Several recent studies have suggested Blockchain for Peer-to-Peer energy trading (P2P-ET) to achieve better security, privacy and fast payment settlement. Most of them however rely on either public Blockchains (which have low performance) or permissioned blockchains (which have low decentralization level and do not provide byzantine fault tolerance). Moreover, these solutions have limitations when capturing the business model of existing energy trading systems. This article proposes a Unified permissioned blockchain-based P2P-ET Architecture (UBETA) that integrates three different types of energy markets and provides a unified energy trading and payment settlement model. The UBETA system is based on an enterprise Ethereum Blockchain, known as Hyperledger Besu, and Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT) consensus algorithm. We compared the performance of the proposed IBFT-based system with three existing systems (i.e., Ethereum Clique, Ethereum Proof of Work and Hyperledger Fabric's Raft) using specific performance metrics (i.e., read/write transaction latency, read/write transaction throughput and fail rate). The experiments were carried out on a network size of up to 60 nodes and a real energy trading data set from the Western Australian energy market was used. The experiment results indicate that the IBFT-based system has 15x lower latency and nearly 2x throughput compared to existing Proof of Work based P2P-ET solutions. Moreover, the system provides better scalability and success rate than existing Raft based P2P-ET systems: the fail rate of the IBFT-based system only increased by 11% while that of Raft increased by 20% when increasing the number of nodes from 20 to 60. In addition, the proposed unified energy trading model provides lower latency and reduces the number of blockchain transactions compared to the non-unified counterpart.
Distributed Ledgers or Blockchain-based systems have the potential to provide enablers for the development of future services. By combining deep encryption, tamper-proof transparency and secure personal data to a wide variety of services, there are great opportunities for the development of new services. In developing new service experiences that capitalise on the potential benefits of Blockchain, there are a number of key challenges. These include: Emerging opportunities for services provided by blockchain Blockchain as an Identity Enabler Public perceptions and confusion about blockchain Issues of privacy, mistrust of data storage and possible leakage Design methodologies for services to guide users through new blockchain automated and frictionless experiences This short practice-based paper presents a case study and reflects on the learnings and experience of designing services utilising blockchain technology for digital identity. The paper identifies issues and problems and provides a comprehensive review of the benefits to establish a framework for designing services around distributed ledger blockchain based services.
Victor von Wachter, Johannes Rude Jensen, Omri Ross
Decentralized finance (DeFi) provides a new level of integration for financial applications. Whilst blockchain technology is inherently transparent, measuring both the economic and technical risks of an increasingly integrated ecosystem is challenging. In this extended abstract, we approach the issue with an asset-centric view by proposing a measurement of the dependency of DeFi tokens. The method quantifies the distance between the original token entity and the composed version. Even for highly nested tokens, it allows to drill down to the original entity thus approximately gauging the level of integration within the broader DeFi ecosystem. The method is initially evaluated through the analysis of USDC and composed versions for all transactions of 2020.
Johannes Rude Jensen, Victor von Wachter, Omri Ross
Novel blockchain technology provides the infrastructure layer for the\ncreation of decentralized appli-cations. A rapidly growing ecosystem of\napplications is built around financial services, commonly referred to as\ndecentralized finance. Whereas the intangible concept of decentralization is\npresented as a key driver for the applications, defining and measuring\ndecentralization is multifaceted. This pa-per provides a framework to quantify\ndecentralization of governance power among blockchain appli-cations. Governance\nof the applications is increasingly important and requires striking a balance\nbe-tween broad distribution, fostering user activity, and financial incentives.\nTherefore, we aggregate, parse, and analyze empirical data of four finance\napplications calculating coefficients for the statistical dispersion of the\ngovernance token distribution. The gauges potentially support IS scholars for\nan objective evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of token governance\nand for fast iteration in design-driven governance mechanisms.\n
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.
Edi Surya Negara, A N Hidyanto, Ria Andryani, Deni Erlansyah
Abstract The development of Blockchain and Smart Contract technology provides significant changes in the form of solutions to social technology problems, such as the problem of document forgery on e-government services. In its implementation of government services, there are several challenges faced, such as social technology problems, blockchain mechanisms, virtual machines, and smart contract code levels, and automation of disintermediation. This paper summarizes and discusses the methodology and research results from various recent papers on the state of the use of smart contracts in e-government services and the weaknesses and potential problems in the use of e-government services.
Kripto paralar, teknolojideki ilerlemeler ile birlikte ilk ortaya çıktığı günden itibaren hızlı bir şekilde gelişme göstererek işlem görmeye başlamıştır. Matematiksel algoritmalar kullanılarak özel şifreleme mekanizmalarıyla blok zincir (blockchain) olarak adlandırılan sistemler ile üretilen kripto paralar içinde Bitcoin, en yüksek piyasa değerine ve işlem hacmine sahip sanal paradır. Zamanla Bitcoin’e alternatif birçok sanal para da bu sistem içinde yer almaya başlamıştır. Bu çalışmada, son dönemde diğer yatırım araçlarına alternatif olarak görülen kripto paralardan piyasa değeri olarak ilk 30 içinde yer alan ve ilgili dönemde verisine ulaşılabilen 13 kripto para kullanılmıştır. Pozitif ve negatif şokların yaşandığı kazandıran ve kaybettiren dönemlerde bu paralar arasındaki ilişki, Hatemi-J asimetrik nedensellik testiyle incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin cash, Litecoin, Eos, Binance coin, Stellar, Monero, Dash, Ethereum classic, Neo ve Zcash kripto paralarının 26.7.2017-27.2.2020 tarihleri arasındaki günlük kapanış fiyatları verileri kullanılmıştır. Yapılan analiz sonucunda özellikle kazandıran dönemlerde kişilerin yatırım araçlarını çeşitlendirebildiği; kaybettiren dönemlerde ise daha az riskli olarak görülen kripto paralara yatırım yaptığı gözlenmiştir. Negatif şok dönemlerinde en çok tercih edilen kripto para Ripple, Binance coin, Bitcoin cash ve Monero iken; pozitif şok dönemlerinde Bitcoin, Ripple, Binance coin, Dash ve Bitcoin cash’dir.
The development of the digital era is increasingly widespread, encouraging changes in the payment system that provides services that facilitate economic activity. This also affects the economic behavior of the community. For example, the emergence of crypto currency or cryptocurrency as a digital currency, has almost the same function as other currencies. The difference is, crypto currencies do not have a physical form like fiat currency but in the form of blocks of data bound by hashes as validation. Despite providing a number of advantages for its users, the existence of cryptocurrency in Indonesia is still subject to debate both in terms of regulation and legality, especially from the perspective of Islamic sharia for its use. This article is conducted to review cryptocurrencies that are widely used in transactions, especially investments from the perspective of Islamic law. This research is a qualitative literature review. The data analysis technique in this study is descriptive-analytical with a normative juridical approach to Islamic law. Based on a number of references cited in this study, it is known that investing with cryptocurrency has a very high risk because its value can rise or fall derastically and predictably.
Iakovos Pittaras, Nikos Fotiou, Vasilios A. Siris, George C. Polyzos
We explore the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), such as blockchains, in mobile gaming, focusing on ecosystem expansion and diversification, customer attraction and retention, exploitation of context sensitive and personalized advertisements, and improved monetization of in-game assets. We evaluate the cost and transaction delay of DLTs in a location-based mobile game ecosystem using two types of blockchains (permissioned and permissionless or public), based on defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Our evaluation shows the advantages of using both types of blockchains as well as interledger technologies that combine them. Permissioned blockchains enable high performance, e.g., in terms of throughput and delay, and low cost, while permissionless (public) blockchains, through their transparency, immutability, and openness, support trust and facilitate interactions among unrelated parties. Finally, we show that the combination of IoT devices and DLTs in mobile gaming offers new business opportunities and enables innovative business models for both traditional mobile gaming companies and other participants in the ecosystem, e.g., game players, cafes, malls, and similar establishments, advertising companies, and independent programmers.
In order to realize the application research of blockchain technology in the field of green credit investigation, the current paper adopts the method of a blockchain hierarchical model to study the rural green credit. With regard to the realm of rural green credit investigation, this paper sorts out the characteristics of credit data in China’s countryside by countryside credit investigation and determines the major problems and in rural green credit investigation of financial inclusion. Subsequently, the authors put forward a blockchain hierarchical model, which not only has reinforced the advantages in original blockchain dedicated to agriculture, rural areas and rural residents, such as traceability and immutability, but also has transformed the decentralization into disintermediation and changed the single-layered P2P network into a multilayered structure based on China’s rural financial environment. Finally, the authors collect and extract the proper credit investigation data on the rural internet to assess the application value of the model by investigating its practical applicability in reality and problems that may occur during the application of the model. Results show that private credit information has an important impact on the prediction accuracy, and the blockchain hierarchical model is helpful to ensure the reliability and security of rural green credit data.
Blockchain projects have been developed to extend the reach of distributed ledger technology (DLT) beyond cryptocurrency to achieve “good” in the world. Such projects may make a claim for moral, ethical, and responsible intent, but many researchers have not critically examined what good means in context. The concept of good has been debated for centuries and whilst we will not conclude the argument, we should engage in the discourse. We propose the idea that exploration across micro, meso, and macro levels of value creating ecosystems is needed. The implications, both practical and theoretical, of the use of blockchain for good require analysis. As the ambition for blockchain innovations to transform society for the better becomes practical reality, understanding of such change will come from transdisciplinary researchers able to bridge knowledge of social and technical systems.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy management is one of the most viable solutions to incentivize prosumers in renewable energy microgrids. As the application of blockchain expends from the finance field to energy field, blockchain technology provides a new opportunity for distributed energy systems. However, a distributed energy system based on blockchains allows any node in the whole network to read data. In many application scenarios, user privacy cannot be effectively protected, and there is a security problem that the attack cannot be traced. In this paper, we propose an energy management mode based on a permissioned blockchain for a renewable energy microgrid. The novel permissioned blockchain framework uses entity mapping with a unique identity for each enterprise, natural person, or device, in order to avoid ineligible participants to join the microgrid. Each peer entity keeps the transaction information index of the whole network, but only keeps its own specific transaction information, so they can retrieve the transaction information of other peer entities but cannot obtain the details without permission. Moreover, this model could avoid communication delays and promote plug-and-play due to the distributed nature of the permissioned blockchain. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated with a demonstration program which is designed and deployed on a Hyperledger Fabric permissioned blockchain. Simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed method, and the model is conducive to the protection privacy and P2P energy management for decentralized energy systems.
Jan Kalbantner, Konstantinos Markantonakis, Darren Hurley-Smith, Raja Naeem Akram · 5 authors
Current Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy market models raise serious concerns regarding the confidentiality and integrity of energy consumption, trading and billing data. While Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) systems (e.g., blockchain) have been proposed to enhance security, an attacker could damage other parts of the model, such as its infrastructure: an adversarial attacker could target the communication between entities by, e.g., eavesdropping or modifying data. The main goal of this paper is to propose a model for a decentralised P2P marketplace for trading energy, which addresses the problem of developing security and privacy-aware environments. Additionally, a Multi-Agent System (MAS) architecture is presented with a focus on security and sustainability. In order to propose a solution to DLT’s scalability issues (i.e., through transaction confirmation delays), off-chain state channels are considered for the energy negotiation and resolution processes. Additionally, a STRIDE (spoofing, tampering, repudiation, information disclosure, denial of service, elevation of privilege) security analysis is conducted within the context of the proposed model to identify potential vulnerabilities.
Sam M. Werner, Daniel Pérez, Lewis Gudgeon, Ariah Klages‐Mundt · 6 authors
Decentralized Finance (DeFi), a blockchain powered peer-to-peer financial system, is mushrooming. Two years ago the total value locked in DeFi systems was approximately 700m USD, now, as of April 2022, it stands at around 150bn USD. The frenetic evolution of the ecosystem has created challenges in understanding the basic principles of these systems and their security risks. In this Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) we delineate the DeFi ecosystem along the following axes: its primitives, its operational protocol types and its security. We provide a distinction between technical security, which has a healthy literature, and economic security, which is largely unexplored, connecting the latter with new models and thereby synthesizing insights from computer science, economics and finance. Finally, we outline the open research challenges in the ecosystem across these security types.
Sabah Mohammed, Jinan Fiaidhi, Carlos Ramos, Tai-hoon Kim · 6 authors
As blockchain technology is becoming a driving force in the global economy, it is also gaining critical acclaim in the e-commerce industry. Both the blockchain and e-commerce are inseparable as they involve transactions. Blockchain protect transactions and e-commerce activities rely on them. Blockchain technology enables a decentralized marketplace to support important business activities like secure payments, managing the supply chain and reducing the fraud to mention few. In this special issue editorial we are introducing 11 research articles in this hot area of research that were selected by our reviewers from over than 250 submissions. As blockchain technology is becoming a driving force in the global economy, it is also gaining critical acclaim in the e-commerce industry. Both the blockchain and e-commerce are inseparable as they involve transactions. Blockchain protect transactions and e-commerce activities rely on them. Blockchain technology enables a decentralized marketplace to support important business activities like secure payments, managing the supply chain and reducing the fraud to mention few. In this special issue editorial we are introducing 11 research articles in this hot area of research that were selected by our reviewers from over than 250 submissions.
Blockchain technologies are at the heart of digital innovation and are a harbinger of Industry 4.0. Consequently, popular press and academic researchers alike have focused on its importance. Yet blockchain technologies’ most promising efforts, cryptocurrency and smart contracts, are underpinned by blockchain mining. The blockchain mining service is undergoing change, cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and others are nearing the end of their minting. Smart contracts are in their infancy. The financial impetus for providing the mining service has changed. Here, we add to the literature through a deep financial analysis of blockchain mining regarding its long-term financial viability. Our methods include a financial cost analysis and an analysis of the financial viability of cryptocurrency through focus on Ethereum. It is found that blockchain miners, despite initial profitability, cannot maintain sustainable financial viability without substantial fees. This article is important to those academics who focus on understanding how service technologies and products underpin Industry 4.0. Finally, this article contributes to the practitioners’ decision-making process to embrace blockchain mining as a technological entrepreneur.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency spread in peer-to-peer network all over the world. This network has a big accounting book called Blockchain which can be accessed by public. This article is doctrinal legal research with conceptual research. This article reviews digital money based on Jalbu Masalah wa Dar al-Mafasid accompanied by the implication of Saddu az-Zari’ah. The results show that Islamic law acknowledges the currency issued by the government. The existence of a country is a form of protection to the money owners from the acts of fraud in finance. Bitcoin and digital money are not included in the criteria mentioned in Islamic economy law because of it contains obscurity (jahalah), high speculation element, and can harm individual as well as the country. Bitcoin has no clear source, authentic balance, and it only has moral assurance.Mata uang kripto adalah mata uang digital yang tersebar dalam jaringan peer-to-peer di seluruh dunia. Jaringan ini memiliki sebuah buku akuntansi besar bernama Blockchain yang dapat diakses oleh publik. Artikel ini merupakan penelitian hukum doctrinal dengan pendekatan konseptual. Artikel ini melakukan kajian terhadap uang digital berdasarkan Jalbu Masalah wa Dar al-Mafasid sertai implikasi Saddu az-Zari’ah. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa hukum Islam mengakui keberadaan mata uang yang dicetak oleh pemerintah. Keberadaan negara merupakan wujud perlindungan kepada pemilik uang dari tindakan penipuan dan kecurangan dalam bidang finansial. Bitcoin dan uang digital tidak termasuk dalam kriteria yang disebutkan dalam hukum ekonomi Islam. Karena mengandung ketidakjelasan (jahalah), unsur spekulasi yang tinggi serta dapat merugikan individu dan negara. Bitcoin ini tidak mempunyai sumber yang jelas, saldo yang hakiki, dan hanya ada jaminan secara moril.
Hendrik Amler, Lisa Eckey, Sebastian Faust, Marcel Kaiser · 6 authors
The decentralized and trustless nature of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology leads to a shift in the digital world. The possibility to execute small programs, called smart contracts, on cryptocurrencies like Ethereum opened doors to countless new applications. One particular exciting use case is decentralized finance (DeFi), which aims to revolutionize traditional financial services by founding them on a decentralized infrastructure. We show the potential of DeFi by analyzing its advantages compared to traditional finance. Additionally, we survey the state-of-the-art of DeFi products and categorize existing services. Since DeFi is still in its infancy, there are countless hurdles for mass adoption. We discuss the most prominent challenges and point out possible solutions. Finally, we analyze the economics behind DeFi products. By carefully analyzing the state-of-the-art and discussing current challenges, we give a perspective on how the DeFi space might develop in the near future.
1. IntroductionThanks to technological advances, new forms of electronic currency are now possible and already available. In particular, distributed ledger-based digital “blockchain” technology now offers a secure transaction-oriented system free from censorship and control by central government powers. This technology, invented by a pseudonymous figure (or team) “Satoshi
Among the hot research topics, Fintech is leading the trend in terms of the newest technology applications. The relatively new emerging paradigms in various sciences, such as geometry (fractals), physics (quantum), and database systems (distributed ledger—blockchain), seem to potentially contribute to a greater shift in the framework of the finance industry, bringing also some concerns (cyber-threats). Consistent and extensive investigation of the reasonable potential impact of these new models (and their underlying technologies) is performed, and then tested through a SWOT analysis, as the main objective of this research. Threats and opportunities are always intrinsically driven by the introduction of technological advancements (revolutions). This research confirms that information availability and the increasing interconnection of crosswise applications of each discovery to the different fields of science is determining the rapid succession of revolutions identified by evident large shifts in economic paradigms. The growing computing capacity and the development of increasingly powerful predictive software are leading to a competitive, extremely dynamic, and challenging system. In this context, as shown by history, there is a high possibility of market concentration in which, however, only a few corporations—digital giants—can afford to develop these technologies, consolidating their dominance.
This article presents a survey of broad-based stakeholder-ownership models for journalism. The models considered are forms of ownership by employees, associations, audiences, and blends of these. Some of the examples are so new that they have not been, and cannot yet be, comprehensively studied. Yet they bear unique promise for addressing the dual challenges of economic sustainability and perceived accountability that bedevil news media today. Such promise, however, does not guarantee success. While broad-based stakeholder ownership in the news business shows capacity for public accountability, as well as some promise for business sustainability, it is ill-equipped to compete in markets organized to favor investor-owners with far greater capital access. Such ownership models, therefore, will likely require additional policy support to gain and maintain significant market share.