A Blockchain Token Economy Model for Financing a Decentralized Electric Vehicle Charging Platform

Abstract

Recent advances in distributed ledger technologies enable new types of decentralized governance and financing for technology platforms. In this paper, we analyze the current state-of-the-art in platform financing and propose a novel way to sustainably finance decentralized technology platforms using a blockchain-based token economy. We design and develop a token model and demonstrate its usefulness for financing the Open Charging Network, an electric vehicle charging platform governed by the Share&Charge foundation. Based on a multi-method simulation approach, we evaluate our token economy model and show, that it can provide sustainable financing for a technology platform with decentralized governance.