Challenges and trends of Blockchain Interoperability and multi-blockchain architectures
Resumo
The blockchain landscape in healthcare has undergone significant transformations, transitioning from large public networks to customizable and private blockchains, raising questions about how to integrate multiple blockchains into a unified system. This paper examines emerging trends and persistent challenges in blockchain interoperability within healthcare datasharing systems. We investigate solutions including Polkadot, Hyperledger Cacti, and Cosmos, revealing gaps: the absence of general protocols for heterogeneous blockchain communication, reliance on external trust rather than cryptographic consensus in multi-chain transactions, and inadequate identity verification mechanisms. We identify Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) as promising approaches for the identity challenge, and multi-blockchain consensus protocols as an unexplored solution where nodes from multiple chains collaboratively validate cross-chain transactions.
Palavras-chave:
Blockchain Interoperability, Multi-blockchain architectures, Healthcare, Self-Sovereign Identity, Cross-chain transactions
Referências
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Eldin, A. M., Hossny, E., Wassif, K., and Omara, F. A. (2022). Survey of blockchain methodologies in the healthcare industry. In 2022 5th International Conference on Computing and Informatics (ICCI), pages 209–215.
Ethan Buchman, J. K. (2016). Cosmos. Technical report.
Gohar, A. N., Abdelmawgoud, S. A., and Farhan, M. S. (2022). A patient-centric healthcare framework reference architecture for better semantic interoperability based on blockchain, cloud, and iot. IEEE Access, 10:92137–92157.
Hashim, F., Shuaib, K., Baraka, E., and Sallabi, F. (2024). Enhancing ehr sharing through interconnected blockchains via global smart contracts. International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems, 16(1):1579 – 1591. Cited by: 1; All Open Access, Gold Open Access.
Haugum, T., Hoff, B., Alsadi, M., and Li, J. (2022). Security and privacy challenges in blockchain interoperability - a multivocal literature review. In Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE ’22, page 347–356, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Lashkari, B. and Musilek, P. (2021). A comprehensive review of blockchain consensus mechanisms. IEEE Access, 9:43620–43652.
Lee, A. R., Kim, M. G., Won, K. J., Kim, I. K., and Lee, E. (2020). Coded dynamic consent framework using blockchain for healthcare information exchange. In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), pages 1047–1050.
Liu, J., Zhang, G., Sun, R., Du, X., and Guizani, M. (2020). A blockchain-based conditional privacy-preserving traffic data sharing in cloud. In ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), pages 1–6.
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Song, R., Xiao, B., Song, Y., Guo, S., and Yang, Y. (2023). A survey of blockchain-based schemes for data sharing and exchange. IEEE Transactions on Big Data, 9(6):1477–1495.
Suciu, G., Balanescu, M., Mitroi, S., Trufin, D., Falahi, M., Şerban, C., and Goga, N. (2022). An overview of blockchain technology in stamina project. In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain, Smart Healthcare and Emerging Technologies (SmartBlock4Health), pages 1–4.
Taherdoost, H. (2023). The role of blockchain in medical data sharing. Cryptography, 7(3).
Wang, T., Wang, Q., Shen, Z., Jia, Z., and Shao, Z. (2022). Understanding characteristics and system implications of dag-based blockchain in iot environments. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 9(16):14478–14489.
Wood, G. (2018). Polkadot: Vision for a heterogeneous multi-chain framework. Technical report, Polkadot.
Wu, Z., Wang, Y., and Wang, L. (2025). Gam: A scalable and efficient multi-chain data sharing scheme. Information Processing and Management, 62(3). Cited by: 0.
Xu, J., Xue, K., Li, S., Tian, H., Hong, J., Hong, P., and Yu, N. (2019). Healthchain: A blockchain-based privacy preserving scheme for large-scale health data. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 6(5):8770–8781.
Zamyatin, A., Al-Bassam, M., Zindros, D., Kokoris-Kogias, E., Moreno-Sanchez, P., Kiayias, A., and Knottenbelt, W. J. (2021). Sok: Communication across distributed ledgers. In Borisov, N. and Diaz, C., editors, Financial Cryptography and Data Security, pages 3–36, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Zhang, R., Xue, R., and Liu, L. (2019). Security and privacy on blockchain. ACM Computing Surveys, 52:51.
Zhu, T.-L. and Chen, T.-H. (2021). A patient-centric key management protocol for healthcare information system based on blockchain. In 2021 IEEE Conference on Dependable and Secure Computing (DSC), pages 1–5.
Alghuried, A., Alkinoon, M., Mohaisen, M., Wang, A., Zou, C. C., and Mohaisen, D. (2025). Blockchain security and privacy: Threats, challenges, applications, and tools. Distrib. Ledger Technol. Just Accepted.
Bai, T., Hu, Y., He, J., Fan, H., and An, Z. (2022). Health-zkidm: A healthcare identity system based on fabric blockchain and zero-knowledge proof. Sensors, 22(20).
Belchior, R., Borne-Pons, H., Hamilton, J., Bowman, M., Somogyvari, P., Montgomery, H., Fujimoto, S., Takeuchi, T., and Kuhrt, T. (2022). Cacti/whitepaper/whitepaper.md at 7bb39576080592919bea0ac89646b32105e1748e · hyperledger-cacti/cacti.
Belchior, R., Riley, L., Hardjono, T., Vasconcelos, A., and Correia, M. (2023). Do you need a distributed ledger technology interoperability solution? Distrib. Ledger Technol., 2(1).
Belchior, R., Vasconcelos, A., Guerreiro, S., and Correia, M. (2021). A survey on blockchain interoperability: Past, present, and future trends. ACM Comput. Surv., 54(8).
Bellaj, B., Ouaddah, A., Bertin, E., Crespi, N., and Mezrioui, A. (2022). Sok: A comprehensive survey on distributed ledger technologies. In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC), pages 1–16.
Chakraborty, S., Aich, S., and Kim, H.-C. (2019). A secure healthcare system design framework using blockchain technology. In 2019 21st International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology (ICACT), pages 260–264.
da Silva, M. H., Velasco, G., Vaz, N. P., Martins, M., Silva, P. R. G., and Carvalho, S. (2025). Blockchain and self-sovereign identity: A healthcare use case. In Anais do VIII Workshop em Blockchain: Teoria, Tecnologias e Aplicações, pages 154–167, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. SBC.
Eldin, A. M., Hossny, E., Wassif, K., and Omara, F. A. (2022). Survey of blockchain methodologies in the healthcare industry. In 2022 5th International Conference on Computing and Informatics (ICCI), pages 209–215.
Ethan Buchman, J. K. (2016). Cosmos. Technical report.
Gohar, A. N., Abdelmawgoud, S. A., and Farhan, M. S. (2022). A patient-centric healthcare framework reference architecture for better semantic interoperability based on blockchain, cloud, and iot. IEEE Access, 10:92137–92157.
Hashim, F., Shuaib, K., Baraka, E., and Sallabi, F. (2024). Enhancing ehr sharing through interconnected blockchains via global smart contracts. International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems, 16(1):1579 – 1591. Cited by: 1; All Open Access, Gold Open Access.
Haugum, T., Hoff, B., Alsadi, M., and Li, J. (2022). Security and privacy challenges in blockchain interoperability - a multivocal literature review. In Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering, EASE ’22, page 347–356, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.
Lashkari, B. and Musilek, P. (2021). A comprehensive review of blockchain consensus mechanisms. IEEE Access, 9:43620–43652.
Lee, A. R., Kim, M. G., Won, K. J., Kim, I. K., and Lee, E. (2020). Coded dynamic consent framework using blockchain for healthcare information exchange. In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), pages 1047–1050.
Liu, J., Zhang, G., Sun, R., Du, X., and Guizani, M. (2020). A blockchain-based conditional privacy-preserving traffic data sharing in cloud. In ICC 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), pages 1–6.
Malamas, V., Palaiologos, G., Kotzanikolaou, P., Burmester, M., and Glynos, D. (2023). Janus: Hierarchical multi-blockchain-based access control (hmbac) for multi-authority and multi-domain environments. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 13(1). Cited by: 5; All Open Access, Gold Open Access, Green Open Access.
Nakamoto, S. (2009). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Technical report.
Pandey, S., De, A. K., Choudhary, S., and Asim, M. (2023). A decentralized blockchain-based architecture for healthcare industry. In 2023 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Innovations in Healthcare Industries (ICAIIHI), volume 1, pages 1–5.
Song, R., Xiao, B., Song, Y., Guo, S., and Yang, Y. (2023). A survey of blockchain-based schemes for data sharing and exchange. IEEE Transactions on Big Data, 9(6):1477–1495.
Suciu, G., Balanescu, M., Mitroi, S., Trufin, D., Falahi, M., Şerban, C., and Goga, N. (2022). An overview of blockchain technology in stamina project. In 2022 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain, Smart Healthcare and Emerging Technologies (SmartBlock4Health), pages 1–4.
Taherdoost, H. (2023). The role of blockchain in medical data sharing. Cryptography, 7(3).
Wang, T., Wang, Q., Shen, Z., Jia, Z., and Shao, Z. (2022). Understanding characteristics and system implications of dag-based blockchain in iot environments. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 9(16):14478–14489.
Wood, G. (2018). Polkadot: Vision for a heterogeneous multi-chain framework. Technical report, Polkadot.
Wu, Z., Wang, Y., and Wang, L. (2025). Gam: A scalable and efficient multi-chain data sharing scheme. Information Processing and Management, 62(3). Cited by: 0.
Xu, J., Xue, K., Li, S., Tian, H., Hong, J., Hong, P., and Yu, N. (2019). Healthchain: A blockchain-based privacy preserving scheme for large-scale health data. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 6(5):8770–8781.
Zamyatin, A., Al-Bassam, M., Zindros, D., Kokoris-Kogias, E., Moreno-Sanchez, P., Kiayias, A., and Knottenbelt, W. J. (2021). Sok: Communication across distributed ledgers. In Borisov, N. and Diaz, C., editors, Financial Cryptography and Data Security, pages 3–36, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Zhang, R., Xue, R., and Liu, L. (2019). Security and privacy on blockchain. ACM Computing Surveys, 52:51.
Zhu, T.-L. and Chen, T.-H. (2021). A patient-centric key management protocol for healthcare information system based on blockchain. In 2021 IEEE Conference on Dependable and Secure Computing (DSC), pages 1–5.
Publicado
04/12/2025
Como Citar
SILVA, Pedro M. R. G.; SILVA, Matheus Lázaro Honório da; VELASCO, Gislainy; CARVALHO, Sergio T..
Challenges and trends of Blockchain Interoperability and multi-blockchain architectures. In: ESCOLA REGIONAL DE INFORMÁTICA DE GOIÁS (ERI-GO), 13. , 2025, Luziânia/GO.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 110-118.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/erigo.2025.17034.
