Guardian Key Protocol: A Multi-Party Recovery Framework for Owner Incapacity in Blockchain-Based Land Registry Systems

This paper has proposed the Guardian Key Protocol (GKP), a recovery framework that addresses a fundamental vulnerability in blockchain-based land registry systems: the implicit assumption that the property owner is always available and capable of signing transactions. By integrating Shamir’s Secret Sharing for distributed key custody, government-authorized oracle verification for legally anchored trigger authentication, and time-locked smart contract finalization for fraud resistance, GKP provides a comprehensive response to the failure scenarios of key loss, temporary incapacity, and owner death. Unlike general-purpose cryptographic key recovery schemes, GKP is purpose-built for the institutional, legal, and operational context of state-managed property records. It is not merely a technological contribution but a legal and institutional innovation, enabling blockchain-based land registries to reliably support succession, guardianship, and recovery without immobilizing ownership or compromising the security of the underlying registry. Future work should address prototype implementation, formal security proofs, and pilot evaluation within a government land registry environment [3][1].

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