Financial inclusion is seen as a dynamic tool for achieving multifaceted microeconomic stability, (and) sustainable economic growth, job creation, poverty reduction, and income equality for both developed and developing nations. The needy segments of the population must be provided with financial services to accomplish this inclusion. Still, the traditional financial market is unavailable due to its lack of collateral and shallow income. Thus, they go to local moneylenders, also known as "loan sharks," who charge exorbitant interest rates. Introduction to microfinance came as a new and refreshing light to these needy segments of the population as it provides small valued loans (micro-credit) to support their micro-scale businesses and engage in productive activities. As emerging technology started to be incorporated into every aspect of society, thus microfinance also needed to be incorporated into the technology. An application is required to protect data integrity and smoothly influence the microfinance sector. As the databases are vulnerable to data manipulation, this can affect the transaction history of the loan. Blockchain technology can be used to solve this problem, as data in the Blockchain is stored immutably. So, we designed a microfinance application that uses blockchain technology with decentralised KYC architecture to reduce multiple KYC verification and easy access to micro-credit.
Singapore is one of the leading countries in digitalization and blockchain technology. Since 2016, Singapore has implemented the Ubin project to create a national digital currency. In 2019, Singapore passed the Payment Services Act. The paper aims to analyze Singapore's legislation and MAS policies and identify approaches that can be used to improve legislation in other states. To meet that aim, the general scientific techniques and methods of scientific cognition, such as analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, system-structural and formal-logical approaches are utilised. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that Singapore extends the provisions of securities legislation to digital tokens, which have the characteristics of securities or futures. Digital tokens, which are cryptocurrencies, are regulated by the Payment Services Act containing criteria to distinguish payment tokens from other virtual objects. Using this approach minimizes difficulties in regulating the circulation of, for example, bitcoins. In addition, MAS has developed a set of rules enshrining requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges, which reduces the risks of fraud and money laundering using cryptocurrencies. The paper also analyses MAS reports on developing a state's digital currency. The paper concludes that other states can use Singapore's experience to shape or modernize their legislation.
The real estate sector is often presented as an exemplary field that benefits from practical blockchain applications. The general hypothesis is that, in theory, blockchain could solve some significant challenges the real estate sector is facing, such as nontransparency, inefficiencies, fraud and corruption , high costs, and trust issues. However, the literature focuses on blockchain’s theoretical benefits, challenges, or concepts. This research aims to understand the recent developments in the blockchain literature, specifically in the real estate sector, and to understand the current real-world applications by collecting empirical evidence from blockchain studies. The systematic literature review identified 262 relevant documents, after which a thematic content analysis was performed. Conceptual blockchain literature was identified to propose blockchain benefits for the real estate sector in four categories: land administration, real estate transactions, tokenization, and real estate management. The thematic content analysis also identified 26 empirical applications, of which all except one were related to land administration. Although the conceptual and theoretical blockchain literature presents blockchain as a disruptive and transformative technology for the real estate sector, the empirical applications suggest that blockchain adoption materializes more in hybrid, smaller-scale settings, where blockchain is merely an add-on layer to existing systems. Overall, most of the conceptual blockchain benefits remain empirically unconfirmed. On the other hand, the empirical applications suggest that blockchain could, for example, increase efficiency, reduce time, and provide verifiability , transparency, and automation, even in smaller-scale, hybrid settings. In addition, the applications indicate that blockchain could, in some cases, help reduce fraud and increase security and trust compared with centralized digital solutions. Finally, the empirical insights emphasize the role of political will, regulatory framework, availability of reliable digital data, public–private partnerships, and educational aspects in blockchain applications.
This research paper explores the concept of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and the importance of governance and decision-making in DeFi platforms. The paper reviews the literature on traditional finance governance models and blockchain-based governance mechanisms in DeFi platforms, and discusses the challenges and opportunities in designing decentralized governance models for DeFi platforms. The research question is "What are the challenges and opportunities in designing decentralized governance models for DeFi platforms?" and the study objectives are to review the literature on traditional finance governance models, analyze blockchain-based governance mechanisms in DeFi platforms, and discuss the challenges and opportunities in designing decentralized governance models for DeFi platforms. A mixed-methods approach is utilized, combining a systematic review of the literature with a survey of DeFi platform users. The results reveal that there is a growing interest in decentralized governance mechanisms among DeFi platform users, but there are also several challenges that need to be addressed in designing effective decentralized governance models. This research contributes to the ongoing discussion on the importance of governance and decision-making in DeFi platforms, and provides insights for the design and implementation of decentralized governance mechanisms in the DeFi ecosystem.
Merritt B. Fox, Lawrence R. Glosten, E. F. Greene, Sue S. Guan
This Article evaluates the implications of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the securities markets of the future and their regulation. DLT is an integral part of the larger revolution in computing, communication and data storage capacity that has transformed securities markets over the last few decades and promises further radical change in the years to come. The potential of DLT, if it can be realized, could improve the functioning of our securities markets while at the same time sharply reducing costs. Based on an interview survey of about 100 persons who play prominent roles in actually making these markets work or in regulating them, this Article reports on the most important topics and themes that have emerged from the wide range of interviewees’ opinions about the extent to which DLT will affect the future of securities markets and their regulation. A significant number saw the potential for DLT to transform securities markets and market structure, from the possibility of stock trading on DLT to the potential impact on intermediaries, the ordinary retail investor, and on preventing wrongdoing in the stock market. However, key questions remain about implementation and the appetite for making DLT-based changes among both market participants and regulators.
The advancement in blockchain technology has enabled smart contracts to automate the execution of tenancy obligations, known as “smart tenancies”. This paper analyses the legal issues on the adoption of smart tenancies within Malaysia using legal doctrinal research method. We seek to answer these questions: (1) whether smart tenancies are enforceable in Malaysia; (2) whether parties to a smart tenancy can apply for an endorsement of tenancy under the National Land Code; (3) whether the legal profession can claim exclusivity in offering and maintaining smart tenancies services; and (4) whether there is room for self-help in resolving tenancy disputes using smart tenancies in Malaysia. The key findings are as follows: (1)(a) smart tenancies can and should be stamped when the user interface stipulates the information required for calculation of stamp duty; (1)(b) smart tenancies service provider have to comply with the Electronic Commerce Act 2006 to ensure that the system is reliable to attribute the electronic signatures to the contracting parties; (2) once the print-out of a smart tenancy is stamped, the tenant and landlord have an option to apply for endorsement of tenancy with the land registry under the National Land Code (Revised 2020); (3) the Legal Profession Act 1976 does not restrict the marketing, operation and maintenance of smart tenancies services to be done by law firms exclusively; and (4) there is no room for self-help eviction of a tenant in Malaysia, and the eviction process ought to be enforced with a court order.
Joaquín Delgado Fernández, Tom Barbereau, Orestis Papageorgiou
With advancements in distributed ledger technologies and smart contracts, tokenized voting rights gained prominence within decentralized finance (DeFi). Voting rights tokens (a.k.a. governance tokens) are fungible tokens that grant individual holders the right to vote upon the fate of a project. The motivation behind these tokens is to achieve decentral control within a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Because the initial allocations of these tokens is often undemocratic, the DeFi project and DAO of Yearn Finance experimented with a fair launch allocation where no tokens are pre-mined and all participants have an equal opportunity to receive them. Regardless, research on voting rights tokens highlights the formation of timocracies over time. The consideration is that the tokens’ tradability is the cause of concentration. To examine this proposition, this article uses an agent-based model to simulate and analyze the concentration of voting rights tokens post three fair launch allocation scenarios under different trading modalities. The results show that regardless of the allocation, concentration persistently occurs. It confirms the consideration that the ‘disease’ is endogenous: the cause of concentration is the tokens’ tradability. The findings inform theoretical understandings and practical implications for on-chain governance mediated by tokens.
A loyalty program is a type of incentive to reward customers’ perceived value and enhance their purchasing behavior. The key to the success of a loyalty program is to allow customers to more actively participate in the program. One possible solution is to allow customers to sell out idle loyalty points and buy in the points that they need. On the basis of a call auction, this study designs a peer-to-peer exchange mechanism for customers to realize the above trade. In addition, a blockchain-based system is developed to support the issuance, redemption, and exchange of loyalty points. In this study, Hyperledger Fabric is adopted as the underlying blockchain technology because it has some features that are beneficial to a cross-organizational coalition loyalty program. This study also proposes a feasible multi-host deployment scheme for the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network that is suitable for our application scenario. Finally, some implementation results are given to demonstrate the system process from the perspective of the application layer. The mechanism proposed in this study is helpful to improve the likelihood of successfully exchanging points, thus accelerating the circulation and use of loyalty points.
El auge de las nuevas tecnologías ha impactado significativamente en diversos sectores y el ámbito legal no ha sido la excepción para la transformación digital. La aplicación de estas herramientas tecnológicas en el sector legal es conocida como Legaltech. El constante desarrollo de la programación en beneficio del sector mercantil se ha visto reflejado en el surgimiento de un tipo de organizaciones denominadas Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). Estas organizaciones tienen sus bases en la tecnología Blockchain y los Smart Contracts, así como otras tecnologías del ámbito de las Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). La sistematización de las operaciones que se llevan a cabo en las DAOs traen consigo ventajas frente a las sociedades mercantiles o de capitales tradicionales. Su incremento exponencial a nivel mundial propone una serie de retos en el ámbito jurídico; ante ello, es importante analizar si es conveniente la implementación de una regulación legal en relación a las DAOs y sus principales limitaciones en el Perú.
Xavier Marjou, Tangui Le Gléau, Vincent Messié, Benoît Radier · 6 authors
Reducing energy consumption is crucial not only to reduce OPEX but also to reduce the human debt to our planet. Over the past few years, most service providers (SPs) have actively tackled this issue, particularly targeting periods of low activity. Indeed, having fewer customers during these periods allows SPs to downsize or shut down part of their infrastructure. But this is not always optimal. Despite multiple energy-efficient optimizations, a mobile national operator (MNO) still need to maintain significant radio access network (RAN) infrastructure active at night. Could MNOs do better by cooperating with each other in such a way that an MNO can redirect its subscribers to a partner MNO, thus allowing its entire infrastructure to be temporarily deactivated while switching roles with the partner during a subsequent drop in activity period? To answer this question, we investigated a novel collaborative framework based on multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) allowing for negotiations between SPs as well as trustful reports from a distributed ledger technology (DLT) to evaluate the amount of energy saved. We leveraged it to experiment three different sets of rules (free, recommended, or imposed) regulating the negotiation between multiple SPs (3, 4, 8, or 10). Based on the observation of four cooperation metrics (efficiency, safety, incentive-compatibility, and fairness), the simulations showed that the imposed set of rules proved to be the best mode.
Abstract: Blockchain technology has the ability to lower transaction costs, build distributed trust, and empower decentralised platforms, providing a foundation for new decentralised business models. Blockchain technology enables the growth of decentralised financial services in the financial industry, which are more decentralised, inventive, compatible, borderless, and transparent. Decentralized financial services, driven by blockchain technology, have the potential to expand financial inclusion, allow open access, stimulate permissionless innovation, and open new doors for entrepreneurs and innovators. In this paper, we examine the advantages of decentralised finance, as well as existing business models, obstacles, and limitations. Decentralized finance, as a new area of financial technology, has the potential to transform current finance and provide a new landscape for entrepreneurship and creativity, exhibiting the benefits and drawbacks of decentralised business models
The digitalization and adoption of advanced technologies in supply chain and logistics not only change the business model but also transfer logistics infrastructure to a service-oriented architecture and introduce new avenues concerning supply chain 4.0 (SC4.0). Sharing logistic assets between various businesses leads to improving logistics work, enhancing work productivity, and reducing logistics expenses and environmental impact. However, due to the lack of a secure, trustworthy, and open sharing platform, the companies are not willing to rely on sharing economics. Aiming to improve trust-ability, openness, and interoperability in the SC4.0, this paper presents a blockchain-enabled hyperconnected logistics platform. Firstly, the Open Logistic platform (OL) is proposed, and the key characteristics of this platform are explained. Secondly, the concept of proof of delivery (PoD) based on smart contracts is defined and developed to explore its rule-based management and control among the dynamic assets sharing. Thirdly, the Blockchain asset sharing service is designed and discussed in the context of asset sharing. Fourthly to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed platform, a simulation environment is developed, and OL is implemented based on the case study.
The blockchain technology empowers secure, trustless, and privacy-preserving trading with cryptocurrencies. However, existing blockchain-based trading platforms only support trading cryptocurrencies with digital assets (e.g., NFTs). Although several payment service providers have started to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method for tangible goods (e.g., Visa, PayPal), customers still need to trust and hand over their private information to centralized E-commerce platforms (e.g., Amazon, eBay). To enable trustless and privacy-preserving trading between cryptocurrencies and real goods, we propose SPENDER, a smart-contract-based platform for Secure and Privacy-PresErviNg Decentralized P2P E-commeRce. The design of our platform enables various advantageous features and brings unlimited future potential. Moreover, our platform provides a complete paradigm for designing real-world Web3 infrastructures on the blockchain, which broadens the application scope and exploits the intrinsic values of cryptocurrencies. The platform has been built and tested on the Terra ecosystem, and we plan to open-source the code later.
Tushar S Menon, Aviral Srivastava, x Aditya, K R Radhika
Ridesharing is an effective method to resolve traffic congestion and also reduce pollution due to excess vehicles on-road. However, the centralized nature of the current ridesharing systems is not ideal for the user. The lack of transparency in the system as well as risk of data security is a big demerit for such a system. To keep the third-party involvement minimal, a trustless, decentralized peer-to-peer ridesharing DApp is being proposed using a private Ethereum blockchain. Credibility of ride sharing systems can be improved by implementing blockchain technology. Blockchains are decentralized databases where every single piece of information is stored on systems everywhere which can be retrieved and traced freely by anyone on the network. The system will no longer be trust-based but simply based on concrete proof that exists which is built into the ledger. In a blockchain-based system, a rider will anonymously post a ride request. A driver can accept the request and provide their id details and quote. The rider can choose if the transaction is fair and accept the quote and begin his ride. Various other concepts such as time-locked deposit and proof-of-elapsed distance have been introduced to ensure further security for driver and rider. The primary goal of such a system is to develop a reliable and transparent ride sharing system where users do not have to worry about their privacy.
The introduction of novel technology has oftentimes changed the concept of ownership. Non-fungible tokens are a recent example, as they allow a decentralized way to generate and verify proof of ownership via distributed ledger technology. Despite crucial uncertainties, these tokens have generated great enthusiasm for the future of digital property and its surrounding economy. In this regard, I think there is an untapped opportunity in applying a hypertext approach to augment such highly structured ownership-based associations. To this end, in this work I propose hyperownership, based on the premises that property is the law of lists and ledgers, and that hypertext is an apt method to inquiry such a ledger system. In spite of the significant risks and challenges to realize such a vision, I believe that it has great potential to transform the way with which we interact with digital property.
Crowdfunding has emerged as a popular method for raising capital in various domains, providing a platform for entrepreneurs and innovators to access funds from a broad audience. This paper explores the application of Ethereum blockchain technology to enhance crowdfunding processes, emphasizing decentralization, transparency, and security. Ethereum's smart contract capabilities enable the creation of decentralized crowdfunding platforms, offering a trustless environment where contributors and project creators interact directly without relying on intermediaries. The use of Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, Ether(ETH), facilitates seamless, borderless transactions, eliminating the need for traditional banking systems and reducing transaction costs. Decentralized crowdfunding on the Ethereum blockchain enhances transparency through the immutability of transactions recorded on the blockchain. Contributors can verify the allocation offunds, ensuring that they are used as intended by the project creators.
This article examines the compatibility of the Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies with a sharing economy model. The analysis is based on the claims presented in Europol documents and public statements of Europol executives that this initiative serves as a platform for knowledge exchange and building professional networks between public and private actors to tackle crypto-laundering. The article investigates the validity of these statements with the most prominent sharing economy concepts: low barrier accessibility, transaction cost and trust-building. The article employs each sharing economy concept on two beneficiaries of the platform—law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and non-governmental organizations—while scaling the platform’s sharing economy level. Based on Europol documents, an expert interview and participant observation of the 5th Global Cryptocurrency Conference, the article’s core argument is that these cryptocurrency conferences can be categorized as a ‘partial’ sharing economy platform. They reduce the transaction cost for public and private actors to share knowledge about the latest trends and threats about crypto-laundering and reduce transaction costs for networking. However, co-founders should consider integrating robust trust-building mechanisms that allow low barrier entry to the conference, which will facilitate more inclusive and optimized public–private partnerships (P3).
Abstract: Blockchain Technology becoming popular with time giving rise to Web 3.0 and this technology will change the way we see the Internet. Blockchain is a decentralized, digitally dis- tributed immutable ledger that allows real-time communication to happen securely; this is the reason we need blockchain in a social networking websites as these websites keep the data on centralized servers that can be risky as the data can easily be stolen and can easily be distributed with third parties without the need of users consent. But with the help of Blockchain and DApps, we can create a reliable and efficient way to share messages and media on secured networks without any third party interference. In this paper, we are going to discuss how we make use of smart contracts and peer-to-peer networks like Ethereum to create such applications and allow users to share their messages and other forms of information without any fear of data getting lost or being shared without user consent, we also going to discuss how this method is different from the current method which social networking websites use to secure users data, and how Web 3.0 is going to be different from current Web 2.0 in terms of a social network. Index Terms: decentralization, blockchain, Apps(Decentralized applications), Ethereum
Qamar Zaman, Muhammad Idrees, Athar Ashraf, Ashfaq Ahmad
Management of land records includes actions such as registration and transfer of property ownership. For many nations, land ownership and management are important sources of income. Corrupted spans from small-scale payments to large-scale cause an abuse for government. In the literature, a number of concerns have been raised about Land Record Management. There are several problems with Land Record Management in developing nations, such as tampering with land records and no methods of retrieving a full property ownership record, operating multiple linked Land Record Management Systems independently, etc. Traditional land record management solutions do not solve these challenges. We propose a Blockchain-based Land Record Management system for Pakistan to solve these concerns. It has been decided to use the suggested system, and the specifics of its implementation are described in this thesis.
The article is devoted to investigation of perspectives of implementation of the smart vehicle rental agreement. On the basis of current civil legislation the vehicle rental agreement is defined as an agreement under which a lessor transfers or undertakes to transfer to a lessee an air, sea, river vessel, ground self-propelled vehicle etc. in using for a fee for a certain period. A general legal characteristics of this agreement includes its reality or consensus, payment, timeliness and bilaterality. The list of features of the subject of the studied contract, which includes the inexhaustibility of types of vehicles, its technical features, the presence of signs of a source of increased danger, the existence of special legislation governing its use, and supplemented them by taking into account the volume and type of engine. Requirements to the form of the vehicle rental agreement, which generally is written, and if one of the parties is an individual, it is subject to notarization, are considered, and a possibility of its negotiation and further execution as a smart agreement is analyzed. The positions of scientists on the essence and main features of a smart contract which consist in its specifics regarding the form of negotiation and way of execution due to automation. The characteristics and problems of execution of the vehicle rental agreement which connected with activity of a lessee of a vehicle, bearing of expenses, insurance and causing a damage for a subject of the agreement and other person with using of a vehicle are followed. It is remarked the features of renting a vehicle with the crew which serves it. On the basis of the conducted investigation perspectives of implementation of the smart vehicle rental agreement are formulated, and they are seen in increasing the level of legality of the negotiated agreement, obtaining access to all necessary for parties information and electronic documents, automatic and timely payment of a rent, timely fulfillment of execution of a commitment and improvement of control over the subject of a rent.
Rural areas are steadily being marginalised in a global economy where ‘core/periphery’ models of development are dominant. To overcome this, rural areas have experimented with decentralised governance. However, this process is fraught with political, fiscal, and institutional difficulties. These often revolve around transparency and accountability issues and low participation rates. Blockchain technology could act as a social innovation to overcome issues in decentralised governance, and rural areas could even prove to be a fertile environment for future innovation. In this conceptual paper, the potential of blockchain technology is theoretically positioned in regional development discourses. After exploring how blockchain could be applied to rural governance and the barriers it needs to overcome to reach mass adoption, a new distributed model of governance is suggested.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is very popular in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications as it provides a decentralized governance solution through blockchain. We analyze the governance characteristics in the Maker protocol, its stablecoin DAI and governance token Maker (MKR). To achieve that, we establish several measurements of centralized governance. Our empirical analysis investigates the effect of centralized governance over a series of factors related to MKR and DAI, such as financial, transaction, network and twitter sentiment indicators. Our results show that governance centralization influences both the Maker protocol, and the distribution of voting power matters. The main implication of this study is that centralized governance in MakerDAO very much exists, while DeFi investors face a trade-off between decentralization and performance of a DeFi protocol. This further contributes to the contemporary debate on whether DeFi can be truly decentralized. centralized governance in MakerDAO very much exists, while DeFi investors face a trade-off between efficiency and decentralization. This further contributes to the contemporary debate on whether DeFi can be truly decentralized.
Abstract Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is one of the emerging technologies adopted in organizations. Unlike traditional databases, the integrity of the DLT is maintained automatically by an algorithmic consensus mechanism and not by any dominant authority. Thus, the consensus mechanism controls the decision-making and governance process. But the adoption of DLT is faced with issues regarding how to ensure that governance decisions in distributed ledger systems in the interest of all actors and stakeholders involved in the operations of organizational operations. Therefore, it is imperative to provides a better understanding of the governance of DLT adoption in organizations. Accordingly, this study conducts an extensive literature review to investigate the governance issues and control of DLT adoption in intra-organizational domain. Findings from this study presents state-of-the-art governance practices to offer a comprehensive understanding on key governance issues in organizations. Additionally, the findings present factors associated with governance of DLT adoption solutions. More importantly, a governance model is developed to enhance the adoption of DLT adoption to accelerate the digitalization of organizational operations.
Andrew Cullen, Lianna Zhao, Luigi Vigneri, Robert Shorten
An outstanding problem in the design of distributed ledgers concerns policies that govern the manner in which users interact with the network. Network usability is crucial to the mainstream adoption of distributed ledgers, particularly for enterprise applications in which most users do not wish to operate full node. For DAG-based ledgers such as IOTA, we propose a user-node interaction mechanism that is designed to ensure the risk of a user experiencing a poor quality of service is low. Our mechanism involves users selecting nodes to issue their transactions to the ledger based on quality of service indicators advertised by the nodes. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed policies.