CrowdChain: A Decentralized Crowdfunding dApp on Ethereum with Community-Governed Creator Verification

Abstract

Crowdfunding platforms have democratized access to capital for creators and startups, yet centralized models face high fees, limited transparency, fraud risks, and inter-mediary control over funds. Blockchain addresses these issues through decentralized ledgers, smart contracts, and tokenomics, enabling trustless and transparent funding. This survey exam-ines blockchain-based crowdfunding systems, focusing on DAO implementations, auction mechanisms, social voting models, and milestone-based fund releases on Ethereum and IPFS. We review key works such as VCG auctions, social DAOs like LikeStarter, and the CrowdChain prototype with automated refunds, along with a comparative analysis of voting-, auction-, and token-staked models. Research gaps include scalability, oracle dependencies, Sybil resistance, and regulatory challenges. We propose an enhanced CrowdChain++ system with community verification, multi-milestone campaigns, governance tokens, and Layer-2 optimiza-tion, implemented using Solidity, Hardhat, React, and IPFS. Simulation results show improved automation, reduced gas costs, and stronger fraud resistance, with future directions including ZK-proofs, cross-chain interoperability, and AI-driven anomaly detection.