Blockchain Papers

Ajay Pal Singh, Parvez Rahi, Bharti Sahu, Vinod Kumar

No abstract is available for this record.

Prof. R. C. Pachhade, Shubham Gaikwad, Aditya Sawwase, Dahihande Rohan

The idea focuses on enhancing the security and reliability of data exchange between military units. Traditional methods of secure communication often involve centralized systems, which can be vulnerable to breaches and single points of failure. By utilizing blockchain technology, the implementing idea introduces a decentralized approach that ensures data integrity and security through a distributed ledger system. In this system, blockchain provides a tamper-proof record of all communications, ensuring that data is encrypted, verified, and resistant to unauthorized access. This decentralized model eliminates the need for a central authority, reducing potential vulnerabilities and increasing the resilience of the communication network. As a result, the system aims to offer a more secure, reliable, and robust solution for confidential data transmission between army stations, enhancing operational security and efficiency.

Sameer Ali, Helena Rifà-Pous

The future mobile networks are transforming into multidimensional, adaptive networks, aka beyond 5G (B5G), where the digital services are delivered over network slices whose network definition is virtual. It is also important that such slices are available to users with a wide variety of needs on a safe and efficient basis. The current solutions are mainly aimed at ensuring that things are faster and reliable; however, in the majority of situations, they fail to give much consideration to the security threat from malicious users. This reflection paper examines the limitations of existing approaches and argues for embedding security mechanisms directly within resource allocation frameworks. It explores the integration of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) for user verification and integer linear programming (ILP) for secure allocation, forming a unified adversary-aware model. This perspective encourages a shift from purely performance-driven strategies toward security-by-design methods capable of addressing dynamic threats in real time.

Md. Jueal Mia, M. Hadi Amini

Federated Learning (FL) is a decentralized learning method that enables collaborative model training while preserving data privacy. This makes FL a promising solution in various applications, particularly in cross-silo settings such as healthcare, finance, and transportation. However, FL remains highly vulnerable to adversarial threats, especially backdoor attacks, where malicious clients inject poisoned data to manipulate global model behavior. Existing outlier detection techniques often struggle to effectively isolate such adversarial updates, compromising model integrity. To address this challenge, we propose Backdoor Attack Resilient Technique for Federated Learning (BART-FL), a novel lightweight defense mechanism that enhances FL security through malicious client filtering. Our method integrates Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction with cosine similarity for measuring pairwise distances between model updates andK-means clustering for detecting potentially malicious clients. To reliably identify the benign cluster, we introduce a multi-metric statistical voting mechanism based on point-level mean, median absolute deviation (MAD), and cluster-level mean. This approach strengthens model resilience against adversarial manipulations by identifying and filtering malicious updates before aggregation, thereby preserving the integrity of the global model. Experimental evaluations conducted on the LISA traffic light dataset, CIFAR-10, and CIFAR-100 demonstrate the effectiveness of BART-FL in maintaining model performance across diverse FL settings. Additionally, we perform a comparative analysis against existing backdoor defense techniques, highlighting BART-FL’s ability to improve security while ensuring computational efficiency. Our results showcase the potential of BART-FL as a scalable and adversary-resilient defense mechanism for secure training in cross-silo FL applications.

Javier José Díaz Rivera, Ricard Vilalta, Raül Muñoz, Pol Alemany · 5 authors

In multi-domain network environments, each domain operates with its own Software-Defined Networking (SDN) controller, making it challenging to ensure secure and consistent topology management across domains. Traditional centralized logging systems fall short in providing the transparency, flexibility, and decentralized trust needed for effective collaboration between controllers. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) offer a decentralized and immutable way to log network operations, presenting a promising solution for multi-domain SDN environments. This paper presents an approach that uses blockchain to record topology management operations such as adding, updating, and deleting devices and links across multiple SDN domains. The framework leverages permissioned blockchains to establish decentralized trust, with SDN controllers acting as validator nodes to validate and commit transactions upon reaching consensus. An Adaptive Batch Mechanism (ABM) is introduced to optimize block formation by dynamically adjusting batch parameters and using dummy transactions to maintain efficiency during low and varying transaction loads. Experimental validation using Hyperledger Fabric demonstrates the system’s ability to enhance decentralized logging, reduce delays in transaction processing, and facilitate inter-domain coordination while maintaining robust security through a distributed trust model.

Zubaida Rehman, Iqbal Gondal, Hai Dong, Mengmeng Ge · 6 authors

Eclipse attacks, which isolate victim nodes by monopolizing their peer connections, remain a critical threat to Ethereum’s consensus mechanism. To address this, we present a principled framework for detecting Eclipse attacks in Ethereum peer-to-peer networks, grounded in a formal adversarial model. Existing defenses are either ad-hoc or lack provable guarantees, leaving open questions about their reliability under adaptive adversaries. Our work aims to bridge this gap by formally defining eclipse attack detection as a security property. We specify soundness, completeness, and robustness theorems under bounded adversarial drift, and derive formal guarantees within false positive and false negative bounds, resilience to adversarial manipulation, and multi-node compositional reliability. We then instantiate a lightweight detection framework that maps packet-level traffic features to predictions using ensemble classifiers (Random Forest, XGBoost). The system was validated using a controlled Ethereum testbed and extended with CTGAN-generated synthetic traces to emulate networks of up to 100 nodes. Empirical evaluation shows that our framework achieves up to 96% F1-score with sub-second inference latency, well within Ethereum’s 12-second Proof-of-Stake validator time slots. These findings demonstrate that lightweight statistical features, when coupled with formal analysis, enable accurate, efficient, and scalable detection of network-level partitioning attacks. Our work establishes a deployable and theoretically grounded defense foundation for securing modern blockchain systems against eclipse adversaries.

Lorenz Raphael Lehmann

No abstract is available for this record.

Jacob Gorman, Lucjan Hanzlik, Aniket Kate, Pratyay Mukherjee · 6 authors

Web3 applications, such as on-chain gaming, require unbiased and publicly verifiable randomness that can be obtained quickly and cost-effectively whenever needed. Existing services, such as those based on Verifiable Random Functions (VRF), incur network delays and high fees due to their highly interactive nature. FlexiRand [CCS 2023] addressed these problems by hiding the output of the VRF and using that as a seed to derive many randomnesses locally. These randomnesses are instantly available for usage. However, these randomnesses can not be verified independently (or instantly) without disclosing the seed, leaving scope for malicious actors to cheat. To solve this problem, we introduce a new notion, called instantly-verifiable VRF (iVRF), which enables the generation of many randomnesses from one VRF output seed, such that each of them is verifiable independently - this enables the solution to generate randomnesses, such that they are and also . To instantiate we propose a generic construction called InstaRand - it combines any (possibly distributed) VRF at the server's end with another VRF at the client's end to construct an iVRF. Our specific instantiation uses the BLS-based GLOW-DVRF [Euro S&P 2021] at the server's end and the DDH-based VRF of Goldberg et al. [RFC 2023] at the client's end. We use the universal composability framework to analyze the security. Moreover, due to its generality, InstaRand can be instantiated with any post-quantum secure VRF to yield a post-quantum secure iVRF. Our experiments demonstrate that our instantiation of InstaRand is . The client incurs a cost to generate the seed (server's VRF output) by querying the GLOW-dVRF servers once. Once the seed is set up, the client locally generates the pseudorandom value on demand in , avoiding the client-server round-trip delay. Each value can be independently verified in . This yields a improvement in terms of output generation and improvement in verification cost over existing solutions.

Nisita Weerasinghe, Pawani Porambage, An Braeken, Madhusanka Liyanage · 5 authors

The transition from fifth-generation (5 G) to sixth-generation (6 G) networks is driving significant advancements in network slicing, fueled by the growing demand for next-generation applications and services. However, managing these advancements within the constraints of finite resources creates the opportunity for open resource marketplaces, which introduces technical and business challenges. To address these, we propose TokenNet, the first blockchain-based architecture that represents network resources as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the context of network slicing. TokenNet facilitates secure, decentralized resource trading, ownership traceability, and management, optimizing resource allocation through auctioning, brokering, and trust mechanisms. It offers more granular, flexible, and trustworthy control over network resources compared to existing state-of-the-art systems. Our prototype implementation demonstrates its effectiveness, outperforming baseline models in cost efficiency, reducing delays, and improving minting performance. These advantages position TokenNet as a promising solution for future network management.

Farhana Javed, Josep Mangues‐Bafalluy

This paper presents a multi-contract blockchain framework for inter-provider agreements in 6G networks, emphasizing performance analysis under a realistic Proof-of-Stake (PoS) setting on Ethereum's Sepolia testnet. We begin by quantifying Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based gas usage for critical operations such as provider registration, service addition, and SLA penalty enforcement, observing that cold writes and deep data structures can each inflate gas consumption by up to 20\%. We then examine block-level dynamics when multiple transactions execute concurrently, revealing that moderate concurrency (e.g., 30--50 simultaneous transactions) can fill blocks to 80--90\% of their gas limit and nearly double finalization times from around 15~seconds to over 30~seconds. Finally, we synthesize these insights into a practical design guide, demonstrating that flattening nested mappings, consolidating storage writes, and selectively timing high-impact transactions can markedly reduce costs and latency spikes. Collectively, our findings underscore the importance of EVM-specific optimizations and transaction scheduling for large-scale decentralized applications in 6G telecom scenarios. The implementation is available online.

Koya Haritha, Sai Srinivas Vellela, D Roja, Lakshma Reddy Vuyyuru · 6 authors

Blockchain and SDN are combined in the "DistB-SD Cloud" architecture to secure and execute cloud-integrated IoT data. Cloud Computing Management and Services, Distributed Secure Blockchain Methodology, SDN Environment, and Data Extraction comprise the architecture. SDN-enabled devices safely gather and process sensor data in the data plane, while OpenFlow and OpenStack handle network component communication in the control plane. The application layer improves network administration with dynamic configuration and data analytics. Distributed nodes and hash chains ensure system integrity in blockchain-based access control and ledger maintenance. Blockchain and SDN improve security, privacy, and scalability by resisting attacks. The architecture outperforms OpenFlow-based SDN models in throughput and bandwidth, proving its stability under different network conditions. The study shows that the suggested "DistB-SD Cloud" achieves increased throughput (22.1 KB/s) and bandwidth (1.9 GB/s) when nodes and packet arrival rates increase, making it a feasible solution for safe and scalable cloud computing in IoT-based systems.

Padmavati Shrivastava

Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative solution for securing distributed networks, offering decentralized and immutable data management. However, the resilience of blockchain systems faces challenges from various security threats, including double-spending, Sybil attacks, and vulnerabilities in smart contracts. This paper explores the effectiveness of various blockchain security protocols in enhancing the security and stability of distributed networks. The study provides a comprehensive review of cryptographic techniques, consensus algorithms, and privacy-enhancing technologies, such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Multi-Party Computation. Through a detailed analysis of case studies involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Hyperledger Fabric, the paper highlights the strengths and limitations of different security protocols. Additionally, the paper discusses the future direction of blockchain security, including the impact of emerging threats such as quantum computing on current security measures. The findings emphasize the need for ongoing innovation in security protocols to ensure the long-term resilience of blockchain networks. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the security frameworks in both public and permissioned blockchains, with a focus on scalability, privacy, and resistance to emerging attacks.

Mehmed Kerem Uludag, Murat Karakuş, Evrim Güler, Suleyman Uludag

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Blockchain (BC) are transformative technologies reshaping network management and security, utilizing their synergies. SDN’s centralized control enhances flexibility and efficiency but introduces vulnerabilities due to its single point of control. With its decentralized and immutable ledger, BC offers a solution by distributing control and providing a tamper-proof audit trail. This paper integrates these technologies to address blackhole attacks—a critical vulnerability where compromised SDN controllers disrupt network performance. We propose Blockchain-Enhanced SDN for Adaptive Path Finding (BeS4APF) algorithm against blackhole attacks in the multidomain SDNs. The algorithm maintains a high Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) by dynamically adjusting network paths in response to node failures. The BeS4APF algorithm presented effectively maintains a high PDR by dynamically adjusting paths in response to node failures. The methodology involves monitoring the network, detecting compromised nodes, and recalculating optimal paths using Dijkstra’s algorithm and node-disjoint path selection. Experiments with synthetic networks of varying sizes (from 60 to 120 domains) demonstrate that the algorithm successfully handles domain-compromising node attacks, maintaining high PDR even with increasing stochastic disruptions. Our preliminary results show that, while PDR slightly deviates and recovers in smaller networks, it stabilizes towards almost 100% in larger networks after initial adjustments. This work advances the integration of SDN and BC, offering a robust approach to securing modern networks against evolving stochastic attack scenarios and threats.

Kjell‐Erik Marstein, Paulina Davita, Luke Riley

The distributed ledger technology (DLT) landscape comprises a wide range of independent networks with little to none built-in interoperability. To be applied in traditional enterprises, these DLT systems must also interact with legacy systems with no support for the processes of a DLT. An important topic in DLT research is, therefore, to establish standardised protocols for cross-network transfer and exchange of data and assets. Ideally, these protocols should be general-purpose so that they can be applied on top of many different types of ledger systems. One such protocol, supporting asset transfer, is the Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (SATP or 'SAT protocol') in development by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The SATP Core protocol draft by Hargreaves et al. (2024) describes an interoperability protocol that can facilitate asset transfer between two DLT systems, as well as between a DLT system and a non-DLT system. In either case, the SAT protocol imposes no restrictions on the underlying system implementations. Building on this work, in this paper, we present an adaptation of SATP that facilitates cross-network asset exchanges. This asset exchange protocol, named the Secure Asset Exchange Protocol, inherits the key advantages of SATP but enables asset exchanges instead of asset transfers.

Koustav Kumar Mondal, Ashi Gupta, Debasis Das, Chun‐I Fan

This research introduces PISTON, a novel protocol designed to enhance the security, efficiency, and performance of Internet of Vehicles (IoV) networks. PISTON integrates advanced authentication mechanisms utilizing Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and multifactor authentication with dynamic challenges and zero-knowledge proof-based authentication to ensure robust security and mitigate various cyber threats, including Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. The protocol further incorporates sleep-wake scheduling, priority-based scheduling, and adaptive modulation and coding to optimize network performance. The communication overhead in PISTON is derived through a formula that incorporates latency, energy consumption, and throughput, demonstrating the protocol’s efficiency in dynamic vehicular environments. Comparative analysis against existing protocols highlights PISTON’s superiority in seamless handover, provable security, and DoS attack resilience. Experimental results show that PISTON reduces energy consumption by 30% and achieves 20% higher data throughput while maintaining low latency, essential for real-time IoV applications. The empirical findings underscore PISTON’s advancements in establishing a new benchmark for future IoV deployments, ensuring secure, energy-efficient, low-latency, and high-throughput communication.

Javier José Díaz Rivera, Ricard Vilalta, Raúl Muñoz, Pol Alemany · 5 authors

In complex network systems, multiple Software Defined Networking (SDN) controllers are often deployed across different domains to manage diverse underlay technologies. This multi-controller environment introduces significant challenges in ensuring security and trust, as traditional secure methods such as Public Key Infrastructures (PKI), which rely on Certificate Authorities (CAs), often struggle to provide the necessary flexibility, transparency, and protection against tampering. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) present a compelling solution by enabling decentralized management and the immutable recording of network configurations. This paper proposes an approach where SDN controllers from various domains act as valida-tor nodes within a DLT framework, utilizing Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) as the consensus mechanism. This creates a distributed trust model that enhances collaborative network management by balancing trust among network controllers. By implementing a private, permissioned ledger, data integrity is enforced, and access is restricted to authorized stakeholders, thus maintaining consistency and trust among network configurations through a verifiable record of all transactions. The performance and operational efficiency of this DLT-based approach in multi-SDN controller environments are further evaluated. Experimental results demonstrate the practical benefits and viability of integrating DLT with SDN environments for collaborative network management.

Kurdman Rasol, Alfonso Egio, Miguel Catalán-Cid, Leonardo Lossi · 6 authors

The proper orchestration of end-to-end network slices demands dynamic and meticulous resource management while addressing the complexities of multi-tenancy and multiservice scenarios. In this context, integrating network orchestrators with distributed ledger technologies has gained significant attention for its potential to implement decentralized finance marketplaces and service-level agreements using smart contracts. This approach can support the evolution of business models beyond traditional network-sharing agreements, such as crowdfunding. To this end, we propose the 5G-as-a-Service (5GaaS) system architecture, which leverages distributed ledger technologies and smart contracts to orchestrate and optimize network slicing, enabling ubiquitous computing and connectivity in 5G networks. We evaluated the feasibility of this system across various Ethereum testnets, demonstrating the cost-effectiveness, scalability, and minimal latency of the 5GaaS system, making it suitable for seamless integration into existing telecommunications frameworks.

S. Lee

Ethereum has adopted a rollup-centric roadmap to scale its network while preserving both security and decentralization. Rollups are layer 2 scaling solutions that process transactions off-chain while posting summarized data on-chain to maintain security and reduce costs. Posting data on-chain remains expensive, which led to the introduction of blobs via EIP-4844 that offer a cost-effective solution for data availability (DA). Although blobs significantly reduce DA costs compared to traditional calldata, many cost-sensitive small rollups struggle to fully utilize the fixed blob capacity. Blob sharing, which allows multiple rollups to collaboratively utilize a single blob, has been proposed as a solution to these challenges. In this paper, we empirically analyze nearly six months of data to assess the effectiveness of blob sharing. Our simulation results demonstrate that blob sharing can lower overall costs by approximately $\mathbf{8 0 \%}$ to 99%. These findings imply that the benefits of blob sharing are even greater than initially expected, providing strong incentives for both small and big rollups to actively collaborate in its adoption.

Javier José Díaz Rivera, Ricard Vilalta, Raül Muñoz, Pol Alemany · 5 authors

The increasingly interconnected nature of modern network architectures demands advanced security and trust mechanisms, particularly in environments spanning multiple technology and stakeholder domains. Traditional approaches to network management systems, while effective in static settings, often lack the flexibility, security, and transparency required for dynamic and decentralized operations typical of multi-domain configurations. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) offer a robust alternative by enabling decentralized management and immutable recording of network configurations, inherently increasing security against tampering and unauthorized changes. This paper introduces a DLT approach utilizing a private, permissioned ledger where topology changes are recorded as transactions. The setup enforces data integrity and restricts access to network topology information, ensuring only authorized stakeholders can make changes. Consequently, it enhances security, maintains data consistency, and builds trust among network components by keeping a verifiable record of all changes. Additionally, the paper examines the performance and operational efficiency of integrating DLT within network systems, using the ADRENALINE testbed—an advanced infrastructure for Beyond 5G and future 6G services—as the platform for analysis. Experimental results reveal the system’s performance metrics, illustrating the practical viability of implementing DLT in network operations management.

Hamad Alrashede, Fathy Eassa, Abdullah Ali, Faisal Albalwy · 5 authors

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has emerged as a revolutionary architecture in computer networks, offering comprehensive network control and monitoring capabilities. However, securing the east–west interface, which is crucial for communication between distributed SDN controllers, remains a significant challenge. This study proposes a novel blockchain-based security framework that integrates Ethereum technology with customized blockchain algorithms for authentication, encryption, and access control. The framework introduces decentralized mechanisms to protect against diverse attacks, including false data injection, man-in-the-middle (MitM), and unauthorized access. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework in securing distributed controllers while maintaining high network performance and low latency, paving the way for more resilient and trustworthy SDN infrastructures.

Huihai Cui

In the realm of cloud computing, efficient resource allocation between operators and users is a critical challenge. To address this issue, this study introduces a novel smart contract-oriented decentralized cloud platform resource dynamic allocation algorithm. By leveraging game theory principles and employing a backward induction approach, this algorithm aims to optimize the allocation of network resources in a decentralized manner. Extensive performance testing was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. Through simulations of various network loads and resource demands, the algorithm's stability and efficiency under different scenarios were thoroughly examined. The test results demonstrated the algorithm's exceptional performance in real-world applications, showcasing its ability to efficiently optimize resource allocation, enhance network utilization, and maintain a balanced interest equilibrium between operators and users. The smart contract-driven decentralized cloud platform resource dynamic allocation algorithm presented in this study has been rigorously validated through performance testing, exhibiting robust stability and efficiency. By achieving Nash equilibrium, this algorithm prevents unilateral utility increases by any party, thereby introducing significant innovation and advancement in the field of cloud platform resource allocation.

Julia Khamis, Arad Kotzer, Ori Rottenstreich

Payment channel networks (PCNs), also known as off-chain networks, implement a common approach to deal with the scalability problem of blockchain networks. They enable users to execute payments without committing them to the blockchain by relying on predefined payment channels. A pair of users can employ a payment even without a direct channel between them, by routing the payment via payment channels involving other intermediate users. Users, together with the channels, form a graph known as the off-chain network topology. The off-chain topology and the payment characteristics affect network performance such as the average number of intermediate users a payment is routed through or the values of transaction fees. In this paper, we study two basic problems in payment channel network design. First, efficiently mapping users to an off-chain topology with a known structure. Second, constructing a topology with a bounded number of channels that can serve users well with associated payments. We design algorithms for both problems while considering several fundamental topologies. We study topology-related real data statistics of Raiden, the off-chain extension for Ethereum as well as of Lightning, the equivalent off-chain layer of Bitcoin. We conduct experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithms for these networks.

Engin Zeydan, Luis Blanco, Josep Mangues‐Bafalluy, Abdullah Aydeger · 6 authors

In this paper, we propose an innovative integration of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Blockchain-based Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) within the Open RAN (O-RAN) framework for 6G networks to address the critical need for enhanced security and robust identity management. We first present a general architecture that takes a multi-layered approach and is carefully designed to leverage the different capabilities of quantum security and blockchain technology. The architecture ensures seamless and secure operation across different layers of the O-RAN, focusing on the Distributed Identity Management (DIM) and Management & Orchestration layers, and explains the interactions between these layers to improve the security and operational efficiency of the network. We also investigate detailed case studies and applications that demonstrate the practicality and transformative potential of integrating QKD-secured blockchain identity management systems in real-world 6G scenarios. We also address the inherent challenges and limitations of such integration and propose viable solutions to overcome them. Finally, we provide insights into future research and implementation directions and highlight the critical role of quantum-secured blockchain systems in the evolution of telecommunication networks toward a more secure, decentralized, and user-centric paradigm.

Yidan Lai, Yang Liu, Haoxiang Luo, Gang Sun · 8 authors

Blockchain, a groundbreaking technology known for its distributed ledger system, records digital transactions and information in a decentralized manner. Broadcast protocols, fundamental components of computer networks, play a crucial role in disseminating information effectively. Blockchain networks often exhibit lower throughput rates compared to centralized payment systems due to the intricate node verification process during data propagation. Improving blockchain performance requires mitigating transaction and block propagation delays within network dissemination processes. This study delves into the development and significance of blockchain broadcast protocols, exploring their applications within blockchain networks. We introduce various broadcast protocols designed to optimize performance metrics such as energy efficiency, fault tolerance, and consistency. A comprehensive analysis, including detailed comparisons through tables, sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of these protocols. In addition, the evolution of broadcast protocols in the context of Blockchain and the Web 3.0 era is explored, highlighting their emerging characteristics and associated challenges. Lastly, we address potential future challenges and directions for the evolution of broadcast protocols in the blockchain ecosystem.