ElasticPay: Instant Peer-to-Peer Offline Extended Digital Payment System.

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Digital Finance

Background:

• Traditional paper currency faces challenges like counterfeiting and environmental concerns.
• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) offer solutions but require constant internet connectivity, limiting accessibility in offline environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce ElasticPay, a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) offline digital payment system.
• To address the limitations of CBDCs in areas with poor or no network access.
• To enhance the security and inclusivity of digital currency ecosystems.

Main Methods:

• Leveraging advanced hardware security: Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs), Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), and Secure Elements (SEs).
• Implementing a novel Peer-to-Peer (P2P) offline digital payment architecture.
• Demonstrating the solution on an iPhone utilizing its Secure Enclave for integrated security functionalities.

Main Results:

• ElasticPay ensures transaction privacy, unforgeability, and immediate settlement.
• The system effectively prevents double spending in offline scenarios.
• Experimental validation confirms the system's reliability, practicality, and scalability for diverse environments.

Conclusions:

• ElasticPay offers a viable solution for secure and inclusive offline digital payments.
• The system enhances CBDC usability by removing the dependency on continuous internet connectivity.
• The use of integrated hardware security features like the iPhone's Secure Enclave proves effective for robust offline transaction processing.