The four essays contained herein this study focus on recently emerged questions in the field of Financial Technology (FinTech). This new finance domain has a growing importance in the finance discipline, policy, and practice. The FinTech is the common theme, while the thesis is organised to investigate the open questions separately in the essays. The first essay assesses the required human capital in FinTech. Recent technological developments have enabled a wide array of new applications in financial markets, e.g. big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, and robo-advising, inter alia. While traditionally comprising of computer programs and other technology used to support or enable banking and financial services, the new FinTech is often seen as enabling transformation of the financial industry. A more moderate and critical view suggests that for the full transformative potential of FinTech to be enabled, there is a need for an updated educational curriculum that balances knowledge and understanding of finance and technology. A curriculum that provides a skill portfolio in these two core components and complements them with applied knowledge. This essay also makes an inquiry into the educational curriculum in finance and technology, aiming to inform this modern educational agenda, and into the skills shortages, as identified by firms and experts with examining some of the first educational programmes in FinTech. The second essay investigates the relationship between financial literacy and attitudes to cryptocurrencies, using microdata from 15 countries. The financial literacy proxy exerts a large negative effect on the probability of currently owning cryptocurrencies. The financially literate are also more likely to be aware of cryptocurrencies, and less to own them due to their price volatility. In addition, data from a second survey of retail investors in three Asian countries is used to externally validify the financial literacy proxy and findings. I show that the relationship between financial literacy and attitudes to cryptocurrencies is moderated by a different perception of the financial risk involved in cryptocurrencies versus traditional investments by the more financially literate. The findings shed light on the demand for cryptocurrencies among the general population and suggest has been largely driven by unsophisticated investors. The third and fourth essays are closer in their empirical investigation of asset price timeseries data. In the third essay, I assess the bitcoin futures introduction into the retail investor driven marketplace. Bitcoin futures were introduced in December 2017 as an effort to provide institutional and retail investors with additional trading tools for bitcoin. This study analyses the bitcoin Futures mid-quote data from CBOE, and Bitcoin market index applying VAR and VECM process methodologies, Hasbrouck’s information share and the Gonzalo-Granger component share measurement to examine price discovery in bitcoin markets. The results drawn on the intra-day prices show that the futures are leading the price discovery at different frequencies even with comparably low futures trading volumes. The empirical results support the extant literature of futures-spot market price discovery and the role of informed traders in the futures market. Finally, the fourth essay attempts to evidence the network externalities on digital assets using exchange-listed Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) data. Utilising an online database comprising of self-reported ICO characteristics, measures of post-ICO performance, along with information on business social networks, higher fundraising figures are found to contribute positively to the ICO long-term success. This positive impact is multiplied by six times when fundraising is conducted to an existing, proprietary blockchain. This large impact is explained by the network effect. The modified information ratio measure is introduced to approximate the comparative quality signalling of ICO organisations using price timeseries and benchmarking these to already functioning blockchain technology, e.g. ethereum in the long-term. The ICO sample’s mean trading period on an exchange is 1.5 years and is used for long-period asset analysis. Additionally, the cointegration to the market technology benchmark is found to have a large, significant negative effect on long-term ICO organisational success as this indicates lower ICO intrinsic value. The final concluding chapter summarises the thesis contribution, implications and a selection of future research avenues relating to FinTech research sub-field.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a two-pronged effect -health and economy. Economies worldwide have been impacted and forced to shut during the lockdowns. In India, SMEs had already been struggling to stay afloat due to absence of financing, creating an inadequate cash flow. With frequent lockdowns, the situation has worsened, making bank loan applications difficult. This paper explores P2P lending in the context of micro-loans using a blockchain-powered solution to provide the necessary funds in a quick, easy, secure and contactless manner. As part of our Proof-of-Concept, a peer-to-peer decentralized Web Application is setup, utilizing the services of the Ethereum blockchain.
This article considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on African capital markets. It highlights the challenges and examines the opportunities presented by the crisis. Looking particularly at automation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain, it considers the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies to African capital markets, which is capable of addressing some of the critical challenges of capital markets in Africa. It then considers the challenges and opportunities of adopting these technologies and the role that Regulatory Technology (RegTech) - a subset of Financial Technology (FinTech) - can play in the application of these technologies in Africa. In light of the recent commencement of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, it discusses the significant role of regional cooperation in building thriving capital markets in Africa. It concludes by making some recommendations for building future capital markets in Africa which would be pivotal in driving economic growth across the region post the Covid-19 crisis.
Blockchain is one of the most promising technological innovations of recent times, with the potential to change the very way information systems are used by the accounting function. It is however expected to be disruptive and yet to see high adoption rates. Identification of factors influencing the adoption is required to empower the accounting fraternity to harness the full potential of blockchains. This study is one of the first to inductively explore and develop an adoption model for blockchains as well as for accounting applications with theoretical groundings in the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, which has been extended with a variable for trust. Triangulation of methods and data sources used in this study contributed to the depth of research and understanding. A comprehensive literature review was first conducted. Its results were further enhanced using the encoding methodology, based on which influencing factors were identified and a model for adoption was developed. A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken next on twelve organizations at the cusp of adoption for accounting applications. Eight significant factors influencing the adoption thus identified are: relative advantage, uncertainty, top management support, technology readiness, industry, regulatory environment, competitive pressure and trust. The study contributes to revealing the relevance of blockchain to accounting while highlighting potential disruptions to enable better evaluation of the technology for adoption. The results may have limited generalizability, which may be overcome through a quantitative study in the future.
According to the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy until 2025, one of the goals of mutually beneficial cooperation between the BRICS member states is to overcome the digital gap and obtain common benefits from digitalization, taking into account the different levels of digital development of the member states. Spreading the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies is of a special interest in the process of digital transformation of the economy, both at the state and global levels. Authors carried out a comparative legal analysis of the legal regulation of cryptocurrencies in the BRICS member states considering the relevance of the need to exchange experience and study approaches to regulating the digital transformation of the economies of the BRICS member states as one of the tasks of BRICS cooperation in the sphere of digital transformation. The subject of the research is the legal status of cryptocurrency as a digital asset, which does not provide its owner with any rights of claim in relation to other objects of civil rights. The authors analyze the current legal regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia and offer recommendations for its development based on the experience studied.
We present a prototype decentralized transactional platform designed to improve the transparency of homeless serving organizations and facilitate their accountability and oversight. In the proposed system, the complete history of transactions between organizations offering homelessness services (e.g., shelters, transitional housing) and individuals seeking such services is stored in a distributed ledger. Using smart contracts, the proposed tamper-proof framework can automate the exchange of information between clients, organizations and government agencies, and allow government agencies audit organizations without violating the privacy of homeless individuals. We begin by describing the goals and concepts, the stakeholders’ requirements and the corresponding desirable system properties, and identified challenges. We continue with an in-depth description of the overall architecture of the proposed system designed to achieve these goals, and lessons learned towards transitioning this system to the real-world.
Blockchain or distributed ledger technology emerged over ten years ago as the underlying technology of bitcoin. Blockchain is a special kind of database with individual records or blocks linked together in a sequential list called chain of blocks. These records are validated by multiple nodes in peer-to-peer networks and they are immutable. It is a decentralized system, with no need for intermediaries where all decisions are made using different consensus mechanisms. High expectations from blockchain technology, combined with a lack of deeper knowledge about the technology are expressed in the results from the survey conducted on a sample of Croatian C-level and middle managers from various industries. The results appear to indicate that Croatian business leaders perceive that we are still in the early phase of adoption with management expecting some disruption in the future but expecting it to occur mostly in the information technology and financial industry.
Jan 1, 2021·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Muhammad Saleem Malik, Mehmood Chadhar, Madhu Chetty
Blockchain Technology (BCT) is a novel innovation that has the potential to transform entire sectors, for instance, supply chain, energy, finance, and healthcare. However, despite the potential and the wide range of benefits reported, organizational adoption of BCT is low in several countries including Australia. Some studies investigated the adoption of BCT in different countries, however, there is a lack of research that examines the organizational adoption of BCT in Australia. This study fills this gap by exploring the factors, which influence BCT adoption among Australian organizations. To achieve this, we used an interpretative qualitative research approach based on the Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) framework and the Institutional Theory. The findings show that organizational adoption of BCT in Australia is influenced by perceived novelty, complexity, cost, and disintermediation feature of BCT; top management knowledge and support; government support, customer pressure, trading partner readiness, and consensus among trading partners.
Розглядається процес безпечного укладання договорів соціального страхування від нещасних випадків на виробництві та професійних захворювань, який полягає у надійному укладанні і веденні договорів за допомогою технології смарт-контрактів.
Abstract: The development of information and communication technologies has undergone rapid changes because of which many activities are integrated online and have become more pliable and effectual. With the tremendous growth of online user’s, the concept of virtual word has been activated and have generated a new business occurrence to assist the monetary activities such as purchasing, trading and selling of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency constitutes precious and impalpable items that are to be electronically used in various implementations and system such as digital social system and digital worlds. This paper enlightens the readers on how cryptocurrency is functioned. It also lets the readers gain confidence in dealing with cryptocurrency by informing them that the use of such kind of digital money is not entirely authorized. Anyway, this paper aims in guiding the readers about the escalation of cryptocurrency to view it more vividly and practically. This paper also analyses ways of regulations & legislations towards cryptocurrencies and other things like merits, demerits, and criticisms attached to it so that a clear picture can be developed of its impact on various laws to regulate.
Cryptocurrencies claim to be the future of money and payments, the lifelines of any business. An informed evaluation requires understanding both the economics and the computer science behind the technology. Designed for an MBA elective on money and banking, this technical note guides students through the building blocks of cryptocurrencies using the one that launched them all: Bitcoin. To provide a logically consistent framework for interpreting future innovations, the technical note digs deeper into the technological ingredients of Bitcoin than is typical in economics, while also connecting the technology back to a core set of economic principles, all in an accessible way. Excerpt UVA-GEM-0190 Rev. Jan. 26, 2022 The Economics of Cryptocurrency May 2021 was a rough month for cryptocurrencies. In a matter of weeks, Bitcoin—the oldest and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—lost over one-third of its value relative to the US dollar. The next-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, fell nearly 40%, while Litecoin, colloquially known as the silver to Bitcoin's gold, lost over half of its value. The optimist may point out that Bitcoin was still worth more than it had been at the beginning of the year (Exhibit 1), but that would be small comfort to anyone who had traded USdollars for Bitcoins just prior to the crash. Volatility has long been a hallmark of the cryptocurrency market. Exhibit 2 compares volatility in the USdollar price of Bitcoin to volatility in the US dollar prices of gold, the euro, and the Brazilian real, and volatility in the S&P 500 Index. Gold is a commodity, the euro and the real are currencies, and the S&P 500 is a common target for index investing. Bitcoin is far and away the most volatile. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has vowed never to own any cryptocurrencies and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey recently quipped, “Buy them only if you're prepared to lose all your money.” Perhaps the surprise isn't that Bitcoin dropped so precipitously in May 2021, but rather that it still has a market capitalization above USD500 billion. To make sense of where we've been, where we are, and where we might be going, we need to take a deep dive into the economics of cryptocurrencies. . . .
This paper focuses on using blockchain technology to enhance efficiency and cost reduction in foreign transactions through the banking system. Blockchain provides crucial features such as immutability of records and decentralization, which is then used to carry out foreign transactions. This process could be a major change in the transactions carried out by removing middle banks during transactions thereby speeding up the process. This paper aims at designing an Ethereum decentralized Banking Application for foreign money transfer using blockchain technology. Smart Contract helps to eliminate middle banks in the process by acting on rules specified in the contract. Every participant needs to abide by these rules which make it trustworthy and maintain the authenticity of the process.
Blockchain technology has emerged as a powerful solution for improving the security, transparency, and efficiency of financial transactions. Unlike traditional financial systems that depend on centralized intermediaries, blockchain uses decentralized distributed ledgers, cryptographic security, consensus mechanisms, and immutable records to ensure trust and data integrity. This study examines the role of blockchain in securing financial transactions and explores its core components, including distributed ledgers, cryptographic hashing, consensus protocols, smart contracts, and decentralized networks. The research analyzes how blockchain mitigates security threats such as fraud, double spending, identity theft, unauthorized access, and transaction tampering. It also investigates applications in digital payments, cross-border remittances, banking, trade finance, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized finance (DeFi). A blockchain-enabled financial transaction framework is proposed and evaluated using metrics such as security, transparency, scalability, efficiency, and fraud prevention. The findings indicate that blockchain significantly enhances transaction security and transparency while reducing costs and processing times. Although challenges such as scalability, regulatory issues, interoperability, and energy consumption remain, blockchain demonstrates strong potential to transform modern financial systems and support the development of secure, efficient, and decentralized financial ecosystems.
We analyze the social welfare effect when a policy-based financial system (PFS) enters a decentralized financial market. Particularly, the PFS in this case supports the interest spread for corporate loans held by firms with heterogeneous bankruptcy decisions under an imperfect information structure. Although support for capital costs through the PFS expands the economy consistently, the optimal level of PFS out of the corporate loan market is estimated to be 8.6% by a simulation model considering social welfare adjusted by the disutility of labor. This result is much lower than the recent level of PFS in the Korean financial sector.
Abdullah Omar Abdul Kareem Alassaf, Fakhrul Hazman Yusoff
Trust and transparency are significant facets that are much esteemed by charitable organizations in achieving their mission and encouraging donations from the public. However, after many high-profile scandals, the faith in charities is questionable, heralding the need for an increased level of transparency among such organizations. Fortunately, leveraging Blockchain technology in charities’ systems could help to rebuild the integrity of these organizations. This study aims to raise the level of integrity showcased by charities by creating a multi-point fundraising approach using smart contracts. The proposed system offers a transparent fundraising platform through its integration of charity organization evaluators. Various steps were deployed to satisfy the intended target. Firstly, the study investigated the potentials of Blockchain in improving the level of transparency. Secondly, a probing process was undertaken to choose a suitable platform as a server-side in the system. This process involved garnering salient features in Blockchain platforms based on the proposed system requirements. After the probing process, a Decision Support System (DSS) was utilized to investigate the most suitable Blockchain platform. Results garnered proved that the Ethereum platform is best for the proposed system.