Blockchain and Web3: Applications, Challenges and Future Trends—2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Blockchain technology continues to redefine the digital frontier, laying the foundation for trustless, decentralized infrastructures across various domains. Beyond its early adoption in finance, blockchain now enables transparent solutions in supply chain, identity management, governance, and healthcare. Additionally, Web 3.0 is revolutionizing this field by combining blockchain with decentralized storage, computation, and peer-to-peer interactions, thus enabling users to reclaim control over their data and digital assets.

A particularly notable development is the rapid expansion of Web3-native assets, including stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), and next-generation digital identity frameworks. Legislative movements such as the U.S. “Genius Act” further legitimize and promote stablecoin innovation, while RWA tokenization is gaining momentum in sectors such as real estate, carbon credits, and intellectual property. These innovations challenge traditional asset management models and demand new mechanisms for trust, valuation, and compliance.

Moreover, the rise of smart contracts and generative AI agents introduces both opportunities and risks. These intelligent agents—autonomous or semi-autonomous—can execute trades, manage assets, and even interact with decentralized protocols, but they also present challenges pertaining to explainability, auditability, data privacy, and regulatory oversight. In addition, core issues such as scalability, interoperability, user experience, and security remain barriers to their mainstream adoption.

This Special Issue seeks original research and critical insights that address these emerging trends in blockchain and Web 3.0. We welcome submissions that analyze the design, implementation, and socio-economic implications of decentralized systems, particularly those exploring asset tokenization, autonomous trading agents, and cross-chain ecosystems. Articles may be theoretical, empirical, or case-based, and both review and technical papers are encouraged.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The evolution of blockchain theories and architectural frameworks.
• Smart contract design, verification, and composability.
• Generative AI agents in decentralized finance and governance.
• Security, privacy, and compliance in Web 3.0 environments.
• Performance optimization and scalability solutions.
• The integration of blockchain with AI, the IoT, and edge computing.
• Game-theoretic models and economic incentives in decentralized ecosystems.
• Empirical case studies of blockchain/Web3 deployments and failures

Prof. Dr. Qiang Qu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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