Blockchain Papers

Toluwabori Magbagbeola

No abstract is available for this record.

A Joshua Isaac, Shahow Kakavandy

The Swedish central bank has in 2018 launched an investigation into what a digital e-currency in Sweden would look like. Tendermint is being investigated for a potential implementation. Tendermint is a blockchain building environment which has its own consensus-algorithm, and its own solution to the Byzantine general's problem. The most relevant part is the scalability and reliability of Tendermint. To do this we tested out the software by sending transactions between our computers, and recorded its performance in the case of one node and two nodes. After a series of simulations, we then come to the conclusion that indeed Tendermint is a suitable software for a potential e-krona.

Боровик Владимир Сергееви, Зенин Михаил Максимович, Гатчин Юрий Арменакович, Югансон Андрей Николаевич

Смарт-контракты предназначены для заключения и поддержания коммерческих контрактов в технологии блокчейн. Эта технология лежит в основе децентрализованных приложений. Наибольшую популярность на данный момент имеют приложения, написанные с помощью смарт-контрактов на платформе Ethereum. Смарт-контракты, как и обычные программы, подвержены различным уязвимостям. В данной работе описаны результаты исследования безопасности смарт-контрактов, написанных на языке Solidity, для блокчейна на платформе Ethereum. Рассмотрены наиболее популярные уязвимости, даны рекомендации по их устранению. Итогом работы стала классификация уязвимостей, основанная на оценке степени возможного ущерба, а также актуальности, сложности и вероятности реализации.

R. Rajesh

Over the years we have seen the colossal development of internet before our eyes. We have also witnessed the growth of Google, Facebook and many others. As a unique technology Bitcoin, also is being built on top of the internet. Bitcoin is now a new currency that people are starting to talk about, the money of the future. Bitcoin is also just a big experiment, with no guarantees and we might be wasting our time exploring its concepts and ideas. It is at the crossroads of technology, philosophy, politics and everything, exploring the ways and means of settling into the financial system. Bitcoin was created to provide an alternative to the banking system.This paper discusses about Bitcoin, its genesis, opportunities, risk and possibilities, regulation in India, price in India.

R. Eberle

At least since the first Bitcoin futures were launched in December 2017, quantitative risk management on Bitcoin is no longer indispensable. This paper provides methodology and fundamental findings on approximations of intraday bitcoin returns through both symmetric and non-symmetric probability distributions. Different time frequencies of Bitcoin returns were analysed, and their non-Normal behaviour is shown. Their exchange rates versus the US Dollar, between April 14, 2017 until August 7, 2017, were considered by fitting parametric distributions to them. The nonnormality changes with the size of the timesteps, where standard heavy-tailed distributions give good fits of the data. These results are a first attempt to characterize intraday risk of the Bitcoin.

Syren Johnstone

No abstract is available for this record.

Shivani Agarwal

No abstract is available for this record.

Олександр Левченко, Olga Tkachuk

Статья посвящена обоснованию организационно-экономических основ создания инновационно-интегрированных структур в условиях социально-экономической нестабильности на основании анализа текущего состояния показателей конкурентоспособности и инновационного развития Украины на международной арене и мировых тенденций инновационной динамики. Охарактеризованы предпосылки, факторы, принципы, составляющие и задачи развития инновационно-интегрированных объединений. Обоснована целесообразность учета основных составляющих формирования и развития инновационно-интегрированных структур. Статья посвящена обоснованию организационно-экономических основ создания инновационно-интегрированных структур в условиях социально-экономической нестабильности на основании анализа текущего состояния показателей конкурентоспособности и инновационного развития Украины на международной арене и мировых тенденций инновационной динамики. Охарактеризованы предпосылки, факторы, принципы, составляющие и задачи развития инновационно-интегрированных объединений. Обоснована целесообразность учета основных составляющих формирования и развития инновационно-интегрированных структур. The article is devoted to the substantiation of the organizational and economic principles of creation of innovative-integrated structures in the conditions of socio-economic instability on the basis of the results of the analysis of the current state of competitiveness's indicators and innovative development of Ukraine in the international arena and world tendencies of innovation dynamics. The comparative characteristic of the key indicators of innovative development in Ukraine with the individual countries of the world, are made it possible to ascertain both significant negative socioeconomic processes and a fairly significant level of lagging behind the key indicators of innovative development from countries of the world, which are showing the high rates of innovative dynamics or are at the stage of growth. The preconditions, factors, principles, components and tasks of development of innovative-integrated associations were characterized. The expediency of taking into account the main components of the forming and development of innovative-integrated structures, including the educational component of training specialists for innovative-integrated structures (quality, competitiveness of educational services, financing, scientific activity of educational institutions); professional development of employees of innovative-integrated structures (lifelong learning, increasing of human capital); personnel support (availability of innovative type of personnel, innovative development of human capital); directions of improvement of the organizational and regulatory influence in the conditions of decentralization of power and management (development of strategies, territorial priorities, transparency of public procurement, implementation of program-targeted approach); financial analysis, audit and information support (financial information, audit services, currency rate regulation, information requirements); tax regulation (advantages and disadvantages of the taxation system, tax incentives); investment support (state financial support, investment attractiveness of enterprises); stimulation of entrepreneurial activity (problems and prospects of development of innovative entrepreneurship); social development (development of social capital); ensuring national security (the role of innovative-integrated structures) was substantiated. Thus, the improvement of the organizational-economic principles for the creation of innovative-integrated structures should take into account the latest trends associated with the results of the 4th industrial revolution, the peculiarities of implementing innovative activities in conditions of socio-economic instability, must be oriented towards the formation of innovative ecosystems, introduction of a smart approach to management organization, territorial branding, enhancement of the competitiveness of the territories and their investment attractiveness.

Bernhard Beckert, Mihai Herda, Michael Kirsten, Jonas Schiffl

Smart contracts are programs building on blockchain technology. They implement functionality that has been agreed on between the concerned parties on a network. However, their immutability and exposed position make them vulnerable to programming errors, leading to faulty behavior and possible exploits. Therefore, smart contracts demand a particularly thorough analysis, ideally using formal program verification. In this paper, we present an approach for the deductive verification of Hyperledger Fabric smart contracts using the KeY prover. We have extended KeY to handle Fabric ledger implementations; in particular, we have developed mechanisms for reasoning about serialization and object persistence. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated with a small case study.

Emily Crane

2017 was a landmark year for cryptocurrency. In that year, it burst onto the global economic scene and attracted investments from people and organizations all around the world. Its popularity gave rise to cryptocurrency exchange platforms, which seemed to further herald its arrival into the mainstream. However, these entirely unregulated exchange platforms have fostered insider trading that has no discernable recourse—and U.S. policymakers have done little to stop it. As such, this article explores the phenomenon that is cryptocurrency, the trend of insider trading, and the difficulties facing U.S. officials as they attempt to reconcile cryptocurrency’s novelty with its need for stability. The article concludes this discussion by outlining and recommending three solutions to the cryptocurrency insider trading conundrum.

Michael James O'Connor

No abstract is available for this record.

Justin R. Henning

With innovation always comes unknowns. Blockchain technology and crypto–assets are no different. Often times, innovators are so worried about getting their product to market or scaling at mass that they overlook the legal ramifications of their innovations. As Mark Zuckerberg infamously said, “move fast and break things.” Facebook was in no way alone in this style of innovation. However, with respect to crypto–assets, the SEC has stepped in and is attempting to prevent the “break things” aspect. One of the major issues relating to crypto–assets is that many people still do not understand what they are, or how the underlying technology works. At the moment, we do not know what to classify crypto– assets as: property, commodities, or something else . If the SEC determines that crypto–assets are investment contracts, the regulation that follows is at risk of putting stranglehold on the underlying innovation and technology. It becomes an issue of balancing consumer protection and innovation for society. SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. laid out a pronged test to determine whether a transaction is an investment contract, subjecting it to securities laws. This note examines the Howey Test to explain why two popular crypto–assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are unlikely to satisfy the Howey Test, and briefly addresses the need for clarity in this area. }

G.D. Starita

The present research engages with theoretical notions related to anarchy, currency systems and the intersubjectivity of money to develop a critical analysis of the individual attitudes and motivations relevant to the usage of Bitcoin for what concerns users in Rovereto, Italy. Through the use of ethnography, this research explores the reasons behind the spread of use of Bitcoin in the area of Rovereto and how those reasons may be connected to the way the Bitcoin network was designed and the socio-political set of values of its creators. New theoretical paradigms and a re-interpretation of old theoretical notions is proposed, in order to overcome the lack of literature and fieldwork material related to the subject of cryptocurrency users, for what concerns anthropological research. General reflections on the impact of new technologies such as cryptocurrencies on individuals are also produced, in connection with the material collected on the field in Rovereto.

David Rozas, Silvia Díaz-Molina

No abstract is available for this record.

Frank T. Lorne, Sriram Daram, Rutha Frantz, Naveen Kumar · 6 authors

Blockchain as a supporting platform for various cryptocurrencies is a technology that will not sell by itself, meaning that its success could not be built on technical efficiency of an algorithm alone. Understanding the real economic problems that the technology should aim at solving is a first step towards identifying the marketing beachheads for the technology. The branding of any blockchain can be categorized under an economic framework pointing to the types that have the potentials of being sustainable and disruptive. Selection of appropriate beachheads, verticals, services etc. should aim to promote the exchange of real goods and services, and/or the utilization the accounting/data advantage of the technology.

Gautam Srivastava, Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Rajani Singh

A fraudulent election is one of the biggest problems of the contemporaneity in most countries. Even the world’s largest democracies like India, United States, and Japan still suffer from a flawed electoral system. Vote rigging, hacking of the EVM (Electronic voting machine), election manipulation, and polling booth capturing are the major issues in the current voting system. This fallacious election process calls voting systems into question. With the current Cambridge Analytica scandal a hot topic around the world, it brings the validity of current voting systems into question. In this paper, we investigate the problems in the election voting systems and propose a novel voting model which can resolve these issues. We use a recently introduced blockchain based protocol called PHANTOM, which uses a directed acyclic graph of blocks, also known as blockDAG, to generalize the initial blockchain technology.

Dakshita Khurana

The notion of simulation is central to cryptography: often, to demonstrate that an adversary did not recover any information about private inputs of other participants, we exhibit the existence of a simulator that generates the adversary's view without access to inputs of honest participants. The primary method used to build simulators is rewinding, where a simulator resets the adversary to a previous point in the protocol and tries to complete the protocol tree multiple times until it achieves a favorable outcome.First introduced in the context of zero-knowledge proof systems and secure computation, today the rewinding technique is synonymous with protocol security and polynomial simulation. Prior to this work, all known rewinding techniques in the plain model required multiple rounds of back-and-forth interaction between participants.In this thesis, we demonstrate the first rewinding techniques that require only a single message from each participant. Using these techniques, we overcome several barriers from literature to construct for the first time, based on standard sub-exponential cryptographic assumptions, the following core protocols, and several subsequent applications:- Two message commitments satisfying non-malleability (with respect to commitment).- Two-message delayed-input weak zero-knowledge arguments for NP. These imply arguments for NP satisfying witness hiding and strong witness indistinguishability.

Fatimah Lateef

INTRODUCTION Scenario 1 An elderly female, aged 78, had a fall at home. The family called the emergency ambulance service, and she was sent to the nearest acute care hospital. She sustained fractures of her superior and inferior pubic rami and experienced pain with movement and ambulation. She was hospitalized, and an orthopedic surgeon was her primary doctor. In the ward, she was referred to the physiotherapist for rehabilitation and exercises, a pain specialist for pain control, as oral medications were not sufficient to control her pain, and the endocrinologist was called in to help with her Diabetes Mellitus (DM) management, as her sugar levels were always beyond 15 mmol/l while she was in the ward. The medical officer also asked the dietitians to review her and talk to her family about her food intake and regulation. Her blood tests which were done at admission showed renal impairment, likely from her many years of DM and thus, diabetic nephropathy. A renal physician was also asked to provide consultation and inputs. When a ward nurse noticed she was not relevant in her responses and keeps forgetting instructions, she highlighted this to the medical officer who felt a psychiatry consult would be relevant. The latter came to see her and thought that as there were signs of dementia, she should be seen by the geriatrician. 1 week had passed, and she was still getting consultations with multi-disciplinary health-care professionals. Her family was concerned about her hospital bill, and they approached the nurses, who told them to meet the administrator at the Business Office. Scenario 2 A 78-year-old female sustained a fall at home and landed on her back. Her neighbours heard her and they activated the neighborhood Family Physician (FP) who visited her at home to assess her. He found tenderness in her pubic bone area. She was prescribed analgesia, and he then called her daughter who was at work, to explain the situation. He explained also that he would be taking her down to the Family Medicine Center (FMC: in Singapore, this represents a group of family medicine clinics, laboratories, and radiology services all in one locale or vicinity, readily accessible to the community living in the area) across from her block of flats, to have X-rays performed. In the meantime, he also organized the physiotherapist and care coordinator from the FMC to visit her at home. The neighbors activated their befrienders' network, and several females came down to help out with her meals, household chores, and administration of her prescribed medication. They kept her daughter updated as she was unable to leave work. What does it take to move from a model in Scenario 1 to that in Scenario 2? Scenario 1 is a hospital-based, hospital-centric, multi-disciplinary model. It is also conventionally, a physician-centric model. Scenario 2 is a community-based model which is patient-centric, in alignment with the notion that the patient should always be at the heart of our care delivery. Scenarios 1 and 2 involved a specialist and an FP playing a central role, coordinating care, respectively. Is one model of care superior to the other? Is there too much focus on acute care and less on community-based care? Are we ready to challenge the status quo and ensure health-care affordability for our population in the long term? Which model will be able to meet the expectations of our population? Importantly, countries also have to review which model is economically sustainable in the medium to long term, especially to meet the needs of their populace, which in some countries include a rapidly aging population? Some of the considerations that need to be taken into account in coming to a decision include: Disease prevalence and burden in the country The existing health-care model and system The ratio of health-care providers to patient Cost and health-care funding in the country The current and projected health-care demand and needs The perception of the population on FP s and primary care providers versus that of specialists in hospitals and The networks and strengths of the primary care model in the country. For many countries, including developed nations, the model of care provision is very similar to Scenario 1. How do we prepare our paradigm shift toward the model depicted in Scenario 2? HEALTH-CARE SYSTEMS: THE ISSUES OF THE DAY Today, healthcare is evolving faster than ever before. Care models are changing. Governments are seeking better outcomes and lower costs. Insurers and other agencies are asking for more metrics for reimbursements. Physicians and providers are seeking for better patient engagement, as the shift is now more focused on care in the community.[12] Health is influenced by a complex interplay of physical, social, economic, cultural and environmental factors; thus the need to view it in a broader context and perspective. Holistic healthcare requires effective partnerships between health-care providers, patients, and their families as well as caregivers. Health-care systems around the world continue to struggle to keep up with issues related to patient safety, quality, responsiveness to the needs of the people, and managing the ever-changing expectations of consumers. Economic, demographic, and even social forces will continue to put pressure on health-care systems. Thus, there is a need to have ongoing robust review processes and effective resources support for capacity building. There is a need to ensure health-care services are planned, designed and delivered in ways that respect people's rights, their choices, needs, and preferences for receiving information and care. Some of the critical areas that pose challenges to health-care systems today include;[134] The prevalence and ubiquity of chronic illnesses Aging population care needs Health-care inflation and also financing Cost of health-care labor and attracting/retaining talent Planning relevant and effective health-care education and training Managing expectations and mindsets of consumers and the population. With all these in mind, can Scenario 2 or a community-based healthcare model work? Will it be sustainable? There are good points to support its implementation. This model of care can enhance delivery efficiency, and is more sustainable and affordable in the longer term. As community-based care means providing more decentralized care closer to patients and families, connectivity will certainly be a major consideration. The state of technological development today allows us this connectivity, even with the decentralization of care. Video-conferencing and video telecommunications are relatively widely available these days. In Singapore for example, there is the national electronic health record; one patient, one health-care record. This way, there can be data and resource sharing, and every health-care provider can be on the “same page” in managing a particular patient. Of course, all these access will be password guarded for maintenance of confidentiality. Guidelines of the Personal Data Protection Act must also be adhered to.[15] The decentralization and enhanced connectivity model can be seen to be able to contribute positively toward patient care and ease of care nearer to their homes, thus stepping up regarding convenience. This model of care can also help give patients more autonomy, independence, and more empowerment as well as self-control in their own care. Afterall, one patient is a whole, holistic person who will usually have multi-dimensional needs.[356] Nations can also explore innovative models of community care and customize these to work for their population and suit their local culture. For example in the management of chronic illnesses such as hypertension and DM, there can be more counseling, demonstration (of proper food choices and cooking models) and compassionate care, more up close and personal interaction, to meet their needs. This way, family members, and caregivers are free to join in and actively participate as well. Most importantly, the needs of these long-term care patients with terminal and chronic diseases are met. This type of model can help manage the rigid fee-for-service use of emergency departments and tertiary hospitals, by these patients for a variety of common complications that they can potentially develop. A community-based palliative care model is also better and more receptive for the end of life or terminal care. The emphasis with these is really on the quality of life, the interactions and personal relationships of these patients. In fact, with this model, it may be possible to push the envelope toward more “proactive care” with the empowerment of the people/patients. DECENTRALIZATION AND CONNECTIVITY The decentralization model of community based care can help expand outreach, across geographic areas. This can be very useful in larger states or countries. In most countries health-care delivery continues to remain very local. Even with Academic Medical Centres (AMC), often the most immediate patients in their vicinity are served. If the value of health-care delivery is to be enhanced and cover a larger scale and area, far more patients need to be served. Thus, the need to plan capacity and strategic expansion. Building more hospitals is not the most cost-effective solution for this, thus the proposed community based care, use of FMC, and the decentralization models. For large parent hospitals or AMCs to have oversight and execute the necessary surveillance and monitoring, a hub and spoke model could be considered. Satellite centers staffing, rotation of staff, collaborative teams practice and engagement by leadership can be planned and executed. AMCs and hospitals should also continually strengthen their partnership with community partners and FMCs, empower them and work closely to achieve the best possible outcomes together. The integration that cuts across horizontally as well as vertically is important to strive for. To ensure connectivity with decentralization, community-based care must be properly and adequately planned with feedback from all stakeholders, to ensure its main goals are met. It should be evidence-based and customized to the local context. Platforms for knowledge sharing and information, even if readily accessible to care, providers, must be guarded to maintain confidentiality. Importantly, there should also be a means to continuously educate and influence mindsets as well as the behavior of the health-care consumers. The model may serve as a framework such as a clinical community in practice model. To start off these community-based care teams, there should be sufficiently credible, inter-professional, committed personnel to form the care teams. These teams comprise not just doctors and nurses but also allied health personnel, social workers, and counselors. Some models also add in community volunteers and befrienders as well as a neighborhood network. These groups may be ad hoc, but with the training, they can be a part of the care network model too. These community-based care teams should not be viewed as providing inferior care, as compared to that in an AMC or hospital. They represent high functioning teams with specialists in different aspects of care provision. This model of community-based care must also not be confused with community nursing, which is more commonly available in many countries. Community-based care will have more case management and case coordination, and relevant staff or managers will have to be employed to help with coordination of care and services. It will be a value-add if these teams and staff have support and backing, from a reputable institution such as an AMC or a secondary, or tertiary hospital. This kind of decentralization model will fit the analogy of a hub and spoke. The teams must be steeped in strong inter-professional care values with a high level of empowerment. The care planning, implementation and finally, execution, with a certain expected level of responsiveness and flexibility should be inculcated. With more widespread community-based care, there may be unintended and indirect benefits which can come about. Health literacy may increase, even if just from the fact that more education and awareness is generated. Interventional programs through community at large education and outreach are other reasons for this. As the model also emphasizes the very close and increased frequency of interactions between care providers and patients, education/counseling can be done more often too. All these also help enhance the level of self-reliance, self-management, and self-care among the more able patients. With the maturation of the model and a more established infrastructure, more elements can be added. This may include the befrienders, community leaders, and voluntary groups. Even students from institutions of higher learning (e.g., from medical, nursing, allied health, dental, and social work schools) can come together for their inter-professional education projects and offer services and care in the community as well. Thus, there are many spin-offs that can amalgamate and strengthen the networks. POPULATION TO BENEFIT Healthcare is more effective when patients are engaged in their own care. Moving forward in a society with aging population, a community based model of care has many benefits. It can be tapped on in the management of patients with long-term chronic diseases and especially those with complications. An example would be an elderly old, who has the complications of many years of DM, needing regular follow-up and care. Not only the elderly but also adults and children with chronic illnesses, congenital diseases, and those needing long-term care will also benefit. At risk individuals, such as patients with fall risks, living alone without family support, those with frailty issues (frailty syndrome can be under-recognized and underdiagnosed) and those with noncompliance issues are other examples of those who will benefit with this type of care model. It may even help reduce readmissions and re-attendance rates among regular attendees in emergency departments and hospitals clinics.[234] Another group of patients who will find this model useful will be those with end-stage diseases, advanced cancer, as well as those needing palliative and end of life care. The dignity, family, and community support it can offer is a welcome to them as they may wish to spend their last days in familiar environments with loved ones in close proximity. Even those with recent discharge from hospitals needing intermediate care support will benefit. In certain context, the medical care teams need to be supplemented with social support teams as well and this can be made available on a demand basis. With this, society can be offered the multi-dimensional, multifaceted, integrated care they need, with all the necessary social and emotional/psychological support. Patient centered care is a focus by the healthcare model on the needs, preferences, and outcomes relevant to patients and families. There is both organizational and individual commitment to ensure patients are motivated, cared for and prepared for the different stages of their medical care or injury. With any model of care, responsiveness is critical to meet the expectations of the public and patients as well as instill confidence. At the end of the day, both health-care providers, and consumers, in the system, would like to see: Improved quality of care Better care outcomes Higher levels of satisfaction Easier and faster accessibility Better coordination and Cost kept within certain limits of affordability. INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY IN COMMUNITY-BASED CARE Consumer health wearable technology is becoming more widespread and starting to make an impact on patients and patient care. In the proposed area of community-based care, how can these be incorporated? It needs careful, strategic planning, and implementation to supplement the care provided and simplify monitoring and oversight. With digital diversification, this is possible today. Data can be obtained with personalized health analytics, as well as customized advice and preventive practices for different groups of people and patients in the community. Some of the modalities that can be used include tele-care/telehealth, with the remote and wireless transmission of data and information, specific interventions and also monitoring (e.g., electrocardiogram, vital signs, falls, and motion). The instant feedback and individualized approach are very attractive. There is a strong potential for a big market in this, and the community-based care model has the potential to drive the wearable and health-care technology industry.[78910] On the other hand, as with any other health-care technology, issues with information guarding and maintenance of confidentiality is important. Some systems that utilize GPS, the internet and social media can be at risk to hackers, and thus the necessary technological, as well as cybersecurity considerations, are needed. CONCLUSION To advance true systems integration with community-based care, the following are crucial considerations: Definition of the scope of the service Defining the extent of the service; perhaps, concentrating volume in selected and focused locations, which have to be carefully chosen. Piloting may be one way to have a trial covering certain areas first before subsequent expansion with the necessary modifications The integration of care across locations to ensure seamlessness. This calls for a model with a certain degree of dynamism and flexibility. For any community-based care model to work, there must be collaboration bringing together citizens, consumers, health-care providers, innovators and the government. Each of these groups plays a significant role to ensure an optimized model of care in the community is implemented. Healthcare of the future is taking a more significant push towards preventive, primary and community-based care. It pays for nations and states to explore these early, even before many have reached the critical threshold of embarking on the silver tsunami, as in some rapidly aging nations. Life's journey in health and disease requires different sensitivities and types of care delivery during each chapter or phase. The final phase, whereby death is certain and imminent is best addressed with extracare and support not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally. The right model ensures people get the right care, at the right time, by the right team, in the right place.

John-John Parma, Christian Wassvik

In this thesis we study whether cryptocurrencies should be included in a well-diversified portfolio or\nnot. Moreover, we try to determine if the capital asset pricing model holds for cryptocurrencies, like\nother investments assets. We conclude that cryptocurrencies should be a part of a well-diversified\nportfolio. We make this conclusion based on the results from a selection of the most used financial\nperformance metrics. We also conclude that the capital asset pricing model holds for\ncryptocurrencies. The data period we have looked at spans from 2010 and to the end of 2017,\nwhich is a relatively short time period and therefore a limitation in this study. Our results show that\ncryptocurrencies have been an excellent investment opportunity in the time period of our research.\nOutperforming the traditional assets, cryptocurrencies provides a better return considering the risk,\neither the systematic, unsystematic or whole risk.

Sunghun Chung, Keongtae Kim

No abstract is available for this record.

Stan Sater

No abstract is available for this record.

Zacharias Edholm

Bitcoin – en volatil hedge? : En kvantitativ studie av Bitcoins hedgingegenskaper gentemot OMXS30

George Ritzer, Petar Jandrić, Sarah Hayes

In the year that George Ritzer publishes the ninth edition of The McDonaldization of Society, moving his famous theory firmly Into the Digital Age, critical educator Petar Jandrić and sociologist Sarah Hayes invited George to a dialogue on the digital transformation of McDonaldization and its critical application to Higher Education. In this article, George first traces for us the origins of his theory that has endured for four decades. A key dimension of McDonaldization is the ‘iron cage’ of control, via rationalization. Once contained within physical sites of bricks and mortar, now, we encounter a ‘velvet cage’ in sites of digital consumption, at the hands of non-human technologies, that threaten human labor and autonomy. Whilst the concept of the McUniversity is not without some critique, this interview provides compelling reasons to open new dialogue about McDonaldization in augmented settings such as Higher Education. With the rise of prosuming machines such as blockchain and bitcoin, that can both produce and consume without intervention from human ‘prosumers’, universities cannot afford to ignore the challenges of prosumer capitalism, which George concludes, will explode into unprecedented and unpredictable directions in the years to come.

Mohsin Mahmood, Martin Nikolai Nilssen

This master thesis investigates Bitcoin liquidity in a market microstructure setting and has\nbeen divided into two parts. In the first part we examine whether there is any correlation\nbetween the results generated by three liquidity measurement techniques (The Rolls, ILLIQ\nand Coefficient of elasticity) and the actual market microstructure spread. We find that only\nILLIQ shows a moderate, statistically significant correlation with the spread.\nThe second part investigates whether selected primary and secondary variables affect the\nspread and whether their relationship is in line with existing financial research and our\nintuition. This part also examines whether there is any weekly cyclicality in Bitcoin liquidity,\nand if occurrence of events affects Bitcoin liquidity or not. We find that the primary and\nsecondary variables have a significant impact on the bid ask spread, and that the nature of the\nrelationship is in line with empirical research and our intuition. Interestingly, we find that\nvariables which are not directly related to the market microstructure have a relatively higher\nimpact on the spread in comparison to variables that are directly related. We also find that\nBitcoin liquidity does not have any cyclical, weekly trends and only a few of the events have\nany sort of significant impact on liquidity.