A Blockchain-Based Micro Economy Platform for Distributed Infrastructure Initiatives

Abstract

Distributed Infrastructure Initiatives (DIIs) are communities that collaboratively produce and consume infrastructure. To develop a healthy ecosystem, DIIs require an economic model that balances supply and demand, but there is currently a lack of tooling to support implementing these. In this research, we propose an architecture for a platform that enables DIIs to implement such models, focused around a digital currency based on blockchain technology. The currency is issued according to the amount participants contribute to the initiative, which is quantified based on operational metrics gathered from the infrastructure. Furthermore, the platform enables participants to deploy smart contracts which encode self-enforcing agreements about the infrastructure services they exchange. The architecture has been evaluated through a case study at The Things Network (TTN) a global distributed crowdsourced Internet of Things initiative. The case study revealed that the architecture is effective for the selected case at TTN. In addition, the results motivate future research lines to support scalability (i.e., to deploy the architecture on a larger scale) and security.