Edmund Kofi Yeboah, Daniel Yaw Addai Duah, Joseph Kobi, Benjamin Yaw Kokroko
Multinational companies have been struggling with unprecedented difficulties in treasury activities in different jurisdictions, such as liquidity management, cross-border payment, and regulatory compliance, and financial transparency. Conventional treasury management systems are usually characterized by fragmentation, manual handling, and the inability to have real time visibility of cash positions and financial flows. The current paper examines how blockchain technology is being employed in the corporate treasury management systems of multi-nationals. We discuss the application of the distributed ledger technology to revolutionize the treasury processes via real-time settlement and automated compliance checks, improved transparency, and minimized organizational expenses through in-depth review of the available literature and industry experiences. The study examines blockchain-based treasury systems technical architecture, implementation issues, regulatory aspects, and multinational strategic advantages. Our suggestion to the blockchain implementation in treasury management is a system covering interoperability needs, integration of smart contracts, security measures, and governance. Based on the findings, the blockchain technology has high potentials of enhancing the efficiency of the treasury and mitigating the counterparty risk, as well as making the cash management in the global operation more effective. Nevertheless, the implementation should be done with specific attention to the maturity of technologies, governmental alignment, organizational preparedness, and collaboration in the ecosystem. The study can be an addition to the literature on the use of blockchain in corporate finance and can offer effective advice to treasury practitioners who might be considering an adoption of distributed ledger technology.
Financial Generative Pre-trained Transformers (FinGPT) with multimodal capabilities are now being increasingly adopted in various financial applications. However, due to the intellectual property of model weights and the copyright of training corpus and benchmarking questions, verifying the legitimacy of GPT's model weights and the credibility of model outputs is a pressing challenge. In this paper, we introduce a novel zkFinGPT scheme that applies zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to high-value financial use cases, enabling verification while protecting data privacy. We describe how zkFinGPT will be applied to three financial use cases. Our experiments on two existing packages reveal that zkFinGPT introduces substantial computational overhead that hinders its real-world adoption. E.g., for LLama3-8B model, it generates a commitment file of $7.97$MB using $531$ seconds, and takes $620$ seconds to prove and $2.36$ seconds to verify.
Arus Reka Prasetia, Primanola Perdananti, Ikaputera Waspada, Maya Macia Sari
Agency conflicts remain a persistent challenge in corporate governance because information asymmetry and misaligned incentives can weaken monitoring and accountability. This systematic literature review synthesizes international empirical evidence on how blockchain and smart contracts relate to agency conflict mitigation and governance outcomes, and it clarifies boundary conditions and implications for Agency Theory. We followed PRISMA reporting guidance and searched Scopus for English journal articles published between 2018 and 2025. After title, abstract, and full-text screening, 13 empirical studies were included for quality appraisal and thematic narrative synthesis. Across contexts, blockchain adoption or innovation intensity is most consistently associated with improved information environments, including higher transparency and reporting quality and lower opportunism related proxies, and it is also associated with improved investment efficiency and selected compliance and risk outcomes. Evidence on smart contracts is substantially thinner. Smart contracts are explicitly analysed in one case study and they are discussed secondarily in one additional study, while none of the large sample quantitative studies operationalises smart contract use as a distinct construct. The synthesis indicates that governance benefits depend on data integrity supported by internal controls, external monitoring and assurance capacity, and regulatory and legal alignment that enables auditability and enforceability. Overall, blockchain-enabled corporate governance is best interpreted as governance by system design that complements conventional mechanisms and motivates future research on measurable smart contract use cases and stronger causal identification.
Araz Zirar, Abdul Jabbar, Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji
Smart contracts (SCs), appended to a blockchain, protect digital environments and their resources, processes, and structures, reducing mismatches between legal and actual rights and ownership. They enhance digital resilience by improving transparency, traceability, and trust in digital transactions. Utilising SCs requires businesses to adapt their models, revenue streams, and customer relationships. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), SCs present challenges, requiring proactive decision-making for their effective utilisation and the trade-offs involved. By employing the integrated multi-layer ISM-MICMAC-SWARA framework (Interpretive Structural Modelling, Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification, and Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis), we explain the complex interrelationships among the challenges and propose mitigating risk management strategies. We identify technical limitations and human errors as key drivers, confidentiality and manipulation as linkage challenges, and fraud and hacking as dependence challenges. These findings highlight the interconnected nature of the challenges and their impact on SMEs, and we emphasise the need for targeted resilience strategies. Our research highlights the global dimension of SC adoption. When deploying SCs, SMEs must navigate international regulations, cross-border transactions, and cultural diversity. This global perspective informs smart contracts’ strategic, business, and organisational aspects. Our findings offer insights for academics, industry leaders, managers, and policymakers seeking to understand the potential and risks of adopting SCs in SMEs.
Perpetual futures account for approximately 93% of cryptocurrency futures trading volume, yet funding rate dynamics across fragmented markets remain understudied. We construct a high-frequency panel dataset comprising 35.7 million one-minute observations across 26 cryptocurrency exchanges (11 centralized, 15 decentralized) spanning 749 symbols over eight consecutive days. Using time-series econometrics, correlation analysis, and Granger causality tests, we characterize funding rate dynamics, market integration, and information flow. We find evidence of a two-tiered market structure: centralized exchanges (CEX) dominate price discovery with 61% higher integration than decentralized exchanges (DEX), and all significant information flow runs CEX-to-DEX with zero reverse causality. While 17% of observations exhibit economically significant arbitrage spreads (≥20 basis points), only 40% of top opportunities generate positive returns after transaction costs and spread reversals. Delta-neutral portfolio simulations reveal that successful arbitrage requires both high spreads and sufficient duration before inevitable reversals, with forced exits occurring in 95% of opportunities. The findings show that cryptocurrency derivatives markets exhibit a persistent two-tiered structure in which centralized platforms dominate price discovery while transaction costs and spread reversal risks prevent arbitrage from eliminating large mispricings between platforms, resolving the apparent paradox of substantial price fragmentation coexisting with market efficiency.
We develop a mathematical framework to optimize leveraged staking ("loopy") strategies in Decentralized Finance (DeFi), in which a staked asset is supplied as collateral, the underlying is borrowed and re-staked, and the loop can be repeated across multiple lending markets. Exploiting the fact that DeFi borrow rates are deterministic functions of pool utilization, we reduce the multi-market problem to a convex allocation over market exposures and obtain closed-form solutions under three interest-rate models: linear, kinked, and adaptive (Morpho's AdaptiveCurveIRM). The framework incorporates market-specific leverage limits, utilization-dependent borrowing costs, and transaction fees. Backtests on the Ethereum and Base blockchains using the largest Morpho wstETH/WETH markets (from January 1 to April 1, 2025) show that rebalanced leveraged positions can reach up to 6.2% APY versus 3.1% for unleveraged staking, with strong dependence on position size and rebalancing frequency. Our results provide a mathematical basis for transparent, automated DeFi portfolio optimization.
Abstract: The non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace has rapidly evolved into a transformative space, experiencing remarkable growth in recent years. NFTs serve as digital ownership certificates linked to unique assets such as art, collectibles, and digital media, exemplifying blockchain innovation. This paper employs an exploratory, systematic literature review of Scopus-indexed sources to examine the fraud-prone dimensions of the NFT ecosystem. Using the fraud triangle framework—pressure, opportunity, and rationalization—it investigates individual and organizational drivers of deceit. The study identifies major fraud types including rug pulls, wash trading, Ponzi schemes, whitelisting, and phishing, offering insights to guide policymakers and participants in mitigating NFT-related risks. Keywords: Non-Fungible Tokens, Blockchain, Digital Fraud Vulnerabilities, Three-Factor Fraud Framework, Risk Mitigation JEL Classification Number: G32, G18, K83, K24, O33
Roberto A. Pava-Díaz, Juan Manuel Sánchez Céspedes, Oscar Danilo Montoya
This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the indexed academic literature on the application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in the tourism industry. Using the bibliometrix library within the RStudio environment, key bibliometric indicators were examined in order to characterize the evolution, structure, and thematic focus of this emerging field of research. The systematic literature review, which adhered to PRISMA guidelines, involved retrieving publications from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. A curated dataset of 100 relevant documents was identified and analyzed in terms of annual scientific production, leading journals, influential authors, and highly cited publications. The results indicate that blockchain technology dominates the literature, with a strong emphasis on its potential to enhance trust, transparency, and efficiency in tourism-related processes. In particular, identity management, secure transactions, and disintermediation emerge as central research themes, reflecting blockchain’s capacity to support decentralized, immutable, and privacy-preserving interactions between tourists and service providers. Overall, the findings reveal a rapidly growing and increasingly structured body of knowledge, highlighting emerging research directions and technological challenges for future studies on DLT applications in tourism.
Mohammed Dawood Dawood, Syed Saif Ullah Hussaini, Mohd Zain ul Abeddin, Bishal Hizli Hizli
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a disruptive force in global finance, challenging traditional banking systems through decentralization, transparency, and borderless transactions. Initially perceived as speculative assets, cryptocurrencies have increasingly gained institutional recognition, raising important questions regarding their financial role, regulatory governance, and long-term sustainability. This study adopts a qualitative-dominant mixed-method approach based on secondary data analysis. Data were collected from peer-reviewed journals, institutional reports, regulatory documents, and reputable market analyses published over the last decade. Thematic and descriptive analyses were employed to examine trends in cryptocurrency adoption, regulatory responses, technological innovation, and sustainability efforts. The findings indicate that cryptocurrencies have evolved into recognized financial assets, with growing institutional participation and expanding applications in cross-border payments and decentralized finance. However, significant challenges persist, including regulatory fragmentation, cybersecurity risks, market volatility, and environmental concerns related to energy-intensive mining. Regulatory milestones such as the European Union’s MiCA framework demonstrate progress toward legal harmonization, while technological innovations such as Layer 2 solutions, interoperability protocols, and Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanisms support scalability and sustainability. The discussion links these findings to Technology Acceptance and Innovation Diffusion theories, showing that institutional adoption is driven by perceived usefulness, regulatory legitimacy, and technological compatibility. Market Regulation and Institutional theories further explain divergent national regulatory approaches and increasing global coordination efforts. Sustainability considerations emerge as a critical determinant of long-term viability, shaping both technological development and policy intervention. Cryptocurrencies represent a transformative element of the global financial system, offering opportunities for efficiency, inclusion, and innovation.
Світлана Володимирівна Ковальчук, Віталій Григорович Федоришен
The article explores the fundamental essence and strategic role of investment capital within the context of the dynamic development of the stock market amidst the global digitalization of the economy. The authors conduct a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual apparatus, focusing on refining the definition, classification, and multifaceted functions of investment capital as a core resource for ensuring the financial stability of enterprises and maintaining a high level of liquidity in the securities market. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of capital from traditional forms into digital assets, a process that is fundamentally reshaping the architecture of modern financial relationships and global capital flows. The study demonstrates that the synergy between investment capital and digital technologies critically enhances market transparency, minimizes transaction costs, and accelerates the execution of financial operations. The research details the impact of cutting-edge technologies, such as blockchain-based trading, artificial intelligence for predictive analytics, and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, on the efficiency of capital allocation. Based on an empirical analysis of statistical data for the period 2021–2025, the correlation between investment capital inflows and key market capitalization indicators is identified. The paper further examines the influence of digital platforms on asset structures, price dynamics, and the overall resilience of the stock market to extreme volatility and external economic shocks. The authors reveal that digitalization acts as a powerful catalyst for the redistribution of capital i favor of high-tech sectors of the economy, thereby altering traditional investment paradigms. Furthermore, the research substantiates practical recommendations for stimulating the effective use of capital through the development of robust fintech infrastructure, the adaptation of regulatory frameworks to the requirements of the digital era, and the implementation of comprehensive programs to enhance digital financial literacy among market participants. The findings of the study demonstrate that the active involvement of investment capital under the conditions of stock market digitalization enhances the international competitiveness of the national economy and contributes to the sustainable development of the financial system. This article will be of significant value to researchers, financial sector practitioners, and investors interested in modern approaches to capital management and the evolution of the stock market under the ongoing pressure of digital transformation and technological progress.
Fintech enterprises operate at the intersection of rapid technological innovation and stringent regulatory oversight, creating a complex organizational challenge. This review systematically examines organizational restructuring strategies that enable fintech firms to balance innovation and compliance. Drawing on the concepts of ambidexterity and contingency theory, the paper analyzes functional, divisional, matrix, and networked structures, highlighting their respective advantages and limitations for fostering innovation and ensuring regulatory adherence. Cross-functional teams, hybrid models, and embedded compliance practices emerge as key enablers for achieving dual objectives. The synthesis provides practical guidance for managers seeking to design adaptable organizational architectures, while also offering theoretical contributions to the literature on innovation management and regulatory alignment. Future research directions include cross-country comparisons, longitudinal studies, and exploration of emerging fintech models such as decentralized finance platforms.
Contemporary organizational ecosystems are critically vulnerable in third-party risk management frameworks due to centralized databases, fragmented documentation systems, and manual processes of assessment. Traditional approaches result in huge inefficiencies through redundant audits, version control complexities, and delayed responses for compliance along multi-jurisdictional vendor networks. The blockchain architecture introduces a fundamental architectural transformation through distributed ledger mechanisms, creating immutable audit trails, cryptographic verification protocols, and decentralized trust formation across organizations. The article reviews how blockchain works as an integrity infrastructure within regulatory technology ecosystems, allowing the automation of compliance through smart contracts, making transparent records available for authorized stakeholders, and removing single-point vulnerabilities from centralized control systems. The technical mechanisms for implementation include immutable vendor record systems, which integrate fragmented documentation into unified, tamper-proof ledgers; smart contract automation that allows deterministic outcomes in governance; and distributed assurance networks, which allow audit verification among multiple organizations. Regulatory dimensions are related to preserving privacy through hybrid on-chain and off-chain architectures, legal recognition challenges of smart contracts within jurisdictional frameworks, and ethics in governance requirements for human input within automated ecosystems of decisions. Implementation challenges involve the complexity of legacy system integration, the development of a structure for consortium governance, scalability constraints, and the scarcity of talent. Future trajectories include hybrid ecosystems, integrating blockchain's immutability with advanced analytics, tokenized reputation frameworks, and integrations with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital identity systems toward next-generation vendor risk governance.
Financial identity systems were built for humans. Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and beneficial ownership frameworks assume that economic actors are natural persons or legally incorporated entities. That assumption no longer holds. Autonomous artificial intelligence agents now negotiate contracts, execute procurement, trade digital assets, allocate treasury capital, and conduct cross-border transactions without real-time human intervention. Yet these agents possess no formal financial identity. This article introduces Know-Your-Agent (KYA)—a governance framework that extends financial identity infrastructure beyond humans to autonomous systems. Article argue that AI agents operating in financial contexts must be identifiable, accountable, auditable, and risk-classified. We develop a layered identity architecture, outline an agent risk scoring model, explore behavioral drift monitoring, analyze legal liability structures, and examine regulatory implications across jurisdictions. Through detailed use cases in retail procurement, decentralized finance (DeFi), enterprise treasury management, and IoT payment ecosystems, we demonstrate why KYA is not optional but foundational for the next generation of digital trust infrastructure. The article concludes with a strong future research agenda spanning explainability standards, cross-jurisdictional identity portability, agent-to-agent contract governance, systemic risk modeling, and the emergence of AI insurance markets.
Anthony Chidi Nzomiwu, Scholastica Chidkodilri Uzondu
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) signifies not just a technological advancement but a profound transformation in financial governance, shifting power from traditional hierarchical intermediaries to autonomous, self-executing code. This article, grounded in institutional economics and legal theory, posits that DeFi introduces a novel governance framework in which trust is embedded in deterministic protocols rather than vested in individuals or institutions. By examining the four fundamental DeFi primitives—decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, programmable derivatives, and automated financial operations—we illustrate how programmable rules disintermediate conventional fiduciary responsibilities and enforcement mechanisms. A detailed case study of Compound’s governance evolution highlights both the potential for increased efficiency and the rise of new accountability challenges. We identify a critical tension: while automated rule enforcement minimizes transaction costs and mitigates principal-agent issues, it concurrently diminishes contestability, adaptability, and avenues for redress—elements vital for robust financial systems. The article concludes by proposing a hybrid governance framework that retains the efficiency of code while reintroducing deliberative safeguards, providing pathways for regulators, protocol developers, and scholars to navigate the re-integration of finance in a post-intermediary landscape.
Old economy banking infrastructure systematically bars billions of people across the globe from fundamental financial services by way of insurmountable documentation barriers, exorbitant fee systems, and geographic reach that disproportionately affect developing economy populations. Local currency instability and hyperinflation further enhance these problems by decimating savings and buying capacity, locking communities in vicious cycles of economic instability. Blockchain and decentralized financial protocols appear as revolutionary solutions that democratize access to finance using only internet connectivity, removing intermediaries and institutional gatekeeping systems. Dollar-pegged stablecoins bring much-needed stability to volatility in currencies without sacrificing the accessibility advantages of distributed ledger infrastructure. Decentralized lending protocols produce legitimate returns by linking borrowers and lenders via algorithmic interest rate models, which are transparently operated without central decision-making power. Self-custody wallets function as complete pseudo-bank debts supplying global attain and continuous accessibility, allowing customers to keep, transmit, and hold digital property without requiring institutional approval or extensive documentation. Clever contracts execute mechanically primarily based on predetermined conditions, disposing of human intermediaries at the same time as ensuring transparency via immutable public blockchain information. Revolutionary regulatory frameworks establish sandbox environments that facilitate controlled experimentation with blockchain-based economic services, enabling innovation even as preserving customer protection requirements. Mobile-first user experience design with support for local languages answers the specific needs of developing market populations relying solely on internet access via mobile devices. Intersecting these technological advancements makes financially independent ecosystems possible for serving previously excluded communities through yield-producing instruments and barrier-free cross-border payment capabilities.
Guma Ali, Otim Emmanuel, Maad M. Mijwil, Bosco Apparatus Buruga · 6 authors
The rapid digitalization of financial services has given rise to smart finance ecosystems that integrate FinTech platforms, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, cloud infrastructures, and decentralized applications. While these systems enhance automation, operational efficiency, and financial inclusion, their highly distributed, data-intensive architectures introduce critical security, privacy, and trust challenges. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain have emerged as complementary technologies capable of addressing these challenges through intelligent decision-making, advanced threat detection, data integrity, and transparent operations. This survey provides a comprehensive review of recent research on securing smart finance systems using AI- and blockchain-based approaches. The survey comprehensively analyzed research published between 2023 and 2026 using the Scopus database, focusing on the keywords “AI,” “blockchain,” and “smart finance.” The analysis reveals extensive use of AI-driven security mechanisms, including credit scoring and risk assessment, transaction monitoring and fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer compliance, identity verification, cyber threat detection, smart contract security analysis, behavioral biometrics, insurance fraud detection, and market risk prediction. In parallel, the survey examines blockchain-enabled security solutions, including secure payment and settlement systems, cross-border remittances, AML and counter-terrorism financing frameworks, digital identity management, smart contracts, asset tokenization, decentralized finance, auditability, and secure interbank communication. The integration of AI and blockchain offers significant advantages, including improved fraud detection accuracy, enhanced transparency and traceability, stronger data integrity, automated compliance, real-time threat response, and increased system resilience. Despite these benefits, key challenges persist, particularly in scalability, privacy preservation, interoperability, regulatory and ethical compliance, energy efficiency, explainability, and post-quantum security. The survey concludes by outlining future research directions and design guidelines for developing secure, scalable, and trustworthy smart finance systems that effectively leverage the integration between AI and blockchain.
The financial services sector is experiencing unprecedented transformation through the adoption of virtualization technologies, encompassing cloud computing and edge computing digitalization initiatives that fundamentally alter operational paradigms and competitive dynamics within the industry. This systematic literature review employed a comprehensive methodology, analyzing peer-reviewed articles, systematic reviews, and industry reports published between 2016 and 2025 across three primary technological domains, utilizing thematic content analysis to synthesize findings and identify key implementation patterns, performance outcomes, and emerging challenges. The analysis reveals consistent evidence of positive long-term performance outcomes from virtualization technology adoption, including average transaction processing time reductions of 69% through edge computing implementations, substantial operational cost savings and efficiency improvements through cloud computing adoption, while simultaneously identifying critical challenges related to regulatory compliance, security management, and organizational transformation requirements. Virtualization technology offers transformative potential for financial services through improved operational efficiency, enhanced customer experience, and competitive advantage creation, though successful implementation requires sophisticated approaches to standardization, regulatory compliance, and change management, with future research needed to develop integrative frameworks addressing technology convergence and emerging applications in decentralized finance and digital currency systems.
Kassem Danach, Hassan Rkein, Ahmad Farroukh, Ziad E. L. Balaa · 5 authors
The static and hard-coded logic of smart contracts in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms significantly limits their adaptability in dynamic and volatile market environments. To address this challenge, we propose a novel hyper-heuristic driven framework that enables real-time rule optimization within smart contracts, thereby enhancing responsiveness, gas efficiency, and operational robustness. The framework features a two-layer architecture: a reinforcement learning-based high-level controller selects appropriate low-level rule heuristics from a domain-specific library based on evolving transaction contexts and on-chain data. Implemented and evaluated on Uniswap v2 and Aave v3 protocols, the system dynamically optimizes parameters such as slippage tolerance, gas usage thresholds, and loan-to-value ratios. Experimental results on real-world datasets show significant performance improvements, including a 45.6% increase in transaction success rate, 28.3% reduction in average gas consumption, and 38.4% drop in liquidation events under market stress scenarios. This research demonstrates the feasibility and advantages of embedding intelligent, adaptive decision-making mechanisms within DeFi smart contracts, opening new pathways toward autonomous, resilient, and regulation-aligned blockchain systems.
The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, and big data analytics is transforming the governance, sustainability, and resilience of modern banking ecosystems. This study provides a multivariate bibliometric analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of research indexed in Scopus and Web of Science to explore how decentralized digital infrastructures and AI-driven analytical capabilities contribute to sustainable financial development, transparent governance, and climate-resilient digital societies. Findings indicate a rapid increase in interdisciplinary work integrating Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with large-scale data processing, federated learning, privacy-preserving computation, and intelligent automation—tools that can enhance financial inclusion, regulatory integrity, and environmental risk management. Keyword network analyses reveal blockchain’s growing role in improving data provenance, security, and trust—key governance dimensions for sustainable and resilient financial systems—while AI/ML and big data analytics dominate research on predictive intelligence, ESG-related risk modeling, customer well-being analytics, and real-time decision support for sustainable finance. Comparative analyses show distinct emphases: Web of Science highlights decentralized architectures, consensus mechanisms, and smart contracts relevant to transparent financial governance, whereas Scopus emphasizes customer-centered analytics, natural language processing, and high-throughput data environments supporting inclusive and equitable financial services. Patterns of global collaboration demonstrate strong internationalization, with Europe, China, and the United States emerging as key hubs in shaping sustainable and digitally resilient banking infrastructures. By mapping intellectual, technological, and collaborative structures, this study clarifies how decentralized intelligence—enabled by the fusion of AI/ML, blockchain, and big data—supports secure, scalable, and sustainability-driven financial ecosystems. The results identify critical research pathways for strengthening financial governance, enhancing climate and social resilience, and advancing digital transformation, which contributes to more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable societies.
The subject of the stud y is a digital token in a cross–border payment infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as CBPI) based on distributed ledger technology (hereinafter referred to as DLT). The purpose of the work is to analyze and scientifically evaluate methodological approaches to the formation of CBPI. The relevance of the work is due to the atmosphere of uncertainty and growing risks of external impact on the cross-border payment infrastructure that the Russian Federation has faced in recent years, as well as the need to address the challenge of ensuring accessibility, continuity, sustainability and security of its operation. As a result of the research, using heterodox, systemic, structural-functional, cybernetic, pragmatic and institutional approaches, the economic characteristics of the payment token have been developed and presented, including the most significant ones for the smooth implementation of cross-border payment transactions. It is concluded that the existing approaches make it possible to determine the main economic characteristics of a digital token in a cross-border payment infrastructure based on DLT, including security, cost stability, liquidity, volatility, as well as auxiliary ones — interoperability, scalability, transactional neutrality, economic isolation.
Bambang Leo Handoko, Arta Moro Sundjaja, Evelyn Hendriana
The rapid rise in cryptocurrency presents both opportunities and challenges for retail investors due to its volatility and technological complexity. Research on investment decisions has primarily focused on behavioural finance, often overlooking how learning and literacy shape investor actions. This study addresses this gap by examining how herding behaviour, financial literacy, and digital literacy impact cryptocurrency investment decisions. Grounded in Social Learning Theory and supported by UTAUT to operationalise digital literacy, this study examines how herding behaviour, financial literacy, and digital literacy shape cryptocurrency investment decisions. We analyse survey data from 138 Indonesian retail investors through PLS-SEM. Key findings show that financial literacy (β = 0.443, t = 5.041) and digital literacy (β = 0.495, t = 4.246) are primary determinants of investment decisions, while herding behaviour (β = 0.016, t = 0.628) does not directly influence them but does so indirectly by enhancing investor literacy. This demonstrates that social observation and learning can convert herd-driven impulses into rational choices when mediated by literacy. By extending Social Learning Theory into digital investment contexts, this study provides insights for investors and policymakers seeking to enhance financial and digital literacy.
Lina Bautista López, Edgar Esaul Vite Gómez, Lizet Manzo Martínez
This article offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of cryptocurrencies through the analysis of different academic documents. Analysis is an effort to address the issue of such digital assets from an overview rather than a particular one. The objective is that cryptocurrencies are understood in their concept, origin and operation by those interested in the subject who are not immersed in it. Therefore, two theories that are the monetary theory and the economic theory of the law are considered to support the research in its several aspects such as the economic, legal, social, among others. The analysis makes it possible to identify common trends in the authors without departing from their own opinion of cryptocurrencies considering their discipline.
Hisham Mohamed Hassan Al Hammadi, Muhammad Hafiz bin Badarulzaman, Abdulaziz Fahmi Omar Faqera
The regulatory architecture governing cryptocurrencies and virtual assets in the United Arab Emirates has expanded markedly through Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018, Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2019, Federal Decree-Law No. 46 of 2021, and Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022, reflecting the state’s ambition to position itself as a leading digital finance hub while addressing money laundering risks. Notwithstanding this legislative progress, significant challenges persist, stemming from the decentralized and pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, fragmented institutional oversight across federal and emirate-level authorities, and constrained supervisory capacity for real-time monitoring. Existing scholarship has largely overlooked the interaction between legal design and institutional enforcement dynamics within the UAE’s cryptocurrency regime, creating a critical gap this study addresses. The study critically evaluates the legal and institutional frameworks governing cryptocurrencies, examines enforcement and compliance vulnerabilities within AML mechanisms, and assesses regulatory risks associated with cryptocurrency market adoption. Employing an exploratory qualitative doctrinal methodology, the analysis systematically examines primary legislation alongside secondary sources drawn from high-impact journals, authoritative monographs, and institutional reports, subjected to rigorous thematic analysis. Guided by Institutional Theory, the findings demonstrate that while the UAE’s framework is normatively comprehensive, enforcement effectiveness is undermined by coordination deficits and technological constraints. The study advances targeted recommendations to enhance regulatory coherence, institutional integration, and risk-based supervision, contributing to legal, financial regulation, international governance, and digital risk studies, while identifying directions for future comparative inquiry.