<p>The rapid proliferation of heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) has outpaced traditional perimeter-based security, which fails to mitigate internal threats or accommodate the severe energy and processing constraints of low-cost sensor nodes. Furthermore, centralized security mechanisms often introduce single points of failure and prohibitive latency bottlenecks. This paper proposes the Digital Blockchain of Things (DBoT) framework, which synergizes Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) with a decentralized blockchain trust model to provide continuous, risk-based verification. The framework introduces three key innovations: a Risk-Based Segmentation model to optimize security overhead, a Partner-Node Architecture that offloads cryptographic computation to edge gateways, and a Dynamic Trust Scoring mechanism for adaptive policy enforcement. Experimental validation through Monte Carlo simulations demonstrates that the DBoT framework achieves a stable energy consumption of 32.45&#xa0;mJ per transaction with a false-positive rate of less than 1.3%. Compared to traditional blockchain implementations, the proposed model reduces energy overhead by approximately 80% while maintaining an end-to-end latency of ~ 150&#xa0;ms. These results confirm that the framework ensures robust data integrity and access control without compromising the operational lifetime of battery-powered sensor networks.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>