Jan 1, 2021·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Julia Eggers, Andreas Hein, Jörg Weking, Markus Böhm · 5 authors
While business process automation through information technology has progressed over the last decades, smart contracts have recently emerged as a promising new means of automation. However, in practice, the adoption of smart contract-based automation is in its infancy, raising the question if the technology genuinely offers a unique approach to process automation. Drawing on an exploratory case study of four start-ups, we investigate the potentials for automation that organizations achieve through smart contracts and how smart contracts differ from established automation technologies, such as workflow management systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and robotic process automation. We contribute to the literature on process automation by unveiling transparent and immutable, cross-organizational, and decentralized automation as characteristics that differentiate smart contracts from established automation technologies. Besides, we provide practitioners with an understanding of application scenarios, potentials, and drawbacks of smart contracts for process automation.
Venture capital (VC) models can be optimized with emerging decentralized technology. There are many disadvantages that come with traditional VC fundraising including illiquidity and ownership struggles, as well as timing. This paper will discuss alternative funding mechanisms that may be available and advantageous to emerging businesses. After discussing the shortcomings of the existing VC market and the rise of alternative early round funding mechanisms, the paper highlights the evolution of VC businesses that are operated by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). More specifically, models discussed in this article contribute to the much-needed experimentation with venture capital reputation models.
Christian Catalini, Alonso de Gortari, Nihar B. Shah
Stablecoins have the potential to drastically increase competition and innovation in financial services by reducing our reliance on traditional intermediaries. But they also introduce new challenges, as regulators rely on intermediaries to ensure financial stability, market integrity, and consumer protection. Because they operate at the interface between traditional banking and cryptocurrencies, stablecoins also represent an ideal setting for understanding the key trade-offs cryptocurrencies involve, and insights from robust stablecoin design and regulation are highly relevant for related innovations in decentralized finance (DeFi), nonfungible tokens, and Web3 protocols. In this review, we describe the following: key stablecoin design choices, from reserve composition to stability mechanism; legal claim against the issuer; noninterference with macroeconomic stability; and interoperability with public sector payment rails and central bank digital currencies. Last, we cover the key benefits of stablecoins in the context of real-time, low-cost programmable payments, financial inclusion, and DeFi.
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.
Smart contracts are simply self-activated contracts between two parties. The idea behind their implementation relies on the concept of blockchain, wherein the details and execution of the contract are turned into code and distributed among users of a network. This process controls counterfeiting and money laundering by its ability to trace who owes whom. It also boosts the general economy. This research paper shows how smart contracts in modern-day systems have changed the approach to money tracing. We present case studies about the uses of smart contracts with high levels of security and privacy. As a building block of smart contracts, a brief description of blockchain is provided in an introduction. Among other cryptography methods and techniques, the usage of hashing and hash functions in blockchain security are also explained. We also explore the real-time applications of blockchain and smart contract techniques in real estate. The main advantage of this research paper is that it discusses a state-of-the-art subject, as most of the articles referenced in this paper are from 2018 and onward.
Haya R. Hasan, Khaled Salah, Raja Jayaraman, Ibrar Yaqoob · 6 authors
Telehealth has gained a huge traction during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Telehealth enables physicians and medical care providers to remotely care for patients and monitor their symptoms. Today’s telehealth systems fall short in providing transparent, immutable, traceable, auditable, secure, and trustworthy services. In addition, they are centralized and subject to the single point of control and failure. In this paper, we propose a private blockchain-based solution to overcome the aforementioned challenges. We demonstrate how specifically three important telehealth services; namely, teleconsultation, drug administration, and medical testing can be enhanced using blockchain technology. Our proposed solution also ensures integrity, immutability, accountability, and non-repudiation for telehealth transactions initiated by multiple actors. For storing and keeping track of large-size digital content, such as images and audio and video recordings of telehealth service sessions, our proposed solution is integrated with off-chain storage systems including cloud storage or a decentralized storage system as that of the Interplanetary File System (IPFS). The registered participants are provided with access privileges based on their roles to ensure that restrictions are enforced on-chain. Smart contracts are developed to maintain data provenance and generate reliable alerts and notifications. The implementation and testing details of the algorithms are presented. We discuss, compare, and analyze the security features of our solution.
In enhancing the role of innovative techniques which involve the use of distributed ledger technology platforms, consequences or implications of such techniques could initially focus on more obvious risks – such as those risks associated with financial stability, inadequate governance and control mechanisms in place, or cybercrime. However, consideration of climate risk related factors have increasingly made the aim of focus towards a sustainable future, a more popular and increasingly justified topic.
In a recent report by the European Environmental Agency, it was highlighted that “ in comparison with alternative payment methods, Bitcoin was claimed to be 20,000 times more energy intensive than Visa – with an energy consumption for each Bitcoin transaction increasing to 635 kWh – an equivalent of electricity that could power approximately 21 US households for 1 day, based on 2019 estimates according to some analysts.”
However there are also potential benefits to be derived from blockchain technology - one of which includes environmental protection, as further highlighted in the report. Notwithstanding, efforts and endeavors will still be required to address climate related impacts of engaging the use of such technologies.
This paper will focus on other risks – as well as benefits to be derived through the use of innovative techniques such as smart contracts and decentralized finance in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. It will also highlight why central bankers and financial regulation have to adapt and evolve rapidly in engaging the use of supervisory techniques which will not only enhance the efficiency of the use of such innovative techniques but also facilitate an adequate and well balanced approached to regulation – one which whilst not overly regulating technology, seeks to ensure that the abuse or misuse of such technologies are appropriately regulated.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is very popular in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications as it provides a decentralized governance solution through blockchain. We analyze the governance characteristics in the Maker protocol, its stablecoin DAI and governance token Maker (MKR). To achieve that, we establish several measurements of centralized governance. Our empirical analysis investigates the effect of centralized governance over a series of factors related to MKR and DAI, such as financial, transaction, network and twitter sentiment indicators. Our results show that governance centralization influences both the Maker protocol, and the distribution of voting power matters. The main implication of this study is that centralized governance in MakerDAO very much exists, while DeFi investors face a trade-off between decentralization and performance of a DeFi protocol. This further contributes to the contemporary debate on whether DeFi can be truly decentralized.
Decentralized finance is a decentralized network based on smart contracts of blockchain technology and specific decentralized applications (DAPPS). It not only can enhance users' information privacy and transaction equity, but also has incomparable advantages in protecting asset security, reducing financial cost and de-trust. The opportunities of decentralized financial development include: Solving the problem of information asymmetry in traditional financial transactions; Providing safe and convenient asset management and inclusive finance; Promoting the formation of broader global financial services. In order to better promote decentralized finance development, we need to actively follow and embrace its progress trend; Establish "weakly centralized" structure based on Consortium Blockchain; Strengthen international coordination and cooperation of RMB; Improve the regulatory systems and relevant laws and regulations.
During the global financial crisis in 2008, trust in established financial intermediaries declined sharply. In reaction, blockchain technology was developed as an alternative system to facilitate financial transactions devoid of intermediaries. The application of blockchain in the financial sector brought a new paradigm called Decentralized Finance. Employing a modified technology acceptance model, our study aims at examining the relationship of distrust in financial intermediaries and consumer’s behavioral intention to use Decentralized Finance. Even though this relationship is well-documented regarding the motivation of the development of blockchain technology, as well as in cases of unstable financial systems, empirical data from our survey research does not support this relationship in the context of consumer adoption. Our study contributes to the theory on the foundations of DeFi and the impact of blockchain technology, which must be revised by future research. Further, we propose a trust paradox in the financial sector.
While decentralized finance is one of the latest buzzword in the FinTech space, this paper argues that the reality is a phenomenon we call “Fake-DeFi”, that is a decentralized application in which innovators or service providers hold governance rights, or the technical equivalent of governance rights, which would they could modify the fundamentals of the whole network. The reason for Fake-DeFi are partly legal and regulatory, but for the main part Fake-DeFi is inherent in the market logic: innovators want to capitalize on their inventions. Making profits in a fully decentralized network is incredibly difficult. Hence, innovators turn to the less difficult alternative to create only partially centralized networks and services over which they hold various degrees of control. Fake-DeFi will remain the eminent business model even if law and regulation would provide legal and regulatory certainty and smooth supervision for a cross-border fully decentralized network. Fake-DeFi asks for a regulatory response. Regulators facing Fake-DeFi as wide-spread phenomenon are encouraged to review laws and regulations relating to governance rights and modes of control. The former includes, but is not limited to, rules on major shareholders and beneficial ownership relating to regulated intermediaries, fitness and properness of key personal, organizational and prudential requirements of dominant shareholders, as well as the definition of financial services groups.
The invention of the Internet has paved the way for a new world of opportunities in life, including finance. Even with the presence of this invention, the traditional financial system has failed to meet expectations set up by other technological advancements. In today’s world, almost everyone has access to the Internet, yet not all of them have bank accounts. According to a recent report from the World Bank Group, approximately 1.7 billion people worldwide still do not have any access to banks whatsoever. Although the Internet has helped transfer information from one part of the world to another within milliseconds, time and spending are still needed when it comes to financial assets. In the last few years, a growing trend toward decentralization in the financial system has been stimulated by blockchain and technological innovation. Satoshi and his unique invention, Bitcoin Blockchain, started to call for peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries or centralization of any kind. Six years later, the invention of another blockchain, Ethereum, came into existence and has become the backbone of promising decentralized finance (DeFi). This paper provides an overview of blockchain technology, discussing the DeFi ecosystem and its possibilities regarding financially including the unbanked and improving the current financial system.
With the adoption of blockchain technology, initiatives to provide financial, investment and insurance services to a wide range of users in a decentralized manner have emerged. But can decentralized finance be the alternative to the traditional financial system, or has it only created another "technology playground" for users who are biasedly enthusiastic about crypto-assets? The study examines the key definitions of decentralized finance and then synthesizes them to formulate a new, more complete definition. This is followed by a presentation of the different layers of decentralized finance and their prevalence, as well as an analysis of its benefits and risks. In the conclusions, the author finds that decentralized finance has the potential to provide financial services with an open, transparent and robust infrastructure, and has the possibility of reaching a broad range of users with its basic financial services. However, this requires further development of the sector and effective management of emerging risks.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an ecosystem of financial applications that are built on top of blockchain networks. DeFi aims to create an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial system that operates without any central authority. Instead, a smart contract—which is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between transacting parties written into lines of code—replaces financial institutions in the transaction. As a result, DeFi is available to everyone with reliable access to electricity and Internet connectivity. It also serves as a form of non-custodial finance since users maintain full control of their assets and transact through smart contract programs that facilitate peer-to-peer interactions. While DeFi presents huge opportunities, it also poses significant risks to traditional finance ecosystems, including the use of stablecoins and the absence of a know-your-customer framework. This essay argues that for DeFi to secure credibility, it needs to be adequately regulated in a way that aligns with how the technology works.
Smart contracts have been well‐received by researchers and practitioners for the unique features of automatic execution, transparency, and nontampering in a blockchain environment. However, little is known about the current development status of knowledge and practice regarding the application of smart contracts in various industries, especially from the procurement perspective. Thus, this paper aims to address the gap with a mixed method of bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review. Based on the evaluation of 174 filtered publications, the review has analyzed the current development status of this research area with its distributions in years and journals, cooperation networks between authors, institutions, and countries, keywords cooccurrence network, and classifications of the application of smart contracts. The results show the application of smart contracts has attracted global attention since 2016 with the Ethereum and Hyperledger fabric as the main platforms in various industries, especially in information communication technology (ICT), public management, supply chain, energy, finance, and healthcare. Various functions and benefits of smart contracts, as well as their potential advantages, have been identified and articulated from the procurement perspective. A research framework has also been developed to highlight future procurement needs in business operations across the industries via an integrated procurement approach of smart contracts.
Vimal Dwivedi, Alex Norta, Alexander J. Wulf, Benjamin Leiding · 6 authors
Blockchain- and smart-contract technology enhance the effectiveness and automation of business processes. The rising interest in the development of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) shows that blockchain technology has the potential to reform business and society. A DAO is an organization wherein business rules are encoded in smart-contract programs that are executed when specified rules are met. The contractual- and business semantics are sine qua non for drafting a legally-binding smart contract in DAO collaborations. Several smart-contract languages (SCLs) exist, such as SPESC, or Symboleo to specify a legally-binding contract. However, their primary focus is on designing and developing smart contracts with the cooperation of IT- and non-IT users. Therefore, this paper fills a gap in the state of the art by specifying a smart-legal-contract markup language (SLCML) for legal- and business constructs to draft a legally-binding DAO. To achieve the paper objective, we first present a formal SCL ontology to describe the legal- and business semantics of a DAO. Secondly, we translate the SCL ontology into SLCML, for which we present the XML schema definition. We demonstrate and evaluate our SLCML language through the specification of a real life-inspired Sale-of-Goods contract. Finally, the SLCML use-case code is translated into Solidity to demonstrate its feasibility for blockchain platform implementations.
The industrial and computing research context revolutionized in various directions during the last decades. The blockchain-based smart contract embraced as a significant research interest due to its distinguishing features such as decentralized storage of transactions, autonomous execution of contract codes, and decentralized establishment of the trust. Blockchain-based smart contracts can transform the working architecture of almost all industries towards elevated service standards. The use cases of blockchain based smart contracts range from industrial applications such as cryptocurrency systems towards logistics, agriculture, real estate, energy trading and so forth. The decentralization concept of blockchain is one of the biggest leaps in technology research since future computing got a super momentum towards the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing. A plethora of research is in progress to investigate the opportunities for the applicability of smart contracts and blockchain technologies to various industries. It is important to identify the technical aspects of blockchain-based smart contracts to further improve and sharpen the capabilities which they already owed. This survey is conducted to identify the significant technical aspects of blockchain-based smart contracts with the associated future research directions.
Purpose The present study sets out to examine the empirical literature on the behavioural aspects of cryptocurrencies, showing the findings of related studies and discussing the various results. A systematic literature review of cryptocurrencies in behavioural finance seems to be timely and particularly important in terms of providing a guide for future research. Key topics include an extent review on the issue of herding behaviour amongst cryptocurrencies, momentum effects and overreaction, contagion effect, sentiment and uncertainty, along with studies related to investment decision-making, optimism bias, disposition, lottery and size effects. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review. Findings A systematic literature review of cryptocurrencies in behavioural finance seems to be timely and particularly important in terms of providing a guide for future research. Key topics include an extent review on the issue of herding behaviour amongst cryptocurrencies, momentum effects and overreaction, contagion effect, sentiment (investor's, market's) and uncertainty, along with studies related to investment decision-making, optimism bias, disposition, lottery and size effect. Originality/value The authors' survey paper complements recent papers in the area by offering a systematic account on the influence of behavioural factors on cryptocurrencies. Further, this study's purpose is not just to index the relevant literature, but rather to showcase and pinpoint several research areas that have emerged in the field of behavioural cryptocurrency research. For all these reasons, a systematic literature review of cryptocurrencies in behavioural finance seems to be timely and particularly important.
Elon Musk, one of the richest individuals in the world, is considered a technological visionary and has a social network of over 69 million followers on social media platform Twitter. He regularly uses his social media presence to communicate on various topics, one of which is cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Dogecoin. Using an event study approach, we analyze to what extent Musk’s Twitter activity affects short-term cryptocurrency returns and volume. In other words, we investigate whether cryptocurrency markets exhibit a “Musk Effect”. Based on a sample of 47 cryptocurrency-related Twitter events, we identify significant positive abnormal returns and trading volume following such events. However, we discover that on average, price effects are only significant for Dogecoin-related Tweets but not for Bitcoin. This is because regarding the latter, the significant price effects of positive and negative news cancel each other out, as further classification and analysis of Bitcoin-related tweets reveals. Our study shows the significant impact that the social media activity of influential individuals can have on cryptocurrencies. This suggests a conflict between the ideals of freedom of speech, morals and investor protection.