PrGChain: A privacy-preserving blockchain-enabled energy trading system

The integration of blockchain, Internet of Things devices, and distributed energy resources is revolutionizing peer-to-peer energy trading by enabling decentralized, efficient, and transparent transactions. However, existing solutions face challenges related to privacy, interoperability, and scalability. This paper presents PrGChain, a privacy-preserving blockchain-enabled energy trading framework within the smart grid, incorporating a decentralized ZKOracle to securely connect blockchain networks with off-chain energy data sources. The proposed ZKOracle employs zero-knowledge proofs to verify energy data without exposing sensitive information, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations, while leveraging a distributed network of oracle nodes for enhanced reliability and interoperability. To improve security and efficiency, PrGChain utilizes smart contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), and leverages stablecoins to mitigate cryptocurrency volatility. Performance evaluations demonstrate that our system achieves improved decentralization and privacy without sacrificing efficiency. This is particularly true when deployed on Layer 2 blockchain networks like Polygon, where transaction latency and costs are significantly reduced.