Blockchain Papers

Houssem Eddine Belghouthi, Walid Mensi, Khamis Hamed Al‐Yahyaee

No abstract is available for this record.

Elena Baninemeh, Marre Slikker, Katsiaryna Labunets, Slinger Jansen

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of cybersecurity vulnerabilities on the effective implementation of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), addressing a critical gap in the existing literature. This research seeks new insights into the detection and mitigation of specific attacks, such as selfish mining and Sybil attacks, contributing to a deeper understanding of cybersecurity risk assessment in DLT applications. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a mixed-methods approach, using a literature review combined with method engineering. Data were collected from an extensive database of known security threats, documented attacks on DLTs and associated countermeasures. The proposed method was evaluated through three case studies, with each organization applying the security risk assessment method developed in this study. Findings The results of this study reveal that the proposed security risk assessment method effectively identifies and addresses cybersecurity threats specific to distributed ledger applications. Case studies demonstrate that the method enables organizations to systematically evaluate and mitigate risks, offering evidence that comprehensive countermeasures can significantly enhance security. These findings confirm the practicality of the proposed method and reveal new patterns in organizational responses to cybersecurity threats in distributed ledger environments. Originality/value This research offers a novel perspective on the intersection of cybersecurity and DLTs, providing valuable insights into risk assessment frameworks tailored for this domain. This study’s findings contribute to the advancement of cybersecurity practices in distributed ledger applications, highlighting critical areas for future research and practical guidelines for organizations aiming to enhance their cybersecurity posture.

Mohammad Rakibul Islam Bhuiyan, Provakar Ghose, Md. Deluar Hossen, Smail Mouloudj · 6 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Serafina Piantedosi

Il contributo analizza il processo di piattaformizzazione della pubblica amministrazione, evidenziando come l’adozione di infrastrutture digitali avanzate rappresenti non soltanto una sfida tecnologica, ma anche un’occasione per ridefinire il rapporto tra Stato, cittadini e imprese. L’Autrice esamina il ruolo delle piattaforme pubbliche nella semplificazione dell’azione amministrativa, nella digitalizzazione dei servizi e nella costruzione di un’amministrazione più efficiente, accessibile e trasparente. Particolare attenzione è dedicata al concetto di fiducia digitale, intesa come dimensione ulteriore rispetto alla mera sicurezza informatica, fondata su trasparenza, protezione dei dati, responsabilità istituzionale e tutela dei diritti fondamentali. Il saggio approfondisce poi l’impatto delle piattaforme digitali nel settore degli appalti pubblici, con riferimento all’e-procurement, alla Banca Dati Nazionale dei Contratti Pubblici, alle Piattaforme di Approvvigionamento Digitale, al Fascicolo Virtuale dell’Operatore Economico e alla Piattaforma Unica della Trasparenza. Vengono inoltre esaminate le potenzialità del Web3, della blockchain e degli smart contracts nelle procedure di gara, con particolare riguardo alla tracciabilità, alla prevenzione della corruzione e alla verificabilità delle garanzie. Il contributo conclude evidenziando che la trasformazione digitale della pubblica amministrazione richiede ecosistemi resilienti, interoperabili e sicuri, capaci di rafforzare la fiducia dei cittadini nell’amministrazione digitale. The contribution analyses the platformisation of public administration, highlighting how the adoption of advanced digital infrastructures is not only a technological challenge, but also an opportunity to redefine the relationship between the State, citizens and businesses. The Author examines the role of public platforms in simplifying administrative action, digitising services and building a more efficient, accessible and transparent administration. Particular attention is devoted to the concept of digital trust, understood as a dimension that goes beyond cybersecurity, based on transparency, data protection, institutional responsibility and the safeguarding of fundamental rights. The essay then explores the impact of digital platforms in the field of public procurement, with reference to e-procurement, the National Public Contracts Database, Digital Procurement Platforms, the Virtual Company Dossier and the Single Transparency Platform. It also examines the potential of Web3, blockchain and smart contracts in tender procedures, particularly with regard to traceability, corruption prevention and the verification of guarantees. The contribution concludes by emphasizing that the digital transformation of public administration requires resilient, interoperable and secure ecosystems, capable of strengthening citizens’ trust in digital administration.

Fabio Bassan

Il contributo analizza il ruolo delle piattaforme digitali nell’evoluzione dei mercati contemporanei e le trasformazioni prodotte dall’integrazione tra Web2, Web3 e intelligenza artificiale. L’Autore esamina l’emersione di nuovi modelli economici fondati sulla gestione dei dati, sulla profilazione degli utenti e sulla crescente capacità delle piattaforme di incidere sulle scelte dei consumatori e sugli equilibri istituzionali. Emergono cosi le differenze tra i modelli regolatori adottati nell’Unione europea, negli Stati Uniti e in Cina, evidenziando il ruolo centrale delle autorità indipendenti e delle reti europee di coordinamento nella costruzione di strumenti di vigilanza, enforcement e cross-regulation. Particolare attenzione è dedicata ai settori strategici interessati dalla trasformazione digitale — trasporti, mercati finanziari, energia, cybersicurezza e contratti pubblici — nei quali l’interazione tra piattaforme, dati e intelligenza artificiale impone nuove forme di tutela dei consumatori e nuovi modelli di regolazione partecipata. The contribution analyses the role of digital platforms in the evolution of contemporary markets and the transformations generated by the interaction between Web2, Web3 and artificial intelligence. The Author examines the emergence of new economic models based on data management, user profiling and the increasing ability of platforms to influence consumer choices and institutional balances. The work explores the different regulatory approaches adopted by the European Union, the United States and China, highlighting the central role of independent authorities and European coordination networks in developing mechanisms of supervision, enforcement and cross-regulation. Particular attention is devoted to strategic sectors affected by digital transformation — including transport, financial markets, energy, cybersecurity and public procurement — where the interaction between platforms, data and artificial intelligence requires new forms of consumer protection and innovative models of participatory regulation.

Armando Di Cello

Il contributo analizza l’evoluzione delle piattaforme digitali di pagamento nel passaggio dai modelli del Web2 alle prospettive del Web3, con particolare attenzione alle ricadute per i consumatori, gli operatori e le autorità di vigilanza. L’Autore ricostruisce le principali trasformazioni del settore dei pagamenti, segnato dalla convergenza tra innovazione tecnologica, nuove discipline europee, esigenze di sicurezza, contenimento delle frodi e tutela della fiducia degli utenti. Il saggio approfondisce il ruolo del nuovo pacchetto normativo europeo sui servizi di pagamento, con riferimento alla PSD3 e al Payment Services Regulation, evidenziando le criticità connesse alla responsabilità dei prestatori di servizi di pagamento, alla colpa grave dell’utente, all’educazione finanziaria e alla crescente rilevanza dei servizi tecnici abilitanti, dei digital wallet e delle BigTech. Particolare attenzione è dedicata all’euro digitale, considerato come possibile ponte tra Web2 e Web3 e come strumento per preservare il ruolo della moneta pubblica nell’ecosistema digitale. Il contributo esamina infine le stablecoins, mettendo a confronto l’approccio prudenziale europeo, fondato su MiCA, stabilità finanziaria e sovranità monetaria, con l’impostazione statunitense più orientata al mercato. In conclusione, viene sottolineata la centralità di un enforcement coerente, coordinato e multilivello, capace di bilanciare innovazione, certezza del diritto, tutela dei consumatori e stabilità del sistema dei pagamenti. The contribution analyses the evolution of digital payment platforms in the transition from Web2 models to Web3 perspectives, with particular attention to the implications for consumers, operators and supervisory authorities. The Author reconstructs the main transformations affecting the payment sector, shaped by the convergence of technological innovation, new European rules, security needs, fraud prevention and the protection of users’ trust. The essay examines the role of the new European regulatory package on payment services, with reference to PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation, highlighting the issues related to the liability of payment service providers, the concept of gross negligence of users, financial education and the growing importance of enabling technical services, digital wallets and BigTech companies. Particular attention is devoted to the digital euro, considered as a possible bridge between Web2 and Web3 and as a tool to preserve the role of public money in the digital ecosystem. The contribution also explores stablecoins, comparing the European prudential approach, based on MiCA, financial stability and monetary sovereignty, with the more market-driven approach adopted in the United States. In conclusion, the essay emphasizes the central role of coherent, coordinated and multi-level enforcement, capable of balancing innovation, legal certainty, consumer protection and the stability of the payment system.

Ziang Zhou, Hongjian Shi, Ruhui Ma, Yuhan Qiu · 8 authors

User-generated model assets in Web3 demand verifiable provenance, clear attribution, and dependable coordination across organizational boundaries without centralizing data. However, real-world deployments still face persistent challenges. Even algorithmically robust methods like KD3A often lack auditable coordination, failure resilience, and reproducible artifact lineage. These limitations make training brittle and results difficult to audit amidst node churn, adversarial behavior, and system heterogeneity. We introduce BlockKD3A, a hybrid on-chain/off-chain framework that operationalizes KD3A with three key system guarantees: (i) auditable coordination, achieved via smart contracts that record training state, model content identifiers (CIDs), and Consensus Focus (CF)–based attribution; (ii) reliability, through a transaction-safe client and failure-aware orchestration that applies nonnegative CF clipping, supports zero-CF fallback, and avoids blocking on stragglers; and (iii) reproducibility, enabled by content-addressable packaging and unified telemetry that couples machine learning metrics with blockchain events. In nine end-to-end deployments (40 epochs per target), BlockKD3A delivered near-centralized performance, 96.74% macro-average accuracy on Office-Caltech10 and 89.40% on DigitFive—substantially outperforming representative federated baselines. Coordination remained efficient and predictable, with only 13 blockchain transactions across all nine deployments, bounded gas costs per write (125,972-298,405), and stable epoch timings even under partial participation. By integrating KD3A's algorithm-native attribution with on-chain provenance and robust execution, BlockKD3A closes the gap between decentralized learning algorithms and reliable system deployment, providing auditability, predictable cost envelopes, and transferable engineering patterns for verifiable user-generated model assets.

A. A. Romanova, V. A. Perepelkin, П.А. Романов

In near prospect, it is proposed to supplement the country's official reserves managed by state financial institutions with financial instruments created by private individuals in the form of cryptocurrencies. The purpose for this study was to carry out a comprehensive analysis for the goals, objective prerequisites, accumulated experience, as well as the real potential for further process development of including cryptocurrencies in the list of assets accepted as elements of national financial reserves. In the course of the study, the experience of a number of countries with different levels of socio-economic development was studied – from highly developed, leading in the global economy, to countries belonging to the economic periphery. The author notes the incompleteness and ambiguity of the consequences of the attempts to carry out such a bold monetary and financial transformation. The funding of completing the set of tasks set in the preparation of the presented scientific paper was the conclusion that there is an urgent need for a deep theoretical study of measures to balance central banks with financial assets that are decentralized in origin, such as cryptocurrencies, instead of an experiment that is not prepared scientifically, methodically and organizationally, which is expressed in the partial replacement of official reserves of fiat currencies with cryptocurrencies. At the empirical level, it seems advisable for the state to accumulate initially and use the latter in a specially created investment cryptocurrency fund.

Malvika Pandey, Vijay Srivastava, Priyansh Samadhiya

The Right to Information (RTI) is a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, providing citizens with access to public information and helps them hold public authorities accountable. Conventional models of RTI typically have a variety of problems, however: evidence is stripped or embellished, documents are tampered with, there is bureaucratic opacity, and they don't really hold up in court. The Blockchain technology has unique characteristics, such as immutability, decentralization, and cryptographic security, which make it a revolutionary solution. Blockchain can offer end-to-end transparency with legal evidence for requests, answers, as well as all supporting documents, to ensure all stakeholders are transparent and to produce strong legal records. This chapter examines the possibilities of applying blockchain to RTI systems, arguing that the distributed ledger can help to reduce corruption risks, boost public trust and improve the admissibility of judgments.

Peter Rochel

Qualitative Jobs-to-be-Done-Längsschnittstudie zur Technologie-Adoption am Beispiel Bitcoin im DACH-Raum (2019–2026). Auf Basis von n=35 Tiefeninterviews und 1.207 Evidence Cards rekonstruiert die Studie die realen Kaufentscheidungen („Pull statt Push") statt Spekulations- oder Preisnarrative. Sechs Segmente plus zwei Sonderfälle. Methode: JTBD R&I Framework (Peter Rochel, Oberwasser Consulting). Alle Einzelauswertungen pseudonymisiert. Änderungen gegenüber Version 1.0 (Stand dieser Fassung: 08.08.2026) Sachliche Korrektur im Kapitel "Warum diese Studie". Die Angabe zu den 27 Kölner Straßenbefragungen war in Version 1.0 falsch beschriftet. Der Wert von 52 Prozent (14 von 27 Befragten) bezeichnet nicht "kennt Bitcoin nicht oder ist neutral", sondern Befragte, bei denen sich kein Anknüpfungspunkt zu einem der Käufersegmente erkennen ließ. Die Passage ist korrigiert und um zwei bisher unveröffentlichte Werte ergänzt: ein Drittel der Befragten war neutral oder hatte nie von Bitcoin gehört, häufigste Barriere war mit 67 Prozent fehlendes Wissen. Dieselbe Falschaussage im Kasten "Kernaussagen für Multiplikatoren" (S. 6) korrigiert. Sie stand dort ein zweites Mal, ausgeschrieben statt als Zahl. Der Kasten ist als kontext-frei zitierbar für Presse gekennzeichnet und damit die Stelle mit der höchsten Weiterverbreitung im Dokument. Zitierhinweis und Versionierungsblock erweitert um Version, Erstveröffentlichungsdatum, Stand der Fassung und DOI. Eine inhaltsleere Seite entfernt (Version 1.0, Seite 32) und das Titelblatt auf August 2026 datiert. Erstveröffentlichung (25.06.2026) und Datenstand (23.06.2026) sind unverändert. Der Volltext ist im Übrigen identisch; ein vollständiger Diff gegen Version 1.0 zeigt keine weiteren inhaltlichen Abweichungen.

Natalya Dolgova

This paper develops a document management system model intended for environments in which the integrity of document history, control of the document lifecycle, and the possibility of independent verification of performed operations are critically important. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that traditional electronic document management systems mainly rely on centralized event logs and application logic, which does not eliminate the risks of retrospective modification of document history and a reduction in its evidential value. The aim of the work is to construct a document management system model in which the integrity of document history is ensured through a cryptographically verifiable chain of document states and the recording of evidential event attributes in a permissioned distributed ledger. The proposed model combines architectural and formal levels of system representation. At the architectural level, the user, application, evidential, and content layers are distinguished. At the formal level, a document is represented as a sequence of cryptographically linked states, in which each new state contains the state hash, metadata, timestamp, content hash, and a reference to the previous state, thus ensuring the integrity and traceability of the entire document history. To implement the evidential layer, a smart contract for registering document states and a permissioned distributed ledger based on Hyperledger Besu are used. Experimental validation of the model was carried out on a local testbed using the QBFT consensus mechanism, external storage, and software modules for generating and fully verifying document history. The experimental results confirmed the ability of the model to detect retrospective changes in content, metadata, signatures, and temporal attributes, to localize the first compromised state, and to provide near-linear growth in full verification time as the length of the state chain increases. Comparative evaluation against centralized logging demonstrated the advantage of the proposed approach in terms of tamper detection, localization of violations, and independent verifiability of results. The practical significance of the work lies in the possibility of using the proposed model as a basis for building corporate document management systems.

Oleksandr Kostyen

This study substantiates blockchain analytics as a specialized expert tool for detecting the legalization of criminal proceeds under wartime conditions. The purpose is to systematize the methodological foundations of distributed ledger forensics and develop a conceptual model for its integration into Ukraine’s financial monitoring system. The implementation involves a comparative analysis of scholarly sources and a review of international regulatory standards in the field of anti-money laundering. Graph neural networks ensure an accuracy of 91 to 96 percent in detecting illicit transactions, and the dominant schemes for laundering wartime proceeds are sanctions arbitrage through stablecoins, fund mixing, and DeFi-based legalization through decentralized protocols. The immutability of records in the distributed ledger creates a unique evidentiary environment that enables retrospective analysis of transaction chains even after laundering operations have been completed. The findings confirm the necessity of fully implementing FATF Recommendation 15 and establishing specialized crypto-forensics units within the structure of domestic law enforcement agencies. The proposed four-level model, encompassing data collection, graph analysis, scheme identification, and evidence formation, defines a practical path toward standardizing crypto-forensics in domestic forensic expert practice and improving the effectiveness of financial investigations.

University of Malta

NGOs Funding Trust, Blockchain and RedChain Prof. Victor Alvarez, MBA ORCID iD: 0009-0001-7933-3830 Department Research in Economic , IEBS Business School, 08840 Barcelona, Spain Department of Humanitarian Economics and NGO Management ETU Institute, Birkirkara, Malta Abstract Persistent trust deficits between donor agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) continue to undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian and development assistance, particularly in low-income and institutionally fragile environments. Concerns regarding fund diversion, beneficiary duplication, limited transparency, and weak accountability mechanisms have intensified demand for innovative governance solutions. This paper explores the potential of blockchain technology to strengthen trust in NGO funding through two complementary models: (1) a permissioned blockchain framework for beneficiary verification and aid tracking, and (2) RedChain, a privacy-preserving blockchain infrastructure for humanitarian assistance developed by the Spanish Red Cross. The proposed NGO Trust framework utilizes a distributed ledger to maintain immutable and auditable records of beneficiary registration and fund allocation. By recording encrypted identity credentials and digitally signed transactions, the system reduces the risk of duplicate beneficiary claims, fraud, and reporting inconsistencies across participating organizations. A participation and penalty mechanism further enhances network integrity by incentivizing honest behavior among stakeholders. RedChain extends this approach by integrating blockchain-based transaction recording with zero-knowledge proof technologies, enabling transparent aid distribution while preserving beneficiary privacy. With nearly one million registered transactions, the platform demonstrates the operational viability of blockchain-enabled humanitarian governance at scale. By synthesizing these approaches, this paper proposes an integrated framework for transparent NGO funding, combining beneficiary integrity verification, transaction traceability, privacy protection, and donor accountability. The findings suggest that distributed ledger technologies can significantly improve trust relationships between donors, NGOs, and beneficiaries, while supporting more efficient, transparent, and equitable aid distribution systems. The study contributes to the emerging literature on digital governance, nonprofit economics, and technology-enabled development finance by identifying blockchain as a foundational infrastructure for next-generation humanitarian and social-impact ecosystems. Keywords Blockchain; NGO governance; Humanitarian aid; Trust; Transparency; Beneficiary duplication; Zero-knowledge proofs; RedChain; Donor accountability; Privacy-preserving technology; Smart contracts; Aid distribution JEL Classification G30 – Corporate Finance and Governance: General L31 – Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship O33 – Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes F35 – Foreign Aid H84 – Disaster Aid and Relief 1. Introduction Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play a central role in delivering humanitarian assistance, poverty alleviation programs, disaster relief, education, health services, and sustainable development initiatives worldwide. According to the United Nations and international development agencies, NGOs have become increasingly important intermediaries between donors, governments, and beneficiaries, particularly in regions where state capacity is limited or institutional trust is weak. Despite their growing influence, concerns regarding transparency, accountability, and the efficient allocation of resources continue to challenge the nonprofit sector (Edwards & Hulme, 1996; Ebrahim, 2003; Najam, 1996). The economics of nonprofit organizations has long emphasized the importance of trust as a mechanism for overcoming information asymmetries between donors and service providers (Hansmann, 1980). Donors frequently lack direct information regarding how funds are allocated, whether intended beneficiaries actually receive assistance, and whether reported outcomes accurately reflect project performance. This information gap creates principal-agent problems in which monitoring costs are high and opportunities for misreporting, inefficiency, or fraud may arise (Pratt & Zeckhauser, 1985; Tirole, 2006). As charitable donations and development aid increasingly flow through complex international networks, maintaining donor confidence has become a critical governance challenge. A substantial body of research has documented accountability deficiencies within humanitarian and development organizations. Ebrahim (2005) argues that traditional accountability systems often emphasize upward reporting to donors while providing limited mechanisms for beneficiary participation and verification. Similarly, Gugerty and Prakash (2010) note that transparency initiatives frequently rely on self-reported information that is difficult to independently audit. In international aid programs, concerns have emerged regarding duplicate beneficiary registrations, diversion of funds, weak recordkeeping systems, and fragmented information sharing among organizations operating in the same geographic areas (World Bank, 2016; OECD, 2021). Digital technologies have increasingly been proposed as tools to address these governance challenges. The broader literature on e-governance and digital accountability suggests that information systems can reduce transaction costs, improve record accuracy, and strengthen institutional transparency (Heeks, 2002; Cordella & Tempini, 2015). Among emerging technologies, blockchain has attracted considerable attention due to its capacity to create immutable, distributed, and verifiable records without requiring centralized trust authorities (Nakamoto, 2008). Since the introduction of Bitcoin, blockchain applications have expanded far beyond digital currencies into supply chain management, public administration, healthcare, identity systems, and humanitarian operations (Tapscott & Tapscott, 2016; Casino, Dasaklis & Patsakis, 2019). Scholars have argued that distributed ledger technologies may improve transparency and accountability by creating tamper-resistant transaction histories accessible to multiple stakeholders (Swan, 2015; Treiblmaier, 2018). Within development economics, blockchain-based systems have been proposed to improve aid distribution, reduce corruption, facilitate identity verification, and enhance financial inclusion in underserved regions (Kshetri, 2017; Saberi et al., 2019). Recent humanitarian applications provide evidence of growing institutional interest in blockchain-enabled governance. The United Nations World Food Programme's Building Blocks initiative demonstrated the feasibility of blockchain-based refugee assistance by facilitating aid transfers while reducing administrative costs and improving transaction traceability. Similarly, studies by Juskalian (2018), Mikhaylov et al. (2020), and Wang et al. (2022) suggest that distributed ledger technologies may strengthen accountability mechanisms in humanitarian environments characterized by weak institutional infrastructure. Nevertheless, important challenges remain. Public transparency requirements often conflict with the need to protect sensitive beneficiary information. Humanitarian organizations must balance donor demands for accountability with ethical obligations regarding privacy, dignity, and data protection. The emergence of privacy-enhancing cryptographic techniques, particularly zero-knowledge proofs, offers a potential solution to this dilemma by enabling verification without revealing underlying personal information (Goldwasser, Micali & Rackoff, 1989; Ben-Sasson et al., 2014). These technologies have increasingly been incorporated into blockchain architectures seeking to combine transparency with confidentiality. This paper contributes to the growing literature on nonprofit governance and development finance by examining two complementary blockchain-based approaches to strengthening trust in NGO funding systems. The first is a permissioned blockchain framework designed to prevent beneficiary duplication and improve donor oversight through cryptographically verifiable registration and transaction records. The second is RedChain, a privacy-preserving humanitarian aid platform developed by the Spanish Red Cross that combines blockchain technology with zero-knowledge proofs to support transparent aid distribution while safeguarding beneficiary privacy. By integrating insights from these models, the study proposes a comprehensive framework for Transparent NGO Funding that addresses four persistent governance challenges: beneficiary verification, transaction traceability, privacy preservation, and donor accountability. The analysis contributes to the fields of nonprofit economics, digital governance, and development finance by demonstrating how blockchain technologies may reduce information asymmetries, lower monitoring costs, and strengthen trust among donors, NGOs, and beneficiaries. Ultimately, the paper argues that distributed ledger systems can serve as foundational infrastructure for a new generation of accountable, transparent, and privacy-respecting humanitarian ecosystems.

Vrutti Mistry, Yassir Farooqui, Amit Barve

The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices across smart homes, healthcare systems, and industrial environments has intensified the need for robust and adaptive security mechanisms in multi-user settings. Traditional password management approaches remain widely deployed; however, they suffer from persistent vulnerabilities including weak password selection, credential reuse across services, and the absence of structured lifecycle management mechanisms. This paper presents a systematic review of existing authentication, password management, and key lifecycle strategies applicable to multi-user IoT ecosystems. The study follows a structured review methodology to analyze and synthesize contemporary research contributions in the areas of context-aware authentication, secure key rotation, password expiry mechanisms, and lightweight cryptographic implementations. A comparative evaluation of diverse security techniques—such as one-time passwords (OTPs), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), symmetric and public-key cryptographic schemes, and machine learning-based threat detection models—is conducted with particular attention to device resource constraints, scalability challenges, and operational efficiency. Conceptual models, analytical tables, and comparative charts are utilized to highlight trade-offs between security strength, computational overhead, and system performance. The review identifies significant research gaps in integrating dynamic key rotation and expiry mechanisms into holistic, context-aware security architectures tailored for multi-user IoT environments. Finally, the paper outlines future research directions aimed at developing scalable, resource-efficient, and adaptive password lifecycle management frameworks for next-generation IoT systems. management frameworks for next-generation IoT systems.

Viktoriia Shlapak, S. A. Semenyuk

The method of secure authorization of banking transaction based on the Schnorr scheme represents a cryptographic approach to verifying user authenticity using Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) protocols. The proposed approach is focused at minimizing the risks of compromising confidential data during the execution of transaction in open or partially trusted environments. The method is based on the Schnorr identification protocol, which relies on the computational hardness of the discrete logarithm problem and enables authentication without transmitting the user’s secret key. The authorization model includes the interaction process between three components of the transaction, namely the client, the transaction execution environment, and the banking side. The transaction execution environment is considered to be critical and untrusted component. The protocol consists of a sequence of stages: first, the initial parameters (p, g) are generated; then the public key value (y) is formed; based on it, a proof value (t) is created; on the bank`s side, a challenge (e) is generated followed by the computation of the parameter s, and subsequently the correctness of the verification relation is checked by the bank. A distinctive feature of the approach is the absence of private key transmission and the use of random values, which prevents the recovery of secret parameters even if part of the data is intercepted. Within the scope of the study, simulations of Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) and replay attacks were performed in older to evaluate the robustness of the proposed approach. In the case of a Man-in-the-Middle attack, it is shown that modification of the parameter t leads to a violation of the verification relation, making successful transaction authorization impossible. To counter replay attacks, a timestamp (TS) mechanism and transaction parameter uniqueness were integrated into the model, eliminating the possibility of reusing intercepted data. The constructed model is based on cryptographic strength, reduction of the impact of vulnerabilities in the transaction execution environment, and ensuring the fundamental principles of digital security, namely data integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity. The proposed method demonstrates its effectiveness in scenario with a high level of threats, such as in the financial sector, where transaction protection is a critical component

Illia Kuznietsov, Андрій Міщенко

The aviation industry depends on data integrity across supply chains spanning OEMs, MRO organizations, airlines, lessors, and national regulators. Centralized data management systems — still dominant in the sector — expose the ecosystem to single points of failure and provide limited traceability of millions of aircraft parts circulating annually. This paper presents a structured review of blockchain-based security architectures for aviation networks, synthesized from 14 peer-reviewed sources published between 2018 and 2025, retrieved from IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, ACM Digital Library, and Wiley/Hindawi. On this basis, a thirteen-step design method is proposed for integrating permissioned blockchain with distributed cloud infrastructure in aviation environments. The method is grounded in quantitative acceptance criteria — throughput ≥ 500 TPS, smart contract execution latency < 200 ms (p95), system availability 99.9% — and maps each design phase to specific security controls (integrity, access control, auditability, privacy, resilience, governance). Core mechanisms are formalized via hash-chain integrity verification, attribute-based access control functions, zero-knowledge proof verification, and a composite pre-ledger trust-scoring model. The principal finding: permissioned blockchain architectures — Hyperledger Fabric in particular — can support aviation requirements for immutable audit trails, decentralized identity management, and regulatory compliance with EASA and FAA; adoption remains constrained by organizational readiness and the unresolved GIGO problem at the ledger boundary.

Dedy Sumarhadi, Sunardi Sunardi, Imam Riadi

Blockchain technology has evolved from a nascent peer-to-peer payment system into a paradigm-shifting digital trust infrastructure, fundamentally challenging conventional centralised models. However, a deep understanding of the fundamental technical aspects behind the popularity of crypto assets remains limited. This study aims to: (1) analyse the fundamental architecture of blockchain; (2) evaluate tokenisation mechanisms; and (3) conduct a comparative analysis of its characteristics against traditional database systems. The research employs a qualitative descriptive method utilising a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach to synthesise technical literature published between 2023 and 2025. The analysis focuses on consensus mechanisms, the architectural transition from monolithic to modular systems (Layer-2 scaling), and the measurement of decentralisation using the Nakamoto Coefficient. The results indicate that: (1) blockchain offers distinct advantages in data integrity (immutability) and censorship resistance through a distributed append-only ledger structure, standing in sharp contrast to the CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) model of relational databases; and (2) recent innovations such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Optimistic Rollups serve as critical solutions to the "Blockchain Trilemma" (balancing scalability, security, and decentralization). This study concludes that blockchain is not an absolute replacement for conventional databases, but rather a specialised solution for ecosystems that require high transparency and "trustless" interactions without a central authority.

Alessandra Sanelli

Italy introduced a dedicated crypto-asset tax regime in 2023 that is broadly modelled on its longstanding financial income tax system. The regime primarily governs the taxation of capital gains and other income from crypto-assets for individuals, thereby offering initial legal certainty for users and service providers. However, it establishes a single set of rules for all crypto-assets regardless of their functions or underlying rights and leaves several stages of the crypto-asset lifecycle and many asset-specific tax issues insufficiently addressed. This article analyses the regime’s core design features through the lenses of efficiency and equity and assesses the framework’s ‘future-proof’ capacity in light of rapid technological change with specific attention focused on decentralized finance (DeFi), asset-tokenization, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Finally, it examines enforcement challenges and shows how reliance on the traditional ‘third party tax agent’ model struggles to accommodate the anonymity (or pseudo-anonymity), decentralization, transaction-composability, and a-territoriality of crypto-assets. Against this background, the article identifies potential policy adjustments and alternative compliance mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness and resilience of the Italian framework.

Hayatullah Hassanpour, Josue Obregon

Continuous-Time Dynamic Graphs (CTDGs) are essential for modeling event-driven dynamics in complex, evolving systems, ranging from streaming temporal knowledge graphs (tKGs) and real-time recommendation systems to decentralized finance (DeFi) networks. State-of-the-art temporal graph learning methods predominantly compress historical interactions into flat, one-dimensional state vectors. However, we demonstrate that this architectural choice suffers from severe structural interference, akin to catastrophic forgetting, in heterogeneous networks where entities maintain multiple concurrent relational identities (e.g., decentralized finance wallets acting simultaneously as lenders, swappers and borrowers). In this work, we propose DYG-LA (Dynamic Graph Learning via Linear Attention and Recurrent Matrix States), a novel architecture that resolves structural interference by expanding node memory into Matrix-Valued Hidden States (MVHS). Each node maintains a multi-head H × (D/H) × (D/H) state matrix, geometrically updated via asymmetric outer products and regulated by a selective, data-dependent Ebbinghaus decay. To overcome the O(L²) bottleneck of Transformer-based methods without succumbing to the random sampling paradox of pure sequence models (where nodes lose identity due to sparse or noisy temporal sampling), DYG-LA integrates a dual-memory approach. It pairs an RWKV-6 linear attention short-term temporal scanner with the long-term MVHS global memory. The architecture further incorporates a Dynamic Gated Fusion mechanism, effectively acting as an adaptive mixture-of-experts to route signals from the temporal scanner, spatial structure and memory. We evaluate DYG-LA across twelve benchmark datasets under transductive settings. Comprehensive ablation studies demonstrate that the dual-memory design is critical for complex, heterogeneous networks, with the full model achieving state-of-the-art performance.

Arunima Shastri

The transparency of the blockchain technology makes privacy issues acutely challenging in certain highly sensitive applications such as IP protection and contractual arguments. This chapter is an overview of privacy preserving methods and in particular Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) and confidential evidence handling mechanisms. ZKPs are set to transform notarization by allowing parties to prove that information or statements are true without disclosing the information that they have associated with them. The study covers the concept of use of blockchain and how they can be used to combine with smart contracts for privacy-preserving IP access rights governance and dispute resolution. It also covers confidential computing, homomorphic encryption, and secure multi-party computation for processing privacy sensitive evidence on the blockchain. In regulated industries, these technologies hold the promise of increasing prevalence, but encounter challenges relating to regulations and trusted setup, as well as computational overhead issues.

Mohammad Ayoub Khan, Mohamed Chawki

Cross-border transactions with regulatory compliance have become conventional in the era of globalization. Transactions related to individuals, banking, technology, etc., are eased using Internet of Things (IoT) paradigms. Pervasive access and low interoperability due to improper administration of transaction terminals are significant problems in initiating and completing cross-border transactions. To address the problems, a novel Zero-knowledge proof Inter-Scalable Framework (ZISF) is proposed. This framework includes transaction authentication, Blockchain (BC), and a security generator to ensure security, scalability, and interoperability. The proposed framework consolidates these tasks to support diversified cross-border transactions with flexible regulatory compliance. The proposed ZISF framework achieved a 13.64% improvement in transaction throughput compared with CCMB under varying block-size and transaction-load conditions, while reducing processing latency by 13.79% relative to BETAC-IoT during miniature block scaling operations.

Mohamed Noureldin

Current artificial intelligence systems operate at evolutionary Stage 2–3 of cognitive development — statistical pattern matching without principled knowledge selection, causal grounding, or structured accumulation. This problem is not incidental: recent formal proofs establish that hallucination in Large Language Models is mathematically inevitable under current architectural assumptions, arising from finite information capacity, computational undecidability, and reward hacking induced by Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). Scaling does not resolve these failures — it amplifies them. This proposal presents Prime-Based Intelligence (PBI), a formal architectural framework grounded in the Computational Knowledge Theory (CKT), which establishes seven interlocking theorems proving that complexity, computational tractability, knowledge compression, accumulation, evolutionary phase transitions, cardinal intelligence dynamics, and the unsimulability of reality are all governed by a single law: the five Conceptual Primes (Order, Justice, Mercy, Knowledge, and Power). The foundational problem addressed is the Descriptive Degeneracy Problem: without a principled selection operator, any finite system admits an infinite set of mathematically valid representations, making hallucination and misalignment structurally unavoidable. PBI resolves this by implementing Wisdom — the simultaneous, lossless balance of all five Primes — as the core computational operator, satisfying the Prime-Base Intelligence Corollary (CKT Theorem 6, Corollary 6.5). Version 2 of this proposal integrates the Actualizer Engine: a zero-retraining geometric middleware that operationalizes the Conciseness Cost Filter (CCF) directly at the attention and logit boundaries of a frozen, pre-trained transformer. Unlike the illustrative scenario tables that ground most of the Conciseness Framework Series, the Actualizer Engine is supported by a working PyTorch proof-of-concept (a custom one-layer Transformer decoder, a Causation Wave Function penalty matrix, a DIEPT phase-angle quarantine mechanism, and an automated four-test verification suite) that demonstrably suppresses an injected causal hallucination on a toy physics corpus. This proposal positions the Actualizer Engine as the first code-verified instantiation of the Agent-Level half of the Two-Level Alignment Architecture: it selects minimum-cost outputs at inference time without modifying the frozen base model, leaving Global-Level (training-time) Super Cluster crystallization as the complementary, not-yet-implemented half of the architecture. The methodology integrates three components: (1) the Prime-Compliant Standard (PCS), grounding training data and model components in verifiable, causally justified representations; (2) an Ethical Pragmatism criterion formalizing that ethical weight must dominate pragmatic weight, operationalized through the Justice Dominance Constraint (λ_L > λ_R, λ_L > λ_D); and (3) the PBI Cognitive Life Cycle — a five-stage pipeline anchored at its inference stage by Dynamic Inference and Epistemic Phase Transition (DIEPT), now given a concrete, tested realization in the Actualizer Engine’s Negentropy Filter. This version also performs an explicit logic and mathematical consistency audit of the integration (§9), correcting a reported result that, if left unqualified, would contradict CKT Theorem 7 (Unsimulability of Reality: CAKI < 1.0 for any finite system), and cataloguing four further consistency findings — three open, one confirmed — produced by reconciling the Actualizer Engine’s implementation against the Prime-Compliant Standard, DIEPT, and the Two-Level Alignment Architecture. The framework remains immediately viable as the next practical step for current AI infrastructure. Its implementations — Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs, ICLR 2025), MCE-Classes, the Quench-Cluster Algorithm (QCA), the Conciseness Cost Filter (CCF), the Causation Wave Function (CWF), and now the Actualizer Engine — extend and augment existing transformer, LoRA, and RAG deployments without requiring retraining. Full implementation is projected within 36–48 months under a four-role interdisciplinary team. The Computational Knowledge Theory (CKT). Under the Conceptual Prime axioms, that the computational universe is governed by a single unifying law: the Conceptual Primes. Seven interlocking theorems are established across complexity theory, epistemology, information compression, evolutionary biology, temporal system dynamics, artificial intelligence architecture, and the unsimulability of reality. Theorem 1 (Reality-Complexity Equivalence) establishes that stable complexity is bounded by the weakest Prime — P̂(S) = min_i Pᵢ(S) — and collapses to zero if any Prime is violated. Theorem 2 (Prime-Tractability) demonstrates that NP-Hard problems are intractable only in the purely abstract domain and become tractable at O(N²/K) effective complexity when solved by Prime-compliant algorithms grounded in physical reality. Theorem 3 (Conciseness Standard) proves that C(R) is the unique universal metric for lossless knowledge compression. Theorem 4 (Knowledge Accumulation Law) establishes that knowledge grows if and only if new information reduces total system entropy, incorporating the CAKI metric and the D(Ω) Defect Function as formal measures. Theorem 5 (Gödel's Ceiling) connects formal mathematical limits to biological evolution and AI scaling. Theorem 6 (Cardinal Value Lemmas) formalises Wisdom, Peace, Creativity, and Evolving Order as temporal combinations of the Primes, deriving the Prime-Base Intelligence corollary. Theorem 7 (Unsimulability of Reality) proves that no finite simulation can contain the live Prime-combination law of actualisation — Consciousness is the unique bridge between infinite potential and finite territory. The framework defines a two-stage computational architecture: a Training Evaluation Form (5-term Prime-resolved C(R) + CAKI) for grounding knowledge in Prime compliance and calibrating domain-dependent λ-weights, and an Inference Selection Form (3-term operational C(R)) for selecting minimum-cost outputs. Dynamic λ-adaptation connects both stages, enabling domain-calibrated intelligence.

А. Давлетьяров, A. Ибраев, Е. Ербаев, Е. Джаналиев · 8 authors

ABSTRACT: The article addresses the pressing issue of limited access to centralized energy supply for peasant and farm enterprises in the West Kazakhstan region, which significantly hinders the efficient operation of agricultural production. This problem is especially critical for the development of livestock farming, irrigation, and water supply systems in remote and hard-to-reach rural areas. The absence of reliable and continuous electricity sources negatively affects technological processes, increases operational costs, and reduces the overall sustainability and productivity of the agricultural sector. In this context, particular attention is given to the organization of autonomous energy supply systems based on renewable energy sources, primarily wind energy, to support groundwater extraction from wells used for domestic, drinking, and agricultural purposes.An analysis of the wind potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan demonstrates favorable conditions for the development of small-scale wind energy as a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable solution for decentralized power supply. It is shown that low-capacity wind energy installations designed to operate at low wind speeds (3–5 m/s) can efficiently drive pumping systems, ensuring stable groundwater lifting under rural conditions. The study substantiates the selection of a low-speed horizontal-axis multi-blade wind turbine as the most suitable configuration for such applications.A comparative analysis of the energy performance of different wind turbine types is conducted, focusing on the relationship between the power coefficient and the tip speed ratio. Based on the obtained results, the optimal geometric parameters of the rotor blades are determined, contributing to improved energy efficiency and operational reliability. The findings of the study can be applied in the design and implementation of autonomous wind-powered water supply systems for agricultural enterprises and the agro-industrial sector.

Aurora Zhang, David Bau

FAccT issues guidelines for writing positionality statements, and in 2024, encouraged papers to include one. However, many researchers have trouble writing positionality statements that are meaningfully connected to the content of their work, particularly when the work does not directly concern a specific marginalized community. Positionality statements have also come under criticism for degrading the objectivity of science and for centering the interests of privileged authors. In this paper, we discuss three candidate views for the purpose of a positionality statement. The first view, positionality as proof of bias elimination, uses positionality statements to disclose sources of bias that prevent researchers from being neutral and objective. We argue that this is infeasible in an interdisciplinary conference like FAccT where there is disagreement over the putatively neutral epistemic norms. The second view, positionality as proof of solidarity, uses positionality statements to demonstrate trustworthiness to a marginalized group. We argue that this may be useful in certain research contexts to protect marginalized voices, but can also fragment the scientific community in a way that excuses hegemonic perspectives from accountability. We propose a third view that can be more useful for FAccT practice: that positionality statements should provide an interface for value contestation. They should stake out a critical position by defending the priors and methodological assumptions of an inquiry that are shaped by the researcher's self-endorsed social and political values. This practice can help surface epistemological and value disagreements at FAccT and enable a practice of cross-community contestation. We give four candidate guidelines for writing a positionality statement with this function: (1) ensure the statement gives deliberative reasons for decisions about framing, methodology, and the connection between data and theory, (2) open avenues for contestation that lie outside the paper's primary discipline, (3) center authors' normative and political commitments and theories of change, and (4) connect those normative and political commitments to the specific social context of the paper's audience. These four guidelines ensure that the positionality statement is related to the paper's methodology and result. Moreover, by encouraging discourse and debate between scientists who “fundamentally” disagree, it bolsters rather than degrades scientific objectivity and serves FAccT's aim of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.