Electronic money has evolved in one of the relevant ways to achieve electronic payment, that is, a form of payment with significantly lower online transactions.The idea for the development of the above has consolidated the segment of retaining all the favourable characteristics of cash while eliminating deficiencies.The paper purpose is to discuss the relevance of electronic money or alternative currencies, cryptocurrencies, and to present statistical processing the most 30 influential cryptocurrencies with an emphasis on the most popular cryptocurrency called Bitcoin.We elaborate on the main differences between the virtual currency and electronic money after we present the historical development of cryptocurrencies.In the end, we present the statistical and forecasting analysis of the most important cryptocurrencies.
Marta Poblet, Darcy W E Allen, Oleksii Konashevych, Aaron M. Lane · 5 authors
Oracles were trusted sources of knowledge for public deliberation in classical Athens. Very much like expert and technical knowledge, divine advice was embedded in the deliberation and decision-making process of the democratic Assembly. While the idea of religious divination is completely out of place in our contemporary democracies, oracles made a technological comeback with modern computer science and cryptography and, more recently, the emergence of the blockchain as a “trust machine”. This paper reviews the role of oracles in Athenian democracy and, stemming from the renewed use of the term in computer sciences and cryptography, analyses the case of oracles in the nascent blockchain ecosystem. The paper also proposes a sociotechnical approach to the use of distributed oracles as informational devices to assist deliberative processes in digital democracy settings, and considers the limits that such an approach may face.
The land is an immovable property. Tracing the details of property and involvement of third-party is the challenging task. Fraudulent may forge documents and mislead the purchaser and if it's a litigate land it takes many years in the court battle, waste of time and resource. Problems escalate in this current land registration process which is non-transparent. Such demands made to integrate technologies and lead to the blooming of blockchain technology. Blockchain is a decentralized and transparent ledger. The smart contract is the confirmable and permanent document between two parties. This proposed framework is used to develop a registration application system in which new purchaser has to register and continue with the further process. The proposed research work is implemented using SHA256 algorithm which provides unique hash values for the messages getting stored in blocks and ethereum blockchain technology is used to store both smart contract and transaction details.
Michael Darlin, Nikolaos Papadis, Leandros Tassiulas
The Maker Protocol is a decentralized finance application that enables collateralized lending. The application uses open-bid, second-price auctions to complete its loan liquidation process. In this paper, we develop a bidding function for these auctions, focusing on the costs incurred to participate in the auctions. We then optimize these costs using parameters from historical auction data, and compare our optimal bidding prices to the historical auction prices. We find that the majority of auctions end at higher prices than our recommended optimal prices, and we propose several theories for these results.
Tasneem Darwish, Kamalrulnizam Abu Bakar, Gen Matsuda, Ahmed Aliyu · 13 authors
Blockchain provides a distributed digital ledger platform for not only cryptocurrencies but also many other distributed applications. Blockchain platforms work flow and performance are controlled by the used consensus algorithms. Although many studies evaluated cryptocurrency from the Shariah perspective, they focused only on the cryptocurrency concept and did not consider the underlying blockchain technology. However, designing a Shariah compliant application on top of a non Shariah compliant platform does not fulfil the requirements of Shariah. Therefore, it is necessary to use a Shariah compliant blockchain platform in order to produce Shariah compliant blockchain applications. To support the production of Shariah compliant blockchain applications, this study provides a comparative analysis of the most used consensus algorithms in blockchain platforms. In particular, the considered consensus algorithms are evaluated from a Shariah perspective. In conclusion, based on the conducted evaluation some of the widely used blockchain platforms (e.g. Bitcoin and Ethereum) are found to be not compliant with the Shariah rules due to using a consensus algorithm that is not Shariah compliant.
María Victoria Yépez Idrovo, María Paz Vela Sevilla, Bernarda Alegría Haro Aillón
La presente investigación analiza la figura de los smart contracts o contratos inteligentes, los cuales se caracterizan por su ejecución automática a través de blockchain. Se desmiente la creencia de que por ejecutarse automáticamente, estos contratos están exentos de disputas, y se analiza qué tipo de controversias podrían surgir de ellos. El presente trabajo sostiene que el arbitraje posee ciertas características, en particular su deslocalización, flexibilidad y confidencialidad, que lo convierten en el método idóneo para resolver disputas derivadas de smart contracts, y analiza cómo dos plataformas han desarrollado mecanismos de resolución de disputas para contratos inteligentes. A la luz del procedimiento adoptado por estas plataformas y de la Teoría General del Arbitraje, se hace un análisis de los desafíos que implica arbitrar este tipo de contratos.
Ahmed Aliyu, Kamalrulnizam Abu Bakar, Gen Matsuda, Tasneem Darwish · 13 authors
Cryptocurrency has emerged as the most promising digital asset, which serves as a medium of exchange with distributed control and highly secured financial system. This lead to an increase in stakeholders’ interest in digital currency investment. The cryptocurrencies majorly involve two phases including Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and blockchain creation. These phases have been challenged with criticisms in terms of the Islamic shariah injunctions. These criticisms are based on two fundamental issues including whether cryptocurrency is backed by asset and has a regulatory authority or not. These issues are related to uncertainty, volatility and high speculation of the cryptocurrencies. Although, several cryptocurrencies claimed to have considered the shariah requirements in their proposed cryptocurrency ecosystems. However, a strict analysis of some of the existing cryptocurrencies reveals otherwise. Therefore, this paper presents a review of some shariah-compliant cryptocurrencies focusing on their volatility and speculation. The operations of cryptocurrencies need to follow the Islamic shariah requirements. The proposed review provides an insight regarding the acclaimed shariah-compliant cryptocurrencies to assess whether they comply with the shariah requirements or not.
Blockchain, IoT, and AI are key technologies driving the next wave of the digital transformation. We argue that these technologies will converge and will allow for new business models: Autonomous agents (i.e., sensors, cars, machines, trucks, cameras, and other IoT devices) will in the future act as own profit centers that (1) have a digital twin leveraging IoT, (2) send and receive money leveraging blockchain technology on their own and (3) autonomously make decisions as independent economic agents leveraging AI and data analytics. We further argue that this convergence will drive the development of such autonomous business models and, with it, the digital transformation of industrial corporations.
Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum and many others are closely affiliated with the financial technology (fintech) industry. These digital or virtual currencies are encrypted using cryptography and distributed on public ledger (blockchain) across decentralised peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Since cryptocurrencies are issued by private entities and technically beyond the controls of any states, they may be exploited by criminals for illicit purposes such as money laundering, terrorism financing and many others. Thus, this article will examine whether cryptocurrency amounts to a new form of money under the existing rules on financial services and analyse how it should be regulated. This study is a qualitative research that adopts pure legal research methodology by analysing existing laws on national currency and digital currency. Further, the study analysed other secondary sources including academic books, journal articles, conference papers, and other materials in newspapers or reputable websites. The output of the research is expected to provide an overview on the regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in Malaysia. In conclusion, the government has favoured a minimalist approach so as not to stiffen the innovation and future development of cryptocurrency in the country.
Dirk Andreas Zetzsche, Ross P. Buckley, Douglas W. Arner
Libra is the first private cryptocurrency with the potential to change the landscape of global payment and monetary systems. Due to the scale and reach provided by its affiliation with Facebook, the question is not whether, but how, to regulate it. This article introduces the Libra project and analyses the potential responses open to regulators worldwide. We conclude that perhaps the greatest impact will come not from Libra itself, but rather from reactions to it, particularly by other BigTechs, incumbent financial institutions and governments around the world.
Smart contracts and the blockchain have generated considerable excitement and concern (in equal measure) throughout the commercial world. These technologies promise to revolutionise commercial transactions by making them faster, cheaper, more transparent and more secure. Opponents, however, have warned of the issues that arise through the use of these technologies. One major concern is that smart contracts will not be compatible with existing laws. Some commentators have suggested that these contracts lack consideration and are prima facie unenforceable. This paper bluntly dismisses this suggestion. Such a ‘myth’ has been constructed upon misconceptions of the nature of smart contracts and the legal obligations they contain and enforce. It will be argued that smart contracts do not, as a class, lack consideration.
In today's competitive marketplace, companies are strategically utilizing technological advances to gain a competitive advantage, while increasing efficiency throughout their supply chain. One area of innovative technology adoption companies are becoming more aware of is distributed ledger technology, otherwise known as blockchain. The blockchain job market grew over 200% between 2017 and 2018 It is predicted that by 2024, the blockchain information technology marketplace will be worth over $16 billion
Abstract The article analyzes the problems of the development of modern banking business in Russia in the context of the growing share of large banks in the market. The aim of the work is to determine the need for the introduction of new advanced technologies by small and medium banks in order to increase the efficiency of their activities. The working hypothesis is that against the background of low economic growth in Russia and high competition among state and quasi-state banks, small and medium-sized banks can remain competitive only through cooperation and the introduction of new advanced technologies (artificial intelligence technology and blockchain technology). The article provides a brief overview of theoretical and empirical studies of the introduction of modern information technologies in banking. Briefly describes the international experience in implementing information technology in the financial sector of the economy. The article also provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the development of the modern Russian banking system. The analysis of official statistics of the Bank of Russia was carried out, which confirmed the tendency to decrease in the number of banks in the Russian economy, as well as the increase in the degree of monopolization of the banking sector of the Russian economy. Together, these two phenomena lead to increased competition between large banks on the one hand and medium and small banks on the other, in which the latter can only be actively introduced by new information technologies. The study clearly showed that the monopolization of the banking sector leads to the need to look for new development paths for small and medium-sized banks through the introduction of modern technologies.
In a world of nonstop developing technology, Blockchain has become a trusted tool to apply transparency in the public sector. The consensus mechanism provides trusted data that can support clear and adjusted as well as well-structured procedures. Nowadays, the public sector can increase trust by adapting Blockchain applications in the services offered to be e-government portals. In this paper, the researchers review the literature to identify the potential use cases and application of Blockchain in e-government services. This new technology along with its related applications will be discussed and defined. Moreover, the possibilities of using Blockchain in the public sector and its impact on organizational transformation, financial management, and performance are increasing. The study concluded that the use of blockchain technologies and applications is still limited in the public sector. Obstacles and barriers are related mostly to (security and privacy) and law and by-laws support. This paper will provide a useful reference for researchers in blockchain applications and their impact on e-government and propose future research questions that need to be addressed to inform how the public sector should approach the blockchain technology adoption.
This paper identifies the development of cryptocurrency’s regulations and influences of people’s intentions to use cryptocurrency in Thailand. The analysis of behavioral intentions to use cryptocurrency is conducted applying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The study used the questionnaire survey, and applied the multiple regression analysis to analyze the influences of Thai people to use cryptocurrencies. This research categorizes the purposes of cryptocurrency into three groups including: the first purpose is investment, as people buy cryptocurrency for wealth increasing; second, it is a means of payment for goods and services; and the third purpose is collecting points and redeeming rewards, as people are able to simply compare cryptocurrency to credit card points and redeem them for rewards. Regarding the findings, social influence is the most important factor that persuades people to use cryptocurrency. The other determinants in the UTAUT model that encourage people intention to use cryptocurrency are facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy. 
Many blockchain-based cryptocurrencies provide users with online blockchain explorers for viewing online transaction data. However, traditional blockchain explorers mostly present transaction information in textual and tabular forms. Such forms make understanding cryptocurrency transaction mechanisms difficult for novice users (NUsers). They are also insufficiently informative for experienced users (EUsers) to recognize advanced transaction information. This study introduces a new online cryptocurrency transaction data viewing tool called SilkViser. Guided by detailed scenario and requirement analyses, we create a series of appreciating visualization designs, such as paper ledger-inspired block and blockchain visualizations and ancient copper coin-inspired transaction visualizations, to help users understand cryptocurrency transaction mechanisms and recognize advanced transaction information. We also provide a set of lightweight interactions to facilitate easy and free data exploration. Moreover, a controlled user study is conducted to quantitatively evaluate the usability and effectiveness of SilkViser. Results indicate that SilkViser can satisfy the requirements of NUsers and EUsers. Our visualization designs can compensate for the inexperience of NUsers in data viewing and attract potential users to participate in cryptocurrency transactions.
This study aims to investigate if the investors’ sentiment expressed on contentspecific online forum affects the return of Bitcoin. We use a large dataset consisting of 2.8 million forum posts sourced from “Bitcointalk.org” for a period between Jan 2016 and May 2020. The sentiment is derived daily with the Hu Liu lexical model after a detailed investigation of different lexicons. Using time-series data, we test for the relationship between the investors’ sentiment and Bitcoin price along with other financial variables that may inform about the direction of Bitcoin price. Our results show that sentiment derived from online forums do not present an autoregressive relationship with return of Bitcoin
Kripto paralar ekonomi ve finans dünyasında etkili bir rol oynamaya başladığından beri bu varlıklarla işlem yapan kişi ve kuruluşların ekonomik değeri haiz bu varlıkları koruması zorlaşmıştır. Merkezi bir otoriteye bağlı olmayan kripto paraların avantajları olduğu gibi dezavantajları da vardır. Kripto para birimleri normal bir banka kartı veya kredi kartı ile aynı yasal korumaya sahip olmadığından bu sistemin güvenlik zafiyetlerini bilen kötü niyetli kişiler teknolojinin yardımıyla kripto para dolandırıcılığı yapabilmektedir. Kripto para birimlerinin kendine özgü bir varlık değerinin bulunması ve uçtan uca şifreleme yöntemi ile aracı olmaksızın transfer edilebilme imkanı, kişilere önemli avantajlar sağlarken sanal para arzlarıyla, fidye yazılımlarla, phishing tuzakları ile ponzi şeması yöntemi veya internet ve sosyal medya reklamları ile kripto para dolandırıcılığı işlenebilmektedir. Çalışmamızda kripto para dolandırıcılığı suçuyla nasıl mücadele edileceği ve mevcut düzenlemelerle mukayese edildiğinde sanal ortamda icra edilen fiillerin hangi suçlara sebebiyet vereceği tartışılarak kripto para dolandırıcılığının ne şekilde işlendiği ve bu konuda nelere dikkat edilmesi gerektiği üzerinde durulacaktır.
O dinheiro é indispensável para o ser humano e apresenta constantes evoluções. Com o avanço da tecnologia, diversos meios de pagamento surgiram e dentre eles é possível destacar as criptomoedas, um assunto recente que tem sido apresentado em diversos meios, sobretudo, como uma possibilidade de investimento. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as características tecnológicas chaves das três criptomoedas que ocupam, atualmente, os maiores índices de capitalização de mercado, sendo elas: Bitcoin, Ethereum e XRP. Para atingir tal objetivo, assumiu-se nesta pesquisa um posicionamento de natureza qualitativa. Aplicou-se técnicas descritivas para retraçar os históricos e a descrição de suas tecnologias chave. Como resultados, a presente pesquisa demonstrou que as criptomoedas apresentam objetivos diferentes, no entanto, utilizam-se da mesma tecnologia de transação, a peer-to-peer. As tecnologias de blockchain, mineração e proof-of-work são utilizadas de maneiras distintas por cada uma das criptomoedas. Por fim, considera-se que trabalhos como esse são importantes por colocarem luz nas tecnologias implementadas. Como limitações, ressalta-se o estudo em três casos. Abstract Money is indispensable for humans and is constantly evolving. With the advancement of technology, several payment methods have emerged and among them it is possible to highlight cryptocurrencies, a recent subject that was presented in various media, mainlyas a possibility of investment. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the three cryptocurrencies that occupy the highest market capitalization indexes, namely: Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP. To achieve this goal, a qualitative approach was assumed in this research. Descriptive techniques were applied to retrace the histories and the description of their key technologies. As a result, the present research demonstrated that cryptocurrencies have different objectives, however, it uses the same peer-to-peer transaction technology. Blockchain, mining and proof-of-work technologies are used in different ways. Finally, it is considered that works like this are important because they shed light on the implemented technologies. Limitations include the application in three cases. Keywords:Tecnologies; Criptocurrencies; Blockchain; Bitcoin; Payment.
Blockchain technology, beyond cryptocurrencies, is called to be the new information exchange ecosystem due to its unique properties, such as immutability and transparency. The main objective of this work is to introduce the design of a decentralized rental system, which leverages smart contracts and the Ethereum public blockchain. The work started from an exhaustive investigation on the Ethereum platform, emphasizing the aspect of cryptography and all the technology behind this platform. In order to test the proposed scheme in a realistic use, the implementation of a web application for the rental of vehicles has been carried out. The application covers the entire vehicle rental process offered in traditional web applications, adding more autonomy and ease of use to users. Following Ethereum application development guidelines, all business logic is located in the smart contracts implemented in the Ethereum network, where these contracts control the entire vehicle rental system of customers. While this is a work in progress, the results obtained in the first proof of concept have been very promising.
Nowadays, having a mechanism to guarantee the traceability of the information and to monitor the evolution of the news from its origin, and having elements to know the reputation and credibility of the media, analyze the news as well as its evolution and possible manipulation, etc. is becoming increasingly significant. Transparency in journalism is currently a key element in performing serious and rigorous journalism. End-users and fact-checking agencies need to be able to check and verify the information published in different media. This transparency principle enables the tracking of news stories and allows direct access to the source of essential content to contrast the information it contains and to know whether it has been manipulated. Additionally, the traceability of news constitutes another instrument in the fight against the lack of credibility, the manipulation of information, misinformation campaigns and the propagation of fake news. This article aims to show how to use Blockchain to facilitate the tracking and traceability of news so that it can provide support to the automatic indexing and extraction of relevant information from newspaper articles to facilitate the monitoring of the news story and allows users to verify the veracity of what they are reading.
Jenny Alexandra Triana Casallas, Juan Manuel Cueva Lovelle, José Ignacio Rodríguez Molano
The appearance of so-called block chains or Blockchain with the promise of transforming trust and the way value is exchanged, joins the expansion of the technological capabilities of organizations to achieve higher levels of productivity and innovation. This is how Blockchain-based techniques are being applied to many fields, focusing in this article on the public sector, as a possible solution to the demands for transparency, participation and citizen cooperation that society demands; due to the possibility of disintermediation based on automated transactions and on the responsibility and security in the management of official blockchain records. This could obstruct corruption and make government services more transparent and efficient. Although, it investigates about applications in the public sector under the Blockchain system, such as transactions, agreements, property registries and innovations, developments and other assets; Special emphasis is placed on the possibility of implementing Smart Contracts (mechanisms that aim to eliminate intermediaries to simplify processes) in public procurement procedures, given that it is in this type of activity where high levels of corruption are generated. It is concluded then that Europe has the largest number of blockchain initiatives worldwide, while Latin America, except for the case of Peru, lacks this type of applications, being this continent exactly where there are the countries with the highest levels of corruption. It concludes with a recommendation to use blockchain along with smart contracts through platforms such as Ethereum or Lisk, mainly given its flexibility and current development on topics with similar functionalities.
Asset custody is a core financial service in which the custodian holds\nin-safekeeping assets on behalf of the client. Although traditional custody\nservice is typically endorsed by centralized authorities, decentralized custody\nscheme has become technically feasible since the emergence of digital assets,\nand furthermore, it is greatly needed by new applications such as blockchain\nand DeFi (Decentralized Finance).\n In this work, we propose a framework of decentralized asset custody scheme\nthat is able to support a large number of custodians and safely hold customer\nassets of multiple times the value of the total security deposit. The proposed\ncustody scheme distributes custodians and assets into many custodian groups via\ncombinatorial designs, where each group fully controls the assigned assets.\nSince every custodian group is small, the overhead cost is significantly\nreduced. The liveness is also improved because even a single alive group would\nbe able to process transactions.\n The security of this custody scheme is guaranteed under the rational\nadversary model, such that any adversary corrupting a bounded fraction of\ncustodians cannot move assets more than the security deposit paid. We further\nanalyze the security and performance of our constructions from both theoretical\nand experimental sides and give explicit examples with concrete numbers and\nfigures for a better understanding of our results.\n