Building an Ethereum-Based Decentralized Vehicle Rental System

Abstract: Blockchain technology, beyond cryptocurrencies, is called to be the new information exchange ecosystem due to its unique properties, such as immutability and transparency. The main objective of this work is to introduce the design of a decentralized rental system, which leverages smart contracts and the Ethereum public blockchain. The work started from an exhaustive investigation on the Ethereum platform, emphasizing the aspect of cryptography and all the technology behind this platform. In order to test the proposed scheme in a realistic use, the implementation of a web application for the rental of vehicles has been carried out. The application covers the entire vehicle rental process offered in traditional web applications, adding more autonomy and ease of use to users. Following Ethereum application development guidelines, all business logic is located in the smart contracts implemented in the Ethereum network, where these contracts control the entire vehicle rental system of customers. While this is a work in progress, the results obtained in the first proof of concept have been very promising.