ABSTRACT: multimedia messages instantaneously.

Originating in
the early days of the internet with basic chat rooms
Traditional instant messaging (IM) platforms and desktop clients, IM services have rapidly
typically rely on centralized servers for message delivery and
evolved to support seamless, presence-aware
storage, creating vulnerabilities such as single points of
failure, data breaches, and unauthorized surveillance. Even conversations across smartphones, tablets, and
with end-to-end encryption (E2EE), concerns remain over desktops. Features like read receipts, typing
metadata exposure and server-side attacks, which can indicators, and group chats have raised user
compromise user privacy and data integrity. While private expectations for responsiveness and interactivity,
blockchains have been considered to decentralize control,
making IM a preferred medium for both personal
they introduce limitations like high maintenance costs,
restricted validator diversity, and increased latency, making and professional communication. Behind the scenes,
them inefficient for real-time communication. To overcome IM platforms rely on a combination of client-server
these limitations, the proposed system introduces a secure, architectures, persistent connections, and
decentralized instant messaging architecture that combines message-queuing systems to ensure reliable delivery
blockchain technology, cryptographic hashing, symmetric
and synchronization across devices. These systems
encryption, and decentralized storage to ensure message
integrity, confidentiality, and tamper-resistance. In the manage user presence, message routing, and data
proposed approach, when a sender initiates a message, the storage, often leveraging cloud infrastructure to
system generates a cryptographic hash of the message provide high availability and scalability. Over time,
content, serving as a unique digital signature that is stored on many services have incorporated advanced features
the blockchain using a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus
—such as voice and video calling, file sharing, and
mechanism. PoS enhances efficiency and reduces energy
consumption while ensuring that only trusted validators with
bots—to enrich the user experience and extend
a stake in the network confirm the transactions. The actual platform functionality. As adoption has surged, IM
message is then encrypted using the Blowfish algorithm, platforms face growing demands around security,
chosen for its fast processing speed and suitability for privacy, and interoperability. Traditional centralized
lightweight real-time applications. Once encrypted, the file is
models can introduce single points of failure and
uploaded to the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a
decentralized content-addressed storage solution. IPFS
data-privacy concerns, prompting the emergence of
returns a unique content identifier (CID) for the encrypted decentralized and federated alternatives. Today’s IM
file, which is also recorded on the blockchain to ensure landscape spans a wide spectrum—from proprietary,
traceability and integrity. This integrated architecture end-to-end-encrypted apps to open, federated
separates data storage from transaction validation, allowing
networks—underscoring the ongoing drive to
the system to scale efficiently while maintaining high levels
of privacy and security. By utilizing PoS blockchain for
balance performance, usability, and trust in real-time
validation, Blowfish for encryption, and IPFS for communication.
decentralized storage, the proposed system provides a reliable
and secure messaging framework that protects user data, a. Proof of stack:
supports real-time performance, and addresses the core
weaknesses of centralized IM platforms. Proof of Stake (PoS) is a consensus
mechanism used by many modern blockchain
Keywords: Instant Messaging, End-to-End Encryption,
Private Blockchain, Proof of Stake (PoS), Blowfish
networks to validate transactions and secure the
Algorithm, Cybersecurity, Decentralization, Real-Time ledger without relying on energy-intensive mining.
Communication, Metadata Leakage, Cost-Effective Security. Instead of miners competing to solve cryptographic
puzzles, PoS selects validators based on the amount
I. Introduction:
of cryptocurrency they “stake”—that is, lock up as
Instant messaging (IM) platforms have become an collateral on the network. The greater a validator’s
integral part of modern digital communication, stake, the higher their probability of being chosen to
enabling users to exchange text, voice, and propose and attest to new blocks, aligning network
incentives: those with more at risk are motivated to providers, IPFS servers often function as HTTP
act honestly. When a validator is selected, they gateways, translating traditional URL requests into
bundle pending transactions into a block, sign it IPFS lookups so that users can access content
cryptographically, and broadcast it to the network. without running a full node. In enterprise or
Other validators then verify the block’s integrity production settings, operators deploy dedicated IPFS
and, if it passes all checks, they append it to their servers in data centers or at the edge to strategically
own copies of the chain. Validators receive cache and replicate important datasets, reducing
transaction fees (and sometimes additional token latency and ensuring resilience. While critical
rewards) proportional to their stake, while malicious content typically requires pinning on multiple
behavior—such as double-signing or proposing servers to guard against peer churn, IPFS’s
conflicting blocks—can lead to partial or complete decentralized architecture and content-addressed
slashing of a validator’s staked tokens. This “proof storage offer robust alternatives to centralized file
by economic security” discourages attacks by hosting, making it ideal for use cases demanding
making dishonesty financially unprofitable. censorship resistance, offline access, and scalable
Compared to Proof of Work, PoS dramatically distribution.
reduces energy consumption because it eliminates
the need for continuous high-power hashing. It also II. Related work:
facilitates faster finality and lower latency, as block
proposals and attestations can be coordinated more [1] Elias Ribeiro da Silva , Jacob Lohmer ,
directly among known validators. However, PoS Michelle Rohla , Jannis Angelis[1] Data sharing
introduces challenges around stake centralization— and blockchain technology play a vital role in
large holders may gain disproportionate influence— advancing circularity within the electric vehicle
and liveness under network partition, which (EV) battery supply chain by enhancing
networks address through mechanisms like transparency and traceability. Blockchain creates an
delegation, randomized selection, and robust immutable ledger of each battery’s life cycle, from
slashing conditions to maintain decentralization and raw material sourcing to manufacturing, use, and
resilience. eventual disposal or repurposing. This traceability
ensures that every stage in the battery’s lifecycle is
b. IPFS SERVER: documented, which helps stakeholders verify the
sustainability of materials and track compliance with
IPFS servers are specialized nodes in the environmental standards. With transparent data,
InterPlanetary File System network that store, serve, manufacturers, recyclers, and end-users can
and maintain access to content-addressed data. collaborate more effectively, promoting sustainable
When you add a file to IPFS, it’s split into practices across the supply chain. These
cryptographic blocks, each given a unique content technologies also enable second-life applications and
identifier (CID). IPFS servers “pin” these CIDs to extend value chain activities, key components in a
ensure they aren’t garbage-collected, and they circular economy for EV batteries. Blockchain-
advertise their availability via the network’s based data sharing allows companies to identify
Distributed Hash Table (DHT). Clients querying for batteries suitable for reuse or recycling efficiently,
a particular CID consult the DHT to discover which facilitating second-life uses such as energy storage.
peers (including IPFS servers) hold the data, then By providing reliable information on battery health,
download blocks in parallel from one or more composition, and ownership, blockchain supports
sources, resulting in high availability and efficient responsible recycling and re-utilization practices,
use of bandwidth. Beyond acting as persistent helping companies maximize resource use, reduce
waste, and lower environmental impact. In this way, systems, the multi-channel design partitions
blockchain and data sharing not only support transactions and smart contract execution across
sustainable innovation but also help overcome parallel chains, reducing per-node processing
logistical and regulatory challenges in creating a overhead and preserving performance. By
fully circular economy for EV batteries. [2] Smita integrating cryptographic privacy tools with an
Athanere , Ramesh Thakur [2] This research efficient, decentralized ledger structure, this solution
proposes a secure, blockchain-based decentralized achieves scalable, secure energy data management
system utilizing IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) to suitable for practical deployment in smart grids. It
enhance data transfer security, addressing key also enables transparent oversight for stakeholders.
vulnerabilities found in centralized systems. [4] Chaitanya Singh , Deepika Chauhan ,
Traditional centralized models are more susceptible Sushama A. Deshmukh , Swati Sudhakar
to attacks due to their reliance on single-point data Vishnu , Ranjan Walia [4] Medi-Block is a
storage, making them prime targets for malicious blockchain-based framework designed to secure and
actors. By decentralizing data storage and utilizing streamline medical record sharing by embedding
IPFS, the system divides data into hash codes stored identity management directly into the ledger. It
across a distributed network, significantly reducing employs bilinear mapping to enable distributed
the chances of a breach and improving overall authentication without relying on a central trust
resilience against attacks. To strengthen security authority, ensuring that patient identities and
further, the system employs data encryption and a sensitive health data remain both anonymous and
two-level key management strategy. Before storage, tamper-resistant. The system enforces mutual,
data is encrypted to maintain confidentiality. two-way authentication between patients and
Additionally, the two-level key management healthcare providers, preventing impersonation and
protocol restricts data access, ensuring that only unauthorized access. By cryptographically linking
authorized users can retrieve or modify the data. verified user identities to transaction records, Medi-
Together, IPFS and blockchain's immutability, Block allows doctors and patients to exchange data
combined with encryption and advanced key confidently, supporting timely clinical decisions
management, create a highly secure environment for while preserving confidentiality. Performance
data transfer, protecting it from single-point failures optimizations—such as lightweight authentication
and reducing the risk of unauthorized access and protocols and the removal of intermediary services
tampering. [3] Pierpaolo Loreti , Lorenzo —significantly reduce communication latency and
Bracciale , Emanuele Raso, Giuseppe Bianchi , operational overhead. Consequently, Medi-Block
Eleonora Riva Sanseverino , And Pierluigi Gallo not only enhances data privacy and integrity in
[3] This paper presents a novel, multi-channel medical contexts but also offers a scalable,
blockchain architecture tailored for smart grid cost-effective solution for healthcare organizations
applications, enhancing data privacy, transparency, seeking secure, decentralized record-sharing
and accountability through Secure Multiparty capabilities. [5] Yixian Zhang , Feng Zhao [5] The
Computation (SMC) and Verifiable Secret Sharing ECA_MDSS (Efficient Consensus Algorithm for
(VSS). SMC enables collaborative computation on Medical Data Storage and Sharing) is designed to
encrypted energy usage data without revealing raw improve delay and throughput in large-scale
inputs, while VSS distributes encrypted shares healthcare networks. It employs a master-slave
across channels and enforces consensus before multi-chain architecture with geographic clustering,
reconstruction, safeguarding confidentiality and enabling efficient, region-based data processing and
ensuring verifiable integrity. To accommodate reduced transmission delays. Aggregation signatures
resource-constrained IoT devices common in energy compress transaction data to boost throughput, while
ring signatures anonymize node identities to protect Proof of Work (PoW), which is resource-intensive,
privacy. A built-in trust model monitors node PoS selects validators based on their stake in the
behavior to minimize risks from malicious network, ensuring faster transaction validation,
participants. This combination enhances security, lower energy consumption, and better scalability.
scalability, and system integrity. Experimental
results demonstrate improvements in communication
overhead, consensus delay, and scalability, making
ECA_MDSS a robust and efficient solution for
secure medical data sharing in modern, high-demand
healthcare systems. [6] Marc Jayson Baucas,
Petros Spachos [6] This research introduces a
blockchain-based instant messaging (IM) platform
focused on enhancing privacy, security, and
decentralization. Unlike centralized IM services, the
system uses private blockchain to record message
transactions, ensuring immutability and protection
against tampering or unauthorized access. End-to-
end encryption (E2EE) with public-private key pairs The message hash, along with metadata such as
secures messages so only intended recipients can sender and receiver IDs and a timestamp, is recorded
access them, reducing the risk of interception. The immutably on the blockchain, ensuring
use of asymmetric encryption further strengthens accountability and protection against tampering or
security by making unauthorized decryption nearly unauthorized access. While the hash is stored on the
impossible. To support scalability and efficient blockchain, the actual message undergoes
communication, a RESTful API web server is encryption using the Blowfish algorithm—a fast,
integrated, improving load balancing and response lightweight, and secure symmetric encryption
times during high traffic. This architecture combines method well-suited for real-time communication.
blockchain integrity, strong encryption, and efficient The encrypted message is then uploaded to the
web technologies to deliver a secure, decentralized, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a decentralized
and high-performance messaging platform. storage network. IPFS returns a unique content
identifier (CID) that points to the exact encrypted
A. Architecture Diagram: message in the distributed file system. This CID is
also stored on the blockchain, linking the metadata
The architecture of the proposed Instant Messaging
with the encrypted content without burdening the
(IM) system is designed to ensure privacy, security,
blockchain with large data. On the receiver’s end,
and decentralization by integrating blockchain
the system retrieves the CID from the blockchain
technology, Blowfish encryption, and IPFS
and uses it to fetch the encrypted message from the
decentralized storage. The process begins at the
IPFS server. The receiver then decrypts the content
sender’s end, where a message is composed and
using the Blowfish algorithm, ensuring that only
immediately hashed using a secure hashing function
authorized users can access the message content.
such as SHA-256. This hash acts as a digital
This architecture not only safeguards data privacy
fingerprint that guarantees the integrity of the
and ensures message integrity but also leverages
message. Once the hash is generated, it is forwarded
decentralized infrastructure to avoid single points of
to a blockchain network that operates using the
failure, making the system robust, efficient, and
Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. Unlike
scalable for secure digital communication.
 III. Proposed system: decentralized storage creates a secure and
trustworthy environment for instant messaging. This
The proposed system introduces a robust, secure, architecture not only preserves the privacy and
and decentralized instant messaging (IM) integrity of communication but also ensures
architecture aimed at addressing the limitations of resilience against censorship, surveillance, and
conventional messaging platforms that rely heavily unauthorized tampering, making it a practical
on centralized servers. These traditional systems solution for modern, privacy-focused messaging
pose serious risks, including single points of failure, needs.
data breaches, and unauthorized access to private
communications. Even when end-to-end encryption a. User Authentication Module:
(E2EE) is employed, concerns persist regarding
metadata exposure and server-side vulnerabilities. This module ensures that only legitimate
To counter these issues, the proposed system users can access the messaging system. Each user
integrates blockchain technology, cryptographic registers using a unique identity and public-private
hashing, symmetric encryption, and decentralized key pair generated through asymmetric encryption.
storage to ensure message integrity, confidentiality, Upon logging in, users are authenticated based on
and tamper-resistance. In this architecture, when a digital signatures to verify their identity without
sender transmits a message, the content is first revealing sensitive credentials. This approach
converted into a cryptographic hash that uniquely eliminates the need for centralized authentication
represents the message. This hash functions as a servers and minimizes the risk of identity theft or
digital fingerprint and is recorded on a blockchain impersonation. Blockchain is used to log
network using the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus authentication records, enhancing traceability and
algorithm. PoS is selected over traditional accountability. Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus
mechanisms like Proof of Work due to its energy further validates user authenticity by involving
efficiency and ability to maintain network integrity trusted validators who have a stake in the system,
through trusted validators who hold a stake in the ensuring secure participation. This module sets the
system. After the message hash is committed to the foundation for secure communication by verifying
blockchain, the actual message is encrypted using user identities before message exchange begins.
the Blowfish algorithm, a symmetric encryption
method known for its fast processing and b. Message Hashing and Block chain
lightweight performance, making it suitable for real- Storage:
time applications. The encrypted message file is then
stored on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a In this module, once a user composes a
decentralized storage network that uses content- message, the content is transformed into a
based addressing. Upon successful upload, IPFS cryptographic hash using secure hashing algorithms.
generates a unique content identifier (CID) for the This hash serves as a digital fingerprint of the
encrypted file, which is also recorded on the message, uniquely identifying its content without
blockchain. This ensures that the message can be revealing the actual data. The generated hash is then
verified and retrieved securely without relying on recorded on the blockchain through the PoS
centralized servers. By decoupling storage from consensus mechanism, which verifies and validates
transaction validation, the system ensures scalability, the transaction. Storing the hash on the blockchain
efficiency, and enhanced privacy. The combination ensures tamper resistance and message integrity, as
of PoS-based blockchain for validation, Blowfish any alteration to the original message would result in
encryption for confidentiality, and IPFS for a mismatched hash. This process allows recipients
and system validators to confirm that the message mitigates the risks of censorship and data loss often
has not been altered during transmission. The use of associated with centralized storage. The CID is then
blockchain makes the system decentralized and recorded on the blockchain for future verification
removes reliance on a central authority, reducing the and retrieval. This module ensures that encrypted
risk of single-point failure and data corruption. This messages are stored in a decentralized and resilient
module plays a critical role in ensuring transparency way, improving the overall system efficiency and
and traceability in message delivery. robustness.

c. Message Encryption Module: e. Block chain Transaction Validation With

Pos:
To maintain message confidentiality, the
proposed system incorporates Blowfish encryption This module focuses on maintaining the
in this module. Once the message hash is stored on integrity and consistency of message-related
the blockchain, the actual message file is encrypted transactions on the blockchain through the Proof of
using the Blowfish algorithm, a symmetric-key Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. PoS allows
cipher known for its speed and lightweight design. validators who own a stake in the system to validate
Blowfish uses a single shared secret key for both transactions, eliminating the need for energy-
encryption and decryption, providing a fast and intensive mining used in Proof of Work. When a
secure way to protect the message content before it message hash or CID is submitted to the blockchain,
leaves the sender’s device. This encryption ensures validators verify the transaction based on network
that even if someone gains unauthorized access to rules and append it to the chain upon consensus.
the stored message file, they cannot interpret its This reduces latency and energy consumption while
contents without the correct decryption key. maintaining security. The validators are incentivized
Compared to other encryption algorithms, Blowfish to act honestly, as malicious behavior would result
offers excellent performance in real-time in a loss of their stake. This module ensures that all
environments, making it suitable for instant entries related to messages—whether they be hashes
messaging platforms. This module ensures that or storage references—are recorded in an immutable
sensitive communication remains confidential and verifiable manner, preventing tampering or
during storage and transit, safeguarding against duplication of records. It also contributes to the
interception and unauthorized disclosure. decentralization and reliability of the system.

d. Decentralized Storage with IPFS f. Message Retrieval And Decryption:

After encryption, the secured message file is When the receiver wants to access a
uploaded to the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a message, this module handles the secure retrieval
decentralized peer-to-peer file storage network. IPFS and decryption process. The receiver queries the
breaks the file into smaller chunks, distributes them blockchain to obtain the CID of the encrypted
across nodes, and assigns a unique content identifier message stored in IPFS. Using the CID, the system
(CID) based on the file’s content. This CID acts as a fetches the corresponding encrypted file from IPFS.
reference to retrieve the file securely without relying The recipient then uses the shared secret key (agreed
on a specific server or centralized repository. Storing upon securely in advance) to decrypt the file using
files on IPFS enhances fault tolerance and scalability the Blowfish algorithm. The decrypted content can
since the same content can be retrieved from then be verified against the original hash stored on
multiple nodes if one becomes unavailable. It also the blockchain to ensure it has not been tampered
with. This verification process confirms both the tolerance and availability but also protected user
authenticity and integrity of the message. By data from surveillance, censorship, and server
combining CID-based file retrieval with strong outages. User simulation tests were conducted with
decryption and verification, this module guarantees multiple senders and receivers, which confirmed
that users receive the correct, untampered content system scalability and consistent performance.
while maintaining end-to-end confidentiality. It
ensures that only intended recipients can access and a. Energy Efficiency:
validate the message, making the system secure and
user-centric. Energy efficiency is a critical consideration when
implementing encryption algorithms, especially in
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION: systems with limited computational resources such
as mobile devices. The Blowfish algorithm stands
The proposed blockchain-based instant messaging out for its low energy consumption due to its
(IM) system was designed and tested to validate its lightweight structure and simple operations. In the
effectiveness in ensuring secure, decentralized, and proposed system, the sender and receiver's devices
efficient communication. The results demonstrate utilize the Blowfish algorithm to encrypt and decrypt
significant improvements in data integrity, message messages. Since Blowfish operates with a fixed
confidentiality, and tamper resistance compared to number of rounds (16), and each round involves
traditional centralized messaging platforms. One of basic operations like XOR and modular addition, it
the key outcomes observed was the successful requires less power compared to more complex
integration of the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithms. This efficiency makes it suitable for
mechanism for validating message transactions on real-time communication, where low latency and
the private blockchain. This mechanism not only minimal power consumption are essential. The
ensured secure validation by trusted nodes but also energy consumption in Blowfish is proportional to
minimized energy consumption, making the system the number of encryption rounds and the number of
environmentally sustainable. Message hashes stored operations within each round. Specifically, the total
on the blockchain proved immutable, confirming energy used for encryption can be described by the
that any alteration in message content could be formula:
easily detected.
The implementation of Blowfish encryption showed
excellent performance in securing the actual
message content. It offered fast encryption and
decryption times, which is essential for real-time
messaging. The encryption process did not cause
noticeable delays in communication, even under
increased network load, demonstrating the
algorithm’s lightweight and high-speed capabilities.
The integration with the InterPlanetary File System In the proposed system, Blowfish’s energy
(IPFS) allowed decentralized storage of encrypted efficiency is especially important because it allows
message files. The use of content-based addressing the encryption of large files, such as images or
through unique Content Identifiers (CIDs) ensured documents, with minimal power usage. This makes
that users could retrieve files reliably without relying it ideal for scenarios where devices are battery-
on a centralized server. This not only improved fault powered, such as smartphones or IoT devices,
ensuring that the system remains operational for
extended periods without excessive battery drain.
Moreover, since the Blowfish algorithm is highly
efficient in terms of its computational overhead and
memory requirements, it minimizes the energy
consumption not only during encryption but also
during the process of storing and retrieving
encrypted files from the InterPlanetary File System
(IPFS). This efficiency reduces the strain on the In the context of the proposed system, Blowfish’s
system's resources, ensuring that the proposed quick encryption and decryption operations help
system can handle secure communication efficiently ensure that real-time communication is not delayed
while maintaining energy sustainability. This low- by the cryptographic process. For example, when a
energy approach is particularly useful when user sends a message, Blowfish processes the
implementing decentralized, blockchain-based message quickly, which ensures that the system's
systems where multiple devices are involved in responsiveness remains high. As the message is
transmitting and receiving encrypted messages. encrypted and stored on the IPFS system, the time
spent on encryption and decryption is minimal,
b. Time efficiency: allowing the system to efficiently handle multiple
transactions without slowing down. Additionally, the
Time efficiency plays a crucial role in time efficiency of Blowfish extends beyond just the
ensuring that encryption and decryption processes encryption process. Since the encrypted data is
do not introduce significant delays in stored on the decentralized IPFS network, the time
communication, especially in real-time applications to upload, retrieve, and access the encrypted files is
such as instant messaging. The Blowfish algorithm optimized. IPFS is designed for fast access and
is known for its fast encryption and decryption retrieval of content, which complements the rapid
speeds, which makes it an ideal choice for the encryption capabilities of Blowfish. By combining
proposed system. The time efficiency of Blowfish is the fast encryption of Blowfish with the
primarily determined by the number of rounds, the decentralized storage and retrieval features of IPFS,
size of the data block, and the efficiency of the the proposed system achieves overall time
operations within each round. With only 16 rounds efficiency, making it a viable solution for large-
and 64-bit data blocks, Blowfish requires fewer scale, real-time communication systems.
computational steps than more complex encryption
algorithms, resulting in quicker encryption and
decryption times.
 As the system grows and more messages are
transmitted, Blowfish’s linear encryption time
ensures that the system can efficiently scale to
handle larger volumes of communication without
significant slowdowns. Additionally, IPFS enables
scalability by allowing the system to offload the
storage burden across multiple decentralized nodes,
Here is a bar chart comparing the time efficiency of reducing reliance on centralized servers and
the encryption algorithms (RSA, AES, CA, and ensuring data is available even as the network
Blowfish). The time efficiency is represented on the expands. Furthermore, the use of Proof of Stake
y-axis, with higher values indicating better (PoS) in the blockchain consensus mechanism
performance. Blowfish has the lowest score in time enhances scalability by improving the speed of
efficiency, while AES shows the best performance transaction validation compared to traditional Proof
in this comparison. of Work (PoW) methods. PoS is energy-efficient
and ensures that only trusted validators participate in
c. Scalability of Blowfish Algorithm: transaction confirmation, enabling faster and more
scalable consensus processes. As the network grows,
Scalability is a crucial consideration for the PoS reduces the computational overhead, allowing
proposed system, especially as the number of users the system to handle a larger number of transactions
and data volume increases. The scalability of the without compromising performance. Therefore,
system primarily depends on how well the scalability in this system is ensured through efficient
encryption, blockchain validation, and storage encryption, decentralized storage, and an optimized
components can handle growth without consensus mechanism, allowing it to support more
compromising performance. In the context of users, data, and transactions without performance
Blowfish encryption, scalability is determined by degradation.
how efficiently it can process increasing amounts of
data. Since Blowfish processes data in 64-bit blocks, d. Comparison with the proposed system:
the encryption time increases linearly with the
amount of data to be encrypted. The system ensures The bar graph provides a performance comparison
scalability by processing these blocks efficiently and of four encryption algorithms—RSA, AES, CA, and
using a decentralized storage solution (IPFS) to Blowfish—based on three criteria: Time Efficiency,
distribute the storage load, which alleviates strain on Scalability, and Security, each rated on a scale from
any single server. 0 to 10. RSA shows moderate scalability (8) and
high security (9), but its time efficiency is relatively
low (4), indicating it may be slower in execution
compared to others.
 By combining XChaCha20 encryption, IPFS
storage, and PoS-based blockchain validation, the
system ensures forensic data remains both secure
and transparent, preventing unauthorized
AES demonstrates balanced performance, with high
modifications while maintaining accessibility for
scores in scalability (9) and security (8), and
legitimate stakeholders.
moderate time efficiency (5), making it a strong
overall performer. CA (presumably a classical f. PERFORMANCE COMPARISON
algorithm) performs best in time efficiency (7), but SHA256 VS. POS (PROOF OF STAKE):
lags slightly in scalability and security (both at 6),
suggesting it is faster but less robust in adaptability SHA-256 is a cryptographic hashing
and protection. Blowfish scores exceptionally in algorithm commonly used in Proof-of-Work (PoW)
scalability (10) and security (9), but has the lowest systems like Bitcoin, where miners solve complex
time efficiency (3), indicating it may offer strong mathematical puzzles to validate transactions. This
protection and adaptability at the cost of speed. process ensures security but comes at the cost of
Overall, AES appears to offer the best balance, high computational power and energy consumption,
while Blowfish excels in protection and scalability leading to slower transaction speeds and increased
but at a performance cost, and RSA and CA each operational costs. Additionally, PoW systems are
have trade-offs depending on specific use-case vulnerable to 51% attacks, where an entity with a
needs. majority of computing power can manipulate
transactions. While SHA-256 provides strong
e. BLOCKCHAIN-BASED cryptographic security, its inefficiencies make it less
TRANSPARENCY WITH POS: suitable for scalable blockchain applications.
To further increase transparency, the Proof-
of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism is used for g. Compression Function:
forensic data transactions on the blockchain. Unlike
The Compression Function in SHA-256 is a
traditional Proof-of-Work (PoW), PoS ensures
crucial step that processes each 512-bit message
efficient and energy-saving validation of forensic
block through 64 iterative rounds. It takes the
records. Validators stake cryptocurrency and are
current hash values and modifies them using logical
selected based on their stake rather than
operations such as bitwise shifts, rotations, XOR,
computational power.
and modular additions. The function mixes the input
data with predefined constants to ensure diffusion
and security.
By the end of this process, the intermediate hash
values are updated, contributing to the final 256-bit
hash output. This step strengthens SHA-256 against
The comparison between SHA-256 and Proof-of-
cryptographic attacks by making it computationally
Stake (PoS) highlights significant differences in
infeasible to reverse-engineer the original input.
performance across key metrics such as similarity
In Proof of Stake (PoS), the compression score, false positive rate, and time complexity. PoS
function is not the same as in traditional demonstrates a higher similarity score (0.92)
cryptographic hashing but involves selecting a compared to SHA-256 (0.85), indicating better
validator based on a deterministic function. The accuracy and reliability in transaction validation.
selection process considers factors such as the This ensures that PoS-based systems maintain a
stakeholder’s balance, staking duration, and a more consistent and precise record of transactions,
pseudo-random function. The PoS consensus reducing the chances of discrepancies or
mechanism ensures security and efficiency while mismatches.
reducing computational overhead compared to Proof
Additionally, PoS exhibits a lower false positive rate
of Work (PoW).
(0.05) compared to SHA-256 (0.12), meaning that
PoS minimizes the occurrence of incorrect
validations. A lower false positive rate enhances the
security of blockchain-based transactions, as fewer
errors lead to more trustworthy and immutable data
storage. This reduction in validation errors makes
PoS a preferable choice for applications requiring
high-security standards.
In terms of time complexity, PoS (1.2) significantly
outperforms SHA-256 (2.5), highlighting its
efficiency in transaction processing. Unlike SHA-
This function helps compress multiple parameters 256, which requires extensive computational power
into a single score, determining which validator gets for hashing operations, PoS relies on stake-based
to create the next block. Validators with higher validation, reducing energy consumption and
stakes have a higher probability of being selected, improving speed. This efficiency makes PoS a more
ensuring decentralization while maintaining security scalable and environmentally friendly alternative,
and efficiency in the block chain network. particularly for blockchain applications requiring
rapid and secure data processing. Overall, PoS
surpasses SHA-256 in security, accuracy, and
efficiency, making it a superior approach for modern
blockchain systems.

V. Conclusion:
 In conclusion, the proposed system presents private Blockchains,” Tsinghua Sci.Technol., vol.
a secure and decentralized solution to the challenges 28, no. 1, pp. 13–26, Feb. 2023.
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