Blockchain Papers

Efstathios Papanikolaou, Jannis Angelis, Vassilis Moustakis

No abstract is available for this record.

Eric R. Chen

As cryptocurrencies develop and circulate at greater rates, countries have appeared to consider the technology as an adoptable medium of exchange. By expanding the influence of cryptocurrencies through adoption, countries raise its impact on the global economy. This paper is the first to apply an augmented version of the gravity model to examine the effects of global cryptocurrency adoption on international trade. This empirical study involves aggregating datasets on U.S. bilateral trade flows, gravity variable statistics, and the adoption of cryptocurrencies. In application of the gravity model, regression analyses are used on the aggregated data to test the magnitude of cryptocurrencies’ impact on trade. Based on the overall findings, the variables for cryptocurrency adoption produce negative coefficients suggesting a negative correlation between the adoption of cryptocurrencies and international trade. The central tendency in the empirical evidence offers the interpretation that countries with weak institutions to promote trade are more likely to adopt cryptocurrencies resulting in a negative association between cryptocurrency adoption and trade.

Hector Roussille, Önder Gürcan, Fabien Michel

Blockchain is a very attractive technology since it maintains a public, append-only, immutable and ordered log of transactions which guarantees an auditable ledger accessible by anyone. Blockchain systems are inherently interdisciplinary since they combine various fields such as cryptography, multi-agent systems, distributed systems, social systems, economy, and finance. Furthermore, they have a very active and dynamic ecosystem where new blockchain platforms and algorithms are developed continuously due to the interest of the public and the industries to the technology. Consequently, we anticipate a challenging and interdisciplinary research agenda in blockchain systems, built upon a methodology that strives to capture the rich process resulting from the interplay between the behavior of agents and the dynamic interactions among them. To be effective, however, modeling studies providing insights into blockchain systems, and appropriate description of agents paired with a generic understanding of their components are needed. Such studies will create a more unified field of blockchain systems that advances our understanding and leads to further insight. According to this perspective, in this study, we propose using a generic multi-agent organizational modeling for studying blockchain systems, namely AGR4BS. Concretely, we use the Agent/Group/Role (AGR) organizational modeling approach to identify and represent the generic entities which are common to blockchain systems. We show through four real case studies how this generic model can be used to model different blockchain systems. We also show briefly how it can be used for modeling three well-known attacks on blockchain systems.

FengQin ZhuanSun, Jiaojiao Chen, Wenlong Chen, Yan Sun

With the development of society, e-commerce competition has become increasingly intense and has ascended to the level of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is extremely significant to study the mechanism of evolution and balance for the e-commerce ecosystem. Simultaneously, blockchain technology is essentially a consensus mechanism, the core idea of which is decentralization, but it is actually the deconstruction of privileges and authority. Especially, the influence on the e-commerce ecosystem cannot be underestimated. Blockchain technology ultimately changes not only technology, but a comprehensive reconstruction of various industries. Building an e-commerce information ecosystem based on blockchain can promote the healthy and sustainable development of e-commerce information ecology. This work combines the definition and technical characteristics of blockchain, discusses the blockchain-based e-commerce information ecosystem model, and discusses how to achieve the ecological balance and system evolution of e-commerce under the background of blockchain. According to the internal problems of the e-commerce ecosystem, three evolutionary paths are proposed in this work. First, consider the timeliness of the information and construct a full-process information channel. Second, remove central nodes and build a safe and efficient block payment. Third, solve the blind zone in the field of logistics and create efficient and transparent intelligent logistics. This work can provide an effective reference for the development of e-commerce.

Patrick Schueffel

DeFi, short for decentralized finance, is a new paradigm that enjoys increasing popularity in the financial world. DeFi posits that financial services should not rely on centralized intermediaries but should be provided by users for users. This is done by deploying software components to a decentralized peer-to-peer system which is grounded on blockchain technology. This introductory text discusses the origins of DeFi and delineates DeFi characteristics from those of traditional finance. Several examples of DeFi applications are given, the disadvantages resulting from this paradigm are discussed, and an outlook is provided.

Ruby Khan, Tahani Ali Hakami

Purpose The objective of this study is to examine the nature of cryptocurrencies, risks involved in using it due to its volatile nature, advantages, disadvantages and its functions as money. Design/methodology/approach This is an inductive approach to a descriptive analysis (Qualitative research). In order to come to an adequate conclusion, we reviewed several studies and articles previously published in this field related to our research questions, and then explored the nature of Cryptocurrencies, their advantages and disadvantages, risks associated with cryptocurrency usage and their user-friendliness in Saudi Arabia. Findings The findings of this study reveal that anonymity and concealment are important aspects of cryptocurrencies. This system does not follow a transparent process that can make it parallel to conventional fiat currency. Research limitations/implications Although this study focuses on the issue of trust, it fails to recognize more technological factors hampering its transaction mechanism instead of enhancing it, owing to a lack of facts and knowledge. Practical implications Like conventional transaction system users must sign their crypto transactions that others must duly verify easily. Once a promise is made, one will not be able to back out of it until it is protected from revocation by the signer. Originality/value In comparison with reviewed literature, this study focuses more on the issue of volatility, which accounts for the fact that cryptocurrency has not been accepted as a permanent tool of monetary policy. Additionally, the study finds that the Saudi public is largely pessimistic toward such currencies.

Petri Honkanen, Mats Nylund, Magnus Westerlund

Governance for centralized organizational structures has long roots and well-developed frameworks, including for various specialty areas, such as IT or data governance. However, the introduction of blockchain technology as a supportive tool for implementing decentralized organizations requires a renewed focus for research in the area. The paper utilizes empirical data from blockchain ecosystems in the form of white papers (public communique of intention) to analyze their governance intentions. The empirical findings are based on a review of 241 blockchains and distributed ledger technology white papers, out of which 67 include explicit descriptions of how governance should be organized in the ecosystem. Our empirical research distinguishes between three categories of governance: objectives, mechanisms, and stakeholders. We further identify 28 features for these categories, which are described in an open encoding format. Hence, the paper contributes to the emerging blockchain research field, particularly to the decentralized aspects of blockchain governance research. This research also reveals that blockchain governance does not receive the attention it should as a large majority of ecosystems have not disclosed their governance intentions. The results can be utilized as a framework for future research. The results can also be helpful for industry when designing and developing governance systems.

David M. Herold, Sara Saberi, Mahtab Kouhizadeh, Simon J Wilde

Purpose In response, the purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical frameworks about the organizational uncertainty behind what and when to adopt blockchain technology and their implications on transaction costs. The immature nature and the absence of standards in blockchain technology lead to uncertainty in government organizations concerning the adoption (“what to adopt”) and the identification of the right time (“when to start”). Design/methodology/approach Using transaction cost theory and path dependency theory, this paper proposes two frameworks: to assess transaction cost risks and opportunities costs; and to depict four different types of transaction costs outcomes regarding blockchain adoption. Findings This paper identifies various theoretical concepts that influence blockchain adoption and combine the two critical constructs of “bounded rationality” and the “lock-in effect” to categorize the multiple transaction costs outcomes for blockchain adoption. Research limitations/implications Although existing research in blockchain highlights mainly the potential benefits of blockchain applications, only a little attention has been given to frameworks that categorize potential transaction costs outcomes under uncertainty, in particular from organizational theorists. Originality/value Both frameworks advance the understanding of the decision-making behind blockchain adoption and synthesize the current literature to offer conceptual clarity regarding the varied implications and outcomes linked to the uncertainty regarding transactions costs stemming from blockchain technology.

Daniel Levis, Francesco Fontana, Elisa Ughetto

In this paper, we use a Delphi approach to investigate whether, and to what extent, blockchain-based applications might affect firms' organizations, innovations, and strategies by 2030, and, consequently, which societal areas may be mainly affected. We provide a deep understanding of how the adoption of this technology could lead to changes in Europe over multiple dimensions, ranging from business to culture and society, policy and regulation, economy, and technology. From the projections that reached a significant consensus and were given a high probability of occurrence by the experts, we derive four scenarios built around two main dimensions: the digitization of assets and the change in business models.

Hao Chung, Elaine Shi

In blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, users compete in a transaction fee auction to get their transactions confirmed in the next block. A line of recent works set forth the desiderata for a "dream" transaction fee mechanism (TFM), and explored whether such a mechanism existed. A dream TFM should satisfy 1) user incentive compatibility (UIC), i.e., truthful bidding should be a user's dominant strategy; 2) miner incentive compatibility (MIC), i.e., the miner's dominant strategy is to faithfully implement the prescribed mechanism; and 3) miner-user side contract proofness (SCP), i.e., no coalition of the miner and one or more user(s) can increase their joint utility by deviating from the honest behavior. The weakest form of SCP is called 1-SCP, where we only aim to provide resilience against the collusion of the miner and a single user. Sadly, despite the various attempts, to the best of knowledge, no existing mechanism can satisfy all three properties in all situations. Since the TFM departs from classical mechanism design in modeling and assumptions, to date, our understanding of the design space is relatively little. In this paper, we further unravel the mathematical structure of transaction fee mechanism design by proving the following results: - Can we have a dream TFM? - Rethinking the incentive compatibility notions. - Do the new design elements make a difference?

Stefan Kitzler, Friedhelm Victor, Pietro Saggese, Bernhard Haslhofer

We present a measurement study on compositions of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols, which aim to disrupt traditional finance and offer services on top of distributed ledgers, such as Ethereum. Understanding DeFi compositions is of great importance, as they may impact the development of ecosystem interoperability, are increasingly integrated with web technologies, and may introduce risks through complexity. Starting from a dataset of 23 labeled DeFi protocols and 10,663,881 associated Ethereum accounts, we study the interactions of protocols and associated smart contracts. From a network perspective, we find that decentralized exchange (DEX) and lending protocol account nodes have high degree and centrality values, that interactions among protocol nodes primarily occur in a strongly connected component, and that known community detection methods cannot disentangle DeFi protocols. Therefore, we propose an algorithm to decompose a protocol call into a nested set of building blocks that may be part of other DeFi protocols. This allows us to untangle and study protocol compositions. With a ground truth dataset that we have collected, we can demonstrate the algorithm’s capability by finding that swaps are the most frequently used building blocks. As building blocks can be nested, that is, contained in each other, we provide visualizations of composition trees for deeper inspections. We also present a broad picture of DeFi compositions by extracting and flattening the entire nested building block structure across multiple DeFi protocols. Finally, to demonstrate the practicality of our approach, we present a case study that is inspired by the recent collapse of the UST stablecoin in the Terra ecosystem. Under the hypothetical assumption that the stablecoin USD Tether would experience a similar fate, we study which building blocks — and, thereby, DeFi protocols — would be affected. Overall, our results and methods contribute to a better understanding of a new family of financial products.

Chibuzor Udokwu, Patrick Brandtner, Alex Norta, Alexandr Kormiltsyn · 5 authors

Abstract Inter-organizational collaboration is an important aspect of organizational operations. Traditional systems that support organizations in executing these collaborations are inefficient, not inter-operable and insecure. Novel functions provided by blockchain technology yields the potential for addressing problems that affect organizational collaborations by enabling tamper-proof, transparent, and secure systems for the exchange of information between organizations. Still, a proper approach for building blockchain-decentralized applications (DApps) that support inter-organizational collaborations is missing. The DAOM framework addresses this gap by providing a model-driven design approach for building DApps. This paper shows the development of the semantics of the DAOM framework, implementation of the support tool, and the evaluation of the DAOM framework and support tool. We conducted an evaluation to understand the usefulness of the DAOM framework in developing blockchain DApps and the effectiveness of the support tool in producing DAOM diagram models. The evaluation result shows that the framework is useful and applicable for developing DApps for inter-organizational collaborations. Furthermore, evaluation of the tool support shows that DApps can be modelled efficiently and correctly with the implemented enterprise-modelling software.

Zlatko Bezhovski, Ljupčo Davčev, Mila Mitreva

In our research we have investigated the main issues that drive or limit further adoption of cryptocurrencies, specifically as means of electronic payments. The original intention of Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, was to serve as electronic payment system but it still hasn’t (entirely) fulfilled its mission regardless it is sporadically used for payments. Recent studies reveal that the cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, as promising new technology, are starting to have noticeable adoption worldwide, but even with many noted advantages, this technology is not yet matured and still lacks the expected mass adoption, especially in the area of the electronic payments. Bitcoin and many newer digital currencies are more acknowledged and accepted as an investment asset but not that much as a payment method. Regarding the online payment facet of the cryptocurrencies, there are still several issues that need to be addressed in a proper way in order to ensure further adoption of this technology and to successfully compete, or even disrupt, the currently dominant electronic payment systems as digital wallets, banking cards, banking transfers and even cash on delivery. The adoption issues, that we examine in this paper include the following: decentralization, volatility, legislation, trust, security, fees, speed of transactions, scalability, interoperability and energy consumption. Relevant and current literature was studied to identify the main properties of the leading cryptocurrency projects, advantages and disadvantages of the blockchain technology, utilization for electronic payments, adoption drivers and current state of adoption. Additionally, at least 31 different cryptocurrency projects (whitepapers, websites and communities) and several relevant web resources were investigated in order to draw conclusions regarding the main adoption issues. Our findings suggest that crucial issues that still need to be solved in order to achieve wider adoption of cryptocurrencies for payments are (i) the high volatility of their value and (ii) the unfavorable legislation worldwide. The other important issues are mostly technical and since the technology is still in development and not fully matured, there is still room for further improvements before it gets ready for mass adoption. Our research adds to the existing cryptocurrencies and blockchain studies by identifying, summarizing and envisioning possible solutions for the issues for further cryptocurrency adoption. Besides for academic researchers this study may serve as a reference for blockchain developers, cryptocurrency advocates and policy makers

Eder J. Scheid, Bruno Rodrigues, Burkhard Stiller

As the number of blockchain (BC) platforms providing specific features increases, selecting a platform that fits all requirements needed for a specific case becomes a cumbersome task. For example, not only are BCs' technical details relevant, but also their intrinsic characteristics (e.g., cryptocurrency price) must be considered in selecting a BC for a given case. Hence, the management of data stored in multiple BCs and the selection process are not straightforward due to the myriad platforms and both technical and economic details (e.g., BC throughput and the underlying price fluctuation). This article defines a novel refinement flow (based on the policy continuum) of high-level BC selection policies to low-level BC transactions. Experiments with the BC selection framework developed applying policy-based management (PBM) in the BC context do show that such synergy simplifies data management in multiple BCs driven by user requirements (e.g., based on costs or performance policies). The performance analysis of the framework demonstrates the successful employment of PBM for BC selections with minimal overhead.

Francesco Galati

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the early but fervent debate on blockchain and supply networks by proposing a novel theoretical perspective on blockchain adoption grounded on social capital theory. In particular, it seeks to answer the following question: what is the role of social capital in shaping the decision to adopt blockchain in supply networks? Design/methodology/approach Multiple case-studies, based on interviews performed with managers of eight firms, were used. Findings The social capital theory emerged as an additional but necessary lens to investigate blockchain implementation in supply networks. The intuitions proposed highlighted the importance of managers’ sensemaking for investigating technology adoption. Relational capital emerged as a necessary but not sufficient condition to adopt blockchain in supply networks. In addition, it is argued a relationship between competitive opportunities at the firm level and the idea to adopt the blockchain. The opportunity to act as “Tertius Gaudens” or as “Tertius Iungens” information brokers in supply networks should severely affect firms’ proneness toward the adoption of blockchain solutions. Originality/value This is one of the first studies in the literature investigating blockchain adoption in supply networks from a social capital perspective. It introduces new issues to the debate related to the role of blockchain in the supply chain by discussing the role of goal misalignment and competitive advantage, which emerged as crucial for shaping the decision to adopt blockchain in supply networks.

Jinjin Zhang, Xin Li, Yong‐Hong Kuo, Yan Chen

This paper considers an online retailer and his or her manufacturer, both facing financial constraints and wishing to get loans from their e-commerce platform-backed finance company. Based on shared transaction data and monitored sales accounts, a tripartite loan contract is proposed to coordinate three parties’ actions in this supply chain financing problem. We prove that the proposed loan contract aligns the decentralized decision-makings of each party and duplicates the optimal channel performance under a fully integrated decision-making framework. A case study is then conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed loan contract. The result shows that the proposed loan contract outperforms wholesale-price contracts, where coordination does not take place, and buyback contracts, where coordination happens between the retailer and the manufacturer only. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis reveals that profit allocations among the lender, the retailer, and the manufacturer resulted from the proposed loan contract are more balanced when the cost-to-retail ratio or risk premium is high.

Youssef Faqir-Rhazoui, Javier Arroyo, Samer Hassan

Abstract Blockchain technology has enabled a new kind of distributed systems. Beyond its early applications in Finance, it has also allowed the emergence of novel new ways of governance and coordination. The most relevant of these are the so-called Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). DAOs typically implement decision-making systems to make it possible for their online community to reach agreements. As a result of these agreements, the DAO operates automatically by executing the appropriate portion of code on the blockchain network (e.g., hire people, delivers payments, invests in financial products, etc). In the last few years, several platforms such as Aragon, DAOstack and DAOhaus, have emerged to facilitate the creation of DAOs. As a result, hundreds of these new organizations have appeared, with their communities interacting mediated by blockchain. However, the literature has yet to appropriately explore empirically this phenomena. In this paper, we aim to shed light on the current state of the DAO ecosystem. We review the three main platforms nowadays (Aragon, DAOstack, DAOhaus) which facilitate the creation and management of DAOs. Thus, we introduce their main differences, and compare them using quantitative metrics. For such comparison, we retrieve data from both the main Ethereum network ( mainnet ) and a parallel Ethereum network ( xDai ). We analyze data from 72,320 users and 2,353 DAO communities in order to study the three ecosystems across four dimensions: growth, activity, voting system and funds. Our results show that there are notable differences among the DAO platforms in terms of growth and activity, and also in terms of voting results. Still, we consider that our work is only a first step and that further research is needed to better understand these communities, and evaluate their level of accomplishment in reaching decentralized governance.

Alan Rodrigues, Allysson Allex Araújo, Matheus Paixão, Pamella Soares

Blockchain tem sido enquadrada como uma nova infra-estrutura disruptiva baseada na internet. Parcela desse potencial advém do fortalecimento de plataformas públicas de blockchain, como a Ethereum, as quais viabilizam Aplicações Descentralizadas (dApps). Tais soluções são baseadas em contratos inteligentes (CIs) e lidam com restrições específicas que desafiam a evolução de software, como a imutabilidade de dados e o acesso transparente ao código-fonte. Em particular, a transparência de código pode ser observada através de ferramentas como o Etherscan, a qual provê acesso público a uma vasta quantidade de informações sobre os CIs implantados na Ethereum. Além disso, pode-se observar organizações oriundas desse ecossistema aderindo à prática de desenvolvimento open source dos CIs, incluindo o amplo uso do GitHub. Esse rico cenário motivou a necessidade de conduzir um estudo exploratório-descritivo baseado em mineração de repositórios de software para compreender a evolução de software de CIs através da avaliação de similaridade entre a versão disponível no GitHub e versão utilizada na Ethereum (e auditável via Etherscan). À luz de uma análise quali-quantititativa de 27 CIs, este artigo contribui ao 1) caracterizar quatro padrões que denotam diferentes comportamentos evolutivos dos CIs e 2) abordar um método experimental baseado em string para comparar a similaridade entre diferentes versões de CIs.

Amit Patwardhan, Adithya Thaduri, Ramin Karim

The railway is a complex technical system of systems in a multi-stakeholder environment. The implementation of digital technologies is essential for achieving operational excellence and addressing stakeholders’ needs and requirements in relation to the railways. Digitalization is highly dependent on an appropriate digital infrastructure provided through proper information logistics, whereas cybersecurity is critical for the overall security and safety of the railway systems. However, it is important to understand the various issues and challenges presented by governance, business, and technical requirements. Hence, this paper is the first link in the chain to explore, understand, and address such requirements. The purpose of this paper is to identify aspects of distributed ledgers and to provide a taxonomy of issues and challenges to develop a secure and resilient data sharing framework for railway stakeholders.

Konstantinos Stylianou, Leonhard Spiegelberg, Maurice Herlihy, Nic Carter

When network products and services become more valuable as their userbase grows (network effects), this tendency can become a major determinant of how they compete with each other in the market and how the market is structured. Network effects are traditionally linked to high market concentration, early-mover advantages, and entry barriers, and in the market they have also been used as a valuation tool. The recent resurgence of Bitcoin has been partly attributed to network effects, too. We study the existence of network effects in six cryptocurrencies from their inception to obtain a high-level overview of the application of network effects in the cryptocurrency market. We show that, contrary to the usual implications of network effects, they do not serve to concentrate the cryptocurrency market, nor do they accord any one cryptocurrency a definitive competitive advantage, nor are they consistent enough to be reliable valuation tools. Therefore, while network effects do occur in cryptocurrency networks, they are not (yet) a defining feature of the cryptocurrency marketas a whole.

Patrick Fichtinger

Blockchain technology facilities multi-party applications that do not require the parties to trust each other, that are failure-resistant due to their decentralized nature, and that provide a consistent view on the transaction history. These properties make blockchains attractive for decentralized finance (DeFi), and in particular for trade finance, where parties do not necessarily trust each other and aim at reducing their financial risks.Traditionally, intermediaries like banks or fiduciaries provide such services – along with several inconveniences like the increased risk of fraud due to antiquated systems and processes, considerable settlement delays, and high costs.In this work, we focus on the financial instrument Letter of Credit (L/C), which is used to secure payments in international trade. We propose a method for evaluating blockchains for DeFi based on this use case. We adapt existing catalogues of criteria for platform evaluation to fit the development and operation of DeFi applications. After discussing and designing a prototype of a typical L/C workflow, we implement it on selected blockchain platforms. The evaluation rates the feasibility and usability of the development process.

M. H. Kaufman

Enterprise blockchain projects have great promise. They can cut costs and promote efficiency through disintermediation, increase transparency for tracking intercompany transactions, expand knowledge through consortia databases, and improve workflows through shared business processes. Despite its potential, blockchain technology has failed to produce promised benefits for enter-prise networks. While the underlying technology has advanced rapidly, managerial capabilities needed to form and manage blockchain consortia have lagged and as a result, few consortia have succeeded. This paper reviews the extant literature on blockchain consortia and provides a frame-work that identifies 1) foundational conditions that precede effective consortium formation, 2) capabilities required for effective consortium functioning and evolution, and 3) partner and ecosystem-level outcomes associated with successful blockchain projects.

Renato Ferreira, Gabriela Scur, Breno Nunes

This paper aims at investigating the main factors behind advancing the integration of products and services in the Brazilian subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz (MBB), and how Smart PSS has been perceived by other business units of the Daimler Group. We conducted an in-depth qualitative single-case study research to investigate the critical steps preceding the implementation of a smart PSS. The study was based on the main tactical areas of a PSS business model which was applied to MBB’s possible integration of their equipment (called Fleetboard) in a smart PSS solution. The findings demonstrate that the internal culture of a product-centric automotive manufacturing firm can prohibit the sales of services, even when service technologies are available. On the other hand, financial pressures can create the sense of urgency required for the firm to appreciate the necessity of change. The process of change is too complex, since it requires capabilities in key areas such as the law, marketing, networking/partnerships, design, sustainability, and organisation and human resources management. Our study shows how the company considers alternative options in order to reduce organisational barriers, develop partnerships and legal competence to offer PSS contracts, as well as seeking alignment between design, marketing and sustainability requirements.

Michael Lustenberger, Saša Malešević, Florian Spychiger

Blockchain technology has been extensively tested, implemented, used, or even abandoned by organizations. Whether organizations adopt blockchain technology depends on many factors. Previous literature has identified a range of potential factors affecting the adoption of blockchain technology, but most studies have focused solely on a subset of specific factors. As a result, these studies can provide only limited explanations for the varying degrees of blockchain adoption. By relying on the well-established Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, we propose an extended Blockchain Adoption Model (BAM). We derive a rich set of factors from the current state of research on blockchain adoption and the business ecosystem literature and extend them by conceptual reasoning. We then develop testable hypotheses for each of the identified factors. The resulting 14 hypotheses are tested by conducting a survey ( n = 350) within the DACH-region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). We quantitatively analyze our BAM with a binary logistic regression analysis and identify six constructs impacting the adoption (relative advantage, observability, organizational age, external stakeholder pressure, regulatory uncertainty, and scope of business ecosystem). Based on our findings we introduce the novel idea of “ecosystem readiness” as the most important factor for the adoption of blockchain. Ecosystem readiness is characterized by the following attributes: 1) a large ecosystem scope, 2) stakeholders that are not yet collaborating in a trustful and regulated environment, and 3) a powerful organization leading the ecosystem. This powerful organization further intentionally promotes innovation by 4) making the benefits of this new technology observable for others, by 5) putting pressure on the other ecosystem participants to adopt the new technology, and eventually by 6) striving for regulatory certainty in the application and use of blockchain.