HASChain – A Sustainable Blockchain

Introduction

In an era where counterfeit goods threaten businesses and consumer trust, HASChain provides a blockchain solution to combat counterfeiting. Built on Ethereum’s architecture, it offers a private Layer 2 (L2) blockchain network to verify product authenticity while addressing sustainability concerns associated with Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains.

The project aims to reduce transaction fees, ensure security, and optimize resource usage by analyzing system metrics such as CPU usage, memory usage, and carbon footprint.

Motivation

The global counterfeit industry is a multi-billion-dollar problem that affects industries ranging from luxury goods to artisanal products. Counterfeit products erode potential revenue, tarnish brand reputations, and pose significant health and safety risks to consumers.

In addition to addressing counterfeiting, the project also tackles the sustainability challenges associated with blockchain networks. PoW algorithms require significant computational power and energy, raising concerns about their long-term viability.

Problem Definition

The project aims to:

• Combat product counterfeiting by creating a custom Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain.
• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of PoW algorithms by evaluating system hardness metrics like CPU utilization, memory usage, and GPU core utilization.

The platform uses Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to represent product authenticity, and a private blockchain network to ensure secure and transparent transactions.

Functional Requirements

• Data Collection and Analysis: Real-time data on memory usage, CPU usage, and GPU core utilization.
• Remote Execution: Users can trigger blockchain algorithms from an interactive frontend.
• Custom Difficulty Levels: The system allows users to set difficulty levels for mining operations.

Non-Functional Requirements

• Performance: The system should handle 1000 transactions per second (TPS).
• Scalability: The blockchain must support additional nodes without compromising performance.
• Security: All communications and transactions must be encrypted to ensure data security.
• Compliance: The system should comply with data protection and privacy regulations.

Technology Stack

Methodology

The custom blockchain network is built using Polygon Edge, with two types of nodes:

1. Bootstrap Nodes: Facilitate network formation and serve as entry points.
2. Miner Nodes: Validate transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain.

Communication Protocols

• gRPC: Ensures high-performance communication between nodes.
• JSON-RPC: Used by MetaMask to interact with blockchain nodes.

Consensus Algorithm

The project uses PolyBFT as the consensus algorithm, which optimizes resource utilization and enhances the reliability of the mining process.

NFTs and Marketplace

The project integrates an NFT marketplace to facilitate product verification:

1. NFT Minting: Artisans can upload images, set descriptions, and mint NFTs representing their products.
2. Storage: Images are stored off-chain using IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), while metadata is stored on the blockchain.
3. Marketplace Interaction: Users can buy and sell NFTs on the marketplace through the MetaMask wallet.

Assessment Framework

The project includes a baseline assessment framework to evaluate the sustainability of PoW algorithms. Key metrics analyzed include:

• CPU utilization
• Memory usage
• GPU CUDA core utilization
• Swap memory usage
• Carbon footprint

The assessment provides insights into the system hardness and sustainability of PoW-based blockchain systems.

Conclusion

HASChain addresses two critical issues:

1. Product Counterfeiting: By offering a secure and transparent verification system using NFTs.
2. Blockchain Sustainability: By analyzing system metrics to optimize PoW algorithms for better resource efficiency.

The project contributes to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including:

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

References

1. Tian, H., Xue, K., Luo, X., et al. (2021). Enabling cross-chain transactions: A decentralized cryptocurrency exchange protocol. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.
2. Nissl, M., Sallinger, E., et al. (2021). Towards cross-blockchain smart contracts. IEEE International Conference on Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures.
3. Jadhav, R., Shaikh, A., et al. (2022). System for Identifying Fake Product using Blockchain Technology. 7th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES).
4. Digiconomist (2024). Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index.

Thank You! 😊