ZK-HybridFL: Zero-Knowledge Proof-Enhanced Hybrid Ledger for Federated Learning

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Hauptverfasser: Taherpour, Amirhossein, Wang, Xiaodong
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Taherpour, Amirhossein
Wang, Xiaodong
author_facet Taherpour, Amirhossein
Wang, Xiaodong
contents Federated learning (FL) enables collaborative model training while preserving data privacy, yet both centralized and decentralized approaches face challenges in scalability, security, and update validation. We propose ZK-HybridFL, a secure decentralized FL framework that integrates a directed acyclic graph (DAG) ledger with dedicated sidechains and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) for privacy-preserving model validation. The framework uses event-driven smart contracts and an oracle-assisted sidechain to verify local model updates without exposing sensitive data. A built-in challenge mechanism efficiently detects adversarial behavior. In experiments on image classification and language modeling tasks, ZK-HybridFL achieves faster convergence, higher accuracy, lower perplexity, and reduced latency compared to Blade-FL and ChainFL. It remains robust against substantial fractions of adversarial and idle nodes, supports sub-second on-chain verification with efficient gas usage, and prevents invalid updates and orphanage-style attacks. This makes ZK-HybridFL a scalable and secure solution for decentralized FL across diverse environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22302
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ZK-HybridFL: Zero-Knowledge Proof-Enhanced Hybrid Ledger for Federated Learning
Taherpour, Amirhossein
Wang, Xiaodong
Machine Learning
Cryptography and Security
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Federated learning (FL) enables collaborative model training while preserving data privacy, yet both centralized and decentralized approaches face challenges in scalability, security, and update validation. We propose ZK-HybridFL, a secure decentralized FL framework that integrates a directed acyclic graph (DAG) ledger with dedicated sidechains and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) for privacy-preserving model validation. The framework uses event-driven smart contracts and an oracle-assisted sidechain to verify local model updates without exposing sensitive data. A built-in challenge mechanism efficiently detects adversarial behavior. In experiments on image classification and language modeling tasks, ZK-HybridFL achieves faster convergence, higher accuracy, lower perplexity, and reduced latency compared to Blade-FL and ChainFL. It remains robust against substantial fractions of adversarial and idle nodes, supports sub-second on-chain verification with efficient gas usage, and prevents invalid updates and orphanage-style attacks. This makes ZK-HybridFL a scalable and secure solution for decentralized FL across diverse environments.
title ZK-HybridFL: Zero-Knowledge Proof-Enhanced Hybrid Ledger for Federated Learning
topic Machine Learning
Cryptography and Security
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22302