High-Performance Decentralized Land Administration on Solana

Abstract

Land administration is a critical function for ensuring ownership rights, resolving disputes, and enabling economic development. Conventional systems for managing land records often suffer from inefficiencies, centralization-related vulnerabilities, and recurring fraudulent practices like multiple property sales, falsified documents, and illegal changes in ownership. These issues are further exacerbated in developing countries, where digital infrastructure is limited, and manual processes dominate. While blockchain technologies like Ethereum have attempted to address these challenges through decentralization and smart contracts, their practical implementation is often hindered by high transaction (gas) fees, limited scalability, and network congestion. This paper presents a novel, decentralized land administration framework built on the Solana blockchain, which offers significant performance advantages due to its Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism and Sealevel parallel processing engine. Utilizing Solana’s rapid transaction processing and low- latency architecture, the platform delivers a reliable, efficient, and tamper-resistant solution for land record management. In addition to its blockchain-based core, the system leverages a modern technology stack comprising for an intuitive and responsive user interface, for executing backend logic and managing smart contract interactions, and Supabase for off-chain data storage with real-time database capabilities. This combination ensures efficient integration between components, delivering a seamless user experience while maintaining high system performance and reliability. The proposed system automates critical functions like property register, ownership confirmation, and document validation using smart contracts, thereby greatly decreasing reliance on intermediaries and reducing the risks linked to centralized data storage.. Experimental outcomes and practical validation confirm the platform’s effectiveness in significantly improving transparency, security, and operational efficiency over conventional land systems and previous blockchain-based solutions. This makes the solution highly suitable for integration into contemporary land governance models, particularly in regions that demand scalable and trustworthy digital infrastructure.

Introduction

Background:

Traditional land administration systems are:

• Centralized, relying on physical/semi-digital records.

• Vulnerable to data tampering, corruption, manual errors, and natural disasters.

• Dependent on intermediaries, causing delays, inefficiencies, and opportunities for fraud.

• Particularly problematic in developing countries due to lack of digitization.

Blockchain as a Solution:

Blockchain offers:

• Decentralized, tamper-proof, and transparent data storage.

• Immutable and timestamped records.

• Smart contracts to automate processes and eliminate intermediaries.

However, platforms like Ethereum face scalability and cost issues, limiting real-world land administration use.

Proposed System:

A Decentralized Land Registry DApp was developed using the Solana blockchain, chosen for its:

• High throughput (60,000 TPS),

• Low transaction cost ($0.00025),

• Fast finality (0.45 seconds),

• Proof of History (PoH) consensus mechanism.

System Features:

• Smart contracts (Rust-based) manage on-chain data.

• Supabase used for off-chain storage (e.g., documents).

• Frontend (React.js) and backend (Node.js) for user-friendly interaction and secure data handling.

• Ensures data integrity, fraud detection, and public verification through blockchain hashes.

Workflow:

1. User Input: Land details submitted via web UI.

2. Validation: Data checked on client and server side.

3. Smart Contract Execution: Land record hash stored on Solana blockchain.

4. Off-chain Document Storage: Supporting documents stored in Supabase with UUID.

5. Confirmation: User receives block hash as verifiable proof of registration.

Key Benefits:

• Transparency: All transactions are verifiable on the blockchain.

• Security: Tamper-proof records with automated fraud detection.

• Efficiency: Faster transactions and lower costs vs. Ethereum or Hyperledger.

• Scalability: Suitable for nationwide implementation, including rural and high-volume environments.

• User-Friendly: Intuitive frontend with seamless integration of backend services.

Comparison with Other Platforms:

Results & Validation:

• The system successfully recorded and verified land entries on Solana’s Devnet.

• Smart contracts rejected duplicate IDs, preventing double registration.

• Document hashes matched stored values, ensuring data authenticity.

• The architecture supports future integration with IoT, GIS, or AI.

Conclusion

The proposed land administration system built on Solana\'s blockchain effectively tackles the limitations found in both conventional methods and earlier blockchain-based approaches. By leveraging Solana’s Proof of History (PoH) and Tower BFT consensus mechanisms, the system ensures high efficiency, scalability, and low transaction costs.The system delivers high transaction throughput with minimal costs—key advantages for large-scale real estate implementations. Additionally, smart contracts automate property registrations, minimizing the need for intermediaries and significantly reducing the potential for fraud.The hybrid on- chain/off-chain architecture ensures tamper-proof records without overwhelming blockchain storage.Future improvements will focus on incorporating geospatial mapping for real-time monitoring of land assets and enhancing the system to accommodate multi-party approval processes, allowing for more complex and collaborative transaction workflows.The system sets a precedent for applying blockchain beyond cryptocurrency and opens pathways for secure, decentralized digital governance in land administration.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Pavan Chintakayala. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.