Blockchains through ontologies: the case study of the Ethereum ERC721 standard in OASIS (Extended Version)

TL;DR

This paper explores how to use ontologies, specifically the ONT framework, to semantically describe blockchain activities, focusing on the ERC721 NFT standard as a case study.

Contribution

It introduces a method to represent blockchain smart contracts semantically using ontologies, enhancing clarity and interoperability for trading activities.

Findings

Semantic representation of smart contracts using ONT

Application to ERC721 NFT standard

Improved clarity in blockchain activity descriptions

Abstract

Blockchains are gaining momentum due to the interest of industries and people in \emph{decentralized applications} (Dapps), particularly in those for trading assets through digital certificates secured on blockchain, called tokens. As a consequence, providing a clear unambiguous description of any activities carried out on blockchains has become crucial, and we feel the urgency to achieve that description at least for trading. This paper reports on how to leverage the \emph{Ontology for Agents, Systems, and Integration of Services} ("\ONT{}") as a general means for the semantic representation of smart contracts stored on blockchain as software agents. Special attention is paid to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), whose management through the ERC721 standard is presented as a case study.