DLancer A Decentralised Frelancing Platform

Anjali Singh, Satyam Kumar, Rohit Kumar and Sudhir Shenai

Department of Information Science and Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Yelahanka (560064),

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Keywords: Blockchain, Ethereum, Decentralization, Escrow Smart Contracts, IPFS, DAO.

Abstract: DLancer is an Ethereum blockchain-based decentralized freelancing platform, aiming to revolutionize the gig

economy through the use of smart contracts and decentralized storage systems. The platform offers effortless

correlation between the clients who require the services and the freelancers with the required services,

facilitating contract signing, proffer of proposals, project management with full visibility and security via

smart contracts, and a DAO based dispute mechanism system. By means of an Escrow smart contract,

DLancer stores the project funds immutably and safely until the finalized work is done and validated. It has

support for partial payments and work submissions to add more flexibility to project delivery. Also, it utilizes

IPFS to decentralized project files storage to ensure file durability and be censorship resistant. The

tokenization of completed projects as assets also represents an innovative means of ownership transfer, while

a DAO manages disputes for fair and community-driven arbitration. Our goal is to provide a transparent,

secure and efficient environment for gig economy freelancers and their clients built on top of technology that

delivers greater trust and accountability through blockchain.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the past few years, the existing freelancing

marketplace has skyrocketed, in response to an ever-

growing need for flexible work arrangements and

global collaboration. Websites such as Upwork,

Fiverr, and Freelancer rule the domain by linking

freelancers and clients, and providing an extensive

range of services across industries. These platforms,

however, have their own constraints such as high

commission, transparency issues, delayed payments,

and disputes that usually favor the platform over its

users. This creates a dependency: both freelancers

and clients have to trust one platform that holds the

monopoly over the payments, disputes and platform

governance. Such challenges erode the quality of

interaction and contribute to inefficiencies in an

otherwise thriving sector.

DLancer utilises the blockchain technology to

revolutionize the freelancing marketplace which

relies on Ethereum smart contracts for interaction

between clients & freelancers that is automatic,

secure & trustless. DLancer operates on a

decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) network, removing

the need for intermediaries and central authority.

Transactions, agreements, and contracts are available

to all participants, making this decentralized

approach transparent.

Ethereum smart contracts are essential to do

things like automating escrow management, work

submissions, payments, etc. Every contract, after

forming, is deployed on the blockchain, therefore its

execution is immutable and trustable. This ensures

that the funds for the project stay safely locked away

until the conditions set forth (completion of the

project) are fulfilled. The gas fees on Ethereum pay

for the computations needed to run these smart

contracts, which keeps the network secure and

operable.

By leveraging a method known as cryptographic

hashing, the technology guarantees the tamper-

proofness of every transaction and contract

deposited on the blockchain. If a transaction takes

place, the transaction details will be hashed and

duplicated across the numerous nodes that compose

the blockchain, so if something is slightly modified,

it will immediately be apparent. This ensures the

authenticity and transparency level of all operations

done on the DLancer platform.

194

Singh, A., Kumar, S., Kumar, R. and Shenai, S.

DLancer A Decentralised Frelancing Platform.

DOI: 10.5220/0013910300004919

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Research and Development in Information, Communication, and Computing Technologies (ICRDICCT‘25 2025) - Volume 4, pages

194-201

ISBN: 978-989-758-777-1

This is supplemented by decentralized storage of

project files, proposals, and deliverables on IPFS

(Interplanetary File System) integrated to distribute

project files across a global network of nodes instead

of being stored on a centralized server. This also adds

on security and minimizing the chances of losing data

and modifying it. It is also gas efficient.

DLancers is a peer-to-peer network for

freelancers and clients, based on a transparent and

immutable ledger of the Ethereum blockchain.

2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

These freelancing problems are finding their roots in

the traditional freelancing industry, where despite

global reach and demand, freelancers are still

struggling from the hangover of significant platform

fees, uplift payments, no disagreements without

transparent resolution and least, trust. Freelancing

platforms are typically centralized, and they act as

intermediaries, which causes inefficiencies and low

transparency of both contracts and payments.

Freelancers also have unfair terms, and clients have

problems with project accountability and quality

assurance.

3 LITERATURE SURVEY

The use of blockchains (or their variants) is well-

studied, for decentralized systems, with reliability

and contractual transparency among people who do

not know each other. As a result, blockchain

technology has potential applications beyond digital

currencies and financial systems, encompassing

sectors such as health care management, document

verification and supply chain management.

Related work (Vitalik Buterin 2014) presents

Ethereum, a smart contract platform that introduces

the concept of programmable transactions, laying an

essential framework for contracts and escrow services

in freelance decentralized applications such as

DLancer. The Ethereum blockchain is a publicly-

deployed secure blockchain network that's amongst

the most widely-adopted public blockchain in the

world, which is the foundation for trustless,

decentralized transactions.

Proposing a Blockchain-based system for fair

payment on freelancing plat- forms in (Nguyen, H.

T., Pathirana, P. 2020). This article discusses how

smart contracts can be implemented to manage

escrow services for automatic payment on completion

of project milestones. Such an approach shows how

blockchain aims to reduce payment disputes while

creating confidence for clients with freelancers.

(Werbach, K., Cornell, N. 2017) explores the

influence of smart contracts on traditional contract

law, introducing the term “Contract Law 2.0.”

Instead, this study contends that: (1) an agreement

ought not to require third-party enforcement by

definition, and (2) the merits of automated

transactions—particularly the concluding efficiency

that results from effectively-free contracts—far

outweigh their comparative questions with respect to

traditional agreements. However, the paper highlights

the need for effective dispute resolution mechanisms

as a complement to smart contracts because there are

situations that a smart contract will have difficulty

resolving satisfactorily.

investigates decentralized arbitration models

within Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

(DAOs), looking at platforms such as Kleros and

Aragon Court (Astley, M. T. 2021). The DAO-based

models inherently allow 10x more efficient dispute

handling via token-based incentives that save fa one

third time in quality and threefold more engaging

arbiters. But the study cautions against potential

biases in a voting-based resolution, noting that

incentives need to be properly structured.

Token staking and reputation-based voting are

techniques proposed in (Zhang, J., Li, Y. 2022) to

reduce disputes on smart contract platforms. The

authors posit that these mechanisms improve arbiter

integrity, as staked tokens and reputation incentives

promote proper behavior in conflict resolution.

Lastly, (Smith, A., Jones, R. 2023) recommends

a dispute resolution machine on blockchain based

systems. It proposes an arbiter’s model with

randomly chosen arbiters to avoid collusion which

guarantees fairness in the decision process. By

offering an impartial way of reconciling disputes

among participants, this model seeks to improve

confidence even further in systems built on

decentralization.

4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

At this stage, user interviews, surveys, and focus

group discussions have been conducted with

freelancers, clients, and industry experts to formulate

the platform requirements. This makes sure that the

platform meets the real-world needs of its target

audience. Design and Prototyping This step involved

DLancer A Decentralised Frelancing Platform

195

the user interface and backend architecture which was

developed using MERN stack (MongoDB,

Express.js, React.js, Node.js) as used in web domains,

while Solidity is for the implementation of smart

contracts, to have the web layer and application layer

interact well with the blockchain layer.

Smart contracts underwent multiple levels of

testing and due diligence to ensure that there were no

potential vulnerabilities to compromise the security

of the platform through tools and external security

audits. These contracts cover essential functionalities

of payment handling, escrow services and DAO-

based dispute resolution. Usability and performance

testing were done through beta testing with a select

group of freelancers and clients and then A/B testing

to compare implementation of designs and features to

validate the platform. Load simulations were also

executed to check the performance of the platform

under heavy traffic and usage conditions.

Another compelling source of information was

data evaluation including user feedback as well as

error reports and performance metrics. Working

through these iterations provided insight into usable

workflows, smart contract logic and experience

flows. Specific emphasis was placed on privacy and

data protection in addition to transparency, which

were maintained as ethical and security

considerations throughout the process. This holds

especially true for dispute res-solution, part of which

is the application of DAO- based arbitration in

DLancer, where bias and the need for centralized

intermediaries are significantly reduced in conflict

resolution, thus promoting decentral- ized conflict

resolution.

This approach to research methodology guides the

DLancer platform in providing a trusted, secure,

efficient, and user-centric freelancing experience to

its users and fostering trust & collaboration in the gig

economy using decentralized technology.

5 SYSTEM DESIGN

It shows that which part is in the DLancer Platform,

and the user's interactions (client and freelancer),

that is the interoperability of smart contract: project

and payments.

Figure 1 shows the System Design

Architecture.

• User Login: Two separate login flows will be

available; one for clients and another for freelancers

• Gig Management: Client create gigs, display in the

gigs section. Freelancer send proposal to the gig, on

client acceptance* sign smart contract. This governs

the entire project life cycle and is what will enforce

terms that agreed upon.

• Project Submission and Management: The

selected freelancer submits the project, which then is

accepted or rejected by the client, depending on

whether they are satisfied or not. Once this work is

acknowledged and approved by the client, the project

then progresses to tokenization where a project token

is mapped to a smart contract. If the client is

unsatisfied, they raise a dispute that is solved through

a panel of arbiters (part of the DAO system); And if

there is no response after so many days then the

amount gets released to the freelancer’s account.

• Escrow Process The smart contract keeps it in

escrow for payment. Once the project is accepted by

the freelancer, the contract disburses the funds to the

freelancer. Disputes will redirect funds as DAO

decides.

• Modifiers: Modifiers are functions that add

functionality to and control the behavior of other

functions. They are used to enforce preconditions,

validations, or access control logic before executing

the main function

Figure 1: System design architecture.

5.1 Create Gig and Store Escrow

Contract on Blockchain

The client then completes a form indicating every

aspect of the project title, description, technology

stack, project amount, deadline, and so on. Once

submitted project is approved it will be posted on

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the gigs page of the site Freelancers can now view

the created gig. The freelancers submit proposals

in the app and the clients can choose one among

all the requests based on the proposal and the

reviews and ratings given to their previous works.

Figure 2: Creation of gig and escrow smart contract.

The client deposits the project amount in crypto to

the Escrow smart contract. A client and freelancer

enter into a contract which is recorded on the

Ethereum blockchain. Only you hold the keys of

your Escrow contract, which is all set up as a trust

fund. This trust is created in the freelancers that if

he/she is completing the work on time with all the

requirements then the project amount will

automatically be credited in to his/her wallet.

Figure 2 shows the Creation of gig and escrow

smart contract.

5.2 Partial Payment and Partial

Project Submission

Figure 3: Partial payment and project submission.

We implement a partial payment and work

submission using an Escrow smart contract. The

project is organized in milestones where each

milestone refers to a certain part of the work. For

each milestone, the client places the amount (e.g., 25

percent of the total project value) in the escrow. After

the freelancer finishes and submits the work for a

milestone, the client is responsible for reviewing it.

Can upload a file which is persisted on IPFS which

saves gas fee as it is a decentralized storage and the

file is uploaded on IPFS. The other is to give a

GitHub repo link. Once approved, the corresponding

payment is issued to the freelancer. This continues

with each milestone, whereby payments are made

incrementally based off completion and approval of

work, further ensuring trust and limiting risk for both

parties.

Figure 3 shows the Partial payment and

project submission.

5.3 DAO (Decentralized Autonomous

Organization)

Decentralize Autonomouse Orgnization (DAO) is

new form of organizational structure built on

blockchain that uses smart contracts to facilitate

decision making and governance. Unlike traditional

organizations that rely on a centralized authority,

DAOs eliminate the need for any single point of

control, allowing participants to work together and

make decisions collaboratively, in a transparent way.

Members usually possess governance tokens that

give them voting rights, enabling members to propose

changes, ap- prove budgets, or elect representatives.

DAO governance operates via a voting system, in

which proposals are submitted and voted on. While

typically, each member’s voting power is weighted

by the number of tokens they hold, encouraging active

participation and investment into the organization’s

success. Smart contracts execute the agreed-upon

actions automatically, like transferring funds or

making changes, once a proposal is approved. The

inherent transparency and immutability of blockchain

technology mean that all transactions and decisions

are recorded on a public ledger, creating trust between

participants. This enables various governance models

to be established, from direct vote systems to more

elaborate frameworks, such as quadratic vote or

delegated vote. DAOs have applications that include

but are not limited to venture funding, community

projects, and decentralized finance (DeFi), signifying

a shift towards decentralized governance in a wide

range of industries. In summary, the DAOs allow

people to work together in a more effective,

DLancer A Decentralised Frelancing Platform

197

democratic, and secure way, as they change the basic

logic of how organizations work.

Figure 4 shows the One

Legal Entity.

Figure 5 shows the DAO example.

Figure 4: One legal entity.

Figure 5: DAO example.

5.4 Dispute Resolution

DAO adds up with another process in which a project

after freelancers is being submitted to the client

themselves, after reviewing the project if not found

up to the mark, then raising a dispute which will be

solved by their smart contracts with their co-

ordination and their decision will be final.

5.4.1 Raising a Dispute

The customer refuses the completed work and starts

a dispute with the platform. The payment is kept in

the escrow contract until both parties agree. A new

entry for disputes gets created capturing task details,

deadlines and both parties.

5.4.2 Arbiter Assignment

(DAO Selection) Random or Reputation-based

Allocation of Tasks The arbiters belong to the same

DAO and are initially selected at random or based on

their reputation. It will require a minimum of a

number (3 or 5 arbiters) to decided overall fairness.

Arbiters are required to stake tokens to engage in the

process, thus aligning their incentive. Notified

arbiters are assigned to review the case.

5.4.3 Evidence Submission

client Claim and rationale forward to express

discontent. You have to submit this before the

deadline. The idea is that all this evidence is posted

on off-chain (e.g. IPFS) for cheaper fees.

5.4.4 Arbiter Review and Voting

he reviews phase: Arbiters examine evidence

presented from Arbiter panel Voting.

Mechanism: Each arbiter votes FOR the client

(refund/partial refund) or FOR the freelancer (release

full payment) or propose a middle ground (partial

payment on percentage of task completion)

Weighted Voting: Arbiter votes can be weighted

according to their reputation scores or staked tokens.

5.4.5 Execution of the Decision

Consensus Majority vote required to finalize

decision (eg: 3 out 5 votes) If it is in the client’s

favour, then the wise contract for dispute executes

automatically, and the Escrow Contract either returns

the amount or a part of it to the client. If the ruling is

in favor of the freelancer, release the payment to

freelancer.

5.4.6 Incentive Distribution

In return for processing disputes, arbiters are

rewarded with platform tokens or a. If an arbiter

votes untruthfully or does not have the same vote as

the majority, then they might lose their staked tokens

or receive a lower degree of fame. DAO Treasury

charges a small dispute handling fee to cover

operations and future incentive.

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5.5 System of Review and Rating

Once the freelancer delivers the work, the client

either completes the project (if happy) or opens a

dispute (if unhappy). In case of no dispute, both the

parties can then move on to share reviews and

ratings. Freelancer and client must engage in both

giving ratings to each other during a limited

timeframe (e.g., 7 days). The rating is performed on

a 5-star scale, alongside optional text-based

feedback.

6 TECHNOLOGIES USED

6.1 Frontend

6.1.1 React.js

It is utilized for building dynamic and interactive

user interfaces in an efficient manner using a

component-based architecture that ensures fast

updates. Best for complex UIs such as freelancer

dashboards and gig marketplaces.

6.1.2 Tailwind CSS

For faster, more responsive, and consistent UI design

using utility classes It is a way to simplify styling and

achieve mobile-friendly layouts.

6.2 Backend

6.2.1 Node.js

Uses non-blocking I/O for a more efficient way of

handling small requests. Stellar been an ideal choice

for real-time features such as notifications and chat

between clients and freelancers.

6.2.2 Express’s

It makes back- end development easy as it simplifies

the process of creating APIs and routes. Manages the

connection between front end, database and

blockchain effortlessly.

6.3 Blockchain

6.3.1 Ethereum

Smart contract execution, decentralized operation,

trust, transparency. Great for escrow ser- vices,

payments, and eventually DAOs for decentralized

governance.

6.3.2 Solidity

Used to write smart contracts that automate

agreements like payments and dispute resolution on

Ethereum. Ensures tamper-proof execution of

contracts.

6.3.3 Hardhat

A development environment and task runner for

Ethereum accounts, smart contracts, and

decentralized applications. It greatly simplifies the

development process as it gives you basic tools to

compile, debug and test your Solidity smart

contracts.

6.3.4 Ethers: Js

For communication between frontend and smart

contract.

6.4 Database

6.4.1 Centralized Storage

The structured and semi-structured data like user

profile, gig and reviews in MongoDB is stored in a

very efficient manner. Selected for flexibility and

ability to manage big data

6.4.2 Decentralized Storage

Files for gig deliverables, contracts, etc include IPFS

(Interplanetary File System) for decentralized file

storage so that files are available and will not be

corrupted Also, being decentralized it is persistent

and secure because if one of the servers goes down

the application continues to work using the other

servers.

7 TESTING

Blackbox testing was performed on the DLancer

platform at the Alpha testing stage to determine the

correctness of platform business logic. The evaluation

was done against the design specifications and

system analysis derived in previous chapters. This

stage includes the functionality analysis testing, and

the blackbox testing process outcomes showed the

completed application functionality tests results

according to different scenario definition by testing.

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199

We report the outcomes from two main facets of

testing: the functionality of the web application

(Table 1), and the functionality of the smart contract

(Table 2).

All data stored can be accessed and verified

through Etherscan based on the testing conducted on

the smart contract functionality. The test was

performed on the Sepolia testnet, and the data is

available on the subdomain sepoliaetherscan. io.

8 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1: Blackbox testing functionality of the web

application system.

No.

Test

Compone

nts

Testing Points Test

Result

data

Input data is

correct

Valid

data

Input data is

correct

Valid

Project

Displays all

available

projects on

lockchain

Valid

Create

Project

Input data is

lan

Valid

Proposal

Page

Add Comment

Submitting

proposals stored

on blockchain

Show comments

Display

proposals from

Blockchain

Valid

Decentralized Architecture: Built on the Ethereum

blockchain, DLancer removes intermediaries from

the system, allowing for transparency, trust, and

immutability. 08 The decentralized nature of the

system makes it more secure and reliable.

·Smart Contract-Based Escrow and Payments ·

A Smart contract-based escrow should allow secure

payments Milestone completion conditional partial

releases were engaged seamlessly, creating a

financially balanced result for freelancers.

Dispute Resolution Through DAO: A

decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)

effectively managed disputes between clients and

freelancers, guaranteeing impartiality and fairness

without the need for third-party intervention.

Once for Tokenization of Completed Projects:

The tokenization feature enabled the clients to

securely store and manage ownership of their

completed projects, and introduced an innovative use

case of blockchain in the freelancing industry.

Adoption of the Platform and User Satisfaction:

Early user testing with 50 users indicated that 80

percent preferred DLancer to the traditional

platforms. This led to 85% of users being satisfied

with its lower transaction fees, trustful operations,

and effective dispute resolution process.

Table 2: Blackbox testing functionality of smart contract.

No.

Test

Com

onents

Testing Points

Test

Result

Save Project

Data

Project form

ut data

Valid

Save

Selected

Freelancer

Data

Freelancer

address input

data

Valid

Save Project

Deadline

Future time

input data

Valid

Save Deposit

Value in

Ethe

Ether value

input data

Valid

Smart

Contract and

Freelancer

Inte

ration

Integrate the

contract

Valid

Upload

Work

Results

Input file data

for work results

Valid

Withdraw

Funds

Transfer funds

to freelancer’s

address

Valid

Contract

Completion

Confirmation

Input

confirmation

data

Valid

9 CONCLUSIONS

The DLancer app is a major step forward for the

centralized gig economy, leveraging smart contracts

and DAO governance to efficiently address disputes.

Through the use of blockchain technology, DLancer

increases transparency, trust, and accountability

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among clients and freelancers. Also, the integration

of a review and rating system ensures quality service

delivery while enabling a community-driven

approach. In the future, they may introduce the

measures to create a more flourishing freelancing

environment by the expanding arbitration mechanis

ms and user involvement. In summary, DLancer

aspires to revolutionize freelance work through

decentralization

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