TY - JOUR
T1 - A TimeBound NFT Rights Protocol From Time Interval Signatures
AU - Wang, Wei
AU - Duan, Junke
AU - Zuo, Cong
AU - Wang, Licheng
AU - Peng, Haipeng
AU - Huang, Xiuju
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2004-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Timed signatures are cryptographic primitives that enable senders to predefine the validity period of a signature. Currently, two primary types of timed signatures have been developed. The first type, known as Verifiable Timed Signatures (CCS'2020), implements a delay before a signature becomes effective. The second type is Short-Lived Signatures (ASIACRYPT'2022), which allows for the setting of an expiration time for signatures upon creation. However, certain applications requiring time-sensitive authorization demand both activation and expiration times to be set, a requirement not fulfilled by the existing timed signature schemes. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel flexible timed signature scheme called Time Interval Signatures (TIS). TIS combines Verifiable Delay Functions and Short-Lived Signatures with our Zero-Knowledge Proof of Product, facilitating the flexible setting of both activation and expiration times for the signature. Building on TIS, we present TimeGuardian, a time-bound NFT rights protocol that enables presetting authorization and revocation periods for NFT usage rights. Experimental results show that TIS achieves signature size reductions of 98.67% and 57.14% compared to existing verifiable timed signature solutions.
AB - Timed signatures are cryptographic primitives that enable senders to predefine the validity period of a signature. Currently, two primary types of timed signatures have been developed. The first type, known as Verifiable Timed Signatures (CCS'2020), implements a delay before a signature becomes effective. The second type is Short-Lived Signatures (ASIACRYPT'2022), which allows for the setting of an expiration time for signatures upon creation. However, certain applications requiring time-sensitive authorization demand both activation and expiration times to be set, a requirement not fulfilled by the existing timed signature schemes. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel flexible timed signature scheme called Time Interval Signatures (TIS). TIS combines Verifiable Delay Functions and Short-Lived Signatures with our Zero-Knowledge Proof of Product, facilitating the flexible setting of both activation and expiration times for the signature. Building on TIS, we present TimeGuardian, a time-bound NFT rights protocol that enables presetting authorization and revocation periods for NFT usage rights. Experimental results show that TIS achieves signature size reductions of 98.67% and 57.14% compared to existing verifiable timed signature solutions.
KW - Timed signature
KW - non-fungible token
KW - short-lived signature
KW - verifiable delay functions
KW - zero-knowledge proof
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015054469
U2 - 10.1109/TDSC.2025.3604511
DO - 10.1109/TDSC.2025.3604511
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105015054469
SN - 1545-5971
VL - 23
SP - 209
EP - 220
JO - IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing
JF - IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing
IS - 1
ER -