Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThe Russian invasion of Ukraine has reshaped the functioning of local budgets, creating fiscal challenges for municipalities while simultaneously testing the resilience of the decentralization reform launched in the pre-war period. This study examines the dynamics of local public finance in Ukraine during wartime (2022â2024), focusing on revenue fluctuations, expenditure restructuring, and the emerging role of participatory budgeting as an adaptive tool for community engagement. Using official data from the Ministry of Finance, the State Statistics Service, and the Open Budget Portal, the analysis compares fiscal indicators before and during the full-scale war. Case studies of selected municipalities highlight divergent strategies between frontline and rear communities in balancing defense-related needs, social support for internally displaced persons, and development priorities. Despite reduced revenues and rising security expenditures, local budgets remained stable, largely due to the decentralization framework. In addition to domestic revenues, local budgets increasingly relied on external inflows: international grants, loans, and non-repayable donor assistance. These instruments served as a critical buffer that compensated for the wartime decline in municipal revenues and stabilized key public services. We further examined how these external resources shaped the fiscal resilience of Ukrainian municipalities under wartime conditions. Moreover, participatory budgeting, though often suspended, proved to be a potential mechanism for maintaining public trust and civic involvement under crisis conditions. The study argues that âwartime participatory budgetingâ represents a novel phenomenon with implications for both crisis governance and post-war reconstruction.
Gazi Maliha Raisa Noor, Md Ashikul Islam, Saha Reno, S. Mahin
Managing intellectual property (IP) in the digital age presents significant challenges, including unauthorized duplication, unclear ownership, and insufficient verification mechanisms. This paper proposes a blockchain-based framework that integrates Hyperledger Fabric, Interplanetary File System (IPFS), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to ensure secure, transparent, and tamper-proof IP management. Hyperledger Fabric serves as the permissioned blockchain platform, using the RAFT (Replicated And Fault-Tolerant) consensus protocol to achieve fast, fault-tolerant agreement with low latency and moderate resource consumption. IP assets are stored off-chain using IPFS, with their metadata encapsulated in NFTs for unique identification, traceability, and automated licensing via smart contracts. The system enables decentralized IP registration, verification, and transfer while preserving content integrity. Performance analysis shows that RAFT consistently outperforms PoW, PoS, and Clique in throughput, latency, and CPU usage, making it well-suited for high-performance enterprise applications. A cost breakdown also confirms the system's affordability and scalability. Finally, command-line validation demonstrates correct ledger operations and smart contract functionality. The proposed solution offers a practical and efficient alternative to traditional IP systems, with future improvements targeting enhanced access control and support for large-scale IP ecosystems.
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
A. J. M. OlIVEIRA, Raimundo CorrĂȘa de Oliveira, Vanessa Coelho da Silva, Ricardo da Silva Barboza
The increasing digitization of creative assets poses significant challenges to the protection of intellectual property. In this context, blockchain and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) technologies emerge as promising solutions to ensure the authenticity, traceability, and monetization of digital assets. This study aims to explore the landscape of technological innovation at this intersection through a systematic search in patent databases. The methodology consisted of a search on the Orbit Intelligence database, followed by a rigorous dual validation process that combined manual screening and analysis by Artificial Intelligence (DeepSeek), resulting in a final portfolio of 119 patent families. The results reveal a sharp increase in the number of filings from 2018 onwards, with a peak in 2022, and a strong geographical concentration in China. The analysis of technological domains indicates that innovations are focused on "IT methods for management" and "Digital communication," highlighting the use of the technology as a governance infrastructure. The qualitative analysis of selected patents demonstrates the sophistication of the solutions, which address issues ranging from registration efficiency to rights management for AI-generated content. It is concluded that the field is rapidly maturing, moving beyond proof-of-concept to develop specialized solutions that address complex challenges in the intellectual property ecosystem, thereby redefining protection paradigms in the digital economy.
Wash trading is a major issue in non-fungible token (NFT) markets that distorts transaction volumes and returns. In this work, we examined the effect of wash trading by focusing on two specific NFT collections. First, we implemented a multi-layered wash trading detection algorithm to identify wash trades. Using regression analysis, we then showed that weekly transaction volumes of a heavily wash-traded collection can be magnified by two orders of magnitude compared to a cleaner collection. Moreover, wash trading resulted in positive returns in a collection that has extensive wash trading; in contrast, wash trading in the cleaner collection was penalized with negative returns, suggesting heterogeneity in both incidence and profitability of wash trading. Our findings provide a better understanding on the impact of wash trading on NFT markets and highlight the need to improve security in NFT markets and other decentralized financial technology systems. In particular, by extending transaction-level detection to collection characteristics, we could assess the impact of wash trading. This approach is easily replicable and enables market stakeholder to identify inauthentic activity and policy makers to provide adequate safeguards for these products.
M. Anwar Hossain, Ahsan Ullah, Noshin Un Noor, Rafat Md. Shahriar Hoque Joy · 7 authors
As traditional and electronic voting methods are being increasingly scrutinized for security, transparency and availability, blockchain has emerged as a way to address some of these concerns. This paper describes a blockchain-based decentralized voting system which employs Ethereum smart contracts for controlling the voting procedure based on the features and characteristics of the public blockchain, such as security, immutability and transparency, hence guaranteeing a secure and fair electoral system. The voting process is automated and secured, thus a provable way to the votes casting or votes counting. Security scalability and user authentication are used to verify the system. The knowledge base system provides secure electronic voting, transparency of elections, builds trust among voters due to a real-time computational claimability of election results. This paper suggests a framework for building a blockchain-based voting system on a larger scale and more reliable than the existing voting system.
Abstract Counterfeit and stolen goods seriously threaten the reliability of modern supply chains. They affect consumer trust, brand reputation, and economic stability. To tackle this issue, this paper presents a blockchain-based smart supply chain framework. It combines Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) with dual-layer Anti-counterfeiting mechanisms such as RFID tags and holographic labels [2], [6]. Each physical product connects to a unique NFT, creating a secure digital twin on a private blockchain network [3], [8]. This setup ensures traceability, verifies authenticity, and keeps transaction records safe from tampering [1], [5].. The proposed system includes a new Supply Chain Consensus (SCC) algorithm, designed specifically for supply chains. It classifies nodes by trust and stake to allow for efficient and scalable transaction validation. Also, a collateral-based incentive mechanism encourages honest participation among all involved, including manufacturers, transporters, buyers, and arbitrators [7]. Furthermore, a decentralized dispute resolution model features a transparent voting process that ensures fairness and accountability during conflicts [8]. A conceptual framework and simulation-based analysis were carried out to assess the system's performance in terms of transaction efficiency, security, and counterfeit reduction [1], [5]. The findings show that this approach significantly boosts supply chain transparency, lowers verification costs, and improves product authentication compared to traditional centralized systems [4]. This framework provides a scalable and secure solution for the next generation of supply chains, particularly in sectors like pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, and electronics. Keywords: Blockchain, Smart Supply Chain, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Anti-Counterfeiting, Digital Twin, RFID, Smart Contracts, Supply Chain Security.
How users adapt after being sandwiched remains unclear; this paper provides an empirical quantification. Using transaction level data from November 2024 to February 2025, enriched with mempool visibility and ZeroMEV labels, we track user outcomes after their n-th public sandwich: (i) reactivation, i.e., the resumption of on-chain activity within a 60-day window, and (ii) first-time adoption of private routing. We refer to users who do not reactivate within this window as churned, and to users experiencing multiple attacks (n>1) as undergoing repeated exposure. Our analysis reveals measurable behavioral adaptation: around 40% of victims migrate to private routing within 60 days, rising to 54% with repeated exposures. Churn peaks at 7.5% after the first sandwich but declines to 1-2%, consistent with survivor bias. In Nov-Dec 2024 we confirm 2,932 private sandwich attacks affecting 3,126 private victim transactions, producing \$409,236 in losses and \$293,786 in attacker profits. A single bot accounts for nearly two-thirds of private frontruns, and private sandwich activity is heavily concentrated on a small set of DEX pools. These results highlight that private routing does not guarantee protection from MEV extraction: while execution failures push users toward private channels, these remain exploitable and highly concentrated, demanding continuous monitoring and protocol-level defenses.
Blockchain technology, lauded for its transparent and immutable nature, introduces a novel trust model. However, its decentralized structure raises concerns about potential inclusion of malicious or illegal content. This study focuses on Ethereum, presenting a data identification and restoration algorithm. Successfully recovering 175 common files, 296 images, and 91,206 texts, we employed the FastText algorithm for sentiment analysis, achieving a 0.9 accuracy after parameter tuning. Classification revealed 70,189 neutral, 5,208 positive, and 15,810 negative texts, aiding in identifying sensitive or illicit information. Leveraging the NSFWJS library, we detected seven indecent images with 100% accuracy. Our findings expose the coexistence of benign and harmful content on the Ethereum blockchain, including personal data, explicit images, divisive language, and racial discrimination. Notably, sensitive information targeted Chinese government officials. Proposing preventative measures, our study offers valuable insights for public comprehension of blockchain technology and regulatory agency guidance. The algorithms employed present innovative solutions to address blockchain data privacy and security concerns.
Blockchain technology is transforming real estate with its transparency and security. Its decentralized, immutable ledger ensures all transaction records are tamper-proof and visible. This paper addresses a critical flaw in the traditional market: fragmented systems that often overlook approvals from inspectors and lenders. By leveraging the Ethereum blockchain and its smart contracts, Block realty automates agreements, eliminating intermediaries and enhancing efficiency. The paper utilizes the ERC-721 standard to tokenize real estate assets, converting properties into unique digital tokens. This fundamentally changes asset management, enhancing market liquidity and global accessibility. A key feature is a comprehensive three-step approval process, ensuring all stakeholders-buyers, lenders, inspectors, and sellers are actively engaged. Each party's approval is immutably recorded on the blockchain, creating a verifiable chain of custody that boosts transaction integrity. The use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) also facilitates fractional ownership, allowing multiple investors to jointly own a single property. This democratizes real estate investment by lowering the barrier to entry. For data management and cost optimization, Blockrealty integrates the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS), a decentralized storage protocol for securely housing property images and metadata. Additionally, seamless Metamask integration provides a user-friendly interface. Looking ahead, upcoming Ethereum advancements like the Pectra upgrade are poised to enhance Ethereum's scalability and efficiency, further strengthening the foundation for platforms like Blockrealty by enabling them to handle transactions more effectively and reliably.
The development of web technology from Web 1.0 to Web 5.0 has revolutionized the way humans interact digitally, influencing identity, autonomy, employment, government, education, and culture. The modern web is now intelligent, contextual, and emotional, powered by AI, IoT, blockchain, and quantum computing. Digital identities are evolving towards decentralized models such as Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), while governance is beginning to implement Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). The world of work is changing through the gig economy and the token economy, although it comes with challenges in the form of digital divides and algorithmic manipulation. Education and cultural preservation are also digitized through adaptive learning and immersive technology. With this great opportunity also arises the issue of ethics, digital rights, and the need for inclusive and visionary policies. The web of the future must be not only smart, but also fair, ethical, and humane.
The decentralization of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to local administrative organizations is a critical policy initiative in Thailand aimed at enhancing service responsiveness and community participation. This study applied a prospective Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to identify positive and negative health impacts of EMS decentralization in Chonburi Province and develop evidence-based policy recommendations to guide the transition from the Ministry of Public Health to local governance. A mixed-methods approach was designed based on the six-step HIA framework. The study involved 562 participants, including EMS providers, recipients, and policymakers. Qualitative participants were selected through purposive sampling for interviews and focus groups, and quantitative participants through stratified random sampling for surveys. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed, and quantitative data were analyzed descriptively. Findings revealed both positive and negative impacts across four pre-hospital care activity domains (dispatch, incident response, referral, and administrative management) and four dimensions of well-being (physical, mental, social, and spiritual). Positive impacts included improved responsiveness, collaboration, and staff motivation, while negative impacts involved personnel shortages, communication gaps, and limited budgets. The derived policy recommendations emphasize structured workforce planning, upgraded communication systems, sustainable financing, and participatory monitoring to strengthen decentralized EMS. The use of HIA provided a systematic and participatory process that translated empirical evidence into actionable policy guidance for health service decentralization in Thailand and similar contexts.
Jiahao Li, Qiang Liu, Ray C.C. CHEUNG, Zhaohui Guo
Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) has been widely applied in fields such as blockchain and privacy-preserving computing. However, the proof generation process remains computationally complex and time-consuming, which limits its further applications. Various schemes have been proposed to optimize the underlying modular operations with dedicated hardware support, but existing schemes still face low-efficiency problems. To address the problems, we propose an efficient Barrett modular multiplier design, especially for ZKP. Evaluation on a Xilinx XCVU9P FPGA shows that, compared to two existing pipelined designs, the proposed design improves throughput per slice by up to 20.4% and 49.6%, respectively, and achieves an $8.6 \times$ improvement over an existing non-pipelined design.
Blockchain technology has emerged as one of the most transformative innovations of the 21st century, fundamentally reshaping how digital transactions are recorded, verified, and secured across distributed networks without centralized intermediaries. Originally conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as the underlying architecture for Bitcoin, blockchain has evolved far beyond cryptocurrency applications to encompass smart contracts, decentralized finance, supply chain management, healthcare systems, and enterprise solutions. This comprehensive review provides an accessible yet thorough examination of blockchain technology, targeting readers from beginner to intermediate levels seeking to understand both theoretical foundations and practical implementations. We systematically explore the foundational principles of blockchain architecture, including distributed ledger technology, block structure and chain formation, Merkle tree organization, and peer-to-peer network topologies. The paper provides in-depth analysis of cryptographic primitives including hash functions, public-key cryptography, elliptic curve digital signatures, and emerging quantum-resistant approaches. We examine diverse consensus mechanisms ranging from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake variants, Byzantine fault tolerance protocols, and hybrid approaches, analyzing their trade-offs in security, decentralization, and performance. The review extensively covers smart contract platforms with emphasis on Ethereum's architecture, vulnerability patterns, and security best practices. Critical scalability challenges are addressed through examination of layer-two solutions including Lightning Network, state channels, rollups, and sharding protocols. We analyze security threats across network, consensus, and application layers, alongside privacy-enhancing technologies such as zeroknowledge proofs and confidential transactions. Real-world applications are explored across financial services, supply chain management, healthcare, Internet of Things, and digital identity systems. The paper examines enterprise blockchain frameworks, particularly Hyperledger Fabric's permissioned architecture, comparing public and private blockchain tradeoffs. Finally, we discuss current challenges including energy consumption, regulatory uncertainty, and interoperability limitations, while exploring future research directions in quantum resistance and cross-chain protocols. By synthesizing insights from 75 peer-reviewed sources spanning foundational research, recent advances, and practical implementations, this review serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers, practitioners, and students seeking to understand blockchain technology's current state and transformative potential.
C. Selvan, M. A. Gunavathie, Sini Anna Alex, Shaik Jaffar Hussain
ABSTRACT Appropriate routing strategies are necessary for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) in order to facilitate effective data transfer. In order to counter the prevailing problems, the correct routing schemes will need to be selected as the default configurations are used. In this paper, a special optimal link state routing (OLSR) protocol is proposed to incorporate a deep learning methodology to facilitate efficient video streaming in MANETs. This study presents a new improved variant of the OLSR protocol, which is specially tailored to achieve efficient video streaming in MANETs. It is a radical approach that combines a deepâlearning model with blockchain technology to overcome security and reliability issues. It starts with the gathering of video content that is available publicly. In order to detect blackâhole nodes, a special twinâattentionâbased Elman spiking neural network model is applied. The reliability of the neighboring nodes is then measured by means of trust values. The pufferfish optimization algorithm, or the accuracyâaware energyâefficient multipath routing algorithm (AEMRAP), which takes into account nodeâ and linkâstability degrees, is used in making routing decisions. Interplanetary file system (IPFS) technology is used to store the data on blockchain and increase its security. The authentication of the blockchain architecture is conducted via the delegated proofâofâstake (DPoS) method that also delivers an extra protection of MANETs against unauthorized access. The study demonstrates superior performance in securing and optimizing video transmission, confirming that the extended OLSR protocol is highly effective for MANET video streaming applications. The proposed model exceeds the current approaches with a throughput of 2100 Kbps, an average end latency of 20.2 s, and a packetâdelivery ratio of 92.3%.
Syifa Maulida Akmalia, Kodrat Mahatma, Gusti Muhamad Sardana
In today's digital economy, the web has transcended its original role as a communication medium to become a foundational infrastructure for digital transformation. This chapter examines the strategic role of web technologies in enabling scalable, agile, and interoperable systems that support innovation across sectors. It integrates conceptual insights with real-world case studies in government, retail, education, and healthcare to illustrate how the web empowers organizations to enhance customer experience, streamline operations, and enable rapid prototyping. The discussion covers core web technologiesâcloud platforms, APIs, frontend frameworks, and backend architecturesâand future trends including Web3 and Web 5.0. It also addresses challenges such as legacy integration, cybersecurity, and digital inequality, offering frameworks such as digital maturity models and agile-DevOps approaches for mitigation. By aligning web capabilities with organizational strategy, institutions can create resilient, user-centered ecosystems essential for long-term competitiveness in a connected world.
Son Van Nguyen, Le Hong Ha Anh, Chu Hai Ha, Hieu M. Nguyen · 5 authors
Blockchain technology has emerged as a ground-breaking trend in recent years, with the potential to drive global economic growth by shifting business models from human-based trust to technology-based trust. The core features of Blockchain, including transparency, high security, and fraud resistance, have been widely applied across many sectors. However, one of the greatest challenges in the digital economy is the validation of ownership, protection of copyright, and monetization of digital assets. This study focuses on solving this problem by providing an in-depth analysis of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)âa specialized application of Blockchain. Through synthesis and analysis, this paper proposes a strategic framework using NFTs to enable businesses and creators to digitize, authenticate, and monetize their assets, particularly through an automated royalty mechanism.
Alejandro Ranchal-Pedrosa, Benjamin Marsh, Lefteris Kokoris-Kogias, Alberto Sonnino
Modern blockchains increasingly adopt multi-proposer (MCP) consensus to remove single-leader bottlenecks and improve censorship resistance. However, MCP alone does not resolve how users should disseminate transactions to proposers. Today, users either naively replicate full transactions to many proposers, sacrificing goodput and exposing payloads to MEV, or target few proposers and accept weak censorship and latency guarantees. This yields a practical trilemma among censorship resistance, low latency, and reasonable cost (in fees or system goodput). We present Sedna, a user-facing protocol that replaces naive transaction replication with verifiable, rateless coding. Users privately deliver addressed symbol bundles to subsets of proposers; execution follows a deterministic order once enough symbols are finalized to decode. We prove Sedna guarantees liveness and \emph{until-decode privacy}, significantly reducing MEV exposure. Analytically, the protocol approaches the information-theoretic lower bound for bandwidth overhead, yielding a 2-3x efficiency improvement over naive replication. Sedna requires no consensus modifications, enabling incremental deployment.
We describe the Lockchain Protocol, a lightweight Bitcoin meta-protocol that enables highly efficient transaction discovery at zero marginal block space cost, and data verification without introducing any new on-chain storage mechanism. The protocol repurposes the mandatory 4-byte nLockTime field of every Bitcoin transaction as a compact metadata header. By constraining values to an unused range of past Unix timestamps greater than or equal to 500,000,000, the field can encode a protocol signal, type, variant, and sequence identifier while remaining fully valid under Bitcoin consensus and policy rules. The primary contribution of the protocol is an efficient discovery layer. Indexers can filter candidate transactions by examining a fixed-size header field, independent of transaction payload size, and only then selectively inspect heavier data such as OP RETURN outputs or witness fields. The Lockchain Protocol applies established protocol design patterns to an under-optimised problem domain, namely transaction discovery at scale, and does not claim new cryptographic primitives or storage methods.
Diodato Ferraioli, Paolo Penna, Manvir Schneider, Carmine Ventre
A central challenge in blockchain tokenomics is aligning short-term performance incentives with long-term decentralization goals. We propose a framework for algorithmic monetary policies that navigates this tradeoff in repeated participation games. Agents, characterized by type (capability) and stake, choose to participate or abstain at each round; the policy (probabilistically) selects high-type agents for task execution (maximizing throughput) while distributing rewards to sustain decentralization. We analyze equilibria under two agent behaviors: myopic (short-term utility maximization) and foresighted (multi-round planning). For myopic agents, performance-centric policies risk centralization, but foresight enables stable decentralization with some volatility to the token value. We further discuss virtual stake--a hybrid of type and stake--as an alternative approach. We show that the initial virtual stake distribution critically impacts long-term outcomes, suggesting that policies must indirectly manage decentralization.
Romance-baiting scams have become a major source of financial and emotional harm worldwide. These operations are run by organized crime syndicates that traffic thousands of people into forced labor, requiring them to build emotional intimacy with victims over weeks of text conversations before pressuring them into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments. Because the scams are inherently text-based, they raise urgent questions about the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in both current and future automation. We investigate this intersection by interviewing 145 insiders and 5 scam victims, performing a blinded long-term conversation study comparing LLM scam agents to human operators, and executing an evaluation of commercial safety filters. Our findings show that LLMs are already widely deployed within scam organizations, with 87% of scam labor consisting of systematized conversational tasks readily susceptible to automation. In a week-long study, an LLM agent not only elicited greater trust from study participants (p=0.007) but also achieved higher compliance with requests than human operators (46% vs. 18% for humans). Meanwhile, popular safety filters detected 0.0% of romance baiting dialogues. Together, these results suggest that romance-baiting scams may be amenable to full-scale LLM automation, while existing defenses remain inadequate to prevent their expansion.
Ushbu maqolada blokcheyn texnologiyasining kelib chiqisht ishlash mexanizmi, kriptografik asoslari va real sektor uchun taqdim etayotgan ustunliklari yoritilgan shuningdek, blokcheynning tranzaksiyalarni tasdiqlash jarayoni, minerlarning vazifalari hamda xesh funksiyalari orqali ta'minlanadigan xavfsizlik mexanizmlari ko'rib chiqiladi. Maqolada pul o'tkazmalari misolida blokcheynning an'anaviy tizimlardan ustun jihatlari tahlil qilinadi va turli sohalarda qo'llanilishiga doir amalty misollar keltiriladi
In an age where the lines between finance and technology blur into an opus of digital evolution, The VDA & Crypto Convergence: Charting the Operational Pulse of the Global Crypto Exchange Ecosystem in 2025 dissects the metamorphosis of Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and crypto exchanges from experimental ventures to regulated pillars of modern finance. The study unveils 2025 as a watershed year- a "regulated renaissance"- where legislation such as the U.S. GENIUS Act, EU's MiCA, and Hong Kong's Stablecoin Ordinance transformed ambiguity into architecture. It examines how hybrid exchanges-the ingenious offspring of centralized speed and decentralized autonomy- symbolize the era?s financial duality, while AI-driven intelligence and tokenization redefine market participation and asset fluidity. Through the interplay of law, technology, and trust, this paper illuminates a future where the crypto economy ceases to be an outlier and becomes the central nervous system of global finance, balancing regulation and innovation like twin sails steering the same vessel through uncharted digital waters.
This comparative study investigates Chinaâs policy reform waves alongside global education trends, analyzing 334 central-level policy documents published by the National Peopleâs Congress, State Council, and Ministry of Education between 1979 and 2023. The study identifies three waves: enhancing access (1979â1990), improving quality and accountability (1991â2010), and enforcing equity (2011â2023). Even though the decentralization of finance and administration of education led, a few years later, to equity and quality concerns, several key differences to global reform trends remained: decentralization did not lead to deregulation; outcomes-based regulation complemented but did not replace input-based regulation; equity remained central, especially in the final reform wave.