Lingfeng Bao , Ruidong Zhang , Xiaohu Yang , Chunming Rong
{"title":"Editorials of BCRA 2024","authors":"Lingfeng Bao , Ruidong Zhang , Xiaohu Yang , Chunming Rong","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100270","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100270","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100270"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Ethereum-based distributed PKI with a reward-and-punishment mechanism","authors":"Chong-Gee Koa , Swee-Huay Heng , Ji-Jian Chin","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the critical role of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in ensuring the security of electronic transactions, particularly in validating the authenticity of websites in online environments. Traditional Centralised PKIs (CPKIs) relying on Certificate Authorities (CAs) face a significant drawback due to their susceptibility to a single point of failure. To address this concern, Decentralised PKIs (DPKIs) have emerged as an alternative. However, both centralised and decentralised approaches encounter specific challenges.</div><div>Researchers have made several attempts using blockchain-based PKI, which implements a reward and punishment mechanism to enhance the security of traditional PKI. Most of the attempts are focused on CA-based PKI, which still suffers from the risk of a single point of failure. Inspired by ETHERST, which is a blockchain-based PKI that implements Web of Trust (WoT) with reward and punishment, we introduce ETHERST version 3.0, with improvements in its secure level algorithm that enhances trustworthiness measurement. Comparative simulations between ETHERST version 2.0 and ETHERST version 3.0 reveal the superior performance of the latter in trustworthiness measurement and ensure the higher security of a virtual community. The new simulation algorithm with different node type definitions and assumptions presents results through tables and graphs, showing that ETHERST version 3.0 outperforms ETHERST version 2.0. This research contributes to advancing the field by introducing an innovative PKI solution with enhanced trustworthiness and security features.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100239"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143552974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ramandeep Kaur Sandhu , Manoj A Thomas , Kweku Muata Osei-Bryson
{"title":"Supporting secure and efficient collaborative health information exchange: A hybrid blockchain and ontology based approach","authors":"Ramandeep Kaur Sandhu , Manoj A Thomas , Kweku Muata Osei-Bryson","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100248","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100248","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Patients visit different healthcare institutions during their lifetime, and as a result, their personal health records are stored across different healthcare information systems. Cross-institutional patient data sharing is essential to provide caregivers with a comprehensive view of patients’ health profiles and improving the quality of care. However, security, semantic interoperability, and trust are major barriers that limit seamless exchange of healthcare data. To address these concerns, we apply the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology to propose and develop a functional blockchain-based healthcare information exchange system. At its core, the DSR artifact, called Blockchain-based Healthcare Information Exchange System (B-HIES), integrates private permissioned blockchain technology and interactive ontology mapping techniques. The efficacy and complementarity of the solution are evaluated based on a combination of scenario-based simulation and logically informed arguments. The integration of permissioned blockchain technology and interactive ontology mapping techniques in our proposed solution provides secure, reliable, and trustworthy data exchange among healthcare institutions. This paper discusses how the solution streamlines patent data exchange in heterogeneous healthcare networks. We note that developing such a system is a complex process and requires the involvement of experts with specialized knowledge in a variety of disciplines, such as blockchain, ontologies, healthcare, and medicine.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100248"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143628383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiuhua Lu , Jing Liu , Fengyin Li , Jiazheng Zou , Yuhao Hou
{"title":"Redactable blockchain with anonymity and multi-permission for instructional management","authors":"Xiuhua Lu , Jing Liu , Fengyin Li , Jiazheng Zou , Yuhao Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100247","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100247","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An instructional management system (IMS) regularly manages student data with a centralized database, which may be prone to single points of failure and data tampering. Blockchain can effectively solve the above problems due to its decentralization and immutability. However, the immutability of blockchain restricts the edit of data in some cases (e.g., incorrect score records). In this paper, we propose an advanced decentralized instructional management framework based on redactable blockchain, wherein chain nodes possess the capability to autonomously revise their initiated transactions with regular chameleon hash functions. Concurrently, system users can anonymously report discrepancies or erroneous entries within the blockchain. When such reports are validated and malicious activities are confirmed, the review team can undertake decentralized modifications to rectify the malicious content with our proposed scheme. In addition, we conduct a security analysis of the scheme, evaluating its correctness, collision resistance, and claimability. Finally, experimental results demonstrate that the scheme is practical.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100247"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"ATBFT-automatically switch consensus protocol","authors":"Yuxuan Lu , Chang Liu , Lanju Kong , Xiangyu Niu","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The current blockchain requires higher stability and efficiency. However, leaderBFT consensus and leaderlessBFT consensus have three problems: dominant replica failure, transaction interruption, and high communication overhead and latency. And regardless of leaderBFT consensus or leaderlessBFT consensus, there isn't a very good solution. It's urgent to leverage the advantages of both consensus types to enhance blockchain performance. To solve the problems, this paper proposes the ATBFT consensus protocol. ATBFT elects the dominant replica through reputation value to ensure higher reliability. In addition, ATBFT has an automatic switching mechanism between leaderBFT consensus and leaderlessBFT consensus. The protocol can automatically elect the consensus type according to the current network conditions, effectively utilizing the idle time of the view change to generate more blocks. Furthermore, it can guarantee the execution of the entire consensus process to ensure that the tx<span><span><sup>2</sup></span></span>-transactions are uninterrupted. Finally, ATBFT decomposes the blocks: the consensus is performed only through the block header, and the commitment and execution phase of a tx is performed through a linearly propagated block body. According to experimental evaluation, ATBFT has higher usability and practicality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100255"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Feiyang Sun , Peiyu Wang , Yihan Zhang , Pushpendu Kar
{"title":"βFSCM: An enhanced food supply chain management system using hybrid blockchain and recommender systems","authors":"Feiyang Sun , Peiyu Wang , Yihan Zhang , Pushpendu Kar","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100245","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100245","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Blockchain technology has gained traction in Food Supply Chain Management (FSCM), enhancing traceability and transparency. The existing deployments of public or private blockchains face issues in achieving an optimal balance between transparency and decentralization. This work proposes a hybrid blockchain model complemented by an Access Control (AC) mechanism to bolster security, reliability, and usability within FSCM systems. Furthermore, the integration of a recommender system is proposed to utilize data analytics and machine learning for personalizing product offerings and optimizing inventory management, aiming to boost efficiency and consumer satisfaction. The synergy between the hybrid blockchain framework and the recommender system is anticipated to cultivate a more engaged, efficient, and gratified supply chain ecosystem. The model significantly enhances monitoring in 30% of the use cases and supports transparency in a quarter. It also reduces vulnerability cases by 20%. Inventory management is markedly improved, reducing overstock by 25%, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid blockchain approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100245"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem","authors":"Yuandou Wang , Sheejan Tripathi , Siamak Farshidi , Zhiming Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100244","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100244","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Today, scientific research is increasingly becoming data-centric and compute-intensive, relying on data and models across distributed sources. However, challenges still exist in the traditional cooperation mode, given the high storage and computing costs, geolocation barriers, and local confidentiality regulations. The Jupyter environment has recently emerged and evolved into a vital virtual research environment for scientific computing, which researchers can use to scale computational analyses up to larger datasets and high-performance computing resources. Nevertheless, existing approaches lack robust support of a decentralized cooperation mode to unlock the full potential of decentralized collaborative scientific research, e.g., seamlessly secure data sharing. In this work, we change the basic structure and legacy norms of current research environments via the seamless integration of Jupyter with Ethereum blockchain capabilities. As such, it creates a Decentralized Virtual Research Environment (D-VRE) from private computational notebooks to a decentralized collaborative research ecosystem. We propose a novel architecture for the D-VRE and prototype some essential D-VRE elements for enabling secure data sharing with decentralized identity, user-centric agreement-making, membership, and research asset management. To validate our method, we conduct an experimental study to test all functionalities of D-VRE smart contracts and their gas consumption. In addition, we deploy the D-VRE prototype on a test net of the Ethereum blockchain for demonstration. The feedback from the studies showcases the current prototype's usability, ease of use, and potential, and suggests further improvements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100244"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Backtesting framework for concentrated liquidity market makers on Uniswap V3 decentralized exchange","authors":"Andrey Urusov , Rostislav Berezovskiy , Yury Yanovich","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has revolutionized the financial landscape, with protocols like Uniswap offering innovative automated market-making mechanisms. This article explores the development of a backtesting framework specifically tailored for Concentrated Liquidity Market Makers (CLMMs). The focus is on leveraging the liquidity distribution approximated using a parametric model to estimate the rewards within liquidity pools. The article details the design, implementation, and insights derived from this novel approach to backtesting within the context of Uniswap V3. The developed backtester was successfully utilized to assess reward levels across several pools using historical data from 2023 (pools Uniswap V3 for pairs of altcoins, stablecoins, and USDC/ETH with different fee levels). Moreover, the error in modeling the level of rewards for the period under review for each pool was less than 1%. This demonstrated the effectiveness of the backtester in quantifying liquidity pool rewards and its potential in estimating revenues of Liquidity Provider (LP) as part of the pool rewards, which is the focus of our next research. The backtester serves as a tool to simulate trading strategies and liquidity provision scenarios, providing a quantitative assessment of potential returns for LPs. By incorporating statistical tools to mirror CLMM pool liquidity dynamics, this framework can be further leveraged for strategy enhancement and risk evaluation for LPs operating within decentralized exchanges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100256"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143683325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SSI-MedRx: A fraud-resilient healthcare system based on blockchain and SSI","authors":"Meriem Guerar , Mauro Migliardi , Enrico Russo , Djamel Khadraoui , Alessio Merlo","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100242","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2024.100242","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Today, healthcare fraud poses a significant issue, encompassing everything from falsified billing claims and phantom services to the excessive prescription of opioid medications and medical identity theft. These deceptive activities cause substantial financial losses, erode patient trust, compromise healthcare quality, and threaten patient safety. In this paper, we introduce SSI-MedRx, a healthcare system based on blockchain technology and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). It is designed to ensure cross-border interoperability, preserve patient privacy, and prevent challenging healthcare frauds, including medical identity theft, phantom billing, kickbacks, and opioid overprescribing. By design, our system empowers patients by granting them complete control over their personal and health data. This shift toward patient-centric data management can potentially reduce the risk of data breaches, enhance care coordination, and improve overall healthcare outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 1","pages":"Article 100242"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143534969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating blockchain platforms for IoT applications in Industry 5.0: A comprehensive review","authors":"Najmus Sakib Sizan , Diganta Dey , Md. Abu Layek , Md Ashraf Uddin , Eui-Nam Huh","doi":"10.1016/j.bcra.2025.100276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bcra.2025.100276","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As Industry 5.0 emerges, the convergence of advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain is vital in shaping the future of industrial automation. Industry 5.0 emphasizes the collaborative relationship between humans and machines, requiring robust, decentralized systems to ensure security, accountability, and trust in interconnected ecosystems. Currently, IoT data processing is cloud-centric, which introduces challenges like fragmented data silos, limiting the potential for seamless and secure real-time analytics. Blockchain technology offers a solution by providing a decentralized and transparent ledger that can enhance data integrity and security across IoT applications. This study investigates the integration of blockchain with the IoT in the context of Industry 5.0, highlighting the potential for improved data management, security, and human-machine collaboration. By conducting a comprehensive analysis of IoT application designs and blockchain platforms, we evaluate existing literature to uncover the challenges, benefits, and limitations of this integration. Our research contributes by proposing a framework for selecting optimal blockchain platforms for IoT applications in Industry 5.0, providing actionable recommendations for enhanced data trust and resilience. Future research directions are also outlined to address the evolving demands of this technological convergence, ensuring that IoT ecosystems are secure, scalable, and human-centered in the era of Industry 5.0.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":53141,"journal":{"name":"Blockchain-Research and Applications","volume":"6 3","pages":"Article 100276"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}