting for application in real-world ridesharing environments.
The emerging paradigm of modern vehicles as sophisticated mobile data centers generates unprecedented volumes of telemetry, sensor, and interaction data that require novel management approaches. The architectural framework addresses dual requirements of edge processing for latency-sensitive applications and cloud infrastructure for deeper analytics and model development. Vehicle-to-everything communication protocols integrate with software-defined networks and distributed ledger technologies to ensure secure, efficient data exchange across the ecosystem. Technical challenges including bandwidth constraints, data redundancy, and privacy regulations are primary motivators for solutions based on federated learning, optimized compression algorithms, and context-aware processing. Resilient vehicular data management necessitates a multi-layered approach balancing computational requirements across the edge-cloud continuum while maintaining robust security postures. These foundations enable scaling next-generation intelligent transportation systems were vehicles function as key nodes in broader smart city infrastructures.
Healthcare insurance systems continue to face critical inefficiencies, including lengthy claim processing, high fraud incidence, and privacy risks originating from manual verification processes and unnecessary data exposure. This paper proposes a novel blockchain-based architecture that leverages tokenized wallets and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to automate healthcare insurance claims while enhancing security. NFTs encode individual insurance policies as smart contracts that automatically verify eligibility and trigger settlements. Tokenized wallets enable encrypted, privacypreserving interactions, minimizing data exposure to insurers and aligning with GDPR requirements. The system integrates with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), allowing real-time validation of medical bills while safeguarding sensitive data. A complete prototype was built on a private Ethereum testnet, MetaMask wallets, and Solidity smart contracts, demonstrating a reduction in claim processing time to below 2 minutes. Stakeholder feedback showed over 85% agreement on improved efficiency, privacy, and fraud reduction. This research makes three key contributions: (1) a scalable, GDPR-compliant blockchain framework for insurance automation, (2) an innovative use of NFTs and smart contracts for real-time claim processing, and (3) a validated proof-of-concept showing practical feasibility.
The use of Electric Vehicles (EV) will promote urban sustainability, decrease air pollution, and reduce noise pollution. In this landscape a new mobility concept termed shared electric mobility-as-a-service (eMaaS) has emerged over the years. Shared eMaaS comprises the seamless integration of various forms of electric transport services available via one single digital platform. Although, the current shared eMaaS solutions are based mostly on fragmented and siloed systems which has resulted to issues related to the exchange of data and services from different eMaaS providers. Therefore, there is need for integrators and enablers to achieve an inter-operable and intra-operable seamless shared eMaaS. To this end, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) is proposed in this study to enable new business models for shared electric mobility solutions. As compared to conventional approaches DLT offers a transparent, cost-efficient, and decentralized services both for managing the supply and demand sides of shared eMaaS to improve public transportation. Accordingly, this article presents a DLT based business models grounded on the literature to decentralize shared eMaaS. Qualitative data is collected from Scopus and Web of Science database, and descriptive analysis is employed to analyze the collected data. Findings from this study presents use case scenarios of how IOTA tangle as a DLT using smart contracts and IOTA wallet/tokens are deployed to design novel business models for managing seamless travel experience for electric car sharing and leasing to improve public transportation.
Tarek Galal, Valeria Tisch, Katja Assaf, Andreas Polze
Railways provide a critical service and operate under strict regulatory frameworks for implementing changes or upgrades. Despite their impact on the public, these frameworks do not define means or mechanisms for transparency towards the public, leading to reduced trust and complex tracking processes. We analyse the German guideline for railway-infrastructural modifications from proposal to approval, using the guideline as a motivating example for modelling decisions in processes using digital signatures and zero-knowledge proofs. Therein, a verifier can verify that a process was executed correctly by the involved parties and according to specification without learning confidential information such as trade secrets or identities of the participants. We validate our system by applying it to the railway process, demonstrating how it realises various rules, and we evaluate its scalability with increased process complexities. Our solution is not railway-specific but also applicable to other contexts, helping leverage zero-knowledge proofs for public transparency and trust.
Syed Ibad Ali, Mohammad Shahnawaz Shaikh, Kush Bhushanwar, Smita Shahane
Today's cities face numerous challenges due to climate change and urbanization. The concept of a smart city aims to help cities to address these challenges by adapting modern information and communication technology. Smart mobility and transportation form one important aspect of smart cities. Inefficient mobility in cities can lead to problems such as traffic congestion, which results in frustration for residents and a decrease in the quality of life. Against the backdrop of global warming, cities also strive to reduce CO2 emissions, an attempt which requires sustainable and novel mobility concepts. Blockchain is a current technology, said to have huge potential, that is being investigated for application in many facets of smart cities. In the context of smart mobility, blockchain can be used for transactions relating to ridesharing and electric charging, handling of interactions of platoon members, or serving as a foundation for communication between vehicles. Although initial research about this topic exists, it is distributed among different use-cases and applications.
Bama Raja Segaran, Siti Nurulain Mohd Rum, Mohd Izuan Hafez Ninggal, Teh Noranis Mohd Aris
Abstract The rapid growth of carbon credit markets, driven by global efforts to mitigate climate change, highlights the critical need for transparency and accountability—particularly in forest-based carbon offset projects. Forest ecosystems play a vital role in carbon sequestration; however, these projects are increasingly vulnerable to greenwashing, where organizations exaggerate or misrepresent their environmental impact to appear more sustainable than they are. This literature review explores the integration of blockchain technology and machine learning (ML) to enhance verification processes and reduce fraudulent practices in forest carbon credits. Blockchain’s decentralized, immutable ledger offers a transparent and tamper-proof system for recording carbon credit transactions, ensuring traceability and reducing the risk of manipulation. Smart contracts embedded within blockchain networks can automate verification and compliance processes, enhancing efficiency while minimizing the need for human oversight. However, while blockchain ensures transparency, it lacks real-time anomaly detection capabilities. ML algorithms, particularly supervised models such as Random Forest, XGBoost, and Neural Networks, are well-suited for detecting fraudulent patterns and verifying the authenticity of forest carbon credit transactions. These algorithms can process large datasets, including satellite imagery and corporate disclosures, to identify discrepancies and improve the accuracy of carbon sequestration claims. This review also examines key performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and processing time to evaluate the efficiency of various ML algorithms for real-time fraud detection. The findings suggest that integrating ML and blockchain technologies, combined with satellite data, can significantly strengthen transparency and verification in forest carbon credit markets. By enhancing verification mechanisms, this interdisciplinary approach helps mitigate greenwashing and fosters a more credible and transparent carbon credit market. It supports global sustainability efforts by ensuring that carbon sequestration claims from forest-based projects are both accurate and verifiable.
The global shift towards sustainable transportation necessitates efficient and secure payment systems for electric vehicle (EV) charging on electrified roads. Current blockchain-based payment infrastructures face high transaction costs, inefficiencies, and security vulnerabilities, impeding EV adoption. To address these challenges, we propose a blockchain-based Vehicle Payment System (VPS) tailored for electrified roads. VPS integrates a hybrid consensus mechanism combining Proof of Stake (PoS) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) for secure, decentralized, and efficient transaction validation. Scalability is enhanced through sharding, which distributes transaction load, while Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) ensure transaction confidentiality, and multi-signature transactions provide additional security. State channels further optimize performance by enabling off-chain transactions, reducing congestion, and increasing throughput. Unlike prior research, which often neglects scalability, privacy, and real-time performance holistically, VPS achieves under 3000 ms latency for invoke transactions, under 450 ms for queries with 1000 users, and a throughput of approximately 1100 transactions per second (TPS) at a send rate of 1300. These advancements establish VPS as a scalable, efficient payment solution for EV charging, supporting the transition to green mobility and informing sustainable infrastructure policies.
Asif Ahmad Bhat, Rizal Mohd Nor, Md Amiruzzaman, Md. Rajibul Islam · 5 authors
Blockchain, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, has received significant attention and widespread usage in recent years. However, blockchain scalability has emerged as a challenging issue. This article explores the existing scalability options for blockchain, which can be categorized into two groups: first layer solutions and second layer solutions. First layer solutions involve network modifications like altering block size, while second layer solutions encompass techniques applied outside of the blockchain. Ethereum, the second largest blockchain, utilizes the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for executing smart contracts on the blockchain. Currently, there are several EVM-compatible blockchains with noticeable differences. In this study, we evaluated multiple platforms for conducting business processes in trade finance. We considered both Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchain solutions and examined variations in cost and performance (speed). Based on the evidence gathered in this study, we provide recommendations for system designers to consider when selecting a blockchain platform.
Daria Smuseva, Andrea Marin, Sabina Rossi, Aad van Moorsel
A blockchain is an immutable ledger driven by a distributed consensus protocol. In public blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum Classic, consensus is established through a computational effort called Proof-of-Work (PoW). Special users called miners contribute to the PoW in exchange for a fee and also verify the data stored in blocks mined by the other miners. Here is where the Verifier’s Dilemma emerges. Verification of blocks does not receive a reward, and to maximise their profits, miners may be incentivised to forego verifying blocks and to only invest their resources in PoW. In this article, we study the Verifier’s Dilemma and a possible countermeasure consisting of the injection of invalid blocks using a quantitative model based on Markovian process algebra. To avoid the state space explosion problem, we study the underlying Markov chain by using a lumping that allows us to derive closed-form solutions for interesting performance indices. The analysis demonstrates the circumstances under which non-verifying miners gain fees higher than those of verifying miners. The model also allows us to derive the optimal rate at which invalid blocks must be injected so that skipping the verifying phase becomes economically disadvantageous whereas the throughput of the blockchain is only minimally reduced. The impact on miners’ rewards and overall performance is also assessed.
We present SmartShards: a new sharding algorithm for improving Byzantine tolerance and churn resistance in blockchains. Our algorithm places a peer in multiple shards to create an overlap. This simplifies cross-shard communication and shard membership management. We describe SmartShards, prove it correct and evaluate its performance. We propose several SmartShards extensions: defense against a slowly adaptive adversary, combining transactions into blocks, fortification against the join/leave attack.
Jun Huang, Yonglin Tian, Tengchao Zhang, Qinghua Ni · 8 authors
ABSTRACT Tourism is a critical driver of economic growth and cultural exchange. However, traditional tourism models often struggle to address challenges such as insufficient understanding of diverse travel preferences, limited capacity for personalized services, and a lack of intelligent, convenient service solutions. In this paper, we propose a virtual‐real interactive Parallel Tourism System (PTS) and a Smart Tourism and Lifestyle Service Large Model (STLS‐LM) to handle these challenges. By integrating Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and Foundation Models (FMs) supported by Retrieval‐Augmented Generation, PTS elevates tourism services by incorporating agentic intelligence and autonomous intelligence, advancing beyond traditional AI‐powered applications. The proposed framework enables a deep understanding of task requirements, precise multi‐source information sensing, personalized functionality customization, and timely public feedback adoption, forming a comprehensive intelligent travel service system that caters to the evolving needs of modern tourism.
Seelammal Chinnaperumal, Sekar Kidambi Raju, Amal H. Alharbi, Subhash Kannan · 8 authors
The research is aimed at filling the gap regarding the development of long-lasting, secure technologies that help build decentralized systems. Other consensus models, such as the Proof of Work (PoW), prevailing in cryptocurrencies, are known to be expensive in terms of energy, hence the development of enlightened models like Proof of Lightweight Hash, whereby while developing the model, an emphasis is placed on energy efficiency without compromising on security. At the same time, new technologies such as battery storage and electric vehicles are disrupting consumer habits where renewable energy is favored, and a decentralized energy market is promoted. It hails the aspect of fine access control provided by blockchain in addition to decentralization; a permission system is vital for any entities that require strict access control due to the nature of the data they hold. Blockchain in IoT and AI makes strategies innovative, adaptable, large-scale, and inclusive to make unique changes that benefit different industries and need scalability. Due to this combining of energy innovations and digital technologies, both energy and data networks become nearer to consumers, advocating sustainable, efficient urbanism. Altogether, these improvements will lead toward the emergence of systems that, aside from being technologically innovative, are also environmentally sustainable and protected. So the interaction of technology, ecological stability, and viable security provides the basis for a cleaner, stronger, de-centralized future as applied to advanced technologies, thus inculcating an equilibrium and stronger society.
Increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the expansion of EV charging infrastructure present opportunities for enhancing sustainable transportation within smart cities. However, the interconnected nature of EV charging stations (EVCSs) exposes this infrastructure to various cyber threats, including false data injection, man-in-the-middle attacks, malware intrusions, and denial of service attacks. Financial attacks, such as false billing and theft of credit card information, also pose significant risks to EV users. In this work, we propose a Hyperledger Fabric-based blockchain network for EVCSs to mitigate these risks. The proposed blockchain network utilizes smart contracts to manage key processes such as authentication, charging session management, and payment verification in a secure and decentralized manner. By detecting and mitigating malicious data tampering or unauthorized access, the blockchain system enhances the resilience of EVCS networks. A comparative analysis of pre- and post-implementation of the proposed blockchain network demonstrates how it thwarts current cyberattacks in the EVCS infrastructure. Our analyses include performance metrics using the benchmark Hyperledger Caliper test, which shows the proposed solution’s low latency for real-time operations and scalability to accommodate the growth of EV infrastructure. Deployment of this blockchain-enhanced security mechanism will increase user trust and reliability in EVCS systems.
This systematic review examines the integration of directed acyclic graph (DAG)-based blockchain technology in smart mobility ecosystems, focusing on electric vehicles (EVs), robotic systems, and drone swarms. Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive literature search across Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library, screening 1248 records to identify 47 eligible studies. Our analysis demonstrates that DAG-based blockchain addresses critical limitations of traditional blockchains by enabling parallel transaction processing, achieving high throughput (>1000 TPS), and reducing latency (<1 s), which are essential for real-time applications like autonomous vehicle coordination and microtransactions in EV charging. Key technical challenges include consensus mechanism complexity, probabilistic finality, and vulnerabilities to attacks such as double-spending and Sybil attacks. This study identifies five research priorities: (1) standardized performance benchmarks, (2) formal security proofs for DAG protocols, (3) hybrid consensus models combining DAG with Byzantine fault tolerance, (4) privacy-preserving cryptographic techniques, and (5) optimization of feeless microtransactions. These advancements are critical for deploying robust, scalable DAG-based solutions in smart mobility, and fostering secure and efficient urban transportation networks.
This research examines smart mobility, specifically focusing on e-scooters as a mode of urban transportation. It underscores the advantages of e-scooters in smart cities while also addressing the issues stemming from incorrect riding practices. To understand the strategies of both cities and e-scooter companies, the study adopts a game theory approach. The research delves into how blockchain technology and hardware oracles can promote the appropriate use of e-scooters. In one scenario, the city allocates resources to infrastructure to facilitate e-scooter travel, while the e-scooter company defines its service. Nonetheless, continuous misuse of e-scooters negatively impacts both parties. Therefore, in another scenario, the research assesses how blockchain can detect and penalize incorrect behaviors using smart contracts. The findings reveal that while blockchain bolsters smart mobility and curbs the incorrect use of e-scooters, it might also dissuade certain users from utilizing the service, presenting a set of challenges to smart mobility. • -E-scooters can enhance smart mobility compared to traditional transportation. • -However, e-scooters can give rise to social issues when improperly used. • -The integration of blockchain with hardware oracles can enhance smart mobility. • -Blockchain can penalize improper behaviors through smart contracts. • -Unfortunately, people who dislike blockchain may renounce to smart mobility.