The current internet economy is characterised by a historically unprecedented bundling of private sector power over infrastructures. This situation is harmful for overcoming problems where collective action is needed, such as for governing digital commons. Organisations that run on collectively owned decentralised infrastructure are able to overcome this centralisation of power. These common decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) could help in fostering digitally enabled collective action. However, currently we have no clear view of how a DAO designed for commons governance would operate and be governed. By creating a conceptual prototype of a DAO governing a common, we provide a clear path of how common DAOs should mature and which tools are needed to create them. In this research, we created a governance framework for common DAOs by combining 16 works on technology for commons governance. The framework reveals that common DAO governance consists of three areas: 1) Governance structure, 2) Enabling technology, and 3) Community governance. We provide governance mechanisms that together describe an implementation of Ostrom’s common governance principles in a DAO. This work is a synthesis of previous research on technology for collective action. The proposed framework aids in standardising DAO governance for the common good and may contribute to a large scale roll-out of commons DAOs.
Aušrinė Šilenskytė, Jurgita Butkevičienė, Andrius Bartminas
Digital globalization enabled by disruptive technologies has opened a myriad of ways to create value, warranting a cross-disciplinary research agenda on digital connectivity in international business (IB). Given the scarcity of understanding about the role of specific technologies enabling value creation through digital connectivity, we investigate how blockchain-based digital connectivity shapes value creation in international digital platforms and ecosystems (DPEs). Building on a comparative empirical analysis of international DPEs enabled by different types of blockchain technology, we develop a typology of blockchain-based connectivity in IB. The typology demonstrates how different blockchain technology types enable different kinds of connectivity, resulting in diverse approaches to value creation within newly emerging forms of DPEs. These findings contextualize the concept of digital connectivity, enabling more precise explanations of blockchain's adoption in DPEs, and expand the conceptualization of DPEs, with three new types emerging from the utilization of blockchain-based connectivity. Moreover, this interdisciplinary explanation reveals why certain features theoretically attributed to blockchain (e.g., decentralization, trust) do not always realize or support value creation in practice in IB based on the DPE business model.
Abstract Blockchain has emerged as a key Industry 4.0 technology, enabling novel forms of governance and coordination mechanism among organizations and markets. However, extant literature has largely focused on the technical aspects of blockchain, with limited attention to the behavioural and institutional aspects. In this paper, we argue that blockchain‐based smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations represent the potential for a radical departure from traditional forms of contractual governance and hierarchy, carrying profound implications for the design and governance of economic transaction and organizational structures. We elucidate how blockchain technologies, characterized by transparency, immutability, programmability and decentralization, reduce transaction costs and establish an industrialized and trustless transactional governance system. Finally, we present an agenda for future research, highlighting the need for new theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence to understand the impact of blockchain on organizational design and forms.
I took a close look at what a blockchain-based compliance layer might actually do for U.S. payment systems using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) as the key ingredient. The study lays out a conceptual model, grounded in current research, and then walks through different architectural options so you can see the trade-offs. The big takeaway? ZKPs appear capable of meeting core U.S. AML and KYC obligations without forcing people to hand over more personal details than necessary. Frankly, that's kind of the point: keep compliance intact, but avoid needless data exposure. The analysis also suggests that a ZKP-enabled layer could smooth regulatory workflows, cut down on operational risk and costs, and perhaps most importantly drastically reduce how much sensitive information gets shared across payment networks. It's promising, if a bit early-stage, but worth paying attention to.
This article explores the essence of international experience in digital imaging, the need to regulate different types of assets, approaches to legal regulation, prospects for the legal regulation of assets in the digital economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The strategy for this growth must be determined by the private sector, directed by the government, analyzed by civil society and academia through the lens of private international law. The main purpose of the article is to expose the unclear jurisdictions, conflicting laws, and fragmented oversight that create barriers to the accountable management of traditional cross-border finance that are missing in decentralized networks. The authority to regulate stock trading remains contested among national and subnational regulators, resulting in duplicative compliance efforts that are estimated to cost investors large sums of money.
Despite standardisation initiatives, the modern financial landscape continues to be characterised by heterogeneous payment systems. This issue persists even with the emergence of distributed ledger technology in the market. Independent groups of developers are producing their own permissioned blockchain solutions without clear directions for standardisation that could be associated to the lack of a clear position from central banks and regulatory organisations regarding these technologies. The unresolved problem of transaction finality in distributed ledgers adds to the difficulty of reconciling separate distributed platforms. One potential solution is the implementation of cross-chain bridges, which can establish connections between platforms and potentially enable seamless experiences for end users and applications. The paper discusses the advantages and issues associated with these bridges.
This paper explores the potential of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) built on blockchain technology, which are expected to revolutionize our computing and transaction infrastructuresThis paper will focus on the legal classification of DAOs, with an emphasis on the mechanisms of raising capital through ICOs and NFTs as alternative financing options for easier access to capital. The potential of linking DAOs and AI is also briefly addressed. Corporate law must keep pace with this rapid change, and the question arises whether it is "sufficiently flexible to make room for the new technical possibilities" and to cover completely "new forms of organization" based on software code that may be inadequately reflected in existing regulations. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of DAOs and their impact on the future of business models, organizational structures, and financing options.
Due to information asymmetry, finance, transportation and warehouse financing gives rise to the issue of repeated pledge, which amplifies the risk of the loan business of financial institutions. In tandem with advancements in fintech, blockchain technology plays a significant role in the supply chain finance realm, primarily because of its core characteristics of being difficult to tamper with and decentralized. Therefore, this study constructed an evolutionary game model involving financial institutions, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and third-party logistics enterprises under a blockchain-enabled model and scrutinized the repeated pledge of financing entities in the finance, transportation and warehouse financing sector from the perspective of blockchain empowerment. The results show that the platform access fee being lower than the cost of conducting a financing business and the immutable characteristics of blockchain are important reasons to promote financial institutions to choose access to blockchain. The permanent retention of performance records owing to immutable performance under the blockchain model intensifies the consequences of dishonest behavior of small- and medium-sized enterprises and third-party logistics enterprises, thus encouraging the adoption of positive financing strategies. Additionally, the additional income obtained by third-party logistics enterprises’ covering behavior surpasses the additional income obtained by the repeated pledge behavior of small- and medium-sized enterprises, which will dismantle collusion between them. This study serves as a valuable reference for decision makers in the development of supply chain finance empowered by fintech.
We propose a new approach for a secure decentralized and censorless upgrade of existing cryptocurrencies to newly created tokens without interaction from any external information sources (oracles). The proposed scheme is based on burning of existing cryptocurrencies tokens and implemented via the multi-currency auction. The auction is carried out on the blockchain of the new token and implemented using a smart-contract that processes participants' bids of burnt tokens of other cryptocurrencies and supports a new token price discovery algorithm for each cryptocurrency with no oracles or any other trusted source of information. Contrary to traditional ways of getting the new asset, like centralized and decentralized exchanges, etc., our method requires no user registration (as well as no KYC – “know your customer” procedure that requires obligatory client identification) and provides a predicted supply level of the new asset for an adequate price within a model with economically rational participants. We provide the results of decentralized auction simulations implemented for several strategies of user behavior (based on bid prices with normal and log-normal distribution laws), both under the normal operation and in the presence of adversary who follows specific strategies.
Integrating new technologies such as distributed ledger technology into government systems is a multifaceted process characterized by numerous potential benefits, associated costs, and risks. Previous and existing pilot implementations of blockchain-based software solutions in the public sector have demonstrated that this technology can have varying impacts depending on contextual factors, including the specific type of chosen government service. Furthermore, within each distinct area of public services, the implementation of e-governance technologies can yield different outcomes for various stakeholders, including government entities, public servants, and citizens. Therefore, this article provides a review and analysis of global experiences with the utilization of distributed ledger technology in various domains of the public sector. To achieve this, several countries with advanced expertise in e-governance and the implementation of distributed ledger technology-based solutions were identified. Drawing from the experiences of these nations and considering the unique features, advantages, maturity level of blockchain technology, and existing solutions based on it, general recommendations were formulated regarding the implementation of distributed ledger technology (blockchain) in Ukraine’s public sector.
This paper presents the design and preliminary development a new model based on blockchain for improving brand loyalty in agribusiness by customer reward. Using facilities of Ethereum Network and solidity programing, we have created an Agri non-fungible token (NFT) according to ERC-721 protocol that is most widely used protocol for creating NFTs on Ethereum. One of the main advantages of ERC-721 is its flexibility, as it allows developers to define custom metadata for each NFT and customize the attributes. The interaction between Ethereum nodes and the user is established via the frontend, which is developed in Nodejs and connects to the Ethereum network. In previous works on loyalty systems, blockchain-based solutions were proposed that resemble the system developed in this study but there are significant differences between our work and other related works such as: the use of NFT and personalization for customers, the adoption of a new version of Solidity, as well as the adoption of the metadata feature for using media to encourage and assist customer brand awareness and repurchase. We tried to provide a safe and transparent way to use NFTs in the way of increasing brand loyalty in agricultural businesses. Due to characters of NFTs as uniqueness and personalization, customers in a loyalty cycle prefer to shop more in order to earn more AgriNFT, causing retailer to sell more items and manufacturers to generate more goods.
We propose a new way to share licensed spectrum bandwidth capacity in mobile networks between operators, service providers, and end users using blockchain-based smart contracts. We discuss the foundational building blocks in the contract as well as various extensions to support more advanced features such as bulk purchases and future reservations. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the system can be implemented with an open source, permissioned enterprise blockchain, Hyperledger Sawtooth. We show that our smart contract implementation can improve blockchain transaction performance, by approximately four orders of magnitude compared to serial transactions and one order of magnitude compared to parallel transactions, by using public key infrastructure driven bulk purchases of mobile access grants, paving the way for fully automated, efficient, and fine-grained roaming agreements. We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned from two end-to-end use cases we implemented to validate our distributed ledger design.
Julia Amend, Patrick Troglauer, Tobias Guggenberger, Nils Urbach · 5 authors
Abstract Climate change and an increasing food demand due to a growing world population pose significant challenges for agriculture. Smallholders play a decisive role in establishing a sustainable and efficient future agricultural system since they already provide up to 80% of food in developing countries. However, they often face severe obstacles, especially in developing countries, hampering effective and efficient cooperation and productivity. Even though organizations in the form of cooperatives could help overcome some of the challenges of facilitating smallholders’ cooperation, they still suffer from structural problems. Further, in many countries, a lack of formal mechanisms to enforce contractual agreements exists. Given such challenges, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have already proven to provide alternative forms of governance independent of formal contracts or intermediaries. Therefore, this study follows the design science research paradigm to design, develop, and evaluate a decentralized autonomous organization in the agricultural sector that makes use of cooperative principles. This cooperative-oriented DAO is governed by smart contracts and technically enabled by blockchain technology as the underlying infrastructure. Through our developed and evaluated artifact, the AgriDAO, we guide researchers and practitioners on how such a cooperative-oriented DAO could look to solve existing problems related to smallholders and cooperatives. Additionally, we present eight design principles that will guide the development of cooperative-oriented DAOs. Finally, our research shall initiate lively discussion and extensive exploration of this new form of organization.
Electronic communications security has gained a considerable significance in parallel with the increasing usage of the information and communication technologies. Being one of these technologies, distributed ledger technologies (DLTs), more specifically the blockchains, are regarded as a revolution which propose a new era, called “blockchain of things” following the era of “internet of things”. While DLTs promoted the business functionalities and compliance with information security obligations, it has also some vulnerabilities. By the DLTs the cost of intermediaries could easily be eliminated while at the same time assets/transactions are recorded and secured digitally. Nevertheless, this has simultaneously resulted in decentralised power/anarchy. Besides, majority of the studies focus on the contributions of the DLTs. This article aims to concentrate on the security aspect of this technology, which is often disregarded. Thus, after addressing fundamental characteristics of DLTs, it will unfold their tools and advantages in terms of compliance to information security obligations, then, exercise its vulnerabilities and related risks with respect to information security legal frameworks from over the world.
Technology adoption is vital for improving the efficiency of workflows across value chains. However, technology selection can be challenging, especially for multi-party workflows across different geographical boundaries. The chosen technologies must satisfy the requirements of the tasks at hand and align with international and local laws and regulations. Marine bunkering is a global industry comprising multiple stakeholders with diverse roles and responsibilities that must adhere to global standards and regulations. Through a single case study, we endeavor to understand the role of blockchain technology in marine bunkering, drawing on the Task-Technology Fit theory and Group Support System model to investigate this concept. Our analysis reveals that fit depends on underlying legal norms, task characteristics, and technological properties. Furthermore, we shed light on the blockchain framework used and the role of smart contracts in the value chain. Our research offers insights into an extended Task-Technology Fit theory where stakeholders in a value chain are distributed across multiple geographical boundaries.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a prominent application of smart contracts, representing a novel financial paradigm in contrast to centralized finance. While DeFi applications are rapidly emerging on mainstream blockchain platforms, their quality varies greatly, presenting numerous challenges, particularly in terms of their governance mechanisms. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of governance issues in DeFi applications. Initially, we collected 3,165 academic papers and numerous industry reports. After thorough screening, we selected 44 academic papers and 11 industry reports for detailed analysis. Drawing upon insights from industry reports and academic research articles, we develop a taxonomy to categorize these governance issues. We collect and build a dataset of 4,446 audit reports from seventeen Web3 security companies, categorizing their governance issues according to our constructed taxonomy. We conducted a thorough analysis of governance issues and identified vulnerabilities in the governance design and implementation, e.g., voting sybil attack and proposal front-running. Our statistical analysis indicates that a significant portion (35.48%) of governance-related issues is classified as severe. Within these, ownership-related problems constitute the largest share (65.38%). Despite DeFi governance being essential for the long-term success of DeFi projects, our data shows that both auditors and development teams have not fully grasped its significance. Based on audit reports, we also analyzed common vulnerabilities and issues in the governance domain. Our research identifies two primary categories of DeFi governance issues: technology-centric and human-centric. Technology-centric issues can be addressed through technology updates and iterations, whereas human-centric issues are influenced not only by the development team's technical skills but also by their understanding of DeFi governance. Data analysis reveals that design and implementation issues are frequently overlooked; although not directly associated with vulnerabilities, these issues can impact the equitable distribution of project benefits. Furthermore, our analysis of 104 projects’ tokenomics configurations, including 15 collected from DeFi platforms, uncovered 27 inconsistent configurations, with only two projects exhibiting no issues. This suggests that such issues are relatively common. We therefore advise project teams to ensure consistency between their tokenomics design and the actual code. Our study culminates in providing several key practical implications for various DeFi stakeholders, including developers, users, researchers, and regulators, aiming to deepen the understanding of DeFi governance issues and contribute to the robust growth of DeFi systems.
Joshua Tan, Tara Merk, Sarah Hubbard, Eliza R. Oak · 29 authors
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are a new, rapidly-growing class of organizations governed by smart contracts. Here we describe how researchers can contribute to the emerging science of DAOs and other digitally-constituted organizations. From granular privacy primitives to mechanism designs to model laws, we identify high-impact problems in the DAO ecosystem where existing gaps might be tackled through a new data set or by applying tools and ideas from existing research fields such as political science, computer science, economics, law, and organizational science. Our recommendations encompass exciting research questions as well as promising business opportunities. We call on the wider research community to join the global effort to invent the next generation of organizations.
Finansal piyasaların eksiklikleri, merkezi finansal aracı kurumların gerekliliğini ortaya koymuş ve bu kurumlar, müşterilerinin ihtiyaçlarını karşılamada başarılı olmuştur. Ancak hala ülkelerarası para transferi gibi bazı hizmetler için yüksek masraflar ödenmektedir. Ayrıca, çağımızın hızlı ve verimli yeni uygulamalara ve iş modellerine ihtiyacı vardır ve mevcut kurumlar bu gereksinimlere tam olarak yanıt verememektedir. Özellikle COVID-19 ile birlikte dijitalleşmeye geçiş süreci hızlanmış ve finansal piyasalar hızlı bir değişim geçirmiştir. Kripto paralar, yapay zekâ ve blok zincir gibi Web3 bileşenleri, finansal piyasalarda önemli değişikliklere neden olmuş ve merkezi olmayan finansal ekosistemlerin gelişmesine olanak tanımıştır. Bu teknolojik gelişmeler, finansal hizmetlere daha fazla erişim sağlamış ve rekabeti artırmıştır. DeFi merkeziyetsiz finans anlamına gelmektedir ve de merkeziyetli finansa (CeFi)’ye göre birçok üstünlük barındırmaktadır. Kurumsal DeFi ise DeFi ekosisteminin yarattığı ürünlerin finansal kurumlarda kullanılmaya başlanmasını ve kurumların bu sürece uyum sağlayacak teknolojik altyapıyı edinmesini gerektirmektedir. DeFi, şirketlerin varlıklarını dijital tokenlara dönüştürerek bu ekosisteme entegre etmelerine ve finansal işlemlerini merkezi olmayan bir platform üzerinde gerçekleştirmelerine olanak tanır. Bu şekilde işlemler daha hızlı ve düşük maliyetli bir şekilde gerçekleştirilir ve piyasalardaki likidite artar. Bu çalışmanın amacı, DeFi kavramını ve DeFi'nin iş dünyasında nasıl uygulanabileceğini açıklamaktır. Bu çerçevede, DeFi'nin şirketler için potansiyel avantajları ve uygulanması adımları ele alınacak ve finansal kurumların bu dönüşümü başarıyla gerçekleştirmek için göz önünde bulundurmaları gereken faktörler açıklanacaktır. Ayrıca, DeFi'nin kurumsal düzeyde uygulanması sırasında ortaya çıkabilecek riskler ve bu riskleri etkili bir şekilde yönetmek için izlenmesi gereken stratejiler de incelenecektir.
Ethereum is being utilized in various ways, including smart contracts and payments. Research in cryptocurrency payments has either been general, about all cryptocurrencies or focused primarily on Bitcoin. Despite some similarities with Bitcoin, Ethereum is a different technology with different governance and support. This research focuses on payments with the Ethereum token, Ether, and puts forward a model of trust in Ethereum payments. Survey data analyzed using structural equation modeling supports the model. Firstly, the model has three variables from the person’s individual characteristics: The user’s predisposition to using innovations in (a) finance and (b) technology, influence (c) their predisposition to trust in this payment process. There are then five variables from the context: (d) Adoption and reputation, (e) stable value and low transaction fees, (f) effective regulation, (g) trust in the payment intermediaries, and (h) trust in the seller. The personal and contextual factors together influence (i) trust in the Ethereum payment process, and this leads to (j) making a payment with Ethereum.
George, Dr.A.Shaji, Dr.S.Sagayarajan, Dr.T.Baskar, A.S.Hovan George
Two-tier ERP systems are an increasingly popular technology strategy for large, multinational enterprises. This paper examines how two-tier ERP enables organizations to balance centralized control and coordination at the corporate level with localized flexibility and responsiveness at the division/subsidiary level. The tier 1 ERP system handles core tasks like HR, finance, and IT using highly customized solutions tailored to the large corporate entity's needs, scale, and sophistication. This promotes enterprise-wide process standardization and centralized control. Meanwhile, the tier 2 ERP systems utilized by smaller subsidiaries and regional offices are less resource intensive and more configurable to address localized requirements. Tier 2 gives local divisions more control over their ERP to enable flexibility and responsiveness. This research analyzes the key drivers pushing large multinationals towards two-tier ERP, including managing complexity across global operations, enabling centralized coordination while allowing localization, integrating dispersed IT infrastructures, and controlling implementation costs. The paper explores the unique characteristics and benefits of tier 1 and tier 2 ERP systems in depth, providing concrete examples. Critical considerations for successfully deploying two-tier ERP are also examined, such as integration, change management, and striking the right balance between standardization and localization. The conclusion reached is that two-tier ERP delivers important synergistic benefits for large enterprises through its centralized/decentralized dual structure. The tier 1/tier 2 approach balances the key needs for coordination and control at the center with flexibility at the edges. However, careful planning is required for effective two-tier ERP implementation. The optimal balance between standardization and localization must be struck to fully realize the strategic potential. This research provides important insights for both academic study and real-world application of two-tier ERP systems.
Stefan Kitzler, Stefano Balietti, Pietro Saggese, Bernhard Haslhofer · 5 authors
We present a study analyzing the voting behavior of contributors, or vested users, in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). We evaluate their involvement in decision-making processes, discovering that in at least 7.54% of all DAOs, contributors, on average, held the necessary majority to control governance decisions. Furthermore, contributors have singularly decided at least one proposal in 20.41% of DAOs. Notably, contributors tend to be centrally positioned within the DAO governance ecosystem, suggesting the presence of inner power circles. Additionally, we observed a tendency for shifts in governance token ownership shortly before governance polls take place in 1202 (14.81%) of 8116 evaluated proposals. Our findings highlight the central role of contributors across a spectrum of DAOs, including Decentralized Finance protocols. Our research also offers important empirical insights pertinent to ongoing regulatory activities aimed at increasing transparency to DAO governance frameworks.
E-commerce is constantly exploring opportunities to streamline payment service integration, particularly in terms of purchase channels and settlement methods. Traditionally, such integrations were provided through bank-acquirers. New initiatives such as Open Banking present a novel approach by offering a centralized gateway for third-party access to banking services. The purpose of this paper is to propose a sample model of a merchant gateway that leverages distributed ledger technology to enable seamless integrations with both purchase and settlement systems. The model holds the potential for accelerating purchase and withdrawal processing but also introduces new challenges that need to be addressed.
In recent years the adoption of smart contracts, in blockchain platforms, has increased substantially. One of the main applications of smart contracts are the so called Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), which originated from an idea envisaged by Buterin, in his Ethereum white paper. Indeed, DAOs are decentralized organizations, where the members implement their decisions using smart contracts. In the article, we introduce a simple framework for a DAO, and then we discuss some governance issues. In particular, we focus on how DAO members could be induced to dedicate sufficient time to voting sessions, for a proper functioning of the organization. Indeed, recent empirical research suggests how the members’ participation rate, to voting activities, has a meaningful positive correlation with to a DAO's performance. More specifically, we formalize the notion of attention time and propose a simple model for the so-called Holographic Consensus, a protocol introduced by the DAOStack platform to solve the issue of limited time dedicated to governance, discussing under what conditions DAO members may choose the so-called boosting voting procedure.