In briefClassifying DeFi transaction methods using network graphlet patterns
SummaryThis paper examines whether network topology can identify the transaction methods that describe Decentralized Finance (DeFi) operations. The authors extract directed graphlet features to classify the 30 most frequent methods. They report that graphlet features complement event log counts and improve classification performance. Using SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), they derive model explanations that reveal method-specific graphlet structural patterns.
In briefPaper on whether adaptive transaction fees stay stable across multiple blockchains
SummaryThis paper studies whether adaptive base fee mechanisms like Ethereum's EIP-1559 remain stable when several blockchains are linked by cross-chain transfers. The authors model multi-chain fee markets as a nonlinear dynamical system with delayed feedback and identify delay-amplified over-correction as the root cause of instability. Experiments show that cross-chain coupling shrinks the safe range of update rates and that instability spreads to peer chains. The authors also propose a lightweight protocol-level mitigation that removes the over-correction.
In briefMarket Efficiency in a Changing Asset Population: Mobility, Entry, and Survival Across Cryptocurrency History
SummaryThis paper tests symmetry restrictions implied by weak-form efficiency on the Markov chain of cryptocurrency capitalisation movements, using 8,970 listed assets across 690 weekly cross-sections from 2013 to 2026. Symmetry is rejected in every era, but asymmetry falls, and the convergence is attributed to entry-driven compositional churn rather than changes in coins' own valuations. The bottom decile shows 27.5% weekly returns on paper but none among tradable assets, with capacity of $293,000.
In briefQuarkShard: Splitting Cross-Shard Requests into Single-Shard Transactions
SummaryThis paper proposes QuarkShard, a sharding protocol for blockchains that splits cross-shard user requests into transactions that each need consensus within only one shard. A request decomposition algorithm is said to preserve fund or location atomicity, and the design is said to improve resistance to MEV and flooding attacks. In tests across four AWS regions, the authors report a peak throughput of 1024k requests per second with latency under 4 seconds, and up to 210.7% and 314.8% of the maximum throughput of Kronos and 2PC.
In briefProvable Authority: A Verifiable Protocol for Checking Organizational Authority Before Transactions
SummaryThe paper proposes the ChainIT Authority Protocol, which lets a counterparty or payment rail independently verify, before execution, that the party presenting a transaction holds current organizational authority to execute it. It separates identity, a versioned authority record, sourced evidence, policy predicates, and execution credentials, binding decisions and human approvals to a canonical transaction digest. The paper also covers an extension for AI agent subjects, enforcement profiles for fiat and stablecoin rails, and stated residual risks and non-goals.
In briefAerie: A proof system that aggregates post-quantum Falcon signatures into one short proof
SummaryThis paper presents Aerie, a proof system that aggregates Falcon-512 and Falcon-1024 signatures, the post-quantum signatures selected by NIST, into a single short proof. Aerie keeps each signature's short random salt in the aggregate, so the verifier computes hashes directly and the proof covers only algebraic and norm checks. On an Apple M4 Max laptop without GPU acceleration, it aggregates 32,768 Falcon-512 signatures in 0.65 seconds, and verification takes 54 milliseconds on one core. The authors prove knowledge soundness in the random-oracle model.
WhyAggregates Falcon signatures with a lattice SNARK, keeping salts so verifiers hash directly and proving byte-format rules; benchmarks on 32,768 signatures show concrete speed.
Alberto Centelles, Quang Dao, Mohammadtaghi Badakhshan et al.
In briefAgentic AI in Automated Markets: How Different Trading Behaviors Affect Market Stress and Volatility
SummaryThis paper studies automated markets run by formulaic market makers, where three reinforcement-learning trading agents are modeled: a rational arbitrageur, a manipulator, and a retail herd-follower. A pilot on hourly cryptocurrency data (AAVE, ETC, SUI) compares how each behavior affects stress episodes, risk-adjusted performance, and volatility. The authors conclude that regulation should target specific behaviors rather than apply uniform limits on volatility or turnover.
Irene Aldridge, Lourenco Belleau-Bhowmik, James Chan et al.
In briefTCDA: Tunable Coded Distributed Arrays for Blockchain Data Availability Sampling
SummaryThis paper proposes TCDA, a coded network layer for data availability sampling in blockchains that remains robust against an unbounded number of Byzantine nodes. A tunable parameter sets how much of its assigned data each node keeps, trading off dissemination and storage costs against retrieval cost. At Ethereum's parameters for a 32 MiB block, the authors report that the fully replicated RDA misses the attestation deadline, while TCDA meets it from 868 to 40,000 good nodes, using 1.7 to 32 times less storage per node and 2.5 to 7.7 round-trips per sample.
In briefCapital Costs Protect the Network: Idle Mining Periods in Proof-of-Work Blockchains
SummaryAs block subsidies decline, Proof-of-Work blockchains increasingly depend on transaction fees to keep miners active. The paper models the backlog of high-fee transactions as a Lindley-type recursion and uses its stationary distribution to characterize the mining gap, the idle time miners face before enough profitable transactions accumulate. Under Bitcoin's difficulty adjustment, the expected gap grows with network hashpower and can fill an entire round as hashpower grows without bound. A free-entry condition yields a unique long-run equilibrium hashpower, and capital cost caps that equilibrium so the gap never occupies the whole round.
