Research prototype
ChainFlow
Test whether a B2B invoice workflow can stay traceable without a central trust authority.
- Role
- Research prototype
- Status
- Demo / research prototype — not a production system
- Classification
- Research prototype
How the workflow works
- Off-chain
The invoice is recorded
ProducesHash
- Off-chain
The sender signs
ProducesEIP-712 signature
- On-chain
The smart contract stores the status
ProducesOn-chain registration
- On-chain
Everyone sees the same state
ProducesEvent
Four steps of an invoice workflow: capture and signing run off-chain, registration and status transitions on a demo chain. Sender, recipient and explorer then see the same state.
Context
ChainFlow is a technical demonstrator created as part of Vencel Somos’ bachelor thesis. It runs on a demo chain and is not a production payment system.
Business problem
In B2B invoice processes across several parties it is often disputed which version of a document was valid when, and who set which status when. The research question was whether that evidence can be produced without any one participating party controlling the authoritative database.
Mandate and role
What Somos-Co owns
An independent academic project by Vencel Somos, developed entirely under his own responsibility.
What the partner or customer owns
Not applicable — no client mandate and no commissioning party.
Outside the role
Commercial use is expressly excluded, as are a production payment system, payment processing, assessment against regulatory requirements for invoicing or payments, and a security audit of the smart contract.
Intervention
- 1
Design of an invoice workflow with defined status transitions
- 2
Implementation of a smart contract for the status logic
- 3
Signing of transactions using EIP-712
- 4
Hash-based integrity proofs for document versions
- 5
Event-driven status changes forming an audit trail
- 6
A full-stack application for operating the workflow
Technical scope
Application
- Smart contract on a demo chain
- Full-stack web application
Data
- EIP-712 typed-data signatures
- Hash-based integrity verification
- Event-driven status changes
Operating model
The prototype runs as a demonstrator on a demo chain. There is no production operation, no operating accountability and no managed-service operating process.
Current status
Completed prototype. Publicly accessible as a demonstrator.
Result and evidence
- The workflow shows that status transitions and document integrity can be logged traceably without any one party controlling the authoritative database.
- Signatures and hash proofs make retrospective changes detectable.
Limitations of these statements
- Demo and research prototype — not a production system.
- Not a production payment system and does not process payments.
- Runs on a demo chain, not in a production network environment.
- Not assessed against regulatory requirements for invoicing or payments.
- No security audit of the smart contract.
Next stage
No productisation planned. The prototype remains as a demonstrator and as a basis for assessing similar questions.
Problem Check
Which business decision needs a more reliable basis?
Describe the challenge, affected process and timeframe. In an initial Problem Check, we clarify which questions a dynamic model should answer.
For applications, platforms, IoT and digital-twin work, and managed operations.