The increasing reliance on blockchain technology has highlighted its promise as a decentralized and trustless model for digital interactions. However, mainstream blockchain frameworks remain inaccessible to resource-constrained devices such as smartphones and IoT devices, due to high computational costs, rigid immutability, and heavy storage demands. This disconnect undermines the vision of inclusive decentralization and limits blockchain's scalability and applicability in heterogeneous environments.
This thesis addresses these challenges by investigating the integration of blockchain with resource-constrained devices in a scalable and adaptable manner that supports controlled data modification. It introduces three key contributions: LighTx, a lightweight transaction execution framework based on Proof-of-Bandwidth consensus and decentralized reputation; PocketChain, a blockchain architecture designed for active participation by low-resource nodes; and an exploration of controlled data redaction mechanisms that preserve critical ledger security properties while enabling necessary data modification.
Through these contributions, the thesis advances the design of scalable, adaptable blockchain systems capable of operating across heterogeneous networks that include resource-constrained devices as active participants, extending their deployment into emerging domains such as edge computing, digital identity management, and decentralized IoT ecosystems.
Keywords: Distributed ledger technology, scalability, resource-constrained devices, lightweight consensus, redactable blockchain.