TrustPay: A Dual-Layer Blockchain-Based Framework for Trusted Service Transaction

Web service-oriented transactions have become an integral part of the Internet economy, with the mainstream transaction patterns relying primarily on cloud service markets. However, traditional service transaction methods have deficiencies in terms of both trust and scalability. Distrust between service provider (SP) and consumer (SC), particularly around online payments and data security, impedes the further growth of service transactions. Although blockchain-based transaction mechanisms have made notable progress in addressing trust issues, they still face performance bottlenecks. To tackle these challenges, this paper introduces TrustPay, a service transaction framework that leverages a dual-layer blockchain structure consisting of a parent chain and multiple subchains. The framework partitions the subchain network based on business, with each subchain dedicated to storing service invocation records generated within a specific business unit. The smart contract deployed on the parent chain will settle the invocation records in all subchain networks as transaction records and facilitate automatic transfers among blockchain accounts. This design leverages blockchain's inherent reliability while improving its scalability in large-scale scenarios. Additionally, a novel consensus protocol, REFEREE, is introduced and applied to the subchain network, ensuring efficient recording of invocation data and trusted verification among participants, further enhancing both trust and performance. Comparative experiments and analysis show that TrustPay's dual-layer blockchain structure and REFEREE protocol are not only reliable but also outperform baseline methods in terms of efficiency.