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ZkDelay: Mitigating Transaction-Ordering Dependence using Commitment Schemes and Verifiable Delay Functions in Smart Contracts

by Jitendra Sharma, Jigyasu Dubey
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International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 187 - Number 38
Year of Publication: 2025
Authors: Jitendra Sharma, Jigyasu Dubey
10.5120/ijca2025925660

Jitendra Sharma, Jigyasu Dubey . ZkDelay: Mitigating Transaction-Ordering Dependence using Commitment Schemes and Verifiable Delay Functions in Smart Contracts. International Journal of Computer Applications. 187, 38 ( Sep 2025), 37-46. DOI=10.5120/ijca2025925660

@article{ 10.5120/ijca2025925660,
author = { Jitendra Sharma, Jigyasu Dubey },
title = { ZkDelay: Mitigating Transaction-Ordering Dependence using Commitment Schemes and Verifiable Delay Functions in Smart Contracts },
journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
issue_date = { Sep 2025 },
volume = { 187 },
number = { 38 },
month = { Sep },
year = { 2025 },
issn = { 0975-8887 },
pages = { 37-46 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://ijcaonline.org/archives/volume187/number38/zkdelay-mitigating-transaction-ordering-dependence-using-commitment-schemes-and-verifiable-delay-functions-in-smart-contracts/ },
doi = { 10.5120/ijca2025925660 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2025-09-23T00:36:29.511431+05:30
%A Jitendra Sharma
%A Jigyasu Dubey
%T ZkDelay: Mitigating Transaction-Ordering Dependence using Commitment Schemes and Verifiable Delay Functions in Smart Contracts
%J International Journal of Computer Applications
%@ 0975-8887
%V 187
%N 38
%P 37-46
%D 2025
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

Transaction-Ordering Dependence (TOD) is a potential vulnerability of blockchain-based smart contracts, which allows malicious actors to exploit the order of transactions to obtain financial profit through front-running and back-running strategies. The purpose of this paper is to present ZkDelay, a new framework that jointly uses commitment schemes and Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) to counter TOD in decentralized applications. ZkDelay introduces a two-step transaction scheme: a user makes a cryptographic commitment to a transaction without announcing its purpose, and then, upon completing a verifiable delay with a VDF, the intended transaction can be revealed and carried out. This temporal discontinuity, combined with cryptographic acknowledgments, prevents adversaries from interfering with actionable knowledge in real-time, thereby eliminating any ordering-based attack possibilities. Moreover, ZkDelay is transparent and trustless, as it can be used to verify both commitments and delay execution through zero-knowledge proofs, without leaking sensitive data. Additional sections dedicated to rigorous security analysis and performance analysis in Ethereum-like environments are provided in the paper, demonstrating that ZkDelay incurs only a low amount of computational overhead and that it exponentially improves resistance to TOD attacks. The solution can be deployed in existing smart contract systems and adapted to DeFi protocols, order-sensitive auctions, and other mechanisms. ZkDelay addresses the challenge of integrating privacy-preserving mechanisms with the fairness of execution by providing a scalable and practical solution to one of the most prevalent security issues in smart contract environments.

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Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

Transaction-Ordering Dependence Smart Contracts Commitment Schemes Verifiable Delay Functions Zero-Knowledge Proofs Blockchain Security

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