Optimizing international trade settlement systems through blockchain-driven tri-chain collaboration: A study on efficiency, costs, and risk mitigation
Jiale Quan, Yuzhu Duan, Qiang Fu · Sustainable Futures · 2025
Traditional settlement systems are ill-suited for the complexities of modern international trade, resulting in significant inefficiencies, high costs, and security vulnerabilities. While a growing body of literature highlights the potential of blockchain, research has largely remained conceptual or focused on single-architecture models. Consequently, a lack of quantitative evaluation of integrated, multi-layered blockchain architectures presents a critical research gap. This study addresses this gap by proposing and evaluating the Tri-Chain Collaboration framework, an architecture that synergistically integrates public, private, and consortium blockchains. Using an interconnected system dynamics model, this research analyzes the framework's impact on efficiency, cost, and risk. The results indicate that the Tri-Chain Collaboration framework establishes a significant positive relationship with overall trade settlement performance. Specifically, the automation driven by the consortium chain is the primary factor in enhancing efficiency, while the framework's layered security design is most influential in mitigating systemic risks. These findings provide a robust model for understanding how multi-layered blockchain systems can transform global trade and offer strategic guidance for their implementation.