An Integrated Blockchain and IPFS Solution for Secure and Efficient Source Code Repository Hosting using Middleman Approach

Version control systems (VCS) are essential for software development, yet centralized VCS present risks such as data loss, security breaches, and ownership disputes. While blockchain-based approaches to decentralized source code repository hosting have been explored, many existing solutions struggle with challenges related to security, scalability, efficiency, and real-time collaboration. This study seeks to enhance these efforts by proposing a novel decentralized solution that leverages the Ethereum blockchain and IPFS for secure, efficient, and resilient code repository hosting and governance. Our approach introduces a hybrid architecture that combines the immutable and decentralized nature of blockchain with the efficiency of IPFS for off-chain storage. To facilitate real-time collaboration, we integrate a temporary centralized Middleman IPFS that manages transaction processing and enhances operational efficiency without compromising long-term security. This Middleman IPFS acts as an intermediary, balancing the speed of centralized systems with the resilience of decentralized architectures. Our system uses smart contracts to maintain access control and key management by dynamically verifying access rights, ensuring that only authorized users can retrieve and decrypt data stored on IPFS. This integration allows for secure, real-time collaboration in environments where multiple collaborators need concurrent access to shared resources. Our system employs a hybrid encryption scheme that combines symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. The encrypted keys are stored on the blockchain, while IPFS handles the efficient storage of the codebase itself, with a Middleman IPFS maintaining concurrent collaboration, providing a robust and scalable solution for managing large-scale, collaborative coding projects.
Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, submitted manuscript to Plos one journal