This study investigates the legal status of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from an Islamic perspective. NFTs, as unique digital assets recorded on blockchain, raise complex questions in Shariah due to their intangible nature, potential for speculation, and content-related ethical concerns. The research analyses classical and contemporary juristic views, fatwas, and scholarly writings to determine whether NFTs can be classified as lawful property and traded accordingly. Findings reveal divergent scholarly opinions: some argue NFTs fulfill the requirements of a valid sale (bayʿ) and can be considered māl (property), while others highlight violations of key Islamic commercial principles, including uncertainty (gharar), unethical content, and the use of impermissible cryptocurrencies. This paper proposes a middle-ground view of conditional permissibility in which NFTs are deemed Shariah-compliant only if the underlying content, transaction method, and purpose align with Islamic legal and ethical standards. The study offers a framework for Muslim stakeholders to evaluate NFTs based on content, ownership, contract clarity, and societal benefit, supporting a responsible and principled engagement with digital assets.
Understanding Proof-of-Work in Blockchain: Foundations, Security, and Limitations Keywords: Blockchain, Consensus, Proof-of-Work, Cryptographic Hash, Cryptography, 51% Attack. 1. Introduction In traditional distributed systems, such as banking databases, a central authority determines transaction validity. In contrast, decentralized networks like Bitcoin lack a central server, allowing unrestricted participation. This structure introduces two significant challenges:This results in two critical challenges: 1. The Byzantine Generals Problem: How do independent nodes agree on a single history of data if some nodes are malicious or untruthful? 2. Sybil Attacks: What stops an attacker from creating 10 million fake virtual nodes to vote and overpower honest nodes? Proof-of-Work (PoW) addresses both challenges. Instead of assigning one vote per identity, which is susceptible to falsification, PoW allocates voting power according to computational resources, which require significant hardware and energy investment. 2. The Core Mechanics: How Mining Actually Works Mining functions as a network-wide lottery, where the probability of success is proportional to computational speed. The process begins with solving a cryptographic puzzle. 2.1 The Cryptographic Puzzle A block consists of a batch of transactions, the hash of the previous block, and a field called a nonce (number used once). Miners repeatedly modify the nonce until the hash of the entire block matches a specific pattern.Specifically, the resulting hash must be less than or equal to a predetermined target value. +---------------------------------------------------------+ | BLOCK HEADER | | [Prev Hash] + [Merkle Root (TXs)] + [Timestamp] + [Nonce] | +---------------------------------------------------------+ | v SHA-256 Hashing | v Is the Hash < Target Threshold? / \ YES NO / \ [Success! Broadcast Block] [Increment Nonce & Try Again] Because SHA-256 is a cryptographic hash function, it has two key properties: Pre-image Resistance (One-Way): You cannot reverse-engineer a hash. If I give you a hash output, you cannot calculate the input. Avalanche Effect: Changing just one bit in the nonce completely alters the final hash output unpredictably. As a result, no mathematical shortcut exists for determining the correct nonce. Miners must use brute-force computation, generating billions of hashes per second (hash rate) until a valid solution is identified (Hash Rate — Measuring Bitcoin's Mining Power, 2026). Once a solution is found, the miner broadcasts the block, and other nodes verify it instantly with a single hash calculation, illustrating computational asymmetry. This mechanism maintains the network's equilibrium. 2.2 Difficulty Adjustment When additional miners join the network, the aggregate hash rate increases, resulting in faster block discovery. To maintain consistent block times, the protocol automatically adjusts the target threshold.If blocks are being found faster than the target time (e.g., 10 minutes in Bitcoin), the target number decreases. A smaller target means the hash must start with more leading zeros, making it statistically harder to guess. 3. Security Framework: The Rules of Engagement PoW operates on the economic principle that securing the network should be more profitable than attacking it. The following rule defines the network's dispute resolution mechanism. 3.1 The Longest Chain Rule If two miners simultaneously discover valid blocks, the network temporarily splits into two branches, known as a fork. Nodes resolve this by following the longest chain, which is defined as the branch with the greatest accumulated proof-of-work, thus maintaining a unified transaction history. [Block 101] ---> (Orphaned / Dropped) / ---- [Block 100] --+ \ [Block 101] ---> [Block 102] <--- Longest Chain (Accepted) 3.2 The 51% Attack If an attacker manages to control more than 50% of the network’s total computing power, they can out-mine the honest portion of the network.An attacker may mine a private chain in secret, spend coins on the public chain, and later broadcast the longer private chain. According to the longest chain rule, the network accepts the attacker's version of history, thereby invalidating transactions on the honest chain. This scenario, known as a Double-Spend Attack, highlights a significant vulnerability and contributes to ongoing criticism of PoW despite its security advantages. 4. Why the Industry is Moving Away from PoW While PoW is incredibly secure, it has two major flaws that make it difficult to scale for modern applications. 4.1 The Scalability Problem In PoW systems, each full node must process and store every transaction for verification. Due to limited block sizes and intentionally high block times to prevent network desynchronization, transaction throughput remains low. For example, Bitcoin processes approximately 7 transactions per second (TPS), whereas Visa handles thousands of TPS. 4.2 Energy Consumption Miners compete to achieve the highest hash rate by continuously operating large-scale data centers equipped with specialized hardware (ASICs). This process consumes substantial amounts of electricity, comparable to the consumption of a medium-sized country, and results in significant environmental impact. 5. Conclusion Proof-of-Work constituted a significant advancement in computer science by linking digital consensus to physical resource constraints, particularly energy. This innovation demonstrated the feasibility of decentralized trust. However, due to limited throughput and substantial energy requirements, newer blockchain networks increasingly adopt alternative consensus mechanisms, such as Proof-of-Stake (PoS), where voting power is determined by cryptocurrency holdings rather than energy expenditure. References Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. (The original whitepaper). Eyal, I., & Sirer, E. G. (2014). Majority is not enough: Bitcoin mining is vulnerable. (Introduced the concept of Selfish Mining). Narayanan, A., et al. (2016). Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies. Princeton University Press. (An excellent foundational textbook for CS students). (2026). Hash Rate — Measuring Bitcoin's Mining Power. Bitcoin Notes Online. https://www.bitcoinnotesonline.com/learn/hash-rate
Blockchain technology has transformed digital transactions by providing decentralized, immutable, and transparent ledgers that eliminate the need for centralized intermediaries. However, the inherent transparency of blockchain networks often exposes sensitive transaction details, creating significant privacy concerns for users and organizations operating in sectors such as finance, healthcare, supply chain management, and digital identity management. Balancing transparency with confidentiality has therefore become a critical challenge in the evolution of blockchain systems. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) have emerged as a revolutionary cryptographic solution that enables one party to prove the validity of a statement without revealing the underlying confidential information. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for integrating Zero-Knowledge Proof mechanisms into blockchain systems to enhance transaction privacy while preserving transparency, security, and verifiability. The framework incorporates advanced cryptographic protocols, including zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs, together with decentralized consensus mechanisms to achieve secure and efficient verification of blockchain transactions. The proposed approach evaluates system performance in terms of privacy preservation, computational efficiency, scalability, verification accuracy, and transaction throughput. The findings indicate that Zero-Knowledge Proof-based blockchain architectures significantly improve user privacy, reduce information leakage, strengthen security against malicious attacks, and maintain the transparency and integrity required for decentralized trust. The proposed framework provides a scalable and secure foundation for next-generation blockchain applications requiring both confidentiality and public verifiability.
Certification of digital documents, such as academic credentials, seems a particularly suitable application for the use of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Indeed, these technologies enable decentralized certification systems that rely on the immutability and persistence of their distributed ledgers. However, in the absence of a central trusted authority, it is not easy to guarantee the authenticity of the connection between the real identity of an academic institution and the digital identity of the certificate issuer. In this paper, we demonstrate that one of such systems, known as Block.co, has a vulnerability that allows the production of forged certificates that are recognized as valid by the system. Since this is an inherent limitation of the approach used for blockchain-based certification, our attack is likely to be extendable to other systems adopting the same approach.
Open access
3 source records
cs.CR
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
Bu çalışmada, yiyecek-içecek ve otel işletmelerinde kullanılan Non-Fungible Token’ların (NFT), gelişmeleri kaçırma korkusu (Fear of Missing Out – FoMO) bağlamında pazarlama stratejileri ve tüketici davranışları üzerindeki etkileri ele alınmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında, FoMO kavramının pazarlama alanındaki rolü, tüketicilerin psikolojik motivasyonlarıyla ilişkisi ve NFT’lerin bu süreçte nasıl bir tetikleyici unsur olarak kullanıldığı ele alınmıştır. Çoklu örnek olay çalışması desenine dayalı olarak doküman analizi yöntemiyle gerçekleştirilen araştırmada, yerli ve yabancı kaynaklar ile kurumsal uygulamalar incelenmiş; Türkiye’de ve dünyada yiyecek-içecek işletmeleri ile otel işletmelerinde NFT kullanımına ilişkin örnekler değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular, NFT’lerin yalnızca teknolojik bir yenilik değil, aynı zamanda tüketicilerin sosyal statü, aidiyet ve ayrıcalık arayışlarını destekleyen güçlü bir pazarlama aracı olduğunu göstermektedir. Literatürde FoMO duygusunun müşteri bağlılığı ve satın alma niyeti üzerinde etkileri olabileceğine ilişkin bulgular bulunmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, çalışmada ele alınan yiyecek-içecek ve otel işletmelerinde NFT’lerin FoMO temelli pazarlama stratejileri kapsamında kullanımının müşteri etkileşimini artırma ve işletmelere rekabet avantajı sağlama potansiyeline sahip olduğu değerlendirilmektedir. Ayrıca ilgili çalışmalar NFT uygulamalarının dijital dönüşüm sürecinde müşteri deneyimini destekleyebilecek unsurlar arasında yer aldığını göstermektedir.
This article proposes a contemporary and innovative approach to portfolio efficiency, aiming to approximate a state of antifragility during periods of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and accelerated technological transformation. The multidisciplinary analysis draws on academic literature, European regulatory frameworks (such as MiCA), reports from international institutions including the World Economic Forum and the International Monetary Fund, as well as conceptual and technical documentation developed by leading platforms in the Web3 ecosystem. In preparing for the transition into a new technological era, the authors present a framework for real estate tokenization through converting property ownership into NFTs and using these tokens as collateral for lending in digital currencies. This approach addresses the problem of low real-estate liquidity and creates conditions for democratizing investment by enabling a low entry threshold and fractional ownership. The model’s antifragility is demonstrated through quantitative analysis, including an evaluation of portfolio volatility and efficiency based on Markowitz theory and the Sharpe ratio, with the results confirming the logic of Taleb’s barbell strategy. The study supports the potential for Bulgaria to position itself as an innovative regional hub for the development of Web3 and the tokenization of real-world assets.
Decentralized finance systems manage vast assets without central authority, creating a borderless economy that defies traditional legal boundaries. While fostering innovation, this independence invites global criminal activities, as perpetrators exploit automated, anonymous smart contracts to evade detection. Current international legal frameworks remain ill-equipped to address the complexities of cross-border digital fraud or assign liability within immutable, machine-run protocols. This research examines the jurisdictional conflicts and attribution challenges inherent in decentralized financial systems. Utilizing a qualitative doctrinal analysis of recent legislative initiatives and international legal standards, this article evaluates the viability of a functional equivalence model for assigning criminal responsibility. The findings suggest that harmonizing global regulatory requirements is essential to bridge the gap between technical execution and legal accountability. This study proposes a framework that integrates human-led dispute resolution with automated transparency to ensure stability, protect market participants, and foster long-term confidence in the global digital economy.
S. Aitbek, А. Сембеков, N. Tazhbayev, K. Yermekova
In recent years, the financial system of Kazakhstan has undergone significant technological changes and is moving from a regulated banking infrastructure to open, flexible and fast digital platforms. However, the most unusual of these trends is the gradual integration of the decentralized finance (DeFi) system into the environment of the domestic economy. On the one hand, if the DeFi architecture is presented as a new tool for reducing the impact of financial intermediaries and reducing the volume of transaction costs; on the other hand, the volatility of open code systems, imperfect regulation and lack of continuity of assets with specific laws and regulations, which are not normal for Kazakhstan, bring additional risks. Such issues indicate that the topic is relevant, requiring deep research. The purpose of the study is to digitally assess the evolution of the decentralized financial market in the country over the past five years, to demonstrate its impact on the stability of the banking system by multi – stage modeling of volatility and regulatory barriers. Within the framework of the chosen goal, the objectives of the scientific work are as follows: - to study the history of the formation and development of the DeFi market; - to consider decentralized finance in the context of domestic scientists, economists, financiers; - a comprehensive study of the main channels and threats of influence of the decentralized finance (DeFi) market in Kazakhstan; - to make forecasts using The scientific novelty of the research work is the assessment of the development trajectory of the DeFi market in Kazakhstan using digital modeling. In other words, a multidimensional analytical method was used, which correlates the limited share of users, the volatility of protocols, the dynamics of transactions and the influence of the regulatory system. In particular, with the help of real Monte Carlo simulation, stochastic modeling, Fuzzi-AHP and financial risk assessment methods, it was possible to understand the existing connections between DeFi and the banking system. The hypothesis of the article is the integration of the DeFi market into the financial system of Kazakhstan, the possibility of improving transactional efficiency and expanding financial inclusion. But the shortcomings of its regulation and asset volatility put additional pressure on the stability of the domestic banking system. This hypothesis requires research based on market facts and occupies a relevant place in the structure of its study.
Serving as the first touch point for users to the cryptocurrency world, cryptocurrency wallets allow users to manage, receive, and transmit digital assets on blockchains and interact with emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Unfortunately, cryptocurrency wallets have always been the prime targets for attackers, and incidents of wallet breaches have been reported from time to time. Although some recent studies have characterized the vulnerabilities and scams related to wallets, they have mostly been studied at a coarse granularity, overlooking potential risks inherent in detailed designs of cryptocurrency wallets, especially from perspectives including user interaction and advanced features. To fill the void, in this paper, we present a fine-grained security analysis of browser-based cryptocurrency wallets. To pinpoint security issues in wallet components, we design WalleTruth, a visual-oriented testing framework specifically for browser-based wallet extensions. We have identified 12 attack vectors that can be abused by attackers to exploit cryptocurrency wallets and exposed 21 concrete attack strategies. By applying WalleTruth on 39 widely-adopted browser-based wallet extensions, we find that all of them can be abused to steal crypto assets from innocent users. Identified potential attack vectors were reported to developers in a timely manner and 26 issues have been patched already. This calls for urgent action from the community to mitigate threats related to cryptocurrency wallets.
Данное исследование направлено на изучение теории иммутабельности данных, понимание которой необходимо для реализации собственной разработки, в основе которой стоит децентрализованная сеть Web 3. Актуальность работы обусловлена критической необходимостью защиты данных в таких областях, как финансовые транзакции, медицинские записи, юридические инструменты и правительственные обращения. Традиционные централизованные подходы имеют существенные недостатки: компрометация центрального хранилища приводит к полной потере гарантий целостности, а внутренние угрозы создают дополнительные риски для критически важной информации. Распределённые системы предлагают альтернативу, где гарантии неизменности достигаются через криптографические механизмы и распределённый консенсус, не требующие доверия к единственной стороне. Именно эти преимущества распределённых систем послужили основой для проектирования собственного решения на базе локальной сети Web3, сочетающего криптографическую защиту с механизмами распределённого консенсуса. Разработан прототип системы с двухуровневой архитектурой консенсуса: базовый механизм мажоритарного голосования для подтверждения новых блоков и взвешенный консенсус с динамической репутационной системой для верификации целостности документов. Система использует алгоритм SHA-256 для криптографического хеширования, обеспечивает автоматическую проверку целостности с интервалом 120 секунд. Тестирование прототипа в лабораторных условиях подтвердило корректную обработку консенсуса, что указывает на возможные пути развития для реализации проекта. Ключевые слова: блокчейн, иммутабельность, распределенные системы, устойчивость к удалению, децентрализация, криптографическое хеширование, консенсус, Web 3.
The article proposes a governance mechanism for a blockchain-based decentralized certification system to validate school students’ achievements in additional IT education. The relevance stems from the rapid growth of project-based and short-term learning formats and the fragmentation of credentials, which undermines trust and portability across organizations. The study aims to develop a governance model (stakeholders, roles, responsibilities, access rules), describe an implementation algorithm, and propose an effectiveness evaluation framework at institutional and regional levels. It is argued that technological robustness is unattainable without institutional design: distribution of authority, validation and revocation procedures, and separation of data layers in compliance with minors’ personal data protection requirements. A permissioned consortiumbased distributed ledger architecture is considered, where education providers issue verifiable registry records and verifiers access credential status through controlled mechanisms. The paper also links registry-based certification with the concept of micro-credentials for modular IT learning outcomes and specifies effect metrics: reduced verification transaction costs, shorter confirmation time, improved transparency, and lower fraud risks.
As blockchain technology and smart contracts gain widespread adoption, ensuring their security is essential to prevent financial and operational risks. Detecting vulnerabilities in smart contracts using automated techniques provides a reliable and scalable solution. This study utilizes the Smart Contract Vulnerabilities Dataset from Kaggle, containing annotated smart contracts with labeled vulnerabilities. Preprocessing includes tokenization and exploratory data analysis to extract meaningful textual patterns. Deep learning models such as LSTM and BERT are trained and evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. To further improve detection performance, BERT embeddings are combined with BiLSTM and CNN + LSTM architectures. A Flask-based user interface enables real-time vulnerability prediction. Experimental results show that the CNN + LSTM model outperforms all other models, achieving 95 percent accuracy and demonstrating strong capability in identifying smart contract vulnerabilities.
Introduction. Modern information technologies form an interconnected ecosystem of financial management. The practical significance lies in the development of an algorithm for overcoming personnel, integration and cyber risks. The development prospects are related to the convergence of predictive analytics, explicable artificial intelligence, and distributed ledgers. Materials and Methods. The research is based on scientific publications, business media and corporate reports. The case study method was applied using methods of systematization and comparative analysis based on the material of five major domestic companies (Sberbank, X5 Group, Lukoil, Magnit, Alfa-Bank). Results. The main technological solutions (enterprise resource planning systems, cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, big data, distributed registries) are systematized, their functional purpose and barriers to integration are determined. The evolution of digitalization has been confirmed: from automation of operations to the intellectualization of analysis. The effects were recorded: reducing transaction operating costs by up to 27 %, reducing fraudulent transactions by 92 %, optimizing inventory, and issuing digital financial assets worth over 600 billion rubles. Conclusion. Modern information technologies form an interconnected ecosystem of financial management. The practical significance lies in the development of an algorithm for overcoming personnel, integration and cyber risks. The development prospects are related to the convergence of predictive analytics, explicable artificial intelligence, and distributed ledgers.
Open access
Digitalization and Economic Development in Agriculture
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has revolutionized financial services by eliminating traditional intermediaries, but this openness creates new vulnerabilities that malicious actors exploit for fraud. The pseudonymous nature of blockchain transactions and lack of centralized oversight make traditional fraud detection methods inadequate for the DeFi ecosystem. This paper introduces ChainGuard, an end-to-end fraud detection system that leverages verifiable machine learning with zero-knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs). ChainGuard utilizes a comprehensive approach that combines advanced feature extraction from Ethereum blockchain transaction data, optimized machine learning models, and on-chain verification through zk-SNARKs. Our solution enables privacy-preserving fraud detection while maintaining the ability to verify results without exposing sensitive transaction data and the internal architecture of the model. We demonstrate that ChainGuard achieves permissible accuracy in detecting fraudulent activities across Ethereum and various DeFi platforms while ensuring computational efficiency through multiple optimization techniques, including quantization. Experimental results show that our approach achieves performance comparable to traditional fraud detection methods while maintaining the decentralized and trustless nature of blockchain systems.
Decentralization is a popular idea that is believed to bring improved public service and sustainable growth that is both inclusive and natural. On the other hand, in the case of developing states, the degree to which it works depends mainly on the local political situation and the existing social order. One of the most notable achievements in the Nigerian judicial system has been a historic Supreme Court judgment in 2024 that gave local governments direct financial allocations. Each of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria must now be directly financed to make local governance more effective by limiting state intervention. Nevertheless, this initiative is carried out in a very politicized setting that is at the verge of breaking apart due to the increase of ethnicity after the 2023 elections, and a citizenship policy that perpetuates a two, class system of indigenes and settlers. This paper illustrates how local financial independence, along with the indigene, settler systems, have an effect on the patterns of resource distribution and the provision of public goods and services. Through a mixture of a research paper on the local financial autonomy of LGAs in the South, West and North, Central zones of Nigeria and a theoretical framework based on Peter Ekeh's works "Two Publics" and a ground reality review, it is established that some of the scenarios created by financial autonomy exacerbated local elite capture and exclusion of so, called "long, term residents" who are defined categorically as "non, indigenes." This is evidenced by the findings on disproportionate capital expenditure distribution within wards, and qualitative viewpoints on local narratives about the justification for exclusion and rightful local belonging. The debate will continue on the proposition that if the idea of citizenship is not changed from one based on birth to one based on residency, it will result in local exclusion and development failure. The solution ends with a conclusion on residency, based citizenship and conditionality in the transfer of funds between different levels of governance
Zero Transition Law Lawful Passage Through Zero Without State Collapse Zero Transition Law provides a typed formal account of how a state-bearing system may receive, occupy, and traverse a zero-valued numerical projection without losing state identity, accessible trace, boundary continuity, position status, own-time order, or admissible continuation. The central correction introduced by the theory is categorical: a full state, a held position, a classification, a numerical projection, a verdict, and a control action belong to different formal layers. They may not be collapsed into one another without an explicit typed mapping and a corresponding sufficiency proof. Zero is therefore treated as a late numerical projection of an already formed, traced, positioned, distinguished, and classified state. Passage does not occur through the numeral 0 itself. It occurs through a path of full states whose visible numerical projection may equal zero. The law prohibits EMPTY, RESET, FAILURE, TERMINATION, CRASH, or any other destructive semantic outcome from being inferred from zero projection alone. It does not claim that a zero-projected state can never fail for an independent reason. It establishes that zero itself is not a sufficient typed cause of destructive action. Formal Architecture The theory is expressed over a many-sorted transition system separating: State; Position; Class; Number; Verdict; Control Action. Its central distinction is: P₀ ∈ Position, 0 ∈ Numerical Domain, and P₀ ≠ 0. If two different full states produce the same zero-valued projection, their identity does not follow: ν(Qₐ) = ν(Qᵦ) = 0 does not imply Qₐ = Qᵦ. The inverse image of zero is therefore a zero fiber: a set of possible full states sharing the same visible value. This fiber may contain approach states, held states, crossing states, departure states, balanced states, cancellation states, and other domain-specific zero-projected conditions. HOLD is defined as a typed persistence relation preserving lawful localization, accessible trace, boundary compatibility, position identity, and availability for relation and continuation. HOLD is not a numerical value, not a third bit, and not an automatic command generated by zero. Axioms and Theorems The publication contains eight axioms and exactly twelve theorems. The axioms establish type separation, projection non-identity, possible fiber non-uniqueness, the independence of HOLD from liveness, distinct discrete and continuous crossing semantics, control sufficiency, and pipeline-capacity constraints. The theorem sequence establishes: non-identity between numbers and positions; possible non-uniqueness of the zero fiber; the formal Zero Without Collapse safety law; the distinction between safety and liveness; possible zero-node skipping in discrete systems; zero crossing under continuous intermediate-value conditions; projection factorization for control; the binary bottleneck; the twenty-seven sign strata of a three-axis Navigation Matrix; non-sovereignty of the simultaneous center; the capacity bound of serial verification pipelines; the minimal descriptor required for correct control. Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence The theory is directly relevant to cybernetics, artificial intelligence, AI safety, autonomous systems, machine reasoning, formal verification, control under partial observation, state-space modelling, computational ontology, knowledge representation, and resilient software architecture. A controller cannot operate correctly through a projection that merges states requiring different actions. Formally, a projected controller exists only when every pair of states sharing the same descriptor also requires the same controller output. This result identifies a general projection bottleneck. A compressed numerical value, class, score, bit, or label may be adequate for display while remaining insufficient for control. The theory therefore introduces the Minimal Control Descriptor: the quotient representation that preserves exactly those distinctions capable of changing the required controller output. Geometry and Complex Systems For three sign-bearing axes, the Navigation Matrix contains twenty-seven strata: eight open sectors; twelve plane strata; six axis strata; one simultaneous-center stratum. The nineteen strata containing at least one zero coordinate are not one state and do not form one compulsory transit point. A general trajectory may cross zero-bearing planes or axes without passing through the simultaneous center. This prevents the center from becoming a universal authority of passage and avoids a structurally unnecessary central bottleneck. Capacity and State Preservation For a serial verification chain, sustained throughput is bounded by the capacity of its slowest required stage: μpipe = minᵢ μᵢ. When incoming demand exceeds that capacity, the lawful response is HOLD, BUFFER, backpressure, controlled admission, or architectural parallelization. Overload does not authorize silent state loss, untraced reset, or false terminal closure. Contents of This Record This record contains two complementary documents. Zero_Transition_Law_Academic_Publication.docx is the main academic publication. It includes the human academic layer, abstract, eight axioms, twelve theorems, formulas, explanatory analysis, proof routes, conclusion, references, and the complete mathematical layer as Appendix A. Zero_Transition_Law_AI_Index.docx is a machine-oriented semantic map containing the theory identity, dependency structure, type system, axiom and theorem registries, proof registry, navigation matrix, control conditions, model and countermodel registry, corpus interfaces, ingestion directives, and machine-readable summary. The AI Index supports research retrieval, language-model ingestion, knowledge-system integration, corpus comparison, theorem dependency analysis, and implementation review. It is not a replacement for the formal publication or a machine-checked proof object. Mathematical and Empirical Status Zero Transition Law is a conceptual-formal law whose mathematical claims are conditional on its declared domains, types, axioms, transition relations, and admissibility predicates. The publication establishes internal theorem-level consequences and compatibility by construction. It does not independently establish a universal empirical law of physics, biology, computation, or institutional behaviour. Domain-specific applications require separate mappings, measurable variables, validation procedures, and implementation evidence. Canonical Principle Zero is a projection. HOLD is a relation. Passage is a typed path. No projection may become the sovereign authority of closure.
X3Sync is a research proof-of-concept for federated cloud storage aggregation across multiple free-tier providers (Google Drive, Dropbox, Koofr). Files are chunked, compressed (zstd), and encrypted client-side using AES-256-GCM before distribution. The system introduces a dual-mode decryption architecture: Sovereign Mode, where ciphertext is relayed to the client for local decryption, and Edge Mode, where an ephemeral X25519 key exchange enables worker-side decryption. The backend runs on Cloudflare Workers with Neon PostgreSQL for metadata storage. This paper details the system architecture, security model, provider abstraction layer, and a commutative storage model for heterogeneous provider aggregation.
This deliverable (D8.8) presents the contributions of the PLIADES project to advancing the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and interoperability standardization, with a focus on building a modular, scalable, and trustworthy data sharing ecosystem. The work conducted in Task 8.6 evaluates the project’s alignment with the EIF’s four layers-legal, organizational, semantic, and technical—and extends this analysis through ISO/IEC 19941’s five interoperability facets—policy, behavior, semantic, syntactic, and transport. By applying a general interoperability-framework approach, the deliverable assesses the interoperability maturity of PLIADES across six use cases in domains including mobility, energy, healthcare, green deal/ circular economy, energy, and industry. These use cases demonstrate how PLIADES supports dynamic, cross-domain data integration through advanced AI capabilities such as federated learning, explainable AI, and declarative querying—while ensuring legal compliance, data sovereignty, and semantic clarity. The project engages directly with EU standardization and governance initiatives—including SEMIC, DSSC, and the European Trusted Data Framework standardisation request to ensure alignment with emerging regulations like the Data Act. PLIADES actively contributes to the EU’s semantic and technical interoperability agenda through workshops, conference participation (e.g., SEMIC 2025, ENDORSE 2025), and alignment with the IDS Rulebook and the Dataspace Protocol. Gaps identified in current interoperability models—such as limited runtime interoperability, lack of support for decentralized AI, and insufficient metadata expressiveness—are addressed through actionable recommendations. PLIADES proposes enhancements to semantic alignment, dynamic querying, and data governance architectures, helping to shape the next iteration of European data policy frameworks. Ultimately, this report underscores PLIADES’ strategic role in fostering cross-border, cross-sector data interoperability. By operationalizing both EIF and ISO-based principles through real-world use cases and aligning with EU standardization initiatives, PLIADES delivers a blueprint for trusted, AI-enabled, sovereign data spaces that drive innovation and support Europe’s digital transition. PLIADES stands for an advanced AI AI-enabled framework for Full Data Lifecycles Optimisation and Data Spaces Integration. Our mission is to revolutionize how data is utilised across various sectors, from mobility to healthcare, manufacturing to energy, and beyond. PLIADES envisions a future where diverse sectors are seamlessly interconnected, enhancing efficiency and interoperability. We aim to provide cutting cutting-edge data and services that drive advancements in Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility (CCAM), Advanced Driver Assistance & Autonomous Driving (ADAS/AD), and HumanHuman-Robot Interaction (HRI).
Backdoor attacks on Ethereum smart contracts are a kind of attack in which an adversary exploits the privileges of his/her developed smart contract to manipulate the cryptoassets generated by that contract. Although there are several countermeasures against backdoor attacks, to the best of our knowledge, no empirical study based on the source code of the backdoor attacks has been conducted so far. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study to understand how backdoor attacks on Ethereum smart contracts are performed in the real world by analyzing all smart contracts with source code. To this end, we also propose a new investigation tool for the empirical study, named BACCA. We then identify several key insights. First, we totally found 288,440 contracts for backdoors attacked, called contract backdoors, including potential ones. The most significant backdoor attack is DisableTransfer, which disables transfers of assets to other addresses, and we identify 211,687 smart contracts affected by this attack. Second, several backdoor attacks are combined with other types of backdoor attacks, called combination contract backdoors, and 90.9% of DisableTransfer are combination contract backdoors. Third, GenerateToken, which enables an adversary to generate new cryptoassets, is the largest as a backdoor without any combinations, i.e., unique contract backdoors, and 23.8% of GenerateToken are the unique contract backdoors. Fourth, when we analyze the number of transactions sent to the above contract backdoors to identify their gas consumption in the real world, we identify that about 9 trillion dollars have been consumed by them. We also found a remarkable contract backdoor that receives more than a million transactions, resulting in gas consumption of about two billion dollars. We further discuss implications for the design of analysis tools for subsequent work and the impact of compiler updates on the above backdoor attacks.