While immutability is Blockchain's* much celebrated covenant, change is the rule of life. The paradox has seriously limited real-world deployability of Smart Contracts (SC), faltering its mainstream adoption and sustainability. Once implemented, SC remains unstoppable even if its execution makes losses, as evident in the recently exploded $50+B DeFi industry. How do we reconcile the two and make DeFI/Blockchain profitable and sustainable? A DISC (Dynamic Immutable Smart Contract) hypothesis was proposed to resolve the paradox. Using an existing decentralized IoT device framework we test the DISC hypothesis, by designing/implementing a DISC protocol that delivers an algorithmically controlled dynamic off-chain data feed into a self-executing SC. The experiment successfully introduced limited dynamism into SC without compromising its immutability or undermining user control over their SC terms. If consistently reproduced in diverse settings, the DISC protocol could earn an important milestone in the evolution of Blockchain's decentralized economy of the future.
A smart contract is a technology that allows the creation of a negotiation process capable of running independently, without human intervention. This chapter intends to frame the figure of the âsmart contractâ from a legal point of view. It shows that the smart contract is an advanced tool in the context of a contractual relationship. The possibility of making a smart contract âthe contractâ in a legal meaning opens up scenarios which have hitherto been unexplored for contract law. It is still difficult to determine to what extent current rules are adequate to govern this phenomenon. The chapter will therefore conclude with a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the smart contract technology and with some suggestions for a future smart contract law.
The idea of sharing economy gives rise to unique ideas and develops innovative businesses. This article aims to relate the smart city concept by introducing the smart transport system and explores the opportunities of adopting blockchain technology in ride-sharing services. Blockchain technology is a distributed, decentralized public ledger that allows peer-to-peer transactions in a secured way without any third party. This paper proposes a blockchain-based framework from the existing centralized framework for a ride-sharing service and implements the same as a decentralized application (DApp) based on smart contracts on Ethereum Blockchain. Using smart contracts facilitate the users with automated transactions, removes the intermediaries, and enables various activities to be carried out safely and securely. Implementation of smart contracts is done using the Solidity programming language. This DApp uses the min matching algorithm to match riders requesting rideshare to save total travel distance. With the overwhelming growth in the usage of cryptocurrencies, smart contracts usage in applications as proposed in this paper can transform the sharing economy.
Blockchain-based technologies are predicted as major disruptors for numerous business applications and processes, which bears huge implications for e-commerce. Given the ability of blockchain and related technologies to create so-called âtrustless systemsâ with idiosyncratic properties, various business models and established processes that have emerged over the years to ensure trust, reliability and enforceability in business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) relations need to be questioned and potentially adjusted. Blockchain has the potential to shake the foundation of e-commerce by enabling exchange relations that are trustless and operate without dedicated intermediaries or even central authorities in the case of permissionless blockchains. Furthermore, the exchange of information and value between companies and consumers might change considerably by enabling unified access to immutable data along the entire supply chain. In this paper, a framework and 19 high-level research questions are developed to inspire researchers to closely investigate the potential impact of blockchain on e-commerce. The main categories include (a) technological, (b) legal and (c) organizational and quality issues as well as (d) consumer issues. This paper illustrates how blockchain potentially impacts different elements of e-commerce in these respective areas.
Open innovation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are both based on the underlying principles of distribution and sharing. While open innovation is about sharing knowledge to improve innovation processes and performance, DLT is a distributed data ledger that is utilized to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure immutability, traceability, security, and transparency. In this paper, we investigate the barriers to open innovation currently faced by small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) that DLT can solve. To achieve this goal, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 experts in open innovation and DLTs from Spain, Germany, Australia, and India. The results of our exploratory study show that DLTs can help to solve several problems, including external barriers, such as problems with contracts, financing, lack of trust, raw materials, lack of information, domestic and international market limitations, IP rights, and governmental regulations as well as bureaucracy. Internal challenges include insufficient funding, organizational systems that are out of date, and lack of trust. When it comes to difficulties associated with the management of open innovation, external barriers are frequently caused by customers' demands, while internal barriers are frequently caused by organizational culture or human nature, which cannot be improved by DLTs. Finally, SMEs might face new obstacles when integrating DLTs, such as integration problems, complex transition phases, and high setup costs as well as problems with attracting and retaining qualified employees.
Dulani Jayasuriya Daluwathumullagamage, Alexandra Sims
Blockchain is one of the primary digital technologies utilised in the finance industry with huge future potential. This study conducts a systematic literature review of a final sample of 407 prior literature from an initial set of 1979 records for the sample period of 2013â2020 with regard to blockchain adoption in banking. This review is further supplemented by a machine learning based textual analysis that identifies key themes, trends, divergences and gaps between academic and practitioner led industry literature. Moreover, the study highlights present, future use cases, adoption barriers and misconceptions of blockchains in banking, especially given COVID-19. Furthermore, this study identifies behavioural, social, economic, regulatory and managerial implications of blockchain based banking. In addition, our study identifies the cross-industry potential of blockchains via banking, thus, linking much disconnected prior literature. Finally, we develop a blockchain adoption framework and an adoption life cycle for banking. This study would be of interest to academics, bankers, regulators, investors, auditors and other stakeholders in financial markets.
Felix Fritsch, Jeff Emmett, Emaline Friedman, Rok Kranjc ¡ 7 authors
The re-emergence of commoning over the last decades is not incidental, but rather indicative of a large-scale transition to a more âgenerativeâ organization of society that is oriented toward the planetâs global carrying capacity. Digital commons governance frameworks are of particular importance for a new global paradigm of cooperation, one that can scale the organization of communities around common goals and resources to unprecedented levels of size, complexity and granularity. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) such as blockchain have lately given new impetus to the emergence of a new generation of authentic âsharing economy,â protected from capture by thorough distribution of power over infrastructure, that spans not only digital but also physical production of common value. The exploration of the frontiers of DLT-based commoning at the heart of this article considers three exemplary cases for this new generation of commons-oriented community frameworks: the Commons Stack, Holochain and the Commons Engine, and the Economic Space Agency. While these projects differ in their scope as well as in their relation to physical common-pool resources (CPRs), they all share the task of redefining markets so as to be more conducive to the production and sustainment of common value(s). After introducing each of them with regards to their specificities and commonalities, we analyze their capacity to foster commons-oriented economies and âmoney for the commonsâ that limit speculation, emphasize use-value over exchange-value, favor equity in human relations, and promote responsibility for the preservation of natural habitats. Our findings highlight the strengths of DLTs for a federated scaling of CPR governance frameworks that accommodates rather than obliterates cultural differences and creates webs of fractal belonging among nested communities.
Our paper focuses on the economic perspective of the Blockchain technology in economics and business in general and in agricultural business in particular.The field of the study is the European agri-food supply chain and related government politics (CAP, F2F, Green Deal) focused on the Czech Republic.Analysis of the agribusiness is conducted on an evaluating the existing data from the FADN CZ database and Eurostat database.Blockchain technology is evaluated through fundamental analysis of the context.Findings from this investigation were used in enhanced SWOT-analysis in the context of technological foresight.This method examines both the existing situation, external factors and forces, as well as possible changes in the future.Our results confirmed that Blockchain technology has big opportunities in agricultural business and agri-food supply chain in the digital economy.The group of issues that could be solved with Blockchain includes food traceability, support of new business models and direct sales models, rebalance the power in the food chain, etc.The key problem of the Czech agricultural business is inefficiency and low innovative activities.However, existing state support and positive trends show perspectives in this area.Although the Blockchain could bring benefits, there is a research gap related to financing the Blockchain implementation and cooperation between businesses and the authorities.
Pietro Ferraro, Lianna Zhao, Christopher King, Robert Shorten
This paper describes the use of Distributed Ledger Technologies as a mean to enforce social contracts and to orchestrate the behaviour of agents in a smart city environment. Specifically, we present a scheme to price personalised risk in sharing economy applications. We provide proofs for the convergence of the proposed stochastic system and we validate our approach through the use of extensive Monte Carlo simulations.
Rohan Bennett, Todd Miller, Mark E Pickering, Al-Karim Kara
The emergence of âblockchainâ technology as an alternative data management technique has spawned a myriad of conceptual and logical design work across multiple industries and sectors. It is also argued to enable operationalisation of the earlier âsmart contractâ concept. The domain of land administration has actively investigated these opportunities, albeit also largely at the conceptual level, and usually with a whole-of-sector or âbig bangâ industry transformation perspective. Less reporting of applied case applications is evident, particularly those undertaken in collaboration with practicing land sector actors. That said, pilots and test cases continue to act as a basis for understanding the relative merits, drawbacks, and implementation challenges of the smart contract concept in land administration. In this vein, this paper extends upon and further refines the existing discourse on smart contracts within the land sector, by giving an updated, if not more nuanced, view of example applications, opportunities, and barriers. In contrast to the earlier works, a hybrid solution that mixes smart contract use with existing technology infrastructureâenabling preservation of the role of a land registry agency as the ultimate arbiter of valid claimsâis proposed. This is hypothesised to minimise disruptions, whilst maximising the benefits. Examination of proof-of-concept work on smart contract and blockchain applications in Sweden, Australia (State of New South Wales), and Canada (Province of British Columbia) is undertaken. Comparative analysis is undertaken using several frameworks including: (i) business requirements adherence, (ii) technology readiness and maturity assessment, and (iii) strategic grid analysis. Results show that the hybrid approach enables adherence to land dealing business requirements and that the proofs-of-concept are a necessary step in the development trajectory. Furthering the uptake will likely depend on again taking a whole-of-sector perspective, and attending to remaining issues around business models, stakeholder acceptance, partnerships and trust building, and legal issues linked to data decentralisation and security.
Abstract While blockchain technology is commonly considered potentially disruptive in various regards, there is a lack of understanding where and how blockchain technology is effectively applicable and where it has remarkable practical effects [1] . Against this background, we present and discuss a case study at length on the impact of this technology in the concrete setting of small short-term loans in retail banking. We propose to banks a robust and scalable blockchain technology with proof of stake and limited energy consumption used to streamline their processes, resulting in lower transaction and administration costs. This is made possible by smart contracts. Thereby, we facilitate small scale lending at high frequencies and short-term duration as well as an easier and more efficient way to connect small borrowers and lenders.
Blockchain technology has been used in finance, health care, supply chain, and transport, with the main goals of improving security and eliminating the need for a third party to manage transactions in the system. In blockchain, smart contracts are used to facilitate negotiation between stakeholders. The sharing economy movement has gained popularity in recent years in various sectors including transport. Ride-sharing has become an important component of sustainable transportation by increasing vehicle utilisation and reducing the number of vehicles on the road. Current ride-sharing systems are centralised with an intermediary maintaining users' data and managing transactions between drivers and passengers. This paper proposes the use of blockchain and in particular smart contracts, to develop decentralised ride-sharing systems. The benefits of having a distributed approach to maintaining users' data and managing transactions between users include more automation, more transparency, better data privacy, and possibly more trust between users.
Experts predict that the use of smart contracts and other applications of blockchain technology can potentially revolutionize the manner in which we do business. Blockchain promises the elimination of middlemen, as well as trust, transparency, and improved access to shared information and records. Thus, it is no surprise that companies and entrepreneurs are now developing blockchain solutions for an array of markets, ranging from real estate to health care. But, can this new technology revolutionize tax administration? Our current tax administration system suffers from a large tax gap, high compliance and administrative costs, and many inefficiencies. Blockchainâs core attributes may present a solution to these shortcomings. This Article is the first to consider the technologyâs potential role in revolutionizing tax administration and the challenges that must be overcome before incorporating blockchain technology into the tax space. The Article demonstrates that implementing a blockchain-based platform for tax administration would present significant opportunities to digitalize and automate certain tax processes, minimize government information constraints, increase the transparency and trustworthiness of tax-related transactions, and reduce costs, data redundancies, and other inefficiencies involved in the tax administration process. The Article concludes, however, that many blockchain tax initiatives are merely aspirational at this point. Governments need to overcome significant challenges and limitations in order to meaningfully take advantage of blockchain technology. It, therefore, sets forth normative steps for policymakers to take in supporting the development of blockchain technology and helping it to realize its full potential in the tax space. By doing so, the Article aims to promote a proactive approach to exploring and understanding the technologyâs benefits, limitations and implications, and thereby to place the government in the best position to harness the advantages of blockchain technology and modernize our system of tax administration.
A blockchain is a class of technology that allows the creation and management of \ndifferent forms of decentralised and distributed digital ledgers where data are stored, \nchronologically recorded, transferred and finally shared between the ânodesâ participating in \na peer-to-peer network. These features prima facie clash with the GDPR that informs the EU \ndata protection legislation and is based on a centralised representation of the reality in which \ndata are processed, collected, and recorded in a database controlled by identified subjects. \nThe underpinning idea of this article is diametrically opposed to the one which considers the \ntechnology not GDPR-compliant by default. First, the author argues that the points of tension \ncan be mitigated by technical and/or governance methods, thus acting at both application and \ninfrastructure level. In essence, a case-by-case analysis is the only feasible option to assess the \ncompliance between the regulation and the technology. Second, a further and closer look at \nblockchainâs underlying concepts reveals how both the GDPR and the blockchain have the \nsame purposes but different approaches. More interestingly, the article suggests that the \nblockchain could be seen as a Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET), which might help data \nsubjects gain more control over their personal data and hence support one of the GDPRâs \npurposes (recital 7).
The significance of supply chain collaboration, communication and data exchange along with the importance of the relationships established among interconnected parties in a digital connected world, indicates the power of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to transform the business model. In our study we set out to advance our understanding on how DLT impacts the business model. Since DLT is in its primitive stage of development, most studies focus into the implementation aspect of the technology and limited research has been done into the business model implications. Our research closes that knowledge gap in the literature by answering the question of âWhat are the secondary effects in business model that stem from DLT adoption?â Due to the inherent characteristics of the DLT, in respect to its network facet and the network effects created, we argue for a business ecosystem approach for our research. The main contributions of this paper are twofold. It presents implicit effects on business model beyond the direct trust and data openness aspects, and it also provides managers and scholars a process model for assessing how each implicit effect impacts the various business model dimensions.
âSmart Contractsâ are tools based on distributed ledger technologies deployed in order to increase the efficiency of transactions. Their adoption is growing at an exponential scale due to the undisputable advantages brought by their property of self-executing tasks, yet on the opposite it raises concerns since it does not require any sort of moral scrutiny. In our paper we first address how the current ethical discussion can be framed in Decentralized Ledger Technologies, then we unfold the evolution in legal theory of a decentralized approach â epitomized by the motto âcode is lawâ â finally we focus on âsmart contractsâ discussing the application of âengineering ethicsâ or the implementation of âethical oraclesâ. At the end we conclude with a few remarks and some perspectives for future research.
In pursuing its declared mission "to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure with a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers billions of people," Diem encounters apparent resistance from various social fields and politics. On the one hand, many critics recognise dangers to state currency sovereignty and the stability of the financial system; on the other hand, they fear negative developments regarding money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In addition, there are considerable concerns about an ever deeper erosion of privacy, consumer and data protection, which reaches a new dimension by linking such world currencies with already existing social networks governed and controlled by private entities. Under these circumstances, the chance of success of the Diem project clearly depends on the extent to which the aforementioned concerns can be dispelled and whether public trust can be established. Together with an overview of the developments of the Diem project since the inception of the underlying idea, the authors highlight the actors and their respective roles in an infrastructure primarily run and operated on distributed ledger technology (DLT), with computer nodes distributed across different jurisdictions. Moreover, it is argued that the level of control by end users over their digital representations and online footprints remains untested in the context of a worldwide digital financial infrastructure as proposed by Diem. The paper further elaborates and puts data protection and privacy of end users under scrutiny, outlining the need for a self-sovereign identity (SSI) management system in order to address the risks associated with correlation and profiling of individuals concerning their behaviour in payment systems.
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) have changed the regulatory landscape globally. Regulators are working hard to create conducive environment for the deployment of DLT and the blockchain. However, robust growth of technology does not come with speedy regulatory changes. This includes reviewing and adapting regulatory requirements or procedures that may unintentionally inhibit innovation or render them non-viable due to lacuna in law. This article is an attempt to analyse the DLT and blockchain from legal perspectives in Brunei. The issues raised in the article warrant considerable merits of law makersâ attention. The article concludes with several suggestions and recommendations.The paper employs library research with main references to the policy papers, Act and legislations. Where necessary, the paper makes reference to other countries for comparative purposes. The paper includes several suggestions and recommendations for authorityâs consideration. The findings suggest that despite of the existing enabling provisions in Brunei, there is a need to have acomprehensive regulations for blockchain and DLT due to excessive big data and other liabilities issues involves.
Abstract This chapter explores the English law as an example of a particular model for the analysis of intermediated securities. It analyzes the rights of investors through the lens of trust law rather than through bailment and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the no-look-through model. It also reviews cases where individuals hold a relatively small number of securities through a financial service provider, including the Duomatic principle that gives license to the court to override the formal requirements for shareholder decisions contained in the Companies Act. The chapter demonstrates why the intermediated holding structure that has evolved across the world does not sit comfortably with English law. It cites the recent scoping study conducted by the UK Law Commission combined with the UK Governmentâs ambition to attract a global pool of investors, which suggests that the UK Government is motivated to address the problem with the English law.
Charitable giving in legacy systems is subject to several major downsides that can be addressed with decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Centralized legacy charitable organizations often lack foundational transparency and are subject to significant power imbalances that favor the donor and lead to centralization of the charity. Existing legal incentives often lead to so-called Zombie Charities in many jurisdictions. The donative intent can therefore often not be optimally fulfilled. DAOs combine unique feedback loops and transparency features with community governance that address the existing shortcomings of charitable organizations in decentralized structures.
Permissionless blockchains offer an information environment where users can interact privately without fear of censorship. Financial services can be programmatically coded via smart contracts to automate transactions without the need for human intervention or knowing user identity. This new paradigm is known as decentralized finance (DeFi). We investigate Compound (a leading DeFi lending protocol) to show how it works in this novel information environment, who its users are, and what factors determine their participation. On-chain transaction data shows that loan durations are short (31 days on average), and many users borrow to support leveraged investment strategies (yield farming). We show that systemic risk in DeFi arises from concentration and interconnection, and how traditional risk management practices can be challenging for DeFi.