Letters of Credit (LCs) are pivotal in global trade finance, yet traditional processes are plagued by inefficiencies, fraud, and a lack of transparency, particularly in developing economies such as Bangladesh. This study investigates how three technological innovations Blockchain Database Integration (BDI), Collaborative Platforms (COP), and Compliance Automation (CAU) drive the evolution of a Sustainable Letters of Credit Supply Chain (SLCSC), mediated through the development of a Technology-based LC Supply Chain (LCSC). Drawing on a sample of 400 LC stakeholders in Bangladesh, the research employed a quantitative methodology using a reflective measurement model. Data were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) in IBM SPSS and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in IBM AMOS to assess reliability, validity, and the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that Compliance Automation exerts a strong, significant positive effect on the LCSC (? = 0.661, p < 0.001) and Collaborative Platforms a weaker but significant effect (? = 0.087, p = 0.04), whereas Blockchain Database Integration has no significant effect (? = 0.016, p = 0.687). The LCSC, in turn, exerts a strong positive impact on the SLCSC (? = 0.938, p < 0.001). The findings demonstrate that compliance automation is the primary enabler of a technology-based LC supply chain, while the influence of blockchain remains constrained by prevailing infrastructural and regulatory conditions. The study’s principal contribution is to disaggregate the technological drivers of trade-finance digitalization into three empirically distinct constructs and to demonstrate that their influence on sustainability is fully mediated by the technology-based LC supply chain, providing structural- model evidence of this mechanism from Bangladesh’s banking sector. The study offers critical insights for banks, businesses, and policymakers seeking to modernize LC operations for enhanced efficiency, security, and eco- efficiency.
This chapter examines the transformative role of blockchain technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart contracts in reshaping trade finance and customs modernisation across Africa, with particular emphasis on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework. It explores how distributed ledger technologies are enhancing transparency and reducing transaction costs in cross-border trade, while AI-driven credit scoring and risk assessment models are expanding financial inclusion for underserved enterprises. The chapter analyses the deployment of smart contracts for automating trade documentation and compliance processes, and evaluates the impact of these technologies on fraud reduction and supply chain traceability. Drawing on real-world cases from the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Flutterwave, Kifiya, and the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol, the chapter highlights both opportunities and governance challenges, including data privacy, regulatory fragmentation, scalability constraints, and the digital infrastructure divide that characterises much of the continent. Policy recommendations for harmonised regulatory frameworks and capacity building are advanced.
Law, logistics, and international trade
Legal, Health, Environmental and COVID-19 Challenges
The rapid growth of Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization faces a critical vulnerability: the "Physical Oracle Problem." While blockchain ensures digital immutability, it remains blind to the physical state of the underlying asset (e.g., structural degradation in real estate or hidden damage in naval vessels). This document introduces the Prop Trust Verified Standard (PTVS), a comprehensive forensic methodology designed to bridge this gap. Developed by Aurema Group, PTVS establishes a rigorous protocol for physical asset auditing, combining certified judicial expertise (Perito Judicial) with cryptographic anchoring. The methodology ensures that physical inspections, material verifications, and compliance checks are immutably recorded and linked to smart contracts (e.g., ERC-3643), providing institutional-grade trust for Family Offices, tokenization platforms, and regulatory bodies under frameworks like eIDAS (EU 910/2014). This report outlines the core principles, verification workflows, and case study applications of PTVS in real estate and maritime sectors. Español: El rápido crecimiento de la tokenización de Activos del Mundo Real (RWA) enfrenta una vulnerabilidad crítica: el "Problema del Oráculo Físico". Mientras que la blockchain garantiza la inmutabilidad digital, permanece ciega al estado físico del activo subyacente (ej. degradación estructural en inmuebles o daños ocultos en embarcaciones). Este documento presenta el Estándar Prop Trust Verified (PTVS), una metodología forense integral diseñada para resolver esta brecha. Desarrollado por Aurema Group, PTVS establece un protocolo riguroso de auditoría física de activos, combinando la pericia judicial certificada con el anclaje criptográfico. La metodología garantiza que las inspecciones físicas, verificaciones de materiales y controles de cumplimiento se registren de forma inmutable y se vinculen a contratos inteligentes (ej. ERC-3643), proporcionando confianza de grado institucional para Family Offices, plataformas de tokenización y organismos reguladores bajo marcos como eIDAS (UE 910/2014). Este informe detalla los principios fundamentales, flujos de trabajo de verificación y aplicaciones prácticas de PTVS en los sectores inmobiliario y naval.
This Article examines whether tortious remedies for interference with non-fungible tokens are available under the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China and the common law of Singapore. The analysis proceeds from a three-layer separation of the underlying copyrighted work, the cryptographic token, and the impugned conduct. Under the Chinese Civil Code, Articles 114-115 define property rights (物权) by reference to direct control and exclusion over specific things (物), while Article 127 delegates the protection of network virtual property (网络虚拟财产) to unspecified future legislation. Under Singaporean law, the High Court in CLM v CLN accepted that cryptocurrencies satisfy the Ainsworth criteria for proprietary status, but no court has extended the tort of conversion to digital tokens. Both systems have recognized digital assets as property without resolving whether existing tortious remedies attach. The analysis maps the functional requirements of Chinese property-interference liability and Singaporean conversion onto private-key-controlled tokens, sets out a five-step operational test for routing claims, and identifies the doctrinal obstacles in each system.
The global trade finance ecosystem, long characterised by manual documentation, multi-layered intermediation, and protracted settlement cycles, is undergoing a profound structural transformation through the adoption of blockchain-based smart contracts. This article examines two principal objectives: (1) the extent to which smart contracts automate traditional trade finance processes, and (2) the degree to which they reduce systemic dependency on financial and documentary intermediaries. Drawing upon peer-reviewed scholarship, institutional reports, and empirical findings published between 2022 and 2025, the study undertakes a critical analysis of the operational, economic, legal, and societal dimensions of this technological shift. Findings indicate that while smart contracts demonstrably compress settlement cycles, reduce transaction costs, and enhance transparency, significant challenges persist concerning legal enforceability, regulatory fragmentation, and cybersecurity vulnerability. The article concludes with implications for policymakers, financial institutions, SMEs, and society at large.
Blockchain technology has emerged as a foundational digital infrastructure capable of redefining global trade and financial ecosystems through its decentralized, immutable, and trust‐enhancing architecture. By eliminating conventional intermediaries and reducing informational asymmetries, blockchain strengthens transactional transparency, accelerates cross-border settlements, and enhances the authenticity of trade documentation. Its applications including distributed ledgers for supply chain traceability, smart contracts for automated trade finance, and digital identities for customs and compliance are enabling unprecedented operational efficiencies across international logistics and regulatory environments. In the financial domain, blockchain facilitates secure and near-instantaneous value transfers, supports innovative instruments such as asset tokenization, and expands financial accessibility through decentralized finance (DeFi). Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) further signal a structural transformation in global monetary governance by promoting interoperability and reducing systemic frictions. Despite such transformative potential, significant challenges remain: fragmented regulatory frameworks, scalability constraints, cybersecurity concerns, and the need for harmonized global standards. This study critically evaluates blockchain’s multi-dimensional impact on international trade and financial systems, examining its strategic advantages, evolving use cases, and institutional implications. The analysis underscores that long-term global adoption will require coordinated policy reforms, cross-border regulatory convergence, and robust technological infrastructure. The findings aim to contribute to international scholarly discourse by mapping blockchain’s trajectory as a catalyst for a more transparent, resilient, and integrated global economic order.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) enables financial services to operate without centralized intermediaries, using smart contracts and blockchain consensus to ensure transparency and trust minimization. While DeFi protocols like Aave and MakerDAO use overcollateralization to mitigate credit risk, this approach creates capital inefficiencies and limits access to borrowers lacking on-chain assets. This paper introduces Inverum, a novel DeFi lending protocol designed to support undercollateralized loans for Web3 businesses and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). Inverum integrates on-chain credit scoring via soulbound tokens, decentralized liquidity pools, and governance-driven incentives to enable trustless, reputation-based lending. The protocol offers a fully composable framework for exploring undercollateralized lending without relying on traditional identity or off-chain reputation systems, contributing a research-ready model for future experimentation and protocol design.
Investors may tend to turn to safe-haven assets to avoid high volatility in financial markets and protect themselves from risks during times of uncertainty created by crisis periods. In the study, haven, hedge and diversification characteristics of traditional and digital assets such as gold, silver, US dollar, euro, US 10-year bond, Brent oil, Bitcoin and Ethereum against BIST100, S&P500 and DAX indices were examined using EGARCH (1,1) and DCC-GARCH (1,1) models in seven different crisis periods that have a high impact on global markets, including geopolitical, financial and health crises, using 20-year daily data covering the period 01.01.2005–01.01.2025. The findings indicate that the US dollar has consistently demonstrated strong safe-haven characteristics against the BIST100, S&P 500, and DAX in various crises. The assets that exhibited significant haven characteristics only in one crisis period were gold against the S&P 500, Brent oil, and the Euro against the DAX. The 10-year US bond exhibited safe-haven properties relative to the S&P 500 and DAX during various crisis periods. While no significant results were achieved regarding silver’s haven or hedge characteristics, it was observed that the assets generally played a diversifying role in periods other than those yielding these results. According to EGARCH (1,1) results, Ethereum was identified as a haven candidate against DAX; however, DCC-GARCH (1,1) estimates did not confirm this result.
Sep 4, 2025·2025 IEEE 13th International Conference on Intelligent Data Acquisition and Advanced Computing Systems: Technology and Applications (IDAACS)
In the trend of the integration of global trade and digital technology, the problems of traditional paper bills of lading have become prominent. Smart contracts provide technical support for the innovation of electronic bills of lading. Based on the practices of enterprises such as COSCO Shipping, this paper explores the legal effect, judicial challenges, and related practical dilemmas of smart contracts in logistics electronic bills of lading. Smart contracts, relying on blockchain technology, possess characteristics such as immutability, serving as property rights vouchers, and automatic execution. They meet the provisions of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China on contracts and have legal effect. Enterprises like COSCO Shipping actively promote the application of electronic bills of lading, and international enterprises also have corresponding practices. However, smart contracts face challenges in judicial determination, including difficulties in the application of procedural laws and disputes over the property rights voucher attribute in substance. Additionally, there are major difficulties in technical implementation, such as industry collaboration barriers and technology adoption obstacles, as exemplified by the suspension of projects by leading enterprises. In the future, development should be promoted from aspects such as technical optimization, improvement of the legal framework, and construction of an industry - collaborative ecosystem to drive the digital transformation of the shipping industry.
The Shipping and Transport Documentation (Bill of Lading - B/L) is a contract between a carrier and a shipper, functioning as a title of ownership in international maritime transport. It is essential in the global trade context but has historically resisted digitalization, resulting in reliance on manual, physical processes and consequently leading to inefficiencies, high operational costs, and vulnerabilities to fraud. This dissertation addresses the dematerialization of the B/L through an architecture focused on a process of data standardization and blockchain technology. The main objective is the development of a system capable of generating electronic B/Ls in an agnostic format, ensuring interoperability between different platforms and unalterable traceability. To this end, the solution adheres to the standards proposed by the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), ensuring that the data model is consistent with the maritime transport industry’s standards. Subsequently, the integrity and life cycle of each electronic B/L are ensured through the registration of its information on a blockchain, which functions as an immutable and distributed ledger. The developed prototype demonstrates that this approach not only facilitates the digitalization of the B/L process but also creates a secure, transparent, and auditable ecosystem, which is essential for the future of international trade.
Widespread reuse of open-source code in smart contract development boosts programming efficiency but significantly amplifies bug propagation across contracts, while dedicated methods for detecting similar smart contract functions remain very limited. Conventional abstract-syntax-tree (AST) based methods for smart contract similarity detection face challenges in handling intricate tree structures, which impedes detailed semantic comparison of code. Recent deep-learning based approaches tend to overlook code syntax and detection interpretability, resulting in suboptimal performance. To fill this research gap, we introduce SmartDetector, a novel approach for computing similarity between smart contract functions, explainable at the fine-grained statement level. Technically, SmartDetector decomposes the AST of a smart contract function into a series of smaller statement trees, each reflecting a structural element of the source code. Then, SmartDetector uses a classifier to compute the similarity score of two functions by comparing each pair of their statement trees. To address the infinite hyperparameter space of the classifier, we mathematically derive a cosine-wise diffusion process to efficiently search optimal hyperparameters. Extensive experiments conducted on three large real-world datasets demonstrate that SmartDetector outperforms current state-of-the-art methods by an average improvement of 14.01% in F1-score, achieving an overall average F1-score of 95.88%.
Arbia Hlali, Naser Al Ali, Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, Chinyeaka Nwokodi Nwoloziri · 5 authors
The maritime industry faces significant challenges, including inefficiencies, fraud, and a lack of transparency in the supply chain. Companies like Maersk are exploring blockchain technology and smart contracts to address these issues through secure and automated transactions. This chapter examines the transformative potential of blockchain technology and smart contracts within the maritime transport sector, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of their current applications and future possibilities in the maritime supply chain. The chapter concludes that the adoption of these technologies is not without challenges, including regulatory hurdles, integration issues, and the need for standardization. By analyzing both the benefits and obstacles associated with blockchain and smart contracts, this study aims to elucidate their role in the transformation of the maritime sector.
Smart contracts play a pivotal role in blockchain ecosystems, and fuzzing remains a critical approach to securing them. However, existing smart contract fuzzers often optimize either seed generation or mutation scheduling in isolation and rely on narrow, fragmented feedback signals, leaving multi-transaction reasoning and stagnation recovery under-explored. In this work, we propose aLarge Language Models(LLMs)-based Multi-feedback Smart Contract Fuzzing framework (LLAMA). Key components of the proposed LLAMA include: (i) a hierarchical prompting strategy that guides LLMs to generate structurally valid, context-aware multi-transaction initial seeds, together with a lightweight pre-fuzzing phase that validates and prioritizes high-potential LLM-generated candidates; (ii) a multi-feedback-guided evolutionary optimization module that jointly optimizes seed selection and mutation scheduling by a group of constraints for driving an LLM-bootstrapped bandit scheduler. (iii) an LLM-guided hybrid fuzzing module that integrates evolutionary fuzzing with a dual-channel recovery mechanism, which concurrently employs asynchronous coverage-stagnation- based LLM reseeding and selective symbolic execution to resolve complex path constraints. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that LLAMA outperforms state-of-the-art fuzzers in both coverage and vulnerability detection. Specifically, it achieves 92% instruction coverage on small contracts and 81% on large contracts, while detecting 132 out of 148 known vulnerabilities across diverse categories. Ablation studies further evidence that the proposed multi-feedback and hybrid recovery strategies have strong impact on LLAMA’s performance. The results explain LLAMA’s effectiveness, adaptability, and practicality in complex smart contract scenarios.
Lei Fan, Jonathan Katz, Zhenghao Lu, Phuc Thai · 5 authors
The proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols aim to reduce the unnecessary computing power waste seen in Bitcoin. Various practical and provably secure designs have been proposed, like Ouroboros Praos (Eurocrypt 2018) and Snow White (FC 2019). However, the essential security property of unpredictability in these protocols remains insufficiently explored. This paper delves into this property in the cryptographic setting to achieve the "best possible" unpredictability for PoS protocols.We first present an impossibility result for all PoS protocols under the single-extension design framework, where each honest player extends one chain per round. The state-of-the-art permissionless PoS protocols (e.g., Praos, Snow White, and more), are all under this single-extension framework. Our impossibility result states that, if a single-extension PoS protocol achieves the best possible unpredictability, then this protocol cannot be proven secure unless more than 73% of stake is honest.To overcome this impossibility, we introduce a new design framework called multi-extension PoS, allowing each honest player to extend multiple chains using greedy strategy in a round. This strategy allows us to construct a class of PoS protocols that achieve the best possible unpredictability. Additionally, we design a new tiebreak rule for the multi-extension protocol to choose the best chain that can be extended faster, ensuring that the adversary cannot slow-down the chain growth of honest players. It is noteworthy that these protocols can be proven secure, assuming a much smaller fraction (e.g., 57%) of stake to be honest.For a comprehensive security analysis in the cryptographic setting, we develop several new techniques. Analyzing chain growth becomes highly non-trivial as players can extend multiple chains. We introduce a new analysis framework using the Markov chain to assess the chain growth of a multi-extension protocol. To prove the common prefix property, we introduce a concept called "virtual chains" and present a reduction from the regular version of the common prefix to "common prefix w.r.t. virtual chains."
Digital Transformation is a broad initiative to build a new networked information society, driven by information and communication technologies that explore, collect, analyze and distribute data through global telecommunications networks. In today's world, an important strategic issue known as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” introduced by Germany in 2011[1]. The fierce competition in the market has forced companies to improve their supply chains in chains smart. In doing so, the system improves efficiency, agility and speed of response to the ever-changing global market. The technologies of Industry 4.0 allow companies to achieve long-term objectives by reducing production and transport times thanks to the organization of the supply chain.[2] The Fourth Industrial Revolution gave birth to several avenues of research, mainly related to artificial intelligence. The concept of digitization has touched all logistical links and transport is no exception. One of the most contentious ideas is decentralized freight intelligence, which implies that top-down control of transportation freight will give way to a bottom-up strategy. Providing a research viewpoint on the idea of decentralized freight intelligence in transport 4.0-that is, autonomous freight making localized routing decisions-is the aim of this paper. The paper will include The analysis is based on a review of the academic literature on decentralized intelligence in transport 4.0. Among the many conceptual findings, the analysis highlights the difficulties in introducing and implementing decentralized freight concepts in transport 4.0 and shows a dearth of research on the subject.
Oleh Harmash, Наталія Трушкіна, Kyryl Yevtushenko, Yu. Shkrygun
Currently, smart contracts are recognized as an effective mechanism for managing logistics activities and an innovative technology for managing relationships between a company and consumers based on blockchain. This technology is widely used in various sectors of the economy, including logistics and transport. Many transport companies in different countries of the world are turning to the use of smart contracts in their logistics activities. This is due to the fact that smart contracts simplify the management and processing of documents, contribute to improving the quality and level of service to customers and various groups of stakeholders, transforming the customer relationship management system, and also provide reliable data protection and help transport companies save time on routine operations, which ultimately reduces operating costs. In view of the above, the purpose of the article is to substantiate the need to use smart contacts as a tool to improve the efficiency of logistics management of transport companies in the era of digitalization. As part of the study, a bibliometric analysis of the database of scientific publications was conducted to identify the most cited works and authors. The results of the study will provide a holistic view of the current state and prospects for the development of research on reengineering logistics processes in the activities of transport companies when implementing smart contract technology. The article studies and summarizes scientific approaches to defining the essence and content of the concept of “smart contract”. The features of the use of smart contract technology in the USA, the European Union and Singapore are studied. The main indicators of the development of the smart contract system in the world are analyzed. The sequence of development of the smart contract system in the transport services sector is determined. A matrix of interests and goals of participants in the transport services market, which are provided using smart contract technology, is proposed. C The factors and conditions for the successful implementation of smart contract technology in the logistics activities of a transport company are determined. Alternative scenarios for the transition to smart contract technology as a mechanism for managing the logistics activities of transport companies are proposed.
Semantic code search technology allows searching for existing code snippets through natural language, which can greatly improve programming efficiency. Smart contracts, programs that run on the blockchain, have a code reuse rate of more than 79%, which means developers have a great demand for semantic code search tools. However, the existing code search models still have a semantic gap between code and query and perform poorly on specialized queries of smart contracts. In this paper, we propose a Multi-Modal Smart contract Code Search (MM-SCS) model. Specifically, we construct a Contract Elements Dependency Graph (CEDG) for MM-SCS as an additional modality to capture the data flow and control flow information of the code. To make the model more focused on the key contextual information, we use a multi-head attention network to generate embeddings for code features. In addition, we use a fine-tuned pretrained model to ensure the model's effectiveness when the training data is small. We compared MM-SCS with four state-of-the-art models on a dataset with 470K (code, docstring) pairs collected from Github and Etherscan. Experimental results show that MM-SCS achieves an MRR (Mean Reciprocal Rank) of 0.572, outperforming four state-of-the-art models UNIF, DeepCS, CARLCS-CNN, and TAB-CS by 34.2%, 59.3%, 36.8%, and 14.1%, respectively. Additionally, the search speed of MM-SCS is second only to UNIF, reaching 0.34s/query.
This research explores the impact of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) authentication on purchase intention in new and pre-loved luxury markets, grounded in warranting theory and institution-based trust theory. Using a two-study online experimental design (Study 1: new luxury market, Study 2: pre-loved luxury market), both studies used a one-factor (NFT authentication) and two-level (yes or no) design and PROCESS macro Model 6 for serial mediation analysis. The results from Study 1 indicate that NFT authentication enhances purchase intention through increased warranting value and structural assurance. Study 2 confirmed these serial mediating effects and revealed a direct significant impact of NFT authentication in the pre-loved luxury market, which was not significant in the new luxury market. This study highlights the importance of NFT authentication in enhancing consumer trust and purchase intention in both new and pre-loved luxury markets.
Jan 1, 2025·SOCRATES Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Juridiskās fakultātes elektroniskais juridisko zinātnisko rakstu žurnāls / SOCRATES Rīga Stradiņš University Faculty of Law Electronic Scientific Journal of Law
Head of Administrative Division of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, VSIA “Latvijas Vēstnesis” Journal “Jurista Vārds”, Riga, Latvia, Paula Lipe
This article examines the application of the Rome I Regulation to contracts for the cross-border sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a novel category of digital assets. While NFT transfers are increasingly common in digital commerce, the legal framework for determining applicable law in such transactions remains unsettled. The research adopts a doctrinal legal analytical research method grounded in the systematic interpretation of European Union (EU) legislation, case law, academic commentary and comparative soft law instruments. It focuses on how Articles 3 and 4 of Rome I operate in decentralised, pseudonymous environments where conventional connecting factors such as habitual residence and contract typologies are difficult to apply. The findings demonstrate that although Rome I remains formally applicable, its conceptual foundations—especially the reliance on territorial connecting factors and analogue contract classifications—are tested by emerging realities in NFT sales. The article concludes by identifying areas where interpretative guidance or targeted legislative reform may be necessary to ensure legal certainty and coherence in NFTrelated transactions. Keywords: applicable law; NFT sales; Rome I.