Williams Kwasi Peprah, Amos Oppong Afriyie, Joseph Ahor Abandoh-Sam, Emmanuel Oppong Afriyie
Globalization aided by the internet has now come to stay, which has brought in cryptocurrency to support local and international financial transactions. This qualitative study used content analysis research techniques to assess the impact of cryptocurrency on traditional banking and fiat currency. The findings of this study were, firstly cryptocurrency has similar features and function of banks and fiat currency, as it operates through the internet. Secondly, cryptocurrency functions as a unit of account, medium of exchange, store of value and an intermediary on fund accumulation and distribution. Thirdly, cryptocurrency which is dollarization 2.0 has come to restore the confidence and convenience of financial globalization in that it eliminates the third party from interfering with the transactional process. Lastly, its influence on central banks and governments is the elimination of seigniorage. What cryptocurrency requires now is the legal tender status through regulations.
Thanks to the new global order established after the Second World War and the communication networks that have become widespread. Due to this, the electronic payment systems that have started to be used since the second half of the 20th century in the world and the credit cards called plastic money have started to be widely used in our country since the 80 '. From the beginning of 2000's, it is observed that cash-based transactions are lagging e-money-based transactions. Since the beginning of the 90's the Internet and social media emerged with new media technologies and after 2004, it has become a dominant idea that these environments provide freedom and even create disorder. In the last 5-6 years we have seen the trade of crypto currencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a method of payment that people use for their purchases based on mutual trust, without an authority issuing it. It works independently of the state authority and the banking system. From this point of view, it is seen as the reflection of freedom originally envisaged for the internet environment. In this context, the question of how bitcoin systems are perceived, and the level of entrepreneurship are issues that needs to be investigated. In this study, a survey was conducted to measure the level of entrepreneurship of bitcoin miners, buyers and sellers. Twitter users were selected for the sample. The research is designed to examine the impact of entrepreneurship motivated by investors' interest in entering the arena that is said to be quite new and risky, and which sub-factors may dominate, which deals with bitcoin and similar crypto currencies. The findings show that users who are interested in mining, buying-selling and trading have very high level of entrepreneurial points.
Jun 20, 2018·Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computing, Electronics & Communications Engineering 2018 (IEEE iCCECE '18), to be held between 16-17 August 2018, at University of Essex, Southend, UK, published by IEEE
Securities exchange being digitalised and online, security of information and data has become a major concern. Blockchain (BC) technology, being distributed and immutable in nature, has proved to the "Trust Machine" eliminating the need for third-parties. Authors of this paper investigate how Blockchain can be used to secure stock exchange transactions, with an especial focus to the technological as well as legal aspects of such applications. Considering the intricate operational structure of the securities exchange, the research proposes to design, develop and implement a hybrid BC, customised according to the need of the respective stock exchange. The study suggests that the use of such BC can bring many benefits which the other technologies currently being used cannot offer. However, during the design process of any such application using BC, the relevant laws and regulations of the corresponding country need to be considered.
We study how attempts to regulate cryptocurrencies, or at least to mitigate the harm they do, are misdirected. We started by looking at how one might blacklist stolen bitcoin, and find that two established legal principles – the nemo dat rule and the Clayton's case precedent -- make tracing crime proceeds much simpler than researchers previously thought; they support a first-in first-out rule for taint tracking, which turns out to be much more efficient. However once we published initial results and were approached by theft victims, we discovered a more serious problem. Many bitcoin exchanges do not now give their customers actual bitcoin, but rather do off-chain transactions with other exchange customers or transact on customers' behalf with outsiders. Except where customers withdraw cryptocurrency into self-hosted wallets, the ownership of these assets is unclear. The number of off-blockchain transactions has increased enormously in the last eighteen months; we can't find good figures but the volume is sufficient to raise serious concerns and the practice falls under e-money regulations that are not being enforced. In short, the security, economics and regulatory problems of cryptocurrencies in 2018 turn out to be rather different from those described in the academic literature. The real problem is that we are seeing the emergence of a shadow banking system. Cryptocurrencies do not solve the underlying problems that made bank regulation necessary, and we sadly predict that many of the familiar second-order problems will also reappear. We discuss the implications for regulating cryptocurrencies and smart contracts more generally, and suggest eight things that regulators and central banks might usefully do.
Cryptocurrency is a relatively recent economic and technological phenomenon, competing with established traditional third party financial systems through a trust-based peer-to-peer decentralized network. This unique financial and technological transactional structure opens new market opportunities and challenges, defining the cryptocurrency compared to the established financial market. To illuminate and analyse the inner workings of the cryptocurrency market, this thesis highlights the market drivers for the current top five cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization, by focusing on the current market situation and market history. This is supplemented by examining the history of traditional money and how cryptocurrencies can be compared with it. In addition, the technological and financial structure of the main cryptocurrencies and how the main components of the market work will be examined. Financial analysis such as price, volatility, market correlation, market history matching, liquidity of the cryptocurrency market and strategic market analysis were conducted as part of this study. By using this information, it is possible to establish a foundation for further market comprehension of the five major cryptocurrencies and the future challenges. Based on the analysis in this thesis, several findings were made regarding the nature of the cryptocurrency market. Generally, it is apparent that established market models are applicable to the cryptocurrency market. However, the cryptocurrency market experiences symptoms of its own free decentralized market model, technology, and limited public adoption.\nArguably, a common public opinion is that the cryptocurrency market is difficult to comprehend, and market development can often seem arbitrary and mysterious to outsiders. The market is complicated by periods of with seemingly arbitrary exceptionally high volatility. This along with historical growth levels that are unparalleled in many other industries are common in the cryptocurrency market. Other common unbalancing factors are the exposure to market manipulations, geopolitical uncertainties and agendas, and market responses to news and singular events. There are additionally several limitations and challenges with regards to the industry’s technological foundations. This has the potential to impact the valuation and longevity of the different cryptocurrencies. By analysing these aspects, an insightful and comprehensive comparative market analysis of the cryptocurrency industry is formed.
This paper aims toward amplifying the concept of cryptocurrency as emerging digital money in the world and its practices in Nepal. The paper is based on review of various articles, books and relevant websites that provide information regarding cryptocurrencies. The paper highlighted the conceptual part and types of cryptocurrencies in the first section, the major literature review in the context of world in the second section, and the practices of cryptocurrency in Nepal in third section followed by conclusion in final section. An exploratory research design has been adopted in the study. The primary survey has been done to collect the data with self administered questionnaire. The paper reveals the importance of cryptocurrencies in the present context of digital world. The paper concluded that the majority of the respondents are not well known about cryptocurrency in Nepal. The respondents are found interested to invest with knowledge, policy and security on cryptocurrency in Nepal. This thematic based research paper will create a platform for the researcher to study the practical scenario of cryptocurrency.NCC JournalVol. 3, No. 1, 2018, page: 100-107
The cryptocurrency is thought to be the next internet revolution, where transactions are done utilizing peer-to-peer network creating a blockchain of the participants involved. Therefore, it is in totality creating a new virtual world, which might change the course of the foreseeable future finance. The reaction to the block chain and cryptocurrency is synonymous to the reaction to the internet when for the first time it emerged. While it is widely accepted for transactions in some countries; for instance in Nepal, it is illegal. Where the basic knowledge about the cryptocurrency is scarce in terms of Nepal, this article attempt to connote the grass root construct on cryptography, cryptocurrency and its practices across the globe to its readers.NCC JournalVol. 3, No. 1, 2018, page: 167-175
A blockchain enabled ‘Digital Single Economy” can act as a catalyst for growth and could provide a platform where borderless innovative practices will thrive and create a true collaborative global economy, with shared goals and objectives for the benefit of wider community. A society where digital economy flourishes irrespective of geopolitical ideologies and where a technology like Blockchain holds transformative potential to unite the nations together. The UK currently has strong collaborations around blockchain including with the British Blockchain Association which aims to integrate with the EU on the adoption of Blockchain based methods around a range of application areas. However, at the core of these alliances must be the promotion of technology which link industry, the public sector, and academia, whilst also integrating key stakeholders, such as law enforcement, finance, health care, professional bodies and the legal industry.
In year 2017, Bitcoin attracted most investors because high return of investment. The system for Bitcoin transaction is known as blockchain. The blockchain is blocks of transaction history that shared publicly using secured cryptography. Each block contains the previous transaction information, timestamp and new transaction data in secured cryptographic hash programming language. This paper evaluates the Bitcoin framework whether the security of the system is satisfied with a definition of reliable computer system. In the same time, this paper discovers the reliability of the programming process that involved in blockchain system. The finding of this paper will help investors to understand the blockchain system properly in developing better understanding of cryptocurrency framework. The better understanding of the blockchain will help investors making proper decision in their investment portfolio to gain better profit and preventing loss.
Amir Feder, Neil Gandal, JT Hamrick, Tyler Moore · 5 authors
This study examines blockchain technologies and their pivotal role in the evolving Metaverse, shedding light on topics such as how to invest in cryptocurrency, the mechanics behind crypto mining, and strategies to effectively buy and trade cryptocurrencies. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the research transitions from the fundamental principles of fintech investment strategies to the overarching implications of blockchain within the Metaverse. Alongside exploring machine learning potentials in financial sectors and risk assessment methodologies, the study critically assesses whether developed or developing nations are poised to reap greater benefits from these technologies. Moreover, it probes into both enduring and dubious crypto projects, drawing a distinct line between genuine blockchain applications and Ponzi-like schemes. The conclusion resolutely affirms the continuing dominance of blockchain technologies, underlined by a profound exploration of their intrinsic value and a reflective commentary by the author on the potential risks confronting individual investors.
This article provides an examination of regulation theory as applied to Bitcoin. Through an examination of the parallels with Ogus’ model for self-regulation, it is demonstrated that several unique features inherent to cryptocurrencies offer the benefits of regulatory oversight without the drawbacks. The article also provides a broader socio-regulatory analysis of Bitcoin in an attempt to better understand the benefits of competitive self-regulation for platform users. Finally, this article examines whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated by way of traditional State-based models and, if so, which of these approaches (if any) ought to be used to regulate the platform.
With the Internet of Things (IoT), Things are expected to live in different “domains” and “contexts” during their lifetime. Information generated by and associated with Things should be manageable by multiple, diverse stakeholders accordingly. Moreover, the scope of the information related to Things can range from private and confidential to public and auditable. Identification, security, and interoperability in this vivid environment are expected to be challenging. In this paper we discuss how smart contracts and blockchain technologies create the potential for a viable solution. To this end, we present smart contract-based solutions that improve security and information management, we identify new opportunities and challenges, and we provide security recommendations and guidelines.
Grégory Claeys, Maria Demertzis, Konstantinos Efstathiou
This Policy Contribution tries to answer two main questions: can cryptocurrencies acquire the role of money? And what are the implications for central banks and monetary policy? Money is a social institution that serves as a unit of account, a medium of exchange and a store of value. With the emergence of decentralised ledger technology (DLT), cryptocurrencies represent a new form of money: privately issued, digital and enabling peer-to-peer transactions. Historically, currencies fulfil their main functions successfully when their value is stable and their user network sufficiently large. So far, cryptocurrencies are arguably falling short against these criteria. They resemble speculative assets rather than money. Primarily this is because of their inherent volatility, which is the by-product of their inelastic supply, and which limits their widespread use as a medium of exchange. Cryptocurrency protocols could theoretically evolve to limit their volatility and correct their current deficiencies. If successful, this could lead to an increase in their popularity as an alternative to official currencies. A successful alternative to official currencies could put pressure on those who manage official currencies to provide better policies. But the widespread substitution of central bank currency for cryptocurrencies would effectively create parallel currencies. This by itself could create risks to the effectiveness of monetary policy, to financial stability and ultimately to growth. Nevertheless, the risks of cryptocurrencies becoming serious contenders remain small as long as fiat currencies issued by the world's major central banks continue to deliver effectively the three traditional functions of money. It would take a deep crisis of trust in official currencies for their widespread substitution by cryptocurrencies to materialise. For cryptocurrencies to replace official currencies they would have to overcome a triple challenge. First, the supply of cryptocurrency would need to act as an instrument (or identify a different instrument) that affects the economy. Second, in the presence of fractional reserve banking, the supply would need to respond to liquidity crises and act as a lender of last resort in order to safeguard financial stability. Third, there would need to be a system of checks and balances to keep the agent, ie the cryptocurrency issuer, accountable to the principal, ie society, which is not possible because cryptocurrencies are automatically and privately-issued. For these reasons, official currencies controlled by inflation-targeting independent central banks still appear to be a far superior technology than cryptocurrencies to provide the money functions.
International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering (A UGC Approved and indexed with DOI, ICI and Approved, DPI Digital Library) is one of the leading and growing open access, peer-reviewed, monthly, and scientific research journal for scientists, engineers, research scholars, and academicians, which gains a foothold in Asia and opens to the world, aims to publish original, theoretical and practical advances in Computer Science,Information Technology, Engineering (Software, Mechanical, Civil, Electronics & Electrical), and all interdisciplinary streams of Computing Sciences. It intends to disseminate original, scientific, theoretical or applied research in the field of Computer Sciences and allied fields. It provides a platform for publishing results and research with a strong empirical component. It aims to bridge the significant gap between research and practice by promoting the publication of original, novel, industry-relevant research.
Blockchain Technology is considered as a general-purpose technology with far reaching effects. As can be seen from the discussions on blockchain applications, both practitioners and researchers struggle to get to the core of blockchain technology consequences. Especially practitioners in the governmental sector explore adequate responses to this new technology. Therefore, our aim is to provide a conceptualization of the consequences of blockchain systems from an institutional perspective, and to use this conceptualization to provide insights into the governance of blockchain systems.
The blockchain technology has evolved beyond traditional payment solutions in the finance sector and offers a potential for transforming many sectors including the public sector. The novel integration of technology and economy that open public block-chains have brought represents both challenges to and opportunities for enhancing digital public services. So far, the public sector has lagged behind other sectors in both research and exploration of this technology, but pilot cases show that there is a great potential for reforming and even transforming public service delivery.
The ability of blockchain technology to record transactions on distributed ledgers offers new opportunities for governments to improve transparency, prevent fraud, and establish trust in the public sector. However, blockchain adoption and use in the context of e-Government is rather unexplored in academic literature. In this paper, we systematically review relevant research to understand the current research topics, challenges and future directions regarding blockchain adoption for e-Government. The results show that the adoption of blockchain-based applications in e-Government is still very limited and there is a lack of empirical evidence. The main challenges faced in blockchain adoption are predominantly presented as technological aspects such as security, scalability and flexibility. From an organizational point of view, the issues of acceptability and the need of new governance models are presented as the main barriers to adoption. Moreover, the lack of legal and regulatory support is identified as the main environmental barrier of adoption. Based on the challenges presented in the literature, we propose future research questions that need to be addressed to inform how the public sector should approach the blockchain technology adoption.
Amir Kafshdar Goharshady, Ali Behrouz, Krishnendu Chatteriee
We present a secure approach for maintaining and reporting credit history records on the Blockchain. Our approach removes third-parties such as credit reporting agencies from the lending process and replaces them with smart contracts. This allows customers to interact directly with the lenders or banks while ensuring the integrity, unmalleability and privacy of their credit data. Most importantly, each customer is given full control over complete or selective disclosure of her credit records, eliminating the risk of privacy violations or data breaches such as the one that happened to Equifax in 2017. Moreover, our approach provides strong guarantees for the lenders as well. A lender can check both correctness and completeness of the credit data disclosed to her. This is the first approach that is able to perform all real-world credit reporting tasks without a central authority or changing the financial mechanisms.
With widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of standardised contracts in the digital environment can help prevent them from being codified further into smart contracts.
A new legal field is emerging around blockchain platforms and automated transactions. Understanding the relationships between law, legal enforcement, and these technological systems has become critical for scaling blockchain applications. Because ‘smart contracts’ do not themselves constitute agreements, the first necessary ‘legal’ development for transacting with these technologies involves linking computational transactions to natural language contracts. Various groups have accordingly begun building libraries of machine readable transaction modules that correspond to natural language contracting elements. In doing so, they are creating the building blocks for ever more complex transactions that will ultimately define the entire envelope of computational legal conduct in these environments, and likely standardise the field. However, also critical to emerging blockchain ‘legalities’, is the capacity for dispute resolution and legal enforcement. Beyond the performance of parties, or the quality of goods and services transacted, new mechanisms are also needed to address the performance of the computational transaction systems themselves. These are necessary to address the reality that smart contracts cannot be forced to perform actions beyond the parameters of their coding, even by a judicial order. Legal tools, both technological and institutional, are thus being developed to ‘soften’ the effects of self-executing transactions. In this article we treat these developments as law-making practices that are constitutive of an emerging legal field. Legal engineering exercises of this kind are not novel, and by drawing on historic examples from the common law and international arbitration, we gain insights into the competitive dynamics likely to be shaping legal engagements on the blockchain.
James R. Maddison, Dr Jared Robert Keller, Jamie Fawcett, Caley Dewhurst · 8 authors
Part 1: Smart contracts and uses for business 7Blockchains, distributed ledgers and trust 8Key properties of distributed ledgers 8Part 1: Are smart contracts useful for me and my business?The original blockchain was designed to enable financial transactions without the need for any trusted third party.The design of the system relies on storing records of all transactions on a new kind of database, with a unique set of properties, that engender trust between members of the network in those transactions.In particular, this trust resides in the distributed nature of the database -with every member of the peer network having a copy of the blockchain and equal authority to add to it.With no central copy, every member of the network, or node, can add to the database, though they must reach consensus before doing so -a process typically handled through the use of cryptography and economic incentive.Blockchain databases can be public, so anyone can join, or can have restricted permissions to read or write to the database, depending on the design chosen.Distributed ledgers such as these can arguably underpin trusted exchange of cryptocurrencies or other financial assets in the absence of trusted third parties rather effectively.However, many people are excited by their potential application to other use cases -typically using the immutable and distributed nature of the database to create a verifiable, single, trusted record of particular events.This can open up the possibility of answering some of the challenges that cannot be solved with a centralised database -primarily because businesses would no longer need to trust a single third party to operate the system or database.Examples of how distributed ledgers could be applied include creating a single register for art and collectibles (Codex protocol), guaranteeing the integrity of digital archives (ARCHANGEL) or managing digital music rights (Blokur).When asked to identify the most promising use cases for distributed ledgers and smart contracts, many of the people we spoke to immediately reached for the Open Data Institute 2018 / Technical report How can smart contracts be useful for businesses? 3Open Data Institute 2018 / Technical report How can smart contracts be useful for businesses? 4iii) Identify how the system will be funded and governed, and how value will be transferredAll technology systems and business processes create setup and operational costs.How these costs are administered and by whom will have a big impact on not only trust in the system but incentive to participate.Businesses need to make decisions about the extent to which they can use the technology and the extent to which they can use existing industry mechanisms to tackle these three challenges.In this choice between idealism and pragmatism is the implicit challenge of designing solutions that fit the needs of the business and the industry without losing all the potential benefits of this technological approach.Such a balance is difficult, and businesses need to be mindful about the different approaches that can be taken.Given the reliance on industry context, many systems will require different approaches in response to different challenges, and often these will be a mixture of the ideal and pragmatic. Key takeawaysDaily interactions between people, businesses, and other organisations are all underpinned by trust.Distributed ledgers are an emerging set of database technologies that have the potential to play a part in informing this trust -using their unique properties of immutability and distributed maintenance to create a verifiable, single, trusted record of particular events.Smart contracts are pieces of executable computer code stored on a distributed ledger that, when certain conditions are met, can automatically modify data on that ledger -potentially providing the means to automate different processes within the database.Distributed ledgers and smart contracts are potentially useful for businesses but only if there is a clearly defined use case where there is lack of trust between multiple actors and no central authority is trusted to administer the entire system.Having identified a clear use case, businesses looking to implement distributed ledger and smart contract approaches to tackle challenges need to remain pragmatic about the capabilities of the technology and the existing industry context.Specifically, businesses should be prepared to make decisions about: i) how to get data into the ledger in a trustworthy manner ii) how to handle edge cases and resolve disputes iii) how to fund, govern and administer the system effectively Open Data Institute 2018 / Technical report How can smart contracts be useful for businesses? 5 Open Data Institute 2018 / Technical report How can smart contracts be useful for businesses?6 3 technologies that store data, it is important to understand what role blockchains and distributed ledgers might play in creating a robust data infrastructure. 1Geofrey T Mills (1994), 'Early Accounting in Northern Italy: The Role of Commercial Development and the Printing Press in the Expansion of Double-Entry From Genoa, Florence, and Venice', http://www.accountingin.com/accounting-historians-journal/volume-21-number-1/ear ly-accounting-in-northern-italy-the-role-of-commercial-development
No abstract available.
 Editor’s note: A proposal to implement distributed ledger technology for electronic health records is outlined here. The rationale for integration of distributed ledgers in the healthcare domain is introduced, followed by a discussion of the features enabled by the use of a blockchain. An open source implementation of a distributed ledger is then presented. The article concludes with an examination of opportunities and challenges ahead in deploying blockchains for digital health.