Blockchain Papers

Folake Alabi

No abstract is available for this record.

Janick Rohrbach, Silvan Suremann

No abstract is available for this record.

Chinmaya Dash, Prakash Chandra Behera

Blockchain is a decentralized transaction and data management technology developed first for Bitcoin cryptocurrency. The interest in Blockchain technology has been increasing since the idea was coined in 2008. The reason for the interest in Blockchain is its central attributes that provide security, anonymity and data integrity without any third party organization in control of the transactions, and therefore it creates interesting research areas, especially from the perspective of technical challenges and limitations. This paper highlights the architecture, benefits and applications of Blockchain Technology.

Craig Wright

The concept of a Turing machine has been well defined. It would be sufficient to show that Bitcoin uses a dual stack architecture that acts as a dual counter machine. Such systems have already been demonstrated as being Turing complete. We demonstrate that Bitcoin script is a minimal family of which λ and R are members. Further using the compositional product rule and the iteration rule we demonstrate that Bitcoin scripting is Turing complete with the limitations imposed on any realworld computer. This limitation is that there cannot be an infinite tape. Iterations can be simulated using an “unrolled” loop function with allocation to the “Alt” stack. As the product rule states that if A, B are machines, then A.B is also a machine. The iteration rule shows that if A is a machine then (A) is also a machine. Further the minimum power of A under which the observed square of the final configuration is blank. The consequence of these rules is that for every partial recursive function of in variables we can show that it can be evaluated by machine of the proposed family.

Elizabeth Sara Ross

This Note examines the disruptive effects that distributed ledger technology will have on payment systems and the financial services industry. It discusses how financial technology companies and banks will need to adapt to ensure that American consumers and banks, as well as the American economy at large, remain secure and efficient within an increasingly online and global financial system. This Note argues that the disjointed digital currency licensing regimes and complex landscape of state-by-state money transmission licensing directly threaten to stifle innovation, capital formation, consumer protection, and national cybersecurity. To ensure the U.S. remains competitive in the global financial revolution, and to ensure consumer protection, this Note advocates for the U.S. to adopt a principles-based approach to regulating innovative payments and financial technology (“FinTech”). It concludes that a limited purpose national FinTech charter should be implemented in the U.S. and discusses how it would correspond with the joint proposed rule by the Office of the Comptroller, Department of Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for cybersecurity standards.

Karen Yeung

No abstract is available for this record.

Vinay Reddy Mallidi, V. Madhu Viswanatham, P. Ashok Kumar

For the past few years, the market has changed a lot and it has become dynamic and demanding which has put the market into a competitive environment. The supply chain plays a crucial role to adapt the business to the dynamic environment as it is very reliant on collaboration integration as well as flexibility. The applications related to the supply chain have gotten the attention of many business owners and to improve the flow control of the supply chain many specialized applications are implemented. One of the most important new technological applications in the supply chain is blockchain technology which has garnered the attention of many business owners as it can be quickly adapted to dynamic market conditions and in the business environment. One upon reading this will get to know about the effect of blockchain technology utilization on this field. The results of the research paper recommend that companies invest in blockchain technology so that the supply chain becomes more transparent, flexible, and secure. There is no doubt in the fact that blockchain technology plays an important role in developing trust with the stakeholder of the supply chain. In the end, the research paper has also given some considerations on the implications that are positive as well as the potential of the blockchain in the field of collaboration and integration.

Rupsha Bagchi

The Internet of Things is a proliferating industry, which is transforming many homes and businesses, making them smart. However, the rapid growth of these devices and the interactions between these devices, introduces many challenges including that of a secure management system for the identities and interactions of the devices. While the centralized model has worked well for many years, there is a risk of the servers becoming bottlenecks and a single point of failure, thereby making them vulnerable to Denial-of-Service attacks. As a backbone of these interactions, Blockchain is capable of creating a highly secure, independent and distributed platform. Blockchain is a peer to peer, distributed ledger system that stores all the transactions taking place within the network. The main purpose of the servers that form a part of the distributed system is to provide a consensus, using various consensus algorithms, on the state of the blockchain at any given time and to store a copy of all the transactions taking place. This thesis explores the Blockchain technology in general and investigates its potential with regard to access management of constrained devices. A proof of concept system has been designed and implemented that demonstrates a simplified access management system using Ethereum Blockchain. This was done to check whether the concept can be applied at a global level. Although the latency of the network depends on the computing power of the resources participating in the Blockchain, an evaluation of the proof of concept system has been made, keeping in mind the smallest device that can be involved in the consensus process. Docker containers have been used to simulate a cluster of the nodes participating in the Blockchain, in order to examine the implemented system. An outline of the various advantages and the limitations of Blockchains in general, as well as the developed proof of concept system, has also been provided.

Marina Echebarría Sáenz

espanolLa aparicion de contratos en formato electronico y autoejecutables es el resultado logico del progresivo proceso de automatizacion en la distribucion y en el internet de las cosas. Nuestro regimen legal integra sin dificultad este formato de contratacion, pero conseguir un proceso totalmente automatizado implica recurrir a mecanismos de pago en red que no siempre se adaptan al tipo contractual. El uso del dinero electronico y las monedas virtuales como el bitcoin cubren esta funcion pero la escasa o nula regulacion de las monedas virtuales y su doble caracter de unidad de valor y unidad de cuenta dificultan la funcionalidad y seguridad juridica del uso de las tecnologias Blockchain en formatos estandarizados y automatizados de contratacion. EnglishThe appearance of smart contract in electronic and self-executable format, is the logical result of the progressive process of automation in the distribution and on called “Internet of things”. Law integrates this contracting format without difficulty, but achieving a fully automated process involves using online payment mechanisms that are not always adapted to the contractual type. The use of electronic money and virtual currencies, such as bitcoin, cover this function, but the scarce or null regulation of virtual currencies and their double character, as a unit of value and a unit of account, make the functionality and legal security of the use of Blockchain technologies difficult in standardized and automated contracting formats

Rasheed Sabar

No abstract is available for this record.

Yuen C Lo

No abstract is available for this record.

Roberto Metere, Changyu Dong

Aiming for strong security assurance, recently there has been an increasing interest in formal verification of cryptographic constructions. This paper presents a mechanised formal verification of the popular Pedersen commitment protocol, proving its security properties of correctness, perfect hiding, and computational binding. To formally verify the protocol, we extended the theory of EasyCrypt, a framework which allows for reasoning in the computational model, to support the discrete logarithm and an abstraction of commitment protocols. Commitments are building blocks of many cryptographic constructions, for example, verifiable secret sharing, zero-knowledge proofs, and e-voting. Our work paves the way for the verification of those more complex constructions.

Kevin M. Clermont

The law speaks clearly on the standards of proof, but listeners often misunderstand its words. This article tries, with some common sense, to explain how the law expects its standards to be applied, and then to show how the law thereby avoids such complications as the conjunction paradox. First, in accordance with belief function theory, the factfinder should start at zero belief. Given imperfect evidence, the factfinder will end up retaining a fair amount of uncommitted belief. As evidence comes in, though, the factfinder will form a belief in the truth of the disputed fact but also form a disbelief, or a belief in the fact’s falsity. At the close of evidence, the standard of proof requires only comparing belief and disbelief. For example, the civil standard, rather than asking whether a fact more likely than not happened according to traditional probability theory, asks whether the factfinder believes the fact more than the factfinder believes that the fact did not happen. The burdened party need not push proof above 50% by dispelling the phantoms of every possibility, while the opponent need not generate a competing version of truth but can instead rely on denial to demand that the burdened party generate a belief.Second, belief and disbelief being nonadditive partial truths, the mathematical result is that one cannot combine beliefs by traditional probability theory, as by using the product rule designed for conjunction of betting odds. Instead, one must use multivalent logic, including its rule that conjoined likelihood equals the likelihood of the least likely element. Linking the elements in a chain tells a story that is as likely as its weakest link. Consequently, if each element of a claim or defense passes the standard of proof, the conjunction of elements will pass the standard of proof. The conjunction paradox thus vaporizes for factfinding, just as the law has always maintained. The law has found the way to decide in accord with our best knowledge of the facts.

Leah Kimathi

The promulgation of the new constitution in Kenya in August 2010 effectively ushered in devolution as the latest and highest form of decentralization in Kenya. The health sector was the largest service sector to be devolved under this new governance arrangement. The rationale for devolving the sector was to allow the county governments to design innovative models and interventions that suited the unique health needs in their contexts, encourage effective citizen participation and make autonomous and quick decisions on resource mobilization and management possible issues. However, the sector in nearly all counties is currently bedevilled with monumental challenges ranging from capacity gaps, human resource deficiency, lack of critical legal and institutional infrastructure, rampant corruption and a conflictual relationship with the national government. The net effect of these challenges is the stagnation of healthcare and even a reversal of some gains according to health indicators. No doubt what is needed to guarantee an all-inclusive rights-based approach to health service delivery is its proper institutionalization to ensure good governance and effective community participation. This must however be accompanied by wider governance reforms as envisaged in the new constitution for the sustainability of Healthcare Reforms. Key Words : Devolution, Healthcare Delivery, Healthcare Financing, Health Workforce, health governance.

Runar Alvseike, Geir Arne Gjersvoll Iversen

Bitcoins original idea proposed a trustless monetary system, without the need of
\nintermediaries. In recent years, these very intermediaries it originally tried to circumvent, have
\ngained an increased interest in Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the Blockchain. It presents a
\ndecentralized database technology, suitable for exchanging value in an untrusted environment.
\nConsequently, it introduces an innovation in both economics and information technology.
\nIn this explorative study, we aim to investigate how Bitcoin and Blockchain technology may
\nimpact the monetary and financial system. By conducting 20 in-depth interviews from a broad
\nrange of stakeholders and a literature review in this new topic of interest, we have identified
\ntwo main themes introduced with this new technology. First, we seek to understand how the
\nfuture of money could unfold with Cryptocurrencies and Central Bank issued Digital Currency
\n(CBDC). The former is recognized to have a series of specialized architectures, spanning from
\nsimple monetary transactions to complex platforms enabling a decentralized economy to
\nevolve. CBDC is not necessarily reliant on blockchain technology, but the of digitally issued
\ncurrencies and blockchains introduces new fiscal and monetary policy toolkits. There are
\nhowever a series of intricate questions that needs to be addressed before CBDC could act as a
\ncomplement or replacement for physical currency. Lastly, we explore how the future of
\nfinance will be affected by blockchain technology and the cryptoeconomy. Banks may be
\nfacing increased competition from new entrants, where blockchain technology may facilitate
\nreduced costs in terms of regulatory compliance, efficiency in transactions and settlement, and
\nreconciliation. Moreover, new financial services are introduced by financial technology
\ninnovation. This might change the business model of banks and other financial institutions
\ndrastically. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies introduce new funding possibilities and enables
\norganizations to evolve with no governing body. This might facilitate a new economic system,
\ncalled the cryptoeconomy.
\nDevelopment in blockchain technology is mentioned to be at the same maturity stage as the
\nInternet by the early 1990s. There are several uncertainties regarding its future applications.
\nHowever, smart contracts seems to be an interesting application, facilitating automation in a
\nrange of applications.

Yuliia Petlenko, Tymur KOTOVSKYI

Introduction. Building an effective and fair system of public finance is an important stimulus for the dynamic development of economy of Ukraine. In this case, balance and rationality of financial resources of Ukraine will contribute to creating an enabling macroeconomic environment for business and investment growth and provide guaranteed stability in the system of social protection. However, imbalances and problems in public finances are able to form a threat to national economic development. According to this the article is devoted to coverage of topical issues of public financial management in Ukraine and defining their solutions via the implementation of a new model of government – the transfer of key business practices in public administration. Results. Main solution for issues in a public finance management should be the implementation of the new government model which is based on using main principles of corporate finance management in public area. New government model includes elastic system of compensation to public officers which is based on KPIs, decentralization of budget system and controlling by independent auditor. Conclusion. The implementation of a new model of public administration requires systematic and deep reforms, which required considerable significant time and financial resources.

Lin Chen, Lei Xu, Zhimin Gao, Nolan Shah · 6 authors

Transaction system build on top of blockchain, especially smart contract, is becoming an important part of world economy. However, there is a lack of formal study on the behavior of users in these systems, which leaves the correctness and security of such system without a solid foundation. Unlike mining, in which the reward for mining a block is fixed, different execution results of a smart contract may lead to significantly different payoffs of users, which gives more incentives for some user to follow a branch that contains a wrong result, even if the branch is shorter. It is thus important to understand the exact probability that a branch is being selected by the system. We formulate this problem as the (+-)-Biased Ballot Problem as follows: there are n voters one by one voting for either of the two candidates A and B. The probability of a user voting for A or B depends on whether the difference between the current votes of A and B is positive or negative. Our model takes into account the behavior of three different kinds of users when a branch occurs in the system -- users having preference over a certain branch based on the history of their transactions, and users being indifferent and simply follow the longest chain. We study two important probabilities that are closely related with a blockchain based system - the probability that A wins at last, and the probability that A receives d votes first. We show how to recursively calculate the two probabilities for any fixed n and d, and also discuss their asymptotic values when n and d are sufficiently large.

Sushant Nagpal

No abstract is available for this record.

Mark M. Lennon, Daniel Folkinshteyn

Over the past 15 years, NASDAQ, the world’s first all-electronic stock exchange, has actively engaged in efforts to serve the global digital economy by expanding its reach beyond its original domestic U.S. market. They have attempted to create a global 24/7 trading platform, to serve customers in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. These efforts have met with varying degrees of success. More recently, the renamed NASDAQ OMX Group has been experimenting with the disruptive fintech (financial technology) Bitcoin and its underlying technology blockchain to develop robust trading solutions, which drastically reduce transaction and record keeping costs. In this paper we analyze the various approaches taken by NASDAQ in its expansion ventures. We describe the similarities and differences in these undertakings, in order to identify successful strategies for firms who desire to increase the quality of their products while increasing efficiency and reducing the costs of their services. Drawing upon the strategy literature, we also develop theoretical models on how markets operate, and derive a series of propositions about the interplay between technology and markets.

David Lee Kuo Chuen

No abstract is available for this record.

John Flood, Lachlan Robb

No abstract is available for this record.

Syeda Sumbul Hossain, Samen Anjum Arani, Md. Tanvir Rahman, Touhid Bhuiyan · 6 authors

In every nation, democratic elections are a momentous and weighty occurrence, and the voting system that is now in place requires the use of ballots or electronic voting machines (EVM). Transparency, poor turnout, vote manipulation, distrust of electoral organizations, fabrication of unique IDs (voting party IDs), and delays in posting results are some of the issues that arise as a result of these procedures. The matter of safety is of the utmost importance. When considering the installation of a computerized voting system, voter confidentiality has always been one of the most important concerns. There is no question regarding the system's capability to secure itself in contrast to prospective assaults and safeguard data in the face of such big choices. Utilization of blockchain technology is one approach that might be taken to resolve security concerns. The blockchain technology has an endless number of different uses that might be implemented. The technology known as blockchain is a distributed ledger that makes it possible for peer-to-peer networks all over the world to handle digital assets. In this context, distributed ledger technology represents an intriguing development. A grouping of all transactions is referred to as a block. Immutability, decentralisation, security, transparency, and anonymity are some of the outstanding properties offered by blockchain technology. The combination of blockchain technology with smart contracts has shown promise as a viable option for the development of trustworthy and open-source electronic voting systems. In this article, we demonstrate how to use blockchain technology with the help of a wallet and the Solidity programming language to build an electronic voting application. The programme was designed as a smart contract for the Ethereum network. In order to avoid having the same person vote twice, the user's wallet will only hold a certain number of tokens (gas), which will be depleted each time the user casts a vote. This article talks about the pros and cons of using blockchain technology. It also shows a practical solution in the form of a web app for voting and analyses its limits.

Antti Lehtovirta

The objective of this research is to provide the reader an overview of the distributed ledger technology (DLT), its fundamental challenges, the current and potential future uses in the financial industry, and to suggest future fields of the topic to be researched. The first task of this thesis is trying to answer, “how will the distributed ledger technology impact the financial industry”. Although the thesis will not cover exhaustively all the financial industry’s needs towards the distributed ledger technology, it will give an overview of the DLTs probable usage in the industry. By reading the thesis and especially its use cases from the fields of private equity, and settlement and clearing of public securities’ trading, the reader should get a more accurate answer to the secondary question “how can the public securities and private equity markets use distributed ledger technology in the near future”. The question about the distributed ledger technology’s impact on the whole market is complicated. Despite the amount of financing this technology has acquired in the recent years, there are no new, disruptive or widespread usages for the DLT in the financial industry. However, it is expected that during the next five years, the DLTs become reality. This is due to their enormous potentiality in security, efficiency and automation, which all could save the financial industry up to 50% of their current costs. Additionally, during the same time period, it is highly expectable that some financial service applications, basing on the DLT, will be presented for the consumers by the players from outside the traditional markets. To answer the secondary question, the both markets will face significant changes during the upcoming years: public securities’ post-trade processes will benefit from the more secure and rapid settlement, whereas the private equity market’s whole nature can become a more accessible for both the investors and the businesses seeking for financing.

Michèle Ruta, Floriano Scioscia, Saverio Ieva, Giovanna Capurso · 5 authors

Generally scarce computational and memory resource availability is a well known problem for the IoT, whose intrinsic volatility makes complex applications unfeasible. Noteworthy efforts in overcoming unpredictability (particularly in case of large dimensions) are the ones integrating Knowledge Representation technologies to build the so-called Semantic Web of Things (SWoT). In spite of allowed advanced discovery features, transactions in the SWoT still suffer from not viable trust management strategies. Given its intrinsic characteristics, blockchain technology appears as interesting from this perspective: a semantic resource/service discovery layer built upon a basic blockchain infrastructure gains a consensus validation. This paper proposes a novel Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) based on a semantic blockchain for registration, discovery, selection and payment. Such operations are implemented as smart contracts, allowing distributed execution and trust. Reported experiments early assess the sustainability of the proposal.