Blockchain Papers

Renlord Yang

© 2016 Renlord Yang

Percy Venegas

No abstract is available for this record.

Ekaterina Y. Kalmykova, Anna V. Ryabova

Fast development of technologies has led to emergence of the new market – FinTech – which is very attractive for investors today. By now this market has a great number of different concepts: P2P-crediting, E-wallets, Bitcoins, mPOS-acquiring, T-commerce, mobile banks, etc. Many of these tools have already heavily entered our ordinary life. People can obtain any credits through special services on the Internet from other users without participation of banks, pay by credit card using mobile devices, and get information about expenses and incomes according to the card anywhere in the world. Users do not need to go to banks anymore and to spend their time for credit arrangements, currency exchange, to look for ATMs to remove cash. Purchases on the Internet can be paid not only in rubles, but also in new digital currency. These tools make life easier, however, they pose a serious threat for banks. Now, bank institutions should create more convenient and utility services for the clients to keep clients. Therefore, bank and credit systems start to change actively.

Peter Korošec

V diplomski nalogi je predstavljen digitalni placilni sistem Bitcoin. Opisana je kriptografija, na kateri je sistem zasnovan. Predstavljeno je delovanje in kratka zgodovina sistema. Vecji poudarek je na oceni anonimnosti pri placevanju z Bitcoinom in na zagotavljanju varnosti pri izvedbi transakcij. V sklopu anonimnosti je opisan nivo prikrivanja identitete, ki ga zagotavlja sistem in dodatni mehanizmi in opozorila, ki so potrebni za anonimno placevanje. V sklopu varnosti so nastete potencialne ranljivosti sistema Bitcoin, izpostavljena je sibka tocka pri sprejemanju hitrih placil, ki napadalcem omogoca izvedbo tako imenovanega double-spending napada. Prakticno je prikazano, kako je možno brez posebnih orodij z odprtokodno programsko opremo, ki jo razvija Bitcoin skupnost sama, izvesti napad.

Viktor Tigerström

The monetary policies of states and systems built upon them do not naturally allow transactions of a very small value, as the transaction costs exceeds the actual value of the transaction. These types of transactions are called micropayments. This is problematic as it removes the possibility to monetize content that has a valuation that is so low that the costs of the transaction exceeds the value of the content. In this thesis we aim to create a system that allows micropayments to monetize low value content. We do so by developing a design theory based on Gregor and Jones conceptual model for design theories within Information Systems research. The system that we develop will use the end users computational power to generate a value, by running a cryptocurrency miner. We present the background knowledge required to fully understand the presented design theory. Within the design theory, we present a theoretical framework to base systems on that enables micropayments through cryptocurrency mining. We also present a developed proof of work prototype that proves the validity of the theoretical framework. Lastly we discuss our design theory. We conclude that the design theory enables transactions of a very low value, such as 0,0001 \\$ cents. Transactions of such small value is not possible with systems built upon states monetary policies. We also conclude that the proposed design theory can be further developed to function independently of cryptocurrency mining. Instead the value for the transaction could be generated through solving complicated problems if institutions are willing to pay for computational power to solve them.

Edouard Cruysmans

No abstract is available for this record.

Алексей Чурилов

Cryptocurrencies have become very popular in past few years. At recent time Bitcoin holds a dominant position on cryptocurrency markets. Lots of economists, programmers, bloggers, even lawyers call Bitcoin ?money of the future? or ?a pure means of payment?. But is Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies the money in the classic meaning of this phenomenon? Economic theory identifies money through the role that it plays in society, but can Bitcoin fulfill these functions? This paper discusses the nature of Bitcoin from the economic and legal perspective.Despite all controversies Bitcoin is used in business. Bitcoins and their use are a very actual issue, especially with a high popularity and high cost of Bitcoins. The paper covers the issue of legal status of Bitcoin and how can it be used in business activity, including examination of both advantages, such as ?free advertisement?, simplicity, and other and disadvantages, such as security risks, uncertainty in a legal status, etc. Because of very different approaches to regulation of Bitcoin in different national jurisdictions, therefore this paper is interested in a comparative analysis of a regulation of Bitcoin?s legal status in different national jurisdictions.

Adam Hayes

No abstract is available for this record.

Adobe Systems, Apoorva Ganapathy

Blockchain technology used in transactions of cryptocurrency with machinery & electronic goods deals with keeping the transactions secure by using blockchain technology so that machinery and electronic goods can be bought by cryptocurrencies. Currently, there are transactions from cryptocurrency based on blockchain networks that can be done securely. The name is coined from the arrangement of records. Single records are referred to as blocks. They are also connected in a list known as chains. Transactions on the blockchain network can be kept secure. Cryptocurrencies can be used just like the normal centralized currencies for any kind of transaction on the blockchain network.

Björn Eriksson

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that has been the focus of a lot of discussions lately and has attracted a large number of users. Its offers many possibilities for cheap transactions and unregulated finances which has been realized in numerous sites and applications on the web and in mobile phones. One medium that seem to have been neglected when it comes to Bitcoins development is email. This is curious since Bitcoin by its nature seem to have many properties that would work well with texted messages. The purpose of this study it to analyze the current papers about Bitcoin to find the current status of email based Bitcoin services, and try to analyze if email as a tool is a suitable medium to be used with Bitcoin. This analyze is done through a systematic literature review of current papers, followed by an examination of past and current Bitcoin companies that has used email as part of their service. In the end the results suggested that the low security in email, and the apparent lack of services that would benefit from an email based Bitcoin service suggest that a service like that would be hard to develop today and not very useful to the public.

René Zahrte

Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt einen Uberblick uber die Funktionsweise und Auswirkungen der Blockchain-Technologie auf den Wertpapierhandel. Dabei werden zunachst die essentiellen, technischen Grundlagen der Kryptografie und Dezentralisierung am Beispiel der fuhrenden Kryptowahrung Bitcoin untersucht. Danach werden die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse mit einer SWOT-Analyse auf den Wertpapierhandelsprozess angewandt und es wird die Implementierung eines Distributed Ledgers auf Chancen und Risiken fur die Finanzmarkte hin evaluiert. Als Essenz der Literaturauswertung ist festzustellen, dass die Starken der DLT nur nach Einigung auf einen technischen Marktstandard voll abgeschopft werden konnen. Die Basis der Bachelorarbeit sind aktuelle Studien und Arbeitspapiere von Regulierungsbehorden, Beratungsunternehmen und Finanzdienstleistern aus Europa und den USA zur Auswirkung der Distributed Ledger Technology auf den Wertpapierhandel sowie die Fachbucher und Arbeitspapiere von Narayanan (2016) und Nakamoto (2008) zur Funktionsweise der Blockchain-Technologie. Durch die Verknupfung von Informationstechnologie und Finanzwirtschaft erhofft sich der Autor einen interdisziplinaren Erkenntnisgewinn uber aktuelle Entwicklungen auf den Finanzmarkten.

Adam Johnson, R. Saylor Breckenridge, Kara Lucord

The original purpose of this project was to research the capabilities of a relatively new cryptocurrency platform known as Ethereum. Extensive research brought to light Ethereum’s wide range of developmental capabilities and shifted our focus to the consideration of how the features that Ethereum offers can be used to improve some of the flaws within the world of cryptocurrency. Some cryptocurrency users find these systems useful, because it gives them a means of anonymity. This makes it pretty easy to launder money, make illegal purchases, and double spend. Our solution solves all of these issues, by tying a digital currency transaction to a specific purchase in a secure, untouchable, immutable means due to the blockchain’s proof of work. This solution was implemented through use of both blockchain technologies and a programmable “contract.” This contract adds additional data to cryptocurrency transactions. Our contract creates fields and storage that users can use to input dates, product numbers, product names, and notes that are directly associated with their transaction. Once these fields along with a transaction are deployed onto the blockchain, the information can be accessed using the definition or signature of the contract and the address on the block chain to which it is located. This adds the ability to claim warranty, check inventory, catch double spending instances, prevent black market spends, and help many other scenarios because there exists a publicly available proof of the purchase.

Jong Ho Hwang

No abstract is available for this record.

Cavidan Yakupoglu

Bitcoin ilk merkezi olmayan, eşler arası ve en çok bilenen kripto paradır. Kripto paralar bir çeşit dijital paralar olup sanal para olarak da adlandırılır. Bitcoin 2009 da kullanılmaya başlandı ve bu tarihten itibaren büyük bir ilgi gördü. Geliştiriciler ve kullanıcılar tarafından büyük yatırımlar ve büyük katkılar sağlandı. Paranın yönetilmesi için bir merkeze bağlı olan günümüzde kullanılan paraya alternatif olarak kullanıma sunuldu. Fakat bu süre zarfında Bitcoin birçok problemle karşılaştı. Bunlara rağmen yaklaşık yedi senede çok büyük bir pazara sahip oldu. Bitcoin'in başarılı çıkışından sonra farklı amaçlara hizmet eden bir çok alternatif kripto para geliştirildi. Geliştiriciler Bitcoin'in bir çok farklı versiyonlarını geliştirdi. Bunlardan bazıları, Litecoin gibi Bitcoin'in kaynak kodunu kullanarak geliştirildi. Bazı kripto paralar Zcash, Ripple, Peercoin Bitcoin'in mahremiyet, ölçeklenebilirlik, enerji tüketimi gibi farklı eksikliklerinin üstesinden gelmek için geliştirildi. Bazıları ise, Ethereum, Namecoin, Colored Coin gibi, blockchain denen herkese açık kayıt sistemi fikrini kullanarak yenilikçi fikirler getirdi. Her geçen gün yeni kripto paralar kullanıma hazır hala getiriliyor ve bu teknoloji gelecekte şu anda kullanılan paranın yerini alacağı tahmin ediliyor. Bu tezde, Bitcoin ve alternatif kripto paralar tartışıldı ve mahremiyet, ölçeklenebilirlik, ticari işlem değiştirilebilirliği ve şu ana kadar maruz kaldıkları, savunmasız oldukları ataklar açısından karşılaştırıldılar. Gelecekteki durumları tartışılarak, gelecekte yapılacak işlerin planı yapılarak bu çalışma tamamlanmış oldu.

Kibin Lee, Joshua I. James, Tekachew Gobena Ejeta, Hyoung Rae Kim

Cryptocurrency, and its underlying technologies, has been gaining popularity for transaction management beyond financial transactions. Transaction information is maintained in the block-chain, which can be used to audit the integrity of the transaction. The focus on this paper is the potential availability of block-chain technology of other transactional uses. Block-chain is one of the most stable open ledgers that preserves transaction information, and is difficult to forge. Since the information stored in block-chain is not related to personally identify information, it has the characteristics of anonymity. Also, the block-chain allows for transparent transaction verification since all information in the block-chain is open to the public. These characteristics are the same as the requirements for a voting system. That is, strong robustness, anonymity, and transparency. In this paper, we propose an electronic voting system as an application of block-chain, and describe block-chain based voting at a national level through examples.

Frida Martinsson, Anna Sundberg

Today, most people have heard of Bitcoin, but few have truly understood the concept and its functions. The phenomenon causes strong emotions and the opinions are divided. Some think that Bitcoin will revolutionize the financial system, while others lean towards the possibility that it is merely a short-lived trend. The aim of this report is to analyze if Bitcoin has the qualities required of a substitute for the domestic currency. The study is based on money’s necessary functions and the variables that cause an individual to go as far as abandoning their domestic currency. Even though Bitcoin is a functioning alternative, an analytic comparison with the American dollar showed that bitcoin cannot yet compete with the qualities of dollars, much due to the lack of expansion. The report indicates that in the long run Bitcoin’s characteristics can develop today’s monetary system and create considerable changes in the future.

Judyta Przyłuska-Schmitt

No abstract is available for this record.

Shun Huang, Jacob Carlsson

Blockchain is a new type of shared ledger for distributing and keeping consensus on what constitutes a true state of a system. The implications of the technology, i.e. enabling almost trustless transactions between market participants, is a revolutionary idea, especially to financial markets. The Swedish fund market, being a fragmented and in some cases inefficient system of intermediating actors, is a potential use case for the new technology of blockchain. This report reviews and presents the technology underlying the new blockchain phenomenon, and its potential application to the Swedish fund market with a specific focus on the possible new trust dynamics in such a market. Blockchain could, by removing some of the inter-participant risks, disintermediate the communication between market actors in the Swedish fund market, possibly enabling a cost reduction related to fund unit administration and order handling.

Jarno Laatikainen

Bitcoin on vuonna 2009 julkaistu vaihdannan väline, jota hallinnoidaan niin kutsutussa vertaisverkossa. Bitcoinin vahvuuksia ovat järjestelmän ulottuvuus, siirtojen edullisuus, helppokäyttöisyys, turvallisuus ja riippumattomuus keskusjohtoisista taloudellisista instituutioista. Bitcoin ei kuitenkaan ole virallinen valuutta, eikä sitä tätä tutkielmaa kirjoittaessa ole juurikaan säännelty eri valtioiden toimesta. Sääntelyn puutteen voidaan katsoa olevan Bitcoin -järjestelmän heikkous, sillä se aiheuttaa epävarmuutta ja epäjohdonmukaisuutta viranomaisten keskuudessa. Vero-oikeudellisesta näkökulmasta sääntelyn puute synnyttää verovelvollisille, eli Bitcoinien käyttäjille riskin odottamattomasta verokohtelusta. 
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\nTämän tutkielman pääteemana on Bitcoin -järjestelmän taloudellinen ja verotuksellinen luonne nykyisen kotimaisen tuloverolainsäädännön valossa. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytetään tietyin painotuksin oikeusdogmaattista ja monitieteellistä näkökulmaa. Soveltuvan oikeuskäytännön rajallisuudesta johtuen keskeisimpinä lähteinä toimivat tuloverolainsäädäntö, lainvalmisteluasiakirjat, viranomaisohjeet ja oikeuskirjallisuus. Tutkielmaa täydennetään taloustieteellisillä lähteillä ja Bitcoin -järjestelmään liittyvällä merkittävimmällä kirjallisuudella. 
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\nTutkielman valossa Bitcoin -järjestelmän taloudelliset luonteenpiirteet suhteessa kotimaiseen tuloverolainsäädäntöön näyttäisi asettuvan lähelle omaisuuden luovutusvoittoja ja -tappioita koskevia lainkohtia. Koska Bitcoin -järjestelmän arvo syntyy yksittäisissä vaihdantatapahtumissa subjektiivisesti, ei Bitcoinista saatavaa tuloa tai tappiotakaan voida arvioida sen perusteella, mikä Bitcoinin arvo on suhteessa viralliseen valuuttaan jossain toisessa vaihdantatapahtumasta. Nykylainsäädännön valossa Bitcoin tulisi määritellä omaisuudeksi tai toissijaisesti rinnastaa sen kohtelu omaisuuden luovutusvoittoverotukseen. Näin tuloverotuksessa päästäisiin mahdollisimman lähelle Bitcoinin taloudellisia realiteetteja. Tällainen Bitcoinin tuloverotuksellinen kohtelu vastaisi lisäksi verovelvollisen todellisia maksukyvyn muutoksia ja täyttäisi hyvän verojärjestelmän edellytykset verotuksen oikeudenmukaisuudesta ja neutraalisuudesta.

Hitesh Malviya

We need to shift our perspective of blockchain, from just the programmable ledger, to a networked infrastructure of computing machinery. Doing so, we could easily visualize how computer programs will operate over this new infrastructure, which is presently being used for transaction validations. We cannot take the cloud computing analogy literally because the blockchain infrastructure can’t replace cloud computing completely. Although, it unbundles and democratizes cloud computing. Thus, companies and individual consumers can soon keep their data in distributed cloud network based on highly secure blockchain technology.

Dominick j Battistini

Money laundering can be defined as any act or attempted act to conceal or disguise the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources (Money Laundering, 2016). It is difficult to determine the magnitude of money laundering because these illicit financial flows remain hidden (Schott, 2006). A report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) quoted that the total of all criminal proceeds amounted to $2.1 trillion in 2009. The study also shows that “Less than 1 percent of global illicit financial flows are currently seized and frozen” (Pietschmann & Walker, 2012). This is concerning because money laundering not only enables the operation of criminal organizations such as drug and human traffickers but can also significantly distort the economies in which they enter.\nThe Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental policy-making body that has helped to promote anti-money laundering efforts since its formation in 1989. It has issued 40 recommendations to fight money laundering and nine special recommendations to combat terrorist financing which have been adopted by 32 countries (About - Financial Action Task Force, 2016). Unfortunately, implementing these strategies has proved to be difficult for both developed and lesser developed countries. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2016, “over the last few years, in the U.S. alone, nearly a dozen global financial institutions have been assessed fines in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars for money laundering and/or sanctions violations" (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2016). It stands to say that if financial institutions are having difficulties implementing frameworks to prevent and detect money laundering, then our enforcement agencies are unable to adequately address the issue as well.\nA new hurdle that enforcement agencies have had to face is the emergence of Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, that can be described as “a digital currency and online payment system in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank” (Swan, 2015). Being an often unrecognized currency, many banks and financial institutions have not had to worry about modifying their compliance programs. The biggest benefit of cryptocurrencies to money launderers is its decentralized nature. There is no governing authority, as members of the network handle issuances and payments. Once a disruptive technology, Bitcoin is beginning to lose momentum for a number of reasons and some its strongest proponents are now referring to it as nothing more than an experiment. The purpose of this paper is not to examine Bitcoin, but rather its underlying technology that has been found to be the actual value: blockchain. After providing a brief overview of the technology and the hurdles that financial institutions face when implementing anti-money laundering compliance programs, the possible ways in which blockchain can help alleviate these difficulties will be examined.

Aggelos Kiayias, Hong-Sheng Zhou, Vassilis Zikas

No abstract is available for this record.

F. Xavier Olleros

No abstract is available for this record.

Kartik Hegadekatti

No abstract is available for this record.