This research introduces the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) TrustBoost Framework, which combines blockchain technology and Explainable AI to address challenges faced by lenders underwriting small business loan applications from low-wealth households. The framework is designed with a strong emphasis on fulfilling four crucial requirements of blockchain and AI systems: confidentiality, compliance with data protection laws, resistance to adversarial attacks, and compliance with regulatory audits. It presents a technique for tamper-proof auditing of automated AI decisions and a strategy for on-chain (inside-blockchain) and off-chain data storage to facilitate collaboration within and across financial organizations.
@article{arxiv.2512.00142,
title = {DeFi TrustBoost: Blockchain and AI for Trustworthy Decentralized Financial Decisions},
author = {Swati Sachan and Dale S. Fickett},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.00142},
year = {2025}
}