Mercury

Abstract

Decentralized communicationplatformsoftenop- erate independently, limiting interoperability and reliable data exchangeacrossapplications.Traditionalmessagingsystemsrely on isolated infrastructures and centralized identity management. To address these challenges, this paper presents the Mercury Framework, a decentralized messaging model that uses wallet- based addressing, where blockchain wallet identities replace traditional usernames for secure and user-controlled identity verification. The framework integrates edge computing with a libp2p relay network to enable distributed message routing, caching, and encryption, improving scalability and reducing latency.Securemulti-partycommunicationissupportedthrough theDoubleRatchetencryptionprotocolandadelegationscheme, ensuring forward secrecy and efficient group synchronization. Overall, the Mercury Framework provides a secure, scalable,and interoperable approach for decentralized communication

Introduction

Traditional communication systems rely on centralized architectures, where data and message processing are handled by servers controlled by a single authority. Although this approach simplifies management, it creates several problems such as privacy risks, data breaches, censorship, and single points of failure. Users also have limited control over their digital identities because authentication and identity management are handled by centralized service providers.

To overcome these issues, the Mercury Framework proposes a decentralized communication architecture that distributes communication tasks across multiple independent nodes. Instead of traditional identifiers like usernames or phone numbers, the system uses wallet-based cryptographic addresses linked to public–private key pairs for secure authentication and encrypted communication. The framework integrates blockchain technology for decentralized identity management, ensuring immutable identity records and secure key updates.

The system also incorporates edge computing, where relay nodes and local gateways process data closer to users, reducing latency and network congestion. Lightweight consensus mechanisms are used to verify relay nodes and maintain network integrity. In addition, the architecture uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE), message fragmentation, Forward Error Correction (FEC), and multi-path routing to improve reliability, security, and resistance to data loss or interception.

Experimental evaluations show that the system improves secure message delivery, network reliability, and transmission efficiency compared to traditional single-path communication systems. The adaptive routing mechanism dynamically selects the best communication channels (such as Wi-Fi, BLE, or LoRa), reducing delays and improving throughput. Security testing confirmed strong protection through encryption, authentication mechanisms, and blockchain-based identity verification.

Conclusion

The Mercury Project introduces a decentralized andprivacy-focused communication framework designed to address the limitations of traditional centralized messaging systems.Conventionalcommunicationplatformsoften relyoncentralizedservers, whichcreateriskssuchasdatabreaches,privacyviolations,andsinglepointsof failure. In contrast, the Mercury framework adopts a decentralized architecture based on a peer-to-peer mesh network, enabling direct communication between nodes without dependence on centralized infrastructure. This design enhances system resilience, improves reliability, and ensures thatcommunicationcancontinueevenunderunstablenetwork conditions. To strengthen communication security, the framework integrates advanced end-to-end encryption mechanisms, including the X3DH key exchange protocol and the Double Ratchet algorithm. These cryptographic techniques ensure secure key establishment and continuous key updates during communication, thereby maintaining strong confidentialityandprotection againstunauthorizedaccess. Inaddition,the incorporation of blockchain-based identity management providesadecentralizedmethodforauthenticatingusers and managing cryptographic keys. By recording identity information and key references on the blockchain, the system ensures transparency, tamper resistance, and secure peer authentication. AnotherimportantfeatureoftheMercuryframeworkis the use of adaptive routing and multi-path communication strategies. Messages are fragmented and transmitted across multiple channels such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and LoRa, allowing the system to dynamically select themostefficientcommunicationpath.Theintegration of Forward Error Correction (FEC) further improvesreliability by enabling message reconstruction even if some fragmentsarelostduringtransmission.Thisapproach reducescommunicationdelays,improvesfaulttolerance, and optimizes energy consumption in resource-constrained environments. Overall, the Mercury framework provides a scalable, se- cure, and energy-efficient communication solution suitablefor next-generation decentralized applications. By combining decentralizednetworking,strongcryptographicprotection,and blockchain-basedtrustmechanisms,thesystemestablishesa reliable infrastructure for secure digital communication. Future research may focus on large-scale deployment, en- hanced routing optimization, and integration with emerging decentralizedtechnologiest ofurther improveperformanceand interoperability.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Aftab Mohamed Thayyil , Fathimathul Amana Sulaiman , Muhammed Aman, Shibila Shirin, Athira Balachandran. 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.