Breaking IoT Data Silos: Trustworthy Data Trading with Consortium Blockchain and Zero-Knowledge Proof
Wanshan Liu, Yubing Han, Guijuan Wang, Yao Tien Huang, Anming Dong, Jiguo Yu · 2025
The Internet of Things (IoT) connects numerous de-vices and sensors, generating data with significant informational and economic value. However, data silos hinder effective data utilization and trading, leading to the dispersion of data across various devices and systems. Additionally, traditional third-party trading models face challenges related to data security and trust. To address these issues, this paper proposes a secure data trading framework based on a consortium blockchain and designs a corresponding solution. Specifically, it introduces the integration of zero-knowledge proofs into the smart contract scheme for authenticity and integrity verification of transaction data. From the perspective of IoT device users, this paper aims to enable secure data trading through a decentralized platform, using off-chain storage methods to reduce the blockchain's data burden while ensuring security and privacy. Off-chain storage encrypts and securely stores sensitive data, recording only necessary information on the blockchain, effectively protecting user privacy. To validate the practicality of the proposed solution, experiments were conducted using Hyperledger Fabric, demonstrating its feasibility in facilitating secure storage and trustworthy trading of IoT data. Finally, this study analyzes the experimental results and offers valuable insights for future research.