Minecrafter: A secure and decentralized consensus protocol for blockchain-enabled vaccine supply chain

The vaccine supply chain (VSC) is crucial for the response to pandemics, ensuring that vaccines reach those in need. However, it faces security risks, network congestion, and inefficiencies. Existing blockchain-based solutions struggle with high energy consumption, centralization, and suboptimal validator selection. To address these challenges, we propose Minecrafter, a secure, decentralized consensus protocol. It selects validators dynamically using game theory, machine learning, and randomness. DBSCAN clustering is utilized for its ability to detect anomalies and adapt to varying network conditions without requiring a predefined number of clusters, reducing centralization risks. Unlike most proof-based protocols, Minecrafter operates with low energy and computational costs. The proposed work demonstrates that Minecrafter outperforms traditional consensus protocols in terms of security, transaction rate, and block latency through experiments. This new protocol is particularly useful for VSCs because it strikes an appropriate balance between speed, safety, and expandability. The results show that the proposed work can improve the reliability and strength of vaccine distribution networks while reducing the risks associated with traditional blockchain consensus methods.