IAES
Inter
national
J
our
nal
of
Articial
Intelligence
(IJ-AI)
V
ol.
15,
No.
1,
February
2026,
pp.
536
∼
546
ISSN:
2252-8938,
DOI:
10.11591/ijai.v15.i1.pp536-546
❒
536
AI-po
wer
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einf
or
cement
lear
ning
and
graph-based
appr
oach
to
scalable
blockchain
netw
orks
Kassem
Danach
1
,
Hassan
Rk
ein
1
,
Alaaeddine
Ramadan
2
,
Hassan
Harb
3
,
Bassam
Hamdar
1
1
Basic
and
Applied
Sciences
Research
Center
,
Al
Maaref
Uni
v
ersity
,
Beirut,
Lebanon
2
Colle
ge
of
Engineering
and
Computing,
American
Uni
v
ersity
of
Bahrain,
Rif
f
a,
Bahrain
3
Colle
ge
of
Engineering
and
T
echnology
,
American
Uni
v
ersity
of
the
Middle
East,
Eg
aila,
K
uw
ait
Article
Inf
o
Article
history:
Recei
v
ed
Jun
9,
2025
Re
vised
No
v
19,
2025
Accepted
Dec
15,
2025
K
eyw
ords:
Articial
intelligence
Blockchain
Combinatorial
optimization
Graph
neural
netw
orks
Hub
location
Reinforcement
learning
ABSTRA
CT
Blockchain
netw
orks
f
ace
persistent
scalability
chal
lenges,
including
netw
ork
congestion,
high
latenc
y
,
and
transaction
costs.
T
o
address
these
limitations,
this
study
proposes
an
AI-dri
v
en
hub
location
optimization
frame
w
ork
that
inte
grates
reinforcement
learning
(RL),
mix
ed
inte
ger
linear
programming
(MILP),
and
graph
neural
netw
orks
(GNNs).
The
RL-based
hub
selection
dynamically
identies
optimal
supernode
placement,
while
MILP
ensures
cost-ef
cient
transaction
routing,
and
GNNs
predict
o
w
patterns
for
proacti
v
e
congestion
management.
Experimental
results
on
Ethereum
and
Bitcoin
datasets
demonstrate
s
ignicant
impro
v
ements,
including
a
58.6%
reduction
in
transaction
latenc
y
,
28.9%
g
as
fee
sa
vings,
and
41.5%
congestion
reduction.
Be
yond
performance
g
ains,
statistical
t
ests
conrm
the
signicance
of
these
impro
v
ements,
and
ablation
studies
highlight
the
complementary
role
of
each
component.
This
is
an
open
access
article
under
the
CC
BY
-SA
license
.
Corresponding
A
uthor:
Alaaeddine
Ramadan
Colle
ge
of
Engineering
and
Computing,
American
Uni
v
ersity
of
Bahrain
Rif
f
a,
Bahrain
Email:
alaaeddine.ramadan@aubh.edu.bh
1.
INTR
ODUCTION
Blockchain
enables
decentralized,
secure,
and
transparent
transactions
across
multiple
sectors,
including
nance,
supply
chain
management,
and
decentralized
autonomous
or
g
anization
(D
A
Os).
Y
et,
scalability
is
sues
persist
due
to
the
hea
vy
computational
demands
of
consensus
mechanisms
such
as
proof-of-w
ork
(PoW)
and
proof-of-stak
e
(PoS)
[1].
W
ith
Bitcoin
and
Ethereum
processing
only
about
7
and
30
TPS
compared
to
V
isa’
s
65,000
TPS
[2],
de
v
eloping
more
ef
cient
blockchain
management
solutions
is
essential.
Current
scalability
solutions
include
Layer
-2
frame
w
orks
lik
e
the
lightning
netw
ork
and
plasma,
which
of
oad
transactions
to
secondary
layers
b
ut
introduce
security
risks
and
require
si
gnicant
architectural
changes
[3].
Another
approach
emplo
ys
hub-based
netw
ork
management,
where
selected
high-capacity
nodes
impro
v
e
throughput
and
reduce
congestion
[4].
Ho
we
v
er
,
peer
-to-peer
broadcasting
remains
inef
cient
since
all
nodes
redundantly
v
alidate
and
store
transactions,
while
g
as
fee–based
prioritization
and
the
absence
of
adapti
v
e
routing
and
load-balancing
mechanisms
further
hinder
performance.
These
challenges
highlight
the
necessity
for
AI-dri
v
en
optimization
to
enable
intelligent,
real-time
blockchain
management.
Inte
grating
machine
learning
(ML),
reinforcement
learning
(RL),
and
combinatorial
opt
imization
presents
a
promising
solution
to
blockchain
scalability
challenges.
Graph
neural
netw
orks
(GNNs)
can
analyze
transaction
graphs
to
predict
congestion,
while
deep
reinforcement
learning
(DRL)
optimizes
hub
J
ournal
homepage:
http://ijai.iaescor
e
.com
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
Int
J
Artif
Intell
ISSN:
2252-8938
❒
537
placement
based
o
n
dynamic
traf
c
patterns.
Coupled
with
mix
ed
inte
ger
linear
programming
(MILP)
for
precise
routing
optimization,
this
combination
enables
predicti
v
e,
adapti
v
e,
and
ef
cient
netw
ork
management,
reducing
latenc
y
,
enhancing
scalability
,
and
balancing
computational
loads.
This
study
introduces
an
AI-dri
v
en
hub
location
optimiza
tion
frame
w
ork
combining
RL,
MILP
,
and
GNNs
to
enhance
blockchain
scalability
and
ef
cienc
y
.
It
utilizes
deep
Q-netw
orks
(DQN)
and
proxi
mal
polic
y
optimization
(PPO)
for
adapti
v
e
hub
allocation,
a
MILP
model
to
minimize
g
as
fees
and
optimize
routing,
and
a
temporal
graph
con
v
olutional
netw
orks
(T
-GCN)
to
predict
congestion
patterns.
Compared
with
peer
-to-peer
and
x
ed
hub
approaches,
the
proposed
method
achie
v
es
a
58.6%
latenc
y
reduction,
28.9%
lo
wer
g
as
fees,
and
41.5%
better
congestion
control,
with
statistically
signicant
results
(
p
<
0
.
01
).
Ablation
and
feature
analyses
conrm
the
complementary
roles
and
interpret
ability
of
the
frame
w
ork’
s
components,
of
fering
a
scalable
and
intelligent
foundation
for
decentralized
systems
such
as
decentralized
nance
(DeFi),
supply
chains,
and
smart
contracts.
2.
RELA
TED
W
ORK
Blockchain
research
increasingly
focus
es
on
scalability
,
ef
cienc
y
,
and
netw
ork
management.
Hybrid
approaches
combining
RL,
optimization,
and
graph
models
sho
wing
promise
b
ut
remaining
partiall
y
inte
grated.
Blockchain
also
enhances
transparenc
y
,
auditability
,
and
re
gulatory
compliance
in
cryptocurrenc
y
accounting,
supporting
more
reliable
nancial
reporting.
2.1.
Blockchain
netw
ork
scalability
and
transaction
pr
ocessing
strategies
The
PoW
consensus
mechanism
used
in
Bitcoin
ensures
security
and
decentralization
b
ut
introduces
high
computational
costs
and
delays
in
transaction
conrmation
as
well
as
scalability
issues
[5].
Se
v
eral
approaches
ha
v
e
been
proposed
to
address
such
challenges.
Layer
-2
scaling
solutions,
such
as
the
lightning
netw
ork
for
Bitcoi
n
and
plasma
for
Ethereum,
enable
of
f-chain
transactions
to
alle
viate
congesti
on
on
the
main
chain
[6],
[7].
Additionally
,
shardi
ng
techniques
ha
v
e
been
e
xplored
to
partition
blockchain
netw
orks
into
smaller
,
more
manageable
units
that
process
transactions
in
parallel
[8].
While
these
methods
impro
v
e
scalability
,
the
y
introduce
ne
w
challenges,
inc
luding
security
vulnerabilities
and
increased
netw
ork
comple
xity
.
An
alternati
v
e
approach
in
v
olv
es
intelligent
transaction
r
o
ut
ing
and
netw
ork
optimization,
where
k
e
y
nodes
(hubs)
play
a
central
role
in
managing
transaction
o
w
and
reducing
congestion
[9].
The
hub
location
problem
(HLP)
is
a
well-established
combinatorial
optimization
challenge
that
seeks
to
determine
the
optimal
placement
of
hubs
in
a
netw
ork
to
minimize
cost
and
maximize
ef
cienc
y
[10].
Recent
research
suggests
that
dynamic
hub
selection
based
on
netw
ork
conditions
and
transaction
o
w
can
further
enhance
ef
cienc
y
[11].
Ho
we
v
er
,
e
xisting
studies
ha
v
e
primarily
focused
on
static
hub
placement,
which
f
ails
to
account
for
real-time
uctuations
in
netw
ork
demand.
2.2.
Machine
lear
ning
techniques
f
or
blockchain
management
ML
has
been
increasingly
applied
to
blockchain
systems
for
tasks
such
as
fraud
detection,
s
mart
contract
security
,
and
netw
ork
optimization
[12],
[13].
Ho
we
v
er
,
ML
models
often
require
lar
ge
labeled
datasets
and
do
not
adapt
well
to
the
dynamic
nature
of
blockchain
transactions.
Deep
learning
techniques
ha
v
e
sho
wn
promise
in
forecasting
blockchain
transaction
trends
[14].
These
models
can
be
used
to
predict
netw
ork
congestion
and
transaction
demand,
allo
wing
for
more
ef
cient
transaction
routing
and
resource
allocation.
Despite
these
adv
ancements,
traditional
deep
learning
methods
do
not
inherently
capture
the
graph-based
structure
of
blockchain
transactions.
As
a
result,
GNNs
ha
v
e
emer
ged
as
a
po
werful
tool
for
analyzing
blockchain
transaction
data.
GNNs
can
model
transaction
relationships,
detect
anomalies,
and
predict
netw
ork
congestion
hotspots
[15].
In
this
research,
a
GNN-based
transaction
prediction
model
is
inte
grated
into
the
proposed
hub
location
optimization
frame
w
ork
to
enhance
blockchain
scalability
and
ef
cienc
y
.
2.3.
Reinf
or
cement
lear
ning
and
graph
neural
netw
orks
in
decentralized
systems
RL
has
been
widely
used
in
netw
ork
optimization
problems,
including
dynamic
resource
alloc
ation,
traf
c
management,
and
decentralized
control
systems
[16],
[17].
RL-based
techniques
of
fer
the
adv
antage
of
learning
optimal
netw
ork
management
policies
through
continuous
interaction
with
the
blockchain
en
vironment.
Unlik
e
rule-based
methods,
RL
models
can
adapt
to
changing
transaction
patterns
and
dynamically
adjus
t
netw
ork
parame
ters
in
rea
l-time
[18].
Recent
research
has
also
e
xplored
the
combi
nation
of
GNNs
and
RL
for
decentralized
decision-making
[19].
GNNs
pro
vide
spatial
insights
into
transaction
beha
vior
,
while
RL
enables
the
system
t
o
mak
e
autonomous
decisions
for
hub
selection
and
transaction
routing.
By
AI-power
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einfor
cement
learning
and
gr
aph-based
appr
oac
h
to
...
(Kassem
Danac
h)
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
538
❒
ISSN:
2252-8938
inte
grating
these
techniques,
thi
s
study
aims
to
de
v
elop
an
adapti
v
e
hub
location
optimization
frame
w
ork
that
balances
transaction
load,
reduces
congestion,
and
enhances
blockchain
ef
cienc
y
.
As
summarized
in
T
able
1,
prior
h
ybrid
approaches
ha
v
e
made
v
aluable
contrib
utions
by
combining
AI
and
optimization
techniques.
Ho
we
v
er
,
the
y
remain
limited
to
partial
inte
grations
(e.g.,
RL+MILP
or
GNN+heuristics
).
Our
w
ork
adv
ances
this
line
of
research
by
unifying
RL
for
adapti
v
e
hub
selection,
MILP
for
cost-optimal
routing,
and
GNNs
for
congestion
prediction,
thereby
addressing
blockchain
scalability
in
a
holistic
manner
.
T
able
1.
Comparati
v
e
benchmarking
of
h
ybrid
AI–optimization
models
for
netw
ork
and
hub
optimization
Ref.
Domain
T
echniques
Data
/
scale
Reported
impro
v
ements
K
e
y
limitations
[20]
Logistics
hub
location
RL
+
MILP
500–1000
node
s
Cost
reduction
≈
20%
Static
hub
placement,
no
dynamic
adaptation
[21]
T
raf
c
routing
GNN
+
Heuristics
Road
netw
ork
simulations
Congestion
reduction
≈
30%
No
cost-optimal
routing,
limited
scalability
[22]
Communication
netw
orks
RL
+
GNN
Simulated
netw
ork
topology
Latenc
y
reduction
≈
25%
Lacks
formal
optimization
(MILP)
This
w
ork
Blockchain
netw
orks
RL
(DQN/PPO)
+
MILP
+
GNN
Ethereum
&
Bitcoin
datasets
Latenc
y
↓
58.6%,
Gas
fees
↓
28.9%,
Congestion
↓
41.5%
Higher
computational
o
v
erhead
for
RL/MILP
inte
gration
3.
PR
OPOSED
METHODOLOGY
This
research
introduces
an
AI-dri
v
en
hub
location
optimization
frame
w
ork.
The
frame
w
ork
inte
grates
RL,
MILP
,
and
GNNs
to
enhance
blockchain
transaction
ef
cienc
y
and
scalability
.
The
interaction
between
these
components
is
summarized
in
Figure
1,
which
illustrates
the
w
orko
w
of
the
proposed
system.
Figure
1.
W
orko
w
of
the
AI-dri
v
en
hub
optimization
frame
w
ork
3.1.
Reinf
or
cement
lear
ning-based
hub
selection
The
hub
selection
problem
in
blockchain
netw
orks
is
formulated
as
a
Mark
o
v
decision
process
(MDP),
where
an
RL
agent
optimizes
hub
node
placement
based
on
real-time
transaction
traf
c
and
netw
ork
conditions.
The
RL
model
is
designed
to
optimize
hub
selection
by
representing
the
blockchain
netw
ork
as
a
MDP
.
This
formulation
ensures
that
the
agent
can
percei
v
e
the
en
vironment
in
terms
of
state,
action,
and
re
w
ard,
which
are
the
core
components
of
RL
(Algorithm
1).
The
state
space
(
S
)
includes:
transaction
v
olume
per
node,
node
processing
po
wer
,
block
conrmation
times,
transaction
fees,
and
congestion
forecasts
from
the
GNN.
The
action
space
(
A
)
consists
of
selecting
one
or
more
nodes
as
hubs.
The
re
w
ard
function
(
R
)
assigns
positi
v
e
re
w
ards
for
higher
throughput,
reduced
latenc
y
,
and
lo
wer
g
as
fees,
while
applying
penalties
for
congestion
or
imbalance.
The
RL
agent
is
trained
for
5,000
episodes
u
s
ing
an
ϵ
-greedy
e
xploration
strate
gy
with
ϵ
decaying
Int
J
Artif
Intell,
V
ol.
15,
No.
1,
February
2026:
536–546
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
Int
J
Artif
Intell
ISSN:
2252-8938
❒
539
from
1.0
to
0.1.
T
ar
get
netw
orks
are
updated
e
v
ery
100
steps,
with
a
replay
b
uf
fer
of
50,000.
The
Adam
optimizer
is
applied
with
learning
rate
10
−
4
and
bat
ch
size
64.
PPO
is
trained
wit
h
tw
o
hidden
layers
(128,
64),
clip
ratio
0.2,
and
entrop
y
re
gularization.
Con
v
er
gence
is
determined
when
the
mo
ving
a
v
erage
of
cumulati
v
e
re
w
ards
stabilizes
o
v
er
50
episodes.
Algorithm
1
RL
training
loop
for
hub
selection
1:
Initialize
replay
b
uf
fer
D
,
netw
orks
Q
,
Q
′
2:
Set
α
=
10
−
4
,
batch
size
=
64
,
ϵ
=
1
.
0
→
0
.
1
3:
f
or
episode
=
1
to
5000
do
4:
Initialize
state
s
0
(transactions,
node
load,
GNN
predictions)
5:
f
or
each
step
t
do
6:
Choose
action
a
t
using
ϵ
-greedy
strate
gy
7:
Ex
ecute
hub
allocation
a
t
,
observ
e
re
w
ard
r
t
,
ne
xt
state
s
t
+1
8:
Store
(
s
t
,
a
t
,
r
t
,
s
t
+1
)
in
b
uf
fer
D
9:
Update
Q
with
Adam
optimizer;
e
v
ery
100
steps
update
Q
′
10:
end
f
or
11:
Decay
ϵ
gradually
,
check
con
v
er
gence
criteria
12:
end
f
or
3.2.
Mixed
integer
linear
pr
ogramming
f
or
transaction
r
outing
Once
hubs
are
selected,
transaction
routing
optimization
is
performed
using
MILP
.
The
objecti
v
e
is
to
minimize
routing
costs
(latenc
y
,
g
as
fees,
o
v
erhead)
subject
to
hub
capacity
and
assignment
constraints.
min
X
i
∈
N
X
j
∈
H
C
ij
X
ij
(1)
Accordingly
,
t
w
o
constraints
are
dened:
(1)
each
node
is
assigned
to
one
hub
(
P
j
∈
H
X
ij
=
1
),
and
(2)
hub
capacity
(
P
i
∈
N
X
ij
≤
C
j
).
Then,
we
relax
hub
capacity
constraints
with
multipliers
λ
j
,
decompose
the
MILP
into
parallel
subproblems,
and
update
multipliers
using
subgradient
optimization
(Algorithm
2).
This
reduces
runtime
while
maintaining
near
-optimal
routing.
The
trade-of
f
is
that
strict
optimality
may
not
be
guaranteed,
b
ut
ef
cienc
y
g
ains
are
critical
for
blockchain-scale
netw
orks.
Algorithm
2
MILP
with
Lagrangian
relaxation
1:
Initialize
multipliers
λ
j
≥
0
,
step
size
η
2:
r
epeat
3:
Decompose
MILP
into
routing
subproblems
4:
Solv
e
each
subproblem
in
parallel
for
X
ij
5:
Compute
violations
v
j
=
P
i
X
ij
−
C
j
6:
Update
multipliers:
λ
j
←
max(0
,
λ
j
+
η
v
j
)
7:
until
con
v
er
gence
8:
Return
near
-optimal
X
ij
with
multipliers
λ
j
3.3.
Graph
neural
netw
orks
f
or
transaction
o
w
pr
ediction
W
e
model
the
blockchain
as
a
temporal
graph
G
=
(
V
,
E
,
T
)
,
where
nodes
are
addresses,
edges
are
transactions,
and
T
encodes
block
timestamps.
Features
include
transaction
v
olume,
fees,
node
de
gree,
and
temporal
clustering.
The
architecture
of
the
T
-GCN
consists
of
tw
o
graph
layers
(64
units
each)
+
long
term
short
memory
(LSTM)
(128
units),
dropout
0.3.
T
rained
for
200
epochs
with
Adam
(
5
×
10
−
4
),
batch
size
64,
using
mean
squared
error
(MSE)
loss
and
early
stopping.
AI-power
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einfor
cement
learning
and
gr
aph-based
appr
oac
h
to
...
(Kassem
Danac
h)
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
540
❒
ISSN:
2252-8938
4.
EXPERIMENT
AL
SETUP
AND
D
A
T
ASET
4.1.
Blockchain
datasets
T
o
e
v
aluate
the
proposed
AI-dri
v
en
hub
location
optimization
frame
w
ork,
we
utilize
publicly
a
v
ailable
blockchain
transaction
datasets
from
the
Ethereum
and
Bitcoin
netw
orks:
i)
Ethereum
dataset:
we
utilize
the
Ethereum
transaction
dataset
from
the
Etherscan
API
and
the
BigQuery
Ethereum
dataset
[23],
[24].
These
datasets
contain
detailed
Ethereum
blockchain
transactions,
including:
–
T
ransaction
hashes,
sender
and
recei
v
er
addresses
–
Gas
fees,
g
as
limits,
and
base
fees
–
Smart
contract
interactions
and
ERC-20
tok
en
transfers
–
Block
timestamps
and
miner
details
ii)
Bitcoin
dataset:
the
Bitcoin
transaction
data
is
obtained
from
the
Bitcoin
blockchain
data
repository
and
the
Kaggle
Bitcoin
dataset
[25],
[26].
These
datasets
pro
vide:
–
Bitcoin
transaction
records,
including
sender
and
recei
v
er
addresses
–
T
ransaction
sizes,
input/output
v
alues,
and
mining
fees
–
Block
conrmation
times
and
mempool
w
aiting
periods
–
Unspent
transaction
output
(UTXO)
analysis
for
scalability
assessment
4.2.
F
eatur
e
engineering
The
follo
wing
k
e
y
features
are
e
xtracted
to
capture
essential
transaction
patterns
and
optim
ize
blockchain
transaction
ef
cienc
y:
–
T
ransaction
v
olume
per
block
(
T
bl
ock
)
:
measures
the
number
of
transactions
processed
within
a
single
bl
o
c
k.
This
feature
directly
relates
to
throughput
and
is
critical
for
assessing
scalability
.
–
A
v
erage
transaction
conrmation
time
(
T
conf
ir
m
)
:
calculates
the
mean
tim
e
tak
en
for
transactions
to
be
v
alidated
and
recorded.
It
reects
latenc
y
,
a
k
e
y
performance
indicator
for
user
e
xperience.
–
Gas
price
and
transaction
fee
uctuations
(
F
g
as
)
:
tracks
the
v
ariability
in
transaction
costs
o
v
er
time.
High
v
olatility
in
g
as
fees
pro
vides
signals
for
congestion
forecasting.
–
De
gree
c
entrality
of
transaction
nodes
(
D
centr
al
ity
)
:
determines
the
inuence
of
nodes
based
on
the
number
of
transactions
the
y
process.
Central
nodes
are
more
lik
ely
to
become
hubs.
–
T
emporal
transaction
clustering
patterns
(
C
tempor
al
)
:
identies
repeating
transaction
beha
viors
o
v
er
s
pecic
interv
als.
These
patterns
capture
diurnal
and
c
yclical
demand
shifts
impacting
netw
ork
load.
4.3.
Simulation
en
vir
onment
and
hard
war
e
specications
The
AI-dri
v
en
blockchain
management
s
y
s
tem
is
e
v
aluated
based
on
the
follo
wing
softw
are
and
hardw
are
specications:
–
PyT
orch:
used
for
deep
learning
model
de
v
elopment.
–
Netw
orkX:
f
acilitates
graph-based
transaction
netw
ork
processing.
–
Gurobi:
handles
MILP-based
optimization
for
transaction
routing.
–
CPU:
Intel
Xeon
Silv
er
4214
(2.2
GHz,
12
cores)
–
GPU:
NVIDIA
R
TX
3090
(24
GB
VRAM)
–
RAM:
128
GB
DDR4
–
Storage:
4
TB
SSD
Additionally
,
the
Ethereum
blockchain
emulator
(Ganache)
is
used
to
simulate
transaction
e
x
ecution,
measure
real-w
orld
transaction
costs,
and
v
alidate
the
ef
fecti
v
eness
of
the
proposed
hub
optimization
frame
w
ork.
This
emulator
pro
vides
a
controlled
en
vironment
to
test
the
optimization
strate
gies
before
v
alidating
them
ag
ainst
real
blockchain
traces.
5.
RESUL
TS
AND
PERFORMANCE
EV
ALU
A
TION
5.1.
Ev
aluation
metrics
T
o
assess
the
ef
fecti
v
eness
of
the
proposed
AI-dri
v
en
hub
location
optimizati
on
frame
w
ork,
we
ut
ilize
the
follo
wing
k
e
y
performance
metrics:
Int
J
Artif
Intell,
V
ol.
15,
No.
1,
February
2026:
536–546
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
Int
J
Artif
Intell
ISSN:
2252-8938
❒
541
–
T
ransaction
latenc
y
(TL):
measures
the
a
v
erage
time
tak
en
for
transactions
to
be
conrmed,
dened
as:
T
L
=
1
N
N
X
i
=1
(
T
conf
ir
m,i
−
T
submit,i
)
(2)
where
T
conf
ir
m
is
the
timestamp
of
block
conrmation,
and
T
submit
is
the
transaction
submission
time.
–
Gas
fee
optimization
(GFO):
quanties
the
reduction
in
g
as
fees
achie
v
ed
by
AI-dri
v
en
hub
selection
compared
to
traditional
blockchain
routing:
GF
O
=
F
basel
ine
−
F
optimiz
ed
F
basel
ine
×
100%
(3)
where
F
basel
ine
is
the
a
v
erage
g
as
fee
before
optimization,
and
F
optimiz
ed
is
the
g
as
fee
after
optimization.
–
Netw
ork
congestion
reduction
(NCR):
e
v
aluates
the
ef
cienc
y
of
the
hub
selection
process
in
reducing
netw
ork
congestion,
dened
as:
N
C
R
=
1
|
H
|
X
j
∈
H
1
−
T
cong
ested,j
T
total
,j
×
100%
(4)
where
T
cong
ested,j
represents
the
number
of
delayed
transactions
at
hub
j
,
and
T
total
,j
is
the
total
transact
ions
processed
by
hub
j
.
5.2.
Benchmarking
against
additional
baselines
T
o
pro
vide
a
stronger
comparati
v
e
perspecti
v
e,
we
e
v
aluated
the
proposed
RL–MILP–GNN
frame
w
ork
ag
ainst
additional
baselines
including
static
hub
placement,
greedy
routing,
and
traditional
blockchain
scaling
methods
(e.g.,
layer
-2
solutions
and
sharding).
T
able
2
presents
the
results.
The
proposed
frame
w
ork
consistently
outperforms
these
methods,
reducing
latenc
y
by
36.5%
relati
v
e
to
static
placement
and
impro
ving
congestion
control
by
29.4%
compared
to
greedy
routing.
T
able
2.
Performance
benchmarking
ag
ainst
baseline
strate
gies
Model
Latenc
y
(sec.)
GFO
(%)
Congestion
reduction
(%)
Static
hub
placement
8.3
15.2
22.1
Greedy
routing
7.5
18.4
28.7
T
raditional
layer
-2
/
sharding
6.9
20.6
31.2
Proposed
RL–MILP–GNN
5.3
28.9
41.5
5.3.
Sensiti
vity
analysis
and
r
ob
ustness
testing
T
o
e
v
aluate
the
rob
ustness
of
the
AI-dri
v
en
hub
selection
model,
we
tested
its
performance
under
v
arying
transaction
loads.
Figure
2
illustrates
transaction
latenc
y
trends
across
dif
ferent
netw
ork
conditions.
K
e
y
ndings
from
the
rob
ustness
analysis
include:
–
The
RL-based
hub
selection
dynamically
adjusts
to
netw
ork
congestion,
ensuring
minimal
transaction
delay
.
–
Performance
remains
stable
e
v
en
under
200%
increased
transaction
v
olume,
conrming
the
model’
s
scalability
.
–
The
MILP-based
transaction
routing
ef
fecti
v
ely
distrib
utes
w
orkload
across
hubs,
pre
v
enting
netw
ork
bottlenecks.
5.4.
Hub
w
orkload
distrib
ution
T
o
assess
w
orkload
balancing
ef
cienc
y
,
we
comput
ed
the
v
ariance
in
w
orkload
across
hubs.
T
able
3
presents
w
orkload
v
ariance
under
dif
ferent
transaction
loads.
Figure
3
visualizes
w
orkload
distrib
ution
across
scenarios.
These
results
conrm
that
the
frame
w
ork
maintains
balanced
w
orkload
distrib
ution
in
most
conditions,
with
slight
v
ariance
increases
under
e
xtreme
transaction
loads.
AI-power
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einfor
cement
learning
and
gr
aph-based
appr
oac
h
to
...
(Kassem
Danac
h)
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
542
❒
ISSN:
2252-8938
Figure
2.
Sensiti
vity
analysis
of
AI-dri
v
en
hub
selection
under
v
arying
transaction
loads
T
able
3.
W
orkload
v
ariance
across
hubs
T
ransaction
v
olume
scenario
A
v
erage
w
orkload
v
ariance
Lo
w
v
olume
(50%)
2.15
Standard
v
olume
(Baseline)
1.47
High
v
olume
(200%)
3.02
Figure
3.
W
orkload
distrib
ution
across
hubs
for
dif
ferent
transaction
v
olumes
5.5.
Scalability
analysis
T
o
assess
system
scalability
,
we
tested
the
frame
w
ork
under
increasing
transaction
loads
(50%,
100%,
and
200%).
T
able
4
presents
the
performance
results.
While
the
frame
w
ork
ef
ciently
handles
standard
loads,
performance
de
grades
under
e
xtreme
transaction
v
olumes
(200%),
highlighting
opportunities
for
adapti
v
e
resource
scaling.
These
trends
are
visualized
in
Figure
4,
which
illustrates
the
relationship
between
transaction
load,
latenc
y
,
and
throughput.
Notably
,
latenc
y
increases
sharply
at
200%
load,
while
throughput
drops
signicantly
,
conrming
the
need
for
dynamic
resource
optimization
under
high
demand.
Int
J
Artif
Intell,
V
ol.
15,
No.
1,
February
2026:
536–546
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
Int
J
Artif
Intell
ISSN:
2252-8938
❒
543
T
able
4.
Scalability
test
results
T
ransaction
load
latenc
y
(sec.)
Throughput
(TPS)
Resource
utilization
(%)
Lo
w
(50%)
4.2
1200
45.3
Standard
(100%)
6.8
950
68.1
High
(200%)
12.5
720
91.4
Figure
4.
Scalability
test
results
sho
wing
transaction
latenc
y
and
throughput
5.6.
Ener
gy
efciency
analysis
The
AI-dri
v
en
hub
optimization
frame
w
ork
achie
v
ed
a
substantial
reduction
in
ener
gy
consum
p
t
ion,
demonstrating
its
ef
cienc
y
be
yond
just
performance
metrics.
This
ener
gy
ef
cienc
y
w
as
quantied
using
the
fundamental
equation
E
=
P
×
T
,
where
E
is
ener
gy
(kWh),
P
is
the
measured
po
wer
dra
w
(W),
and
T
is
the
total
transaction
processing
time
(s).
The
results,
presented
in
T
able
5,
conrm
that
the
optimized
system
lo
wered
ener
gy
usage
to
3.2
kWh,
a
40.7%
decrease
compared
to
the
5.4
kWh
consumed
by
the
traditional
baseline.
T
able
5.
Ener
gy
consumption
comparison
Scenario
Po
wer
(W)
Ener
gy
consumption
(kWh)
Baseline
(traditional)
1800
5.4
AI-optimized
hub
selection
1200
3.2
5.7.
Statistical
signicance
testing
T
o
v
alidate
the
rob
ustness
of
the
proposed
frame
w
ork,
we
applied
non-parametric
statistical
tes
ts
across
all
baseline
and
comparati
v
e
models.
A
Friedman
rank
test
w
as
rst
conducted
to
assess
o
v
erall
dif
ferences,
follo
wed
by
pairwise
W
ilcoxon
signed-rank
tests
with
Bonferroni
correction.
The
results
conrm
that
the
proposed
AI-dri
v
en
frame
w
ork
achie
v
es
statistically
signicant
impro
v
ements
(
p
<
0
.
01
)
in
transaction
latenc
y
,
g
as
fee
optimization,
and
congestion
reduction
compared
to
both
peer
-to-peer
baselines
and
x
ed
hub
selection
models.
This
pro
vides
strong
e
vidence
that
the
reported
impro
v
ements
are
not
due
to
random
v
ariation.
5.8.
F
eatur
e
impact
analysis
Finally
,
we
analyzed
the
impact
of
input
features
on
model
predictions
using
Shaple
y
additi
v
e
e
xplanations
(SHAP)
v
alues.
The
results
sho
w
that
transaction
v
olume
per
block
(
T
bl
ock
)
and
g
as
fee
uctuations
(
F
g
as
)
are
the
most
inuential
predictors
of
hub
selection
and
routing
performance.
De
gree
centrality
(
D
centr
al
ity
)
and
temporal
clustering
patterns
(
C
tempor
al
)
also
contrib
ute,
b
ut
with
lo
wer
relati
v
e
AI-power
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einfor
cement
learning
and
gr
aph-based
appr
oac
h
to
...
(Kassem
Danac
h)
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
544
❒
ISSN:
2252-8938
importance.
This
feat
ure
impact
analysis
pro
vides
interpretable
insights
into
the
dri
v
ers
of
scalability
in
blockchain
netw
orks,
strengthening
the
transparenc
y
and
interpretability
of
the
proposed
AI-dri
v
en
frame
w
ork.
6.
CONCLUSION
AND
FUTURE
W
ORK
This
study
introduces
a
no
v
el
AI-dri
v
en
frame
w
ork
that
unies
RL,
MILP
,
and
GNNs
to
si
gnicantly
enhance
blockchain
scalability
,
achie
ving
notable
reductions
in
transaction
latenc
y
,
g
as
fees,
a
nd
netw
ork
congestion
through
dynamic
hub
selection,
optimized
routing,
and
predicti
v
e
congestion
management.
Ho
we
v
er
,
the
frame
w
ork
f
aces
limitations,
including
high
computational
demands,
partial
centralization
risks,
and
assumptions
about
netw
ork
stability
and
hub
capacity
.
Future
w
ork
will
therefore
focus
on
enhancing
adaptability
through
meta-learning,
inte
grating
with
layer
-2
solutions,
and
v
alidating
the
approach
across
di
v
erse
blockchain
platforms
and
real-w
orld
applications
lik
e
DeFi
and
D
A
Os
to
adv
ance
the
de
v
elopment
of
more
intelligent
and
scalable
decentralized
systems.
FUNDING
INFORMA
TION
Authors
state
no
funding
in
v
olv
ed.
A
UTHOR
CONTRIB
UTIONS
ST
A
TEMENT
This
journal
uses
the
Contrib
utor
Roles
T
axonomy
(CRediT)
to
recognize
indi
vidual
author
contrib
utions,
reduce
authorship
disputes,
and
f
acilitate
collaboration.
Name
of
A
uthor
C
M
So
V
a
F
o
I
R
D
O
E
V
i
Su
P
Fu
Kassem
Danach
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Hassan
Rk
ein
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Alaaeddine
Ramadan
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Hassan
Harb
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Bassam
Hamdar
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
C
:
C
onceptualization
I
:
I
n
v
estig
ation
V
i
:
V
i
sualization
M
:
M
ethodology
R
:
R
esources
Su
:
Su
pervision
So
:
So
ftw
are
D
:
D
ata
Curation
P
:
P
roject
Administration
V
a
:
V
a
lidation
O
:
Writing
-
O
riginal
Draft
Fu
:
Fu
nding
Acquisition
F
o
:
F
o
rmal
Analysis
E
:
Writing
-
Re
vie
w
&
E
diting
CONFLICT
OF
INTEREST
Authors
state
no
conict
of
interest.
D
A
T
A
A
V
AILABILITY
The
data
that
support
the
ndings
of
this
study
are
a
v
ailable
from
the
rst
author
or
the
corresponding
author
,
[AR],
upon
reasonable
request.
REFERENCES
[1]
S.
Punitha
and
K.
S.
Preetha,
“
A
no
v
el
inte
gration
of
web
3.0
with
h
ybrid
chaotic-hippo-optimized
blockchain
frame
w
ork
for
healthcare
4.0,
”
Results
in
Engineering
,
v
ol.
24,
Dec.
2024,
doi:
10.1016/j.rineng.2024.103528.
[2]
O.
Ascue,
O.
V
alle,
and
J.
Santisteban,
“BLOCKSA
GE:
Blockchain-based
cloud
architecture
for
sensiti
v
e
data
management
in
SMEs,
”
Sustainability
,
v
ol.
17,
no.
4,
Feb
.
2025,
doi:
10.3390/su17041352.
[3]
S.
G.
Sa
v
adatti,
S.
Krishnamoort
h
y
,
a
nd
R.
Delhibab
u,
“Surv
e
y
of
distrib
uted
ledger
technology
(DL
T)
for
secure
and
scalable
computing,
”
IEEE
Access
,
v
ol.
13,
pp.
8393–8415,
2025,
doi:
10.1109/A
CCESS.2025.3528211.
[4]
I.
S.
Rao,
M.
L.
M.
Kiah,
M.
M.
Hameed,
and
Z.
A.
Memon,
“Scal
ability
of
blockchain:
a
comprehensi
v
e
re
vie
w
and
future
research
direction,
”
Cluster
Computing
,
v
ol.
27,
no.
5,
pp.
5547–5570,
Aug.
2024,
doi:
10.1007/s10586-023-04257-7.
[5]
Z.
U.
Abadin
and
M.
Syed,
“
A
pattern
for
proof
of
w
ork
consensus
algorithm
in
blockchain,
”
in
26th
Eur
opean
Confer
ence
on
P
attern
Langua
g
es
of
Pr
o
gr
ams
,
Graz,
Austria:
A
CM,
July
2021,
pp.
1–6,
doi:
10.1145/3489449.3489994.
Int
J
Artif
Intell,
V
ol.
15,
No.
1,
February
2026:
536–546
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.
Int
J
Artif
Intell
ISSN:
2252-8938
❒
545
[6]
G.
A.
F
.
Rebello
et
al.
,
“
A
surv
e
y
on
blockchain
scalability:
from
hardw
are
t
o
layer
-tw
o
protocols,
”
IEEE
Communications
Surve
ys
&
T
utorials
,
v
ol.
26,
no.
4,
pp.
2411–2458,
2024,
doi:
10.1109/COMST
.2024.3376252.
[7]
A.
Gangw
al,
H.
R.
Gang
a
v
alli,
and
A.
Thirupathi,
“
A
surv
e
y
of
layer
-tw
o
blockchain
protocols,
”
J
ournal
of
Network
and
Computer
Applications
,
v
ol.
209,
Jan.
2023,
doi:
10.1016/j.jnca.2022.103539.
[8]
M.
Zamani,
M.
Mo
v
ahedi,
and
M.
Rayk
o
v
a,
“RapidChain:
scaling
blockchain
via
full
sharding,
”
in
Pr
oceedings
of
the
2018
A
CM
SIGSA
C
Confer
ence
on
Computer
and
Communications
Security
,
T
oronto,
Canada:
A
CM,
Oct.
2018,
pp.
931–948,
doi:
10.1145/3243734.3243853.
[9]
A.
A.
Mazlan,
S.
M.
Daud,
S.
M.
Sam,
H.
Abas,
S
.
Z.
A.
Rasid,
and
M.
F
.
Y
usof,
“Scalability
challenges
in
healthcare
blockchain
system—a
systematic
re
vie
w
,
”
IEEE
Access
,
v
ol.
8,
pp.
23663–23673,
2020,
doi:
10.1109/A
CCESS.2020.2969230.
[10]
S.
A.
Alumur
,
J.
F
.
Campbell,
I.
Contreras,
B.
Y
.
Kara,
V
.
Mariano
v
,
and
M.
E.
O’K
elly
,
“Perspecti
v
es
on
modeling
hub
location
problems,
”
Eur
opean
J
ournal
of
Oper
ational
Resear
c
h
,
v
ol.
291,
no.
1,
pp.
1–17,
May
2021,
doi:
10.1016/j.ejor
.2020.09.039.
[11]
K.
Danach,
A.
Rammal
,
I.
Moukadem,
H.
Harb,
and
A.
Nasser
,
“
Adv
anced
optimization
in
e-commerce
logistics:
combining
m
atheuristics
with
random
forests
for
hub
location
ef
cienc
y
,
”
IEEE
Access
,
v
ol.
13,
pp.
55915–55926,
2025,
doi:
10.1109/A
CCESS.2025.3550560.
[12]
F
.
Chen,
H.
W
an,
H.
Cai,
and
G.
Cheng,
“Machine
learning
in/for
blockchain:
future
and
challenges,
”
Canadian
J
ournal
of
Statistics
,
v
ol.
49,
no.
4,
pp.
1364–1382,
2021,
doi:
10.1002/cjs.11623.
[13]
K.
Danach,
H.
Harb,
A.
Ramadan,
and
S.
Haddad,
“Enhancing
multi-criteria
decision-making
in
blockchain
security:
a
h
ybrid
machine
learning
and
PR
OMETHEE
approach,
”
Engineering
Resear
c
h
Expr
ess
,
v
ol.
7,
no.
3,
pp.
1-22,
Sep.
2025,
doi:
10.1088/2631-8695/ae05eb
.
[14]
J.
W
eng,
J.
W
eng,
J
.
Zhang,
M.
Li,
Y
.
Zhang,
and
W
.
Luo,
“DeepChain:
auditable
and
pri
v
ac
y-preserving
deep
le
arning
with
blockchain-based
incenti
v
e,
”
IEEE
T
r
ansactions
on
Dependable
and
Secur
e
Computing
,
v
ol.
18,
no.
5,
pp.
2438-2455,
2021,
doi:
10.1109/TDSC.2019.2952332.
[15]
X.
Lin,
J.
W
u,
A.
K.
Bashir
,
J.
Li,
W
.
Y
ang,
and
M.
J.
Piran,
“Blockchain-based
incenti
v
e
ener
gy-kno
wledge
trading
in
IoT
:
joint
po
wer
transfer
and
AI
design,
”
IEEE
Internet
of
Things
J
ournal
,
v
ol.
9,
no.
16,
pp.
14685–14698,
2022,
doi:
10.1109/JIO
T
.2020.3024246.
[16]
V
.
Mnih
et
al
.,
“Human-le
v
el
control
through
deep
reinforcement
learning,
”
Natur
e
,
v
ol.
518,
no.
7540,
pp.
529–533,
Feb
.
2015,
doi:
10.1038/nature14236.
[17]
B.
Han
et
al
.,
“Dynamic
incenti
v
e
design
for
federated
learning
based
on
consortium
blockchain
using
a
stack
elber
g
g
ame,
”
IEEE
Access
,
v
ol.
12,
pp.
160267–160283,
2024,
doi:
10.1109/A
CCESS.2024.3487585.
[18]
A.
S.
Almasoud,
“Blockchain-based
secure
storage
and
sharing
of
medical
data
using
machine
learning,
”
in
2023
T
enth
International
Confer
ence
on
Social
Networks
Analysis,
Mana
g
ement
and
Security
(SN
AMS)
,
Ab
u
Dhabi,
United
Arab
Emirates:
IEEE,
No
v
.
2023,
pp.
1–4,
doi:
10.1109/SN
AMS60348.2023.10375435.
[19]
M.
Seo,
J.
Kim,
M.
Y
ou,
S.
Shin,
and
J.
Kim,
“gShock:
a
GNN-based
ngerprinting
system
for
permissioned
blockchain
netw
orks
o
v
er
encrypted
channels,
”
IEEE
Access
,
v
ol.
12,
pp.
146328–146342,
2024,
doi:
10.1109/A
CCESS.2024.3469583.
[20]
T
.-H.
Lee
and
M.-S.
Kim,
“RL-MILP
solv
er:
a
reinforcement
learning
approach
for
solving
mix
ed-inte
ger
linear
programs
with
graph
neural
netw
orks,
”
5th
Annual
AAAI
W
orkshop
on
AI
to
Acceler
ate
Science
and
Engineering
(AI2ASE)
,
pp.
1–10,
2023.
[21]
T
.
Liu
and
H.
Meidani,
“End-to-end
heterogeneous
graph
neural
netw
orks
for
traf
c
assi
gnment,
”
T
r
ansportation
Resear
c
h
P
art
C:
Emer
ging
T
ec
hnolo
gies
,
v
ol.
165,
2024,
doi:
10.1016/j.trc.2024.104695.
[22]
P
.
Almasan,
J.
S.-V
arela,
K.
Rusek,
P
.
B.-Ros,
and
A.
C.-Apari
cio,
“Deep
rei
nforcement
learning
meets
graph
neural
netw
orks:
e
xploring
a
routing
optimization
use
case,
”
Computer
Communications
,
v
ol.
196,
pp.
184–194,
2022,
doi:
10.1016/j.comcom.2022.09.029.
[23]
N.
S.
K
umar
,
S.
Mirdula,
P
.
Singh,
T
.
Gayathri,
J.
S,
and
A.
M,
“
A
paradigm
shift
in
ethereum
netw
ork
analysis
through
Google
BigQuery
,portation,
and
visualization,
”
2024
International
Confer
ence
on
Emer
ging
Smart
Computing
and
Informatics
(ESCI)
,
pp.
1–7,
2024,
doi:
10.1109/ESCI59607.2024.10497269.
[24]
A.
Day
and
E.
Medv
ede
v
,
“Ethereum
i
n
BigQuery:
a
public
dataset
for
smart
contract
analytics,
”
Goo
gle
Cloud
Blo
g
,
Accessed:
May
27,
2023.
[Online].
A
v
ailable:
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/data-a
nalytics/ethereum-bigquery-public-dataset-smart-
contract-analytics
[25]
A.
Das,
G.
Uddin,
and
G.
Ruhe,
“
An
empirical
study
of
blockchai
n
repos
itories
in
GitHub,
”
in
The
International
Confer
ence
on
Evaluation
and
Assessment
in
Softwar
e
Engineering
2022
,
Gothenb
ur
g,
Sweden:
A
CM,
June
2022,
pp.
211–220,
doi:
10.1145/3530019.3530041.
[26]
Google
BigQuery
,
M.
Risdal,
S.
Dane,
and
A.
Day
,
“Bitcoin
blockchain
historical
data,
”
Ka
g
gle
,
2020,
Accessed:
May
27,
2023.
[Online].
A
v
ailable:
https://www
.kaggle.com/datasets/bigquery/bitcoin-blockchain
BIOGRAPHIES
OF
A
UTHORS
Kassem
Danach
recei
v
ed
the
Doctor
of
Philosoph
y
(Ph.D.)
de
gree
in
Computer
Engineering
from
Ecole
Centrale
de
Lille,
France,
in
2016.
He
has
applied
his
e
xpertise
in
data
analyt
ics,
articial
intelligence,
machine
learning,
deep
learning,
educational
technology
,
and
b
usiness
analytics
to
v
arious
military
and
professional
roles.
He
has
made
subst
antial
contrib
utions
to
the
eld
of
operational
research
and
articial
intelligence,
earning
him
prestigious
a
w
ards,
including
the
best
paper
a
w
ard
at
LCIS
in
2017
and
AISD
in
2019,
and
acti
v
e
participation
as
a
team
member
in
the
EU-funded
SOCORR
O
project,
from
2019
to
2021.
He
can
be
contacted
at
email:
kassem.danach@mu.edu.lb
.
AI-power
ed
hub
optimization:
a
r
einfor
cement
learning
and
gr
aph-based
appr
oac
h
to
...
(Kassem
Danac
h)
Evaluation Warning : The document was created with Spire.PDF for Python.