In this study, the Web3-based metaverse game platform promotes a user-centered creator economy and has an important influence on NFT value and user experience. The effectiveness of creating finished and modular game assets was compared and analyzed for The Sandbox. A research model was designed in which the quality of use of ISO/IEC 25010 was set as an independent variable and the parameters and dependent variables of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM). A group of 20 experts were verified by the Delphi technique and performed an empirical analysis. The modular asset increased the intention to continue using by enhancing the perceived ease of use compared to the completed type. This suggests that the modular asset contributes to the revitalization of the NFT-based economy in the Web3 metaverse environment.
There have existed transaction and connection difficulties between Web 2.0 and Web3 for a long time. Seamless Web3 has played a significant role to reduce the complexity of Web3 and the gap between Web2.0 and Web3. We propose a seamless Web3 based decentralized application (DApp) for non-fungible token (NFT) purchase by using credit cards. The proposed seamless Web3 DApp has been tested in an iOS system and shows positive results. The main goal is to connect Web 2.0 users purchase and store NFT within the DApp, without interacting with the complicated blockchain ecosystem such a wallet address, cryptocurrency or a crypto exchange account.
Amal Yousseef, Shalaka Satam, Banafsheh Saber Latibari, Mai Abdel-Malek · 6 authors
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) rely on pervasive connectivity to enable cooperative and safety-critical applications, but this connectivity also exposes them to a wide range of cybersecurity threats. Existing perimeter-based security and centralized identity management approaches are inadequate for highly dynamic V2X environments, as they depend on implicit trust and suffer from scalability and single-point-of-failure limitations. This paper proposes D-IM, a Zero Trust-based decentralized identity management and authentication framework for secure V2X communication. D-IM integrates continuous verification with a permissioned blockchain to eliminate centralized trust assumptions and enforce explicit, verifiable identity relationships among vehicles and infrastructure. The framework is designed around clear Zero Trust-aligned goals, including mutual authentication, decentralization, privacy protection, non-repudiation, and traceability, and addresses a comprehensive attacker model covering identity, data integrity, collusion, availability, and accountability threats. We present the D-IM system architecture and identification and authorization protocol, and validate its security properties through both qualitative analysis and a formal BAN logic-based verification. Simulation results in urban and highway scenarios using DSRC and C-V2X demonstrate that D-IM introduces limited overhead while preserving network performance, supporting its practicality for real-world AV deployments.
Collaborative and distributed learning techniques, such as Federated Learning (FL) and Split Learning (SL), hold significant promise for leveraging sensitive data in privacy-critical domains. However, FL and SL suffer from key limitations -- FL imposes substantial computational demands on clients, while SL leads to prolonged training times. To overcome these challenges, SplitFed Learning (SFL) was introduced as a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of FL and SL. Despite its advantages, SFL inherits scalability, performance, and security issues from SL. In this paper, we propose two novel frameworks: Sharded SplitFed Learning (SSFL) and Blockchain-enabled SplitFed Learning (BSFL). SSFL addresses the scalability and performance constraints of SFL by distributing the workload and communication overhead of the SL server across multiple parallel shards. Building upon SSFL, BSFL replaces the centralized server with a blockchain-based architecture that employs a committee-driven consensus mechanism to enhance fairness and security. BSFL incorporates an evaluation mechanism to exclude poisoned or tampered model updates, thereby mitigating data poisoning and model integrity attacks. Experimental evaluations against baseline SL and SFL approaches show that SSFL improves performance and scalability by 31.2% and 85.2%, respectively. Furthermore, BSFL increases resilience to data poisoning attacks by 62.7% while maintaining superior performance under normal operating conditions. To the best of our knowledge, BSFL is the first blockchain-enabled framework to implement an end-to-end decentralized SplitFed Learning system.
Blockchain technology has spawned a vast ecosystem of digital currencies with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) -- digital forms of fiat currency -- being one of them. An important feature of digital currencies is facilitating transactions without network connectivity, which can enhance the scalability of cryptocurrencies and the privacy of CBDC users. However, in the case of CBDCs, this characteristic also introduces new regulatory challenges, particularly when it comes to applying established Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks. This paper introduces a prototype for offline digital currency payments, equally applicable to cryptocurrencies and CBDCs, that leverages Secure Elements and digital credentials to address the tension of offline payment support with regulatory compliance. Performance evaluation results suggest that the prototype can be flexibly adapted to different regulatory environments, with a transaction latency comparable to real-life commercial payment systems. Furthermore, we conceptualize how the integration of Zero-Knowledge Proofs into our design could accommodate various tiers of enhanced privacy protection.
Several recent proposals implicitly or explicitly suggest making use of randomized transaction ordering within a block to mitigate centralization effects and to improve fairness in the Ethereum ecosystem. However, transactions and blocks are subject to gas limits and protocol rules. In a randomized transaction order, the behavior of transactions may change depending on other transactions in the same block, leading to invalid blocks and varying gas consumptions. In this paper, we quantify and characterize protocol violations, execution errors and deviations in gas consumption of blocks and transactions to examine technical deployability. For that, we permute and execute the transactions of over 335,000 Ethereum Mainnet blocks multiple times. About 22% of block permutations are invalid due to protocol violations caused by privately mined transactions or blocks close to their gas limit. Also, almost all transactions which show execution errors under permutation but not in the original order are privately mined transactions. Only 6% of transactions show deviations in gas consumption and 98% of block permutations deviate at most 10% from their original gas consumption. From a technical perspective, these results suggest that randomized transaction ordering may be feasible if transaction selection is handled carefully.
We formulate the design of a threshold signature scheme as made possible on cryptocurrency protocols like Bitcoin. The funds are secured by an m-of-n threshold signature, where at least m signatures are needed to unlock the funds. A user designs this scheme knowing that a malicious attacker can also obtain the signatures with some probability. Higher thresholds offer more security, but also risk locking the user out of his own funds. The optimal threshold balances these twin effects. Interventions like increasing the security or usability of the signatures allow for higher thresholds. We model dynamic threshold signature schemes, where the probability of a user or attacker obtaining signatures decays with time. A dynamic threshold signature scheme is optimal, and increasing security or usability allows for higher thresholds and longer time locks.
Multicriteria decision-making methods exhibit critical dependence on the choice of normalization techniques, where different selections can alter 20-40% of the final rankings. Current practice is characterized by the ad-hoc selection of methods without systematic robustness evaluation. We present a framework that addresses this methodological sensitivity through automated exploration of the scaling transformation space. The implementation leverages the existing Scikit-Criteria infrastructure to automatically generate all possible methodological combinations and provide robust comparative analysis.We apply this approach in an evaluation dataset of cryptocurrencies with 6 methodological scenarios, showing a range of correlation between methods, explicitly quantifying the methodological sensitivity limits.
Bruno Mazorra, Burak Öz, Christoph Schlegel, Fei Wu
Ethereum's upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade introduces EIP-7732 enshrined Proposer--Builder Separation (ePBS), which improves the block production pipeline by addressing trust and scalability challenges. Yet it also creates a new liveness risk: builders gain a short-dated ``free'' option to prevent the execution payload they committed to from becoming canonical, without incurring an additional penalty. Exercising this option renders an empty block for the slot in question, thereby degrading network liveness. We present the first systematic study of the free option problem. Our theoretical results predict that option value and exercise probability grow with market volatility, the length of the option window, and the share of block value derived from external signals such as external market prices. The availability of a free option will lead to mispricing and LP losses. The problem would be exacerbated if Ethereum further scales and attracts more liquidity. Empirical estimates of values and exercise probabilities on historical blocks largely confirm our theoretical predictions. While the option is rarely profitable to exercise on average (0.82\% of blocks assuming an 8-second option time window), it becomes significant in volatile periods, reaching up to 6\% of blocks on high-volatility days -- precisely when users most require timely execution. Moreover, builders whose block value relies heavily on CEX-DEX arbitrage are more likely to exercise the option. We demonstrate that mitigation strategies -- shortening the option window or penalizing exercised options -- effectively reduce liveness risk.
Adam Zahir, Milan Groshev, Carlos J. Bernardos, Antonio de la Oliva
Edge computingbrings computation near end users, enabling the provisioning of novel use cases. To satisfy end-user requirements, the concept ofedge federationhas recently emerged as a key mechanism for dynamic resources and services sharing across edge systems managed by different administrative domains. However, existing federation solutions often rely on pre-established agreements and face significant limitations, including operational complexity, delays caused by manual operations, high overhead costs, and dependence on trusted third parties. In this context, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) such asblockchaincan create dynamic federation agreements that enable service providers to securely interact and share services without prior trust. This article first describes the problem of edge federation, using the standardized ETSImulti-access edge computing (MEC)framework as a reference architecture, and how it is being addressed. Then, it proposes a novel solution usingblockchainandsmart contractsto enable distributed MEC systems to dynamically negotiate and execute federation in a secure, automated, and scalable manner. We validate our framework’s feasibility through a performance evaluation using a private Ethereum blockchain, built on the open-source Hyperledger Besu platform. The testbed includes a large number of MEC systems and compares two blockchain consensus algorithms. Experimental results demonstrate that our solution automates the entire federation lifecycle-from negotiation to deployment–with a quantifiable overhead, achieving federation in approximately 18 seconds in a baseline scenario. The framework scales efficiently in concurrent request scenarios, where multiple MEC systems initiate federation requests simultaneously. This approach provides a promising direction for addressing the complexities of dynamic, multi-domain federations across the edge-to-cloud continuum.
While LLM-based specification generation is gaining traction, existing tools primarily focus on mainstream programming languages like C, Java, and even Solidity, leaving emerging and yet verification-oriented languages like Move underexplored. In this paper, we introduce MSG, an automated specification generation tool designed for Move smart contracts. MSG aims to highlight key insights that uniquely present when applying LLM-based specification generation to a new ecosystem. Specifically, MSG demonstrates that LLMs exhibit robust code comprehension and generation capabilities even for non-mainstream languages. MSG successfully generates verifiable specifications for 84% of tested Move functions and even identifies clauses previously overlooked by experts. Additionally, MSG shows that explicitly leveraging specification language features through an agentic, modular design improves specification quality substantially (generating 57% more verifiable clauses than conventional designs). Incorporating feedback from the verification toolchain further enhances the effectiveness of MSG, leading to a 30% increase in generated verifiable specifications.
Yury Yanovich, Victoria Kovalevskaya, Maksim Egorov, Elizaveta Smirnova · 9 authors
The Open Network (TON) blockchain employs an asynchronous execution model that introduces unique security challenges for smart contracts. A primary concern is race conditions arising from unpredictable message processing order. While previous work established vulnerability patterns through static analysis of audit reports, dynamic detection of temporal dependencies through systematic testing remains an open problem. This study proposes a dynamic evaluation methodology based on controlled message orchestration to systematically expose vulnerabilities in asynchronous smart contracts. By synthesizing precise message queue manipulation with differential state analysis and probabilistic permutation testing, we establish a framework (namely, BugMagnifier) for identifying execution flaws that static methods miss. Experimental evaluation demonstrates BugMagnifier's effectiveness through extensive parametric studies on purpose-built vulnerable contracts and five real-world vulnerability cases reproduced from recent security audits. Results reveal message ratio-dependent detection complexity that aligns with theoretical predictions. This quantitative model enables predictive vulnerability assessment while shifting discovery from manual expert analysis to automated evidence generation. By providing reproducible test scenarios for temporal vulnerabilities, BugMagnifier addresses a critical gap in the TON security tooling, offering practical support for safer smart contract development in asynchronous blockchain environments.
This chapter examines the jurisdiction and applicable law issues that arise in NFT-related contractual disputes under EU private international law rules, namely the Brussels I (recast) Regulation and the Rome I Regulation. It begins by analysing the key characteristics of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) from a private international law perspective, including decentralisation, pseudonymity, and immutability. The analysis shows that these characteristics, in particular decentralisation and pseudonymity, pose challenges to the current territoriality-based PIL framework. The chapter then discusses how to determine the international nature of digital ledger transactions. It argues that NFT transactions often have objective international elements that do not require courts to presume internationality simply because the transactions utilize DLTs. The chapter then turns to jurisdiction and applicable law issues in NFT-related contractual disputes under the Brussels I (recast) and Rome I regulations. It examines the different types of contracts that may arise in the NFT ecosystem. The analysis demonstrates that NFT-related contractual disputes may not present a significant challenge for the application of EU private international law rules when the parties’ agreement includes jurisdiction and/or choice of law clauses. Where no such choices are made, however, the discrepancy between the decentralised, pseudonymous nature of digital ledgers and the territorial connecting factors in EU private international law rules will create difficulties for the courts. Courts may also face problems of characterisation when applying those PIL rules that cover specific kinds of contracts. As the chapter argues, these potential challenges highlight the need for a broad, flexible interpretation of the rules in light of the specific characteristics of DLTs and of digital assets (including NFTs). The chapter concludes by noting that such difficulties may eventually lead the EU legislature to introduce specific rules for DLTs that would cover digital assets including NFTs, but not before the first cases reach member-state courts or the CJEU.
In recent years, decentralization and regional governance reforms have become a key priority for many countries to promote sustainable territorial development. In Morocco, the 2011 Constitution introduced advanced regionalization, granting regional governments greater autonomy and responsibilities in financing and managing local development. However, more than a decade later, questions remain about the financial performance of these regions and their capacity to mobilize and manage resources effectively. This paper aims to assess the financial performance of Moroccan regions through a case study approach. It examines regional revenue structures, expenditure patterns, fiscal autonomy, and investment capacity to evaluate the alignment between financial capabilities and the objectives of advanced regionalization. Relying on data from official sources, this study aims to provide an analytical overview of regional financial capabilities within the framework of advanced regionalization, contributes to the discussion on regional finance and governance in Morocco and formulates policy-oriented insights to support more effective and sustainable territorial development.
The article examines the legal mechanism for regulating the circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine and the regulatory and legal support for countering illegal activities with various types of cryptocurrencies. The provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Virtual Assets”, amendments and additions to civil legislation in terms of introducing the concept of “digital thing” are analyzed. It is proven that the provisions of the European Regulation “Markets in Crypto-Assets” (“MiCA”) are essential for the legal regulation of the circulation of virtual assets and countering illegal activities with them. The classification of virtual assets contained in the European Regulation “MiCA” is disclosed in order to understand the essence of various types of cryptocurrencies. The peculiarities of the circulation of such crypto-assets as Bitcoin, Ethereum are disclosed and noted; the concepts of “blockchain”, “validator”, “service token”, “crypto-asset issuer”, etc. are investigated. The role of a number of state bodies in countering the illegal circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine is highlighted. It is argued that the coordination of analytical work and the detection of risky transactions is provided by the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine. It is substantiated that the detection of criminal schemes and ensuring the prosecution of those guilty of offenses with virtual assets is entrusted to the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Economic Security, and the Prosecutor’s Office. Such bodies as the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine form a regulatory framework that should prevent the use of crypto-assets for illegal purposes. It is established that countering the illegal circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine is carried out both through preventive measures, analytical work and improvement of the regulatory and legal framework, and through operational-search and criminal-law jurisdiction. This comprehensive model allows responding to the latest challenges, in particular, the use of decentralized finance, anonymous technologies, and cross-border schemes for the illegal circulation of virtual assets.
Abstract The rise of decentralized technologies introduces challenges in fairness, efficiency, and scalability within distributed ledger protocols. The Internet of Things Applications (IOTA) Tangle, a directed acyclic graph (DAG)-based structure, addresses these challenges by enabling scalable, feeless transactions for IoT applications. This study presents a novel Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP)-based Tip Selection Algorithm (TSA) to optimize fairness in the IOTA Tangle. The proposed TSA reduces orphaned transactions to as low as 0.003% and eliminates lazy tip selection under medium network loads. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the POMDP-based TSA confirms up to 107 transactions at optimal lambda values, outperforming existing algorithms like Weighted TSA by 328% in efficiency. This algorithm offers significant scalability, fairness, and adaptability, making it a robust solution for IoT-based decentralized applications. These findings advance DAG-based distributed ledger systems by addressing orphaned transactions and lazy behavior, ensuring secure and efficient operations under diverse network conditions.
The accelerating biodiversity crisis has prompted a paradigm shift in the financial sector, where integrating nature into financial risk assessment is becoming increasingly vital. This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to explore the intellectual landscape of biodiversity finance, focusing on how biodiversity is being incorporated into financial theory, investment practices, and sustainability governance. Using the Scopus database and VOSviewer software, the study analyzes co-occurrence networks, temporal trends, density visualizations, and collaboration patterns among authors, institutions, and countries. The findings reveal that “biodiversity,” “finance,” and “sustainable finance” serve as conceptual anchors, while emerging themes such as “decentralized finance,” “green bonds,” and “ESG” indicate growing innovation in the field. The United Kingdom and United States lead global collaborations, with strong linkages to European and Asian institutions. This research contributes theoretically by clarifying the field’s multidimensional evolution and practically by identifying knowledge gaps and strategic entry points for policy, investment, and academic advancement. Limitations include database coverage and lack of qualitative content analysis, suggesting future research directions. Overall, the study underscores the critical role of interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing biodiversity-aligned financial systems.
Open access
Environmental Conservation and Management
Forest Management and Policy
Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
NFTs are intrinsically dependent on blockchain technologies. Their main function is to represent underlying tangible or intangible assets and their value. NFTs have also been designed and developed to create new tradable items and to generate a new market. Trading NFTs is therefore one of the major objectives within this new market, mainly in marketplaces connected to the relevant blockchains. On blockchains, the usual tools to perform transactions are the so-called smart contracts. NFTs are programmed using smart contracts, and transactions on NFTs are generally performed through smart contracts. This electronic process confirms the authenticity of the NFT, timestamps the transaction, and keeps track of the NFT’s successive owners. NFTs’ eco-environment is therefore the world of digital technologies, first and foremost blockchain technologies (including their cryptocurrencies) and smart contracts. This chapter will provide a legal analysis of blockchain technologies, smart contracts and NFTs and how these different technologies relate to each other from a technical and a legal perspective. It will show how the growing importance of virtual environments and marketplaces makes it crucial to address the legal issues raised by transactions on NFTs. Indeed, while there can be many interesting economic opportunities and legal innovations around NFTs, there is still confusion about how the law should frame this new business. There are also certainly risks lying ahead.
The article examines the legal mechanism for regulating the circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine and the regulatory and legal support for countering illegal activities with various types of cryptocurrencies. The provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Virtual Assets”, amendments and additions to civil legislation in terms of introducing the concept of “digital thing” are analyzed. It is proven that the provisions of the European Regulation “Markets in Crypto-Assets” (“MiCA”) are essential for the legal regulation of the circulation of virtual assets and countering illegal activities with them. The classification of virtual assets contained in the European Regulation “MiCA” is disclosed in order to understand the essence of various types of cryptocurrencies. The peculiarities of the circulation of such crypto-assets as Bitcoin, Ethereum are disclosed and noted; the concepts of “blockchain”, “validator”, “service token”, “crypto-asset issuer”, etc. are investigated. The role of a number of state bodies in countering the illegal circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine is highlighted. It is argued that the coordination of analytical work and the detection of risky transactions is provided by the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine. It is substantiated that the detection of criminal schemes and ensuring the prosecution of those guilty of offenses with virtual assets is entrusted to the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Economic Security, and the Prosecutor’s Office. Such bodies as the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine form a regulatory framework that should prevent the use of crypto-assets for illegal purposes. It is established that countering the illegal circulation of virtual assets in Ukraine is carried out both through preventive measures, analytical work and improvement of the regulatory and legal framework, and through operational-search and criminal-law jurisdiction. This comprehensive model allows responding to the latest challenges, in particular, the use of decentralized finance, anonymous technologies, and cross-border schemes for the illegal circulation of virtual assets.
The appeal of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is predominantly linked to the surge in cryptocurrency markets. While much of the academic discourse around NFTs and intellectual property rights has revolved around copyrights, there is a notable shift towards also examining industrial property rights such as trademarks and patents which has l received a lesser focus. NFTs are unique digital identifiers secured on blockchain technology, which facilitates ownership verification and transfer. The decentralised security, transferability and governance inherent in NFTs can make NFTs attractive to trademark and patent holders. However, this decentralisation also introduces challenges, particularly concerning rights infringement. It produces complexity in the enforcement of trademark rights as the unauthorised minting of NFTs can occur without the consent of brand owners, which can lead to confusion about the source of goods. This chapter gives a brief overview of many landmark cases, such as Hermès International v. Rothschild and Nike Inc. v. StockX LLC ; Yuga Labs. v. Ryder Ripp ; and the Juventus case, all of which have illustrated the legal complexities surrounding the NFT-related trademark disputes. The key consideration is the need for existing trademark frameworks for adapting the characteristics of NFTs for managing infringements. The chapter then analyses how NFTs present opportunities for monetising patent assets. While they can promote transparency and liquidity, tokenising patents also complicates and raises concerns of privacy and how they will be recorded at IP offices. The chapter also focuses on NFTs issues associated with patentability subject matter, novelty, non-obviousness, inventorship and ownership.
This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the academic literature surrounding digital wallets and crypto payment systems, two pivotal components of the evolving FinTech landscape. By utilizing data from the Scopus database and visualizing it through VOSviewer, the study maps co-occurrence of keywords, co-authorship networks, institutional collaboration, and country-level partnerships. Findings reveal that blockchain technology serves as the central anchor of research, connecting diverse themes such as smart contracts, authentication, digital assets, and decentralized finance (DeFi). Temporal analyses show a progression from foundational infrastructure studies to more application-driven topics like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto wallets. Co-authorship and collaboration networks highlight key contributors and regions, with India, the United States, and select European countries leading scholarly production and partnerships. The study provides theoretical contributions by identifying core research clusters and emerging themes, while offering practical implications for regulators, developers, and financial service providers aiming to integrate digital and crypto payment solutions. Limitations include database scope and the inherent constraints of bibliometric methods, suggesting avenues for future mixed-method or qualitative enrichment.
The rapid evolution of financial technology (fintech), including cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi), has transformed how consumers and businesses engage with financial services. This chapter examines the drivers of fintech adoption by extending established technology acceptance models, such as technology acceptance models (TAM), unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and theory of planned behavior (TPB). A systematic review of 80 articles (2017–2023) identifies key factors influencing adoption, including perceived usefulness, ease of use, social influence, and facilitating conditions. Emerging factors, such as financial literacy, hedonic motivation, and trust, are especially important during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, gaps remain in understanding how evolving perceptions of security and trust impact sustained adoption, particularly in decentralized environments, such as blockchain networks and crypto assets, where algorithmic transparency replaces institutional intermediaries. This chapter proposes integrating trust, security, and user perceptions into existing models to create a cohesive framework applicable across fintech services. The findings provide actionable insights for researchers and industry stakeholders to enhance user acceptance and guide future innovation.