Shelly Grossman, Ittai Abraham, Guy Golan-Gueta, Yan Michalevsky · 7 authors
Callbacks are essential in many programming environments, but drastically\ncomplicate program understanding and reasoning because they allow to mutate\nobject's local states by external objects in unexpected fashions, thus breaking\nmodularity. The famous DAO bug in the cryptocurrency framework Ethereum,\nemployed callbacks to steal $150M. We define the notion of Effectively Callback\nFree (ECF) objects in order to allow callbacks without preventing modular\nreasoning.\n An object is ECF in a given execution trace if there exists an equivalent\nexecution trace without callbacks to this object. An object is ECF if it is ECF\nin every possible execution trace. We study the decidability of dynamically\nchecking ECF in a given execution trace and statically checking if an object is\nECF. We also show that dynamically checking ECF in Ethereum is feasible and can\nbe done online. By running the history of all execution traces in Ethereum, we\nwere able to verify that virtually all existing contracts, excluding the DAO or\ncontracts with similar known vulnerabilities, are ECF. Finally, we show that\nECF, whether it is verified dynamically or statically, enables modular\nreasoning about objects with encapsulated state.\n
In this paper, we investigate the use of decentralized blockchain mechanisms for delivering transparent, secure, reliable, and timely energy flexibility, under the form of adaptation of energy demand profiles of Distributed Energy Prosumers, to all the stakeholders involved in the flexibility markets (Distribution System Operators primarily, retailers, aggregators, etc.). In our approach, a blockchain based distributed ledger stores in a tamper proof manner the energy prosumption information collected from Internet of Things smart metering devices, while self-enforcing smart contracts programmatically define the expected energy flexibility at the level of each prosumer, the associated rewards or penalties, and the rules for balancing the energy demand with the energy production at grid level. Consensus based validation will be used for demand response programs validation and to activate the appropriate financial settlement for the flexibility providers. The approach was validated using a prototype implemented in an Ethereum platform using energy consumption and production traces of several buildings from literature data sets. The results show that our blockchain based distributed demand side management can be used for matching energy demand and production at smart grid level, the demand response signal being followed with high accuracy, while the amount of energy flexibility needed for convergence is reduced.
This paper examines factors that influence prices of most common five cryptocurrencies such Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, and Monero over 2010-2018 using weekly data. The study employs ARDL technique and documents several findings. First, cryptomarket-related factors such as market beta, trading volume, and volatility appear to be significant determinant for all five cryptocurrencies both in short- and long-run. Second, attractiveness of cryptocurrencies also matters in terms of their price determination, but only in long-run. This indicates that formation (recognition) of the attractiveness of cryptocurrencies are subjected to time factor. In other words, it travels slowly within the market. Third, SP500 index seems to have weak positive long-run impact on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litcoin, while its sign turns to negative losing significance in short-run, except Bitcoin that generates an estimate of -0.20 at 10% significance level. Lastly, error-correction models for Bitcoin, Etherem, Dash, Litcoin, and Monero show that cointegrated series cannot drift too far apart, and converge to a long-run equilibrium at a speed of 23.68%, 12.76%, 10.20%, 22.91%, and 14.27% respectively.
This study investigates the possible diversification benefits of multiple cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin) in a diversified portfolio from the perspective of a South African investor over the period 30 July 2015 to 20 December 2017. Cryptocurrencies are mostly still in their infancy, and reliable information regarding their usefulness as an asset class in a diversified portfolio is scarce to come by. This study adopts a quantitative research methodology which incorporates the following statistical methods: i) mean-semivariance optimisation; ii) Kendall Tau-b correlations; and, iii) autocorrelation function for serial correlations. The JSE All Bond Index is used as bond investment proxy, a combination of the JSE Top 40, Resources Index and Financial-Industrials Index is used as an equity investment proxy, and the LBMA Gold PM is used as a gold investment proxy. The study found that all three cryptocurrencies under investigation yielded risk-return benefits for a diversified portfolio. The alternative cryptocurrencies (Ethereum and Litecoin) exhibited higher levels of downside risk (semideviation) than Bitcoin, but proportionately greater returns. Hence, the addition of these two cryptocurrencies to a portfolio that includes Bitcoin and traditional assets resulted in an expansion of the efficient frontier. Ethereum exhibited slightly lower correlations to Bitcoin than Litecoin, which is most likely attributed to its greater technological differences, but performed worse as a diversifier. All three cryptocurrencies yielded similar low to very low correlations to all traditional assets, including gold - representative of the potential diversification benefits. The autocorrelation function resulted in high positive serial correlations for all three cryptocurrencies, indicative of strong trending behaviour and high volatility.
Derrick Chan, R. O. Decker, William Nguyen, Yuya Oguchi
Cryptocurrencies are rapidly receiving mainstream attention and adoption. As a result, new technologies are developing to store and transact cryptocurrencies to keep up with a rapidly developing market. We have developed a way to utilize a mobile phone to communicate with the Ethereum blockchain in order to monitor and initiate cryptocurrency transactions. The project allows users to create new Ethereum addresses and to send arbitrary amounts of Ether to existing Ethereum addresses, while maintaining security for the end user. We conclude that this method of communication with the Ethereum blockchain is viable and is an avenue for exploration in the future. As a result from this project, we anticipate a growth of new cryptocurrency applications on mobile devices. Furthermore, the various security features utilized in this project such as pin randomization, mnemonic recovery, and hardware level encryption can be implemented in other applications to increase security for all users.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain has conjointly become trending buzzwords in the business\nworld today. As the blockchain technology has become older and more researched, its areas\nof usage have broadened far beyond payment solutions like Bitcoin. In venture financing,\nblockchain has been used to establish a prominent fundraising tool, called initial coin offerings\n(ICO). An ICO is a crowdfunding method resembling initial public offerings, where ventures\nissue a blockchain based token, subject to public sale. ICO has become a lucrative financing\nmethod for blockchain affiliated ventures.\nThe hype around cryptocurrency has led to increased ICO attention. Everyone can invest in an\nICO, and thus, it has become a popular investment opportunity. This thesis looks at ICOs as\ninvestment objects, with the aim to find out what an investor should consider before investing.\nAdditionally, we assess whether ICOs are profitable financial instruments relative to its close\nsubstitutes, and evaluate measures to avoid scams.\nThe study is based on 104 companies that have had ICOs, and analyzes what factors influence\nboth ICO success rate, and post-ICO capital gains. Our results indicate that hype and pricing\nis influential on the outcome of an ICO, which in turn is important for subsequent price\nmovements. We have also observed that venture capital seed funded companies performed\nbetter in the ICO aftermath. By further using the results, we have also found that investors\nmay use these parameters when investing in an ICO to outperform both our benchmark\ncryptocurrency Ethereum, and other ICOs.
Den europeiska energisektorn genomgår numera en viktig övergång från en centraliserad elkraftförsörjning till distribuerad elproduktion från förnybara källor. Dessutom leder utfasningen av fossila bränslen till en ökning av antalet elfordon (här EV). Höga penetrationsnivåer för både EV och förnybara energin på distributionsnivån kan orsaka ytterligare belastning på elnätet, vilket kan leda till avbrott i strömförsörjningen och försämring av strömkvaliteten. I detta examensarbete undersöktes möjligheterna att lösa detta problem i Tyskland. Den föreslagna lösningen är ett förvaltningssystem för EV-laddning och lokal förnybar elproduktion/-koppling i realtid. Tre användningsfall utvecklades för att analysera denna lösning. Det första användningsfallet ”hyresgästernas el” är baserat på den nya tyska förordningen som infördes 2017 och främjar att använda solenergi ”bakom” elmätaren i flerbostadshyrehus. I detta fall, genom att erbjuda en EV-laddningstjänst, kan hyresvärden uppnå en högre konsumtionsnivå under solskenstimmarna när hyresgästerna är på jobbet, och därmed få en bättre ersättning. Betalningsperioden för en 11 kW laddsstation, som skulle användas tillsammans med en PV av 26 kWp, beräknades vara cirka 5 år om laddstationen är upptagen 30-40 % av den möjliga dagsljustiden. Om laddstationenen har installerats på grund av andra ändamål kan ”hyresgästernas el”-modellen bli en extra inkomstkälla. De andra två användningsfallen beror på möiligheten att införa en ”minskad elnätavgift”. Här måste man nämna att insatser att föra EV-laddningen på tid och plats för förnybar elproduktion måste motiveras. Numera är elpriset fast i Tyskland för småförbrukare som betyder att det inte finns någon orsak för en beteendeförändring av EV-förare. En minskad elnätsavgift kunde bli en åtgärd för att främja ”EV-laddning + lokal förnybar elproduktion”-kopplingen; den kan beviljas av en distributionssystemoperatör (DSO) ifall denna EV-laddning skulle hjälpa att undvika stockningar och avkortning i elnätet. Det andra användningsfallet innebär att införa en sådan minskad elnätavgift för EV-laddning med lokal sol- (PV) eller vindel, som inför dynamisk prissättning. I det här fallet ska lokala elproducenter behöva säjla el till lokala laddstationer på ett peer-to-peer (P2P) sätt. Enligt gällande regelverk är ren P2P-handel inte möjlig; den skulle behöva inrättning av lokala energimarknader och ytterligare balansering. Vad man kan göra kallas direktmarknadsföring, vilket är en elmarknadsmodell som utförs av en aggregator. Användningen av blockchain som ett verktyg skulle bli välgörande för båda fallen eftersom det skulle tilllåta realtids - främja ”EV-laddning + lokal förnybar elproduktion”-kopplingen med dynamisk prissättning. Ifall man gör P2P-handel möjligt, skulle blockchain också bli användbar för betalningar, medan införandet av blockchainbaserade betalningar konstaterades att inte vara genomförbart under den direktmarknadsföringsmodell som existerar idag. Det tredje användningsfallet innebär “självkonsumption”/”framme”-elmätaren, när PV / (vindkraftverk)-ägaren och EV-ägeren är samma person; så när hen laddar sin bil samtidigt med elploduktionen, skulle hen inte behöva betala för kilowattimmar och, beroende på distansen mellan de två elanslutningspunkterna, skulle hen därmed kunna få rabatt på elnätavgiften. För det här fallet konstaterades det att enligt den nuvarande direktmarknadsföringsmodellen, där aggregatorn och laddstationsleverantören tillhör samma företag, skulle ett sådant användningsfall tveklöst kunna genomföras på grund av gemensam bokföring. Ett sådant fall kan bli ett attraktivt erbjudande, särskilt för PV-ägare som inte får inmatningsavgiften. P2P-handelns slutsatser liknar det tidigare användningsfallet. För det andra och tredje användningsfället upptäcktes det att i den situationen då P2P-handel är möjlig, skulle EV-laddningen inte uppfylla "försäljningsbehovet" för producenter eftersom den inte är fullt förutsägbar. Därför måste urvalet av P2P-köpare utvidgas till stationära konsumenter; d.v.s. att bredda det föreslagna systemets funktionaliteter från bara EV-laddning till fullständig P2P-handel. Eftersom EV-laddningen skulle behöva göras i realtid, vara flexibel för laddningsförhållanden, uppfylls behov av flera andelsägare och att vara manipulationssäkert, föreslås distribuerad ledgerteknik (DLT) som implementeringsverktyg. Av två olika DLT, Ethereum och IOTA, drogs slutsatsen att teknikurvalet för att implementera det föreslagna systemet beror på implementeringstiden. Från och med idag ligger Ethereum i ett högre stadium i utvecklingen , vilket prioriterar Ethereum för omedelbar implementering. Samtidigt är IOTA en mycket lovande teknik i ett lägre löptidstillstånd. När de löser ett antal kontroversiella problem blir IOTA ett värdefullt verktyg.
The virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly in developed economies like UK, USA,and Japan. The motives of these currencies to create an efficient method of digital payment system which is globally accepted and their traders’ belief that these coins have some value, either a physical value or have a money value in terms of their native currency. The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) is facing competition today with newly launched ‘Altcoins’ or ‘Alternative coins”, like Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH) etc., the market captured (market cap) by BTC is continuously decreasing and ranging between 30 to 35% of the total market cap. The newly launched ‘Altcoins’ are technically efficient and have an audience with different motives compare to BTC, also these coins have a huge potential of growth level within a time compare to BTC, Because BTC prices are very high and its growth level is low compares with newly genesis coins. This article deals some important aspects of cryptocurrency worldwide with an addition to explore its role in the Indian Economy because India is not apart from this emerging trend. Many Indian trading exchanges are started within last few years, rather Government of India is not in favor of crypto trading. The aim of this article to critically examine working features of cryptocurrencies, eg; Mining, how crypto Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are working, their exchange markets, and how this peer-to-peer (P2P) currency blockchain works. This article also critically evaluate Indian crypto traders’ motives and try to find out a way to deal with the related issues of cryptocurrencies for Indian Economy.
Traditional database with no prior security measures is becoming challenging in the era of data technology. Database storage on a central location with single point of failure and vulnerable to cyber attacks is getting exposed to big risk of being hacked with the evolution of powerful machines and modern hacking techniques. Since its commencement, the BlockChain technology has shown a promising performance for application buildup in diversed fields of life from cryptocurrency to smart contracts and decentralized applications. Although multiple studies on privacy, data confidentiality and security issues of BlockChain are performed but a systematic examination is still needs attention. In this thesis work we conduct a systematic study about the vulnerabilities of BlockChain system and review the security enhancement solutions that may point to a good future direction for further research into the area of BlockChain technology and its applications. Smart contracts are self-executable objects hosted on the 2nd generation blockchain like Ethereum, carry billions of SEK worth of cryptocoins and cannot be updated once deployed. Smart contracts are generally considered secure objects but the systematic analysis of technology and source code exposes a new class of vulnerabilities which are more likely an ethical aspect of programming than the software coding errors. Besides the literature review we empower our results with a static code analysis especially with the perspective of cyber forensics.
In this thesis, an analysis of Bitcoin, Monero price and volatility is conducted with respect to S&P500 and the VIX index. Moreover using Python, we computed correlation coefficients of nine cryptocurrencies with two different approaches: Pearson and Spearman from July 2016 -July 2018. Moreover the Pearson correlation coefficient was computed for each year from July2016 - July 2017 - July 2018. It has been concluded that in 2016 the correlation between the selected cryptocurrencies was very weak - almost none, but in 2017 the correlation increased and became moderate positive. In 2018, almost all of the cryptocurrencies were highly correlated. For example, from January until July of 2018, the Bitcoin - Monero correlation was 0.86 and Bitcoin - Ethereum was 0.82.
Hallvard Kristoffer Boland Haugen, Andreas Fougner Engebretsen
The topic of revenue streams in the music industry has been frequently discussed since the transition from sales to streaming started when Spotify launched in 2008. Even though revenues in the industry have reached new heights, musicians express dissatisfaction with lower royalty payouts. Moreover, it has become increasingly more difficult to understand the royalty calculations. With today's complicated licensing agreements, money flows through a complex chain of third parties before it reaches the musicians. The industry struggles with transparency and efficiency, and the musicians are paying the price. Meanwhile, blockchain technology has developed since its first implementation with Bitcoin in 2008. Today, more advanced blockchains can run decentralized transparent applications that utilize the technology's efficient transaction system. With the industry issues and the promises of blockchain in mind, we investigate how blockchain technology can be applied to solve value chain problems within the music space.\n\nIn this thesis, we identify core issues in the music industry, propose a decentralized application (dApp) that attempts to solve these issues and implement the proposed solution. We develop the business logic using smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and make an associated web application using a JavaScript framework. The dApp works as a global copyrights database where musicians can register and license musical works. We exploit Ethereum's efficient transactional system to manage license purchases. Furthermore, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain based solutions.
Proof Of Work Blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum exhibit a low Transaction Per Second (TPS) that impacts the scalability of the blockchain. Manipulating the block creation time can yield a higher TPS. A lower block creation rate results in a higher Stale Block rate that has a direct impact on the security of blockchain. We intend on using a novel Proof of Work Classification model under a varying level of difficulty to classify an instance of blockchain with a threshold (Block-time) on the basis of it’s resilience to selfish mining and double-spending attacks. Use of an ideal block creation time can help Proof of Work blockchains scale and attain a higher TPS without trading off security. The classification model can further be extended to find an optimal block-size.
Με τις πρόσφατες εξελίξεις στις τεχνολογίες της πληροφορίας και της επικοινωνίας και την διαδεδομένη δημοτικότητα των κινητών τηλεφώνων (π.χ. συσκευών Android και iOS), οι ψηφιακές πληρωμές και τα κρυπτονομίσματα όπως το Bitcoin, το Litecoin, το Ethereum και άλλα, γίνονται ολοένα και πιο δημοφιλή στο ηλεκτρονικό εμπόριο. \nΟι εγκληματίες - συχνά πρωτοπόροι των νέων τεχνολογιών - εκτίμησαν γρήγορα ότι το Bitcoin ως πρωτοπόρο, αλλά και τα λοιπά κρυπτονομίσματα στη συνέχεια, έχουν μοναδικές ιδιότητες που θα μπορούσαν ενδεχομένως να εξυπηρετήσουν το ενδιαφέρον τους για αποφυγή της επιβολής του νόμου. \nΤο Bitcoin εισάγει μια σειρά προκλήσεων στις ψηφιακές έρευνες που οφείλονται κυρίως στα στοιχεία της ψευδωνυμίας που παρέχει σε ένα χρήστη και το αποκεντρωμένο δίκτυο μέσα στο οποίο λειτουργεί, όπου με τη χρήση του μπορεί να μεταφερθεί χωρίς μεσάζοντες ακόμη και σε διεθνή σύνορα τόσο εύκολα όσο και η αποστολή ενός μηνύματος ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου. \nΑυτά τα χαρακτηριστικά το έχουν καταστήσει ελκυστικό μέσο ανταλλαγής για όσους ασχολούνται με εγκληματικές δραστηριότητες στο διαδίκτυο. Κατά το παρελθόν έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί για τη νομιμοποίηση εσόδων από παράνομες δραστηριότητες και για φοροαποφυγή, ενώ έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί εκτεταμένα για την αγορά παράνομων προϊόντων, αγαθών και υπηρεσιών μέσω διαδικτυακών αγορών, όπως το Silk Road στο Dark Web. \nΧρησιμοποιήθηκε και χρησιμοποιείται επιπλέον από επίδοξους χάκερ ως τρόπος πληρωμής για επιθέσεις ransomware που έχουν σημειώσει τεράστια ανάπτυξη κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων χρόνων από την δημιουργία του. \nΠαρά το γεγονός ότι το Bitcoin αλλά και τα άλλα εικονικά νομίσματα (κρυπτονομίσματα) αποτελούν πηγή αποδεικτικών στοιχείων, έχει υπάρξει περιορισμένη έρευνα στην εγκληματολογική εξέταση τους. Η υπάρχουσα εγκληματολογική έρευνα σχετικά με το Bitcoin επικεντρώνεται κυρίως στο Blockchain (το καθολικό ledger στο οποίο καταγράφονται οι συναλλαγές) και όχι στο Bitcoin, ως λογισμικό του χρήστη (π.χ. την εφαρμογή πορτοφολιού για κινητά τηλέφωνα) προκειμένου να βρεθούν και να ανακτηθούν δεδομένα σχετικά με τις συναλλαγές που έχει πραγματοποιήσει ένας χρήστης χρησιμοποιώντας την συγκεκριμένη εφαρμογή ή και άλλα στοιχεία που σχετίζονται με την συμπεριφορά του χρήστη κατά την χρήση της εφαρμογής πορτοφολιού Bitcoin. Αυτό είναι το κενό που επιδιώκουμε να αντιμετωπίσουμε σε αυτή την εργασία.
Bitcoin, first introduced in 2008, and other virtual currencies (litecoin, ripple, ethereum, dash, etc. – known as “altcoins”) are a phenomenon of the 21st century. When speaking about bitcoins, views on cryptocurrency-related risks and benefits vary significantly. However, in this article, we will not focus on bitcoin here to illustrate how virtual currencies work. The aim of this article is to show how the borrowed Anglicism bitcoin is used in the Czech and the French languages. The purpose of the theoretical framework is to clarify concepts of neologism, Anglicism and internationalism and propose relationships among the concepts in a study. In the practical section, using the word bitcoin, we show how the loanword is used in both languages and how its integration into the language is similar. The main result of the analysis is a list of derived and compound words from the word bitcoin in Czech and French. The article deals with derived and compound words from the point of view of their quantitative evaluation using Aranea web corpora. In this article, we have shown the possibilities of their derivatives and adaptation to the given system of the language.
Bitcoin, but there are other serious players in the game such as Ethereum, NEO, and Ripple, to name just a few. 2 Cryptocurrencies extend beyond the pre-established limits, and thus do not fit easily into the existing paradigm. 3 In fact, their scope is so vast, it is almost impossible to predict their future impact. 4 It is a bit like attempting to estimate the possible size and magnitude of an unknown type of fully mature tree from its tiny infant seed.*So, perhaps we should not limit our imaginations too much with rapidly redundant frameworks and limiting definitions.*The objective of this article is to widen and expose the field of interpretations and understanding of cryptocurrencies while providing some stimulating, inspirational thoughts regarding the unprecedented opportunities and dilemmas cryptocurrencies face.*This mini-thesis has been written almost like a stream of thought, rather than a concisely researched document.*This is because it does not attempt to meet all the criteria of empirically proven research.*As such, some of its statements are unproven, unquantifiable, and unquoted.*Currently, complete examination is impossible because cryptocurrency, and the blockchain technology supporting it behind the scenes, is a rapidly evolving organic phenomenon-it is swirling, moving, and adapting. 5 At this stage, it is impossible to predict accurately what will global simulations.He is a regular contributor to the World Bank doing business reports from 2015 through 2018.
This paper considers the design, the developed and the experimental evaluation, a blockchain based smart contract specifying the operating rules of a real time, uniform-price double auction energy market. Producers and consumers interact with this contract sending their offers and bids accordingly and the contract clears the market based on a double auction model. We propose four different approaches for implementing, through the Ethereum platform, both the P2P network as well as the smart contract. We systematically compare the above approaches on the basis of their decentralization nature, operating costs, computational costs, effectiveness, security, privacy and beyond. This comparison is achieved through large scale, real time simulations based on the GridLAB-D platform.
In this research, the returns of four cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple and Ethereum) were analyzed in order to answer the following research question: “How do the returns of Bitcoin and other altcoins behave over time, and what can we say about extreme values for losses and profits?” With respect to volatility, cryptocurrencies can still be considered extremely volatile. For Bitcoin, the least volatile of the four, we found an annual volatility of approximately 70% based on daily exchange rates. For Ethereum, the most volatile of all four, this percentage was closer to 130%. Also, several distributions were fitted on the returns. It is shown that the Generalized Hyperbolic Distribution is the best fit for all four cryptocurrencies, apart from the tails in some cases.<br/>The tails were investigated seperately by using Extreme Value Analysis and by looking into both empirical and theoretical risk quantities (the Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall). Bitcoin appears to be the least risky of all four cryptocurrencies, but also the least profitable, whereas Ripple appears to be the most risky and also the most profitable.<br/>Compared to previous research, Bitcoin has also become less risky, showing a less fat tail for the losses than before. For Litecoin and Ripple, the reverse is true, as they appear to have become riskier. For Ethereum, no comparisons could be made, as this is a relatively new cryptocurrency that has not been investigated much yet. When tested for Paretianity, the left tails of Litecoin and Ripple appear to Pareto distributed: the losses seem to exhibit heavy tail behavior. For the profits, the tails turned out to be even heavier and can therefore also be considered Paretian. These results were confirmed by Maximum to Sum ratio plots, indicating infinite third and fourth moments for the losses and profits of Litecoin and Ripple, but not for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The results have implications for investment and risk management purposes.
The use of Internet of Things devices is an integral part of our modern society. Communication with internet of things devices is secured with asymmetric key encryption that is handled by the centralized certificate authority infrastructure. The emerging Blockchain technology now provides a safe way to change ownership of digital resources through a decentralized system that challenges the traditional centralized view of trust in digital systems. This project studies the security of building public key infrastructures and access communication protocols on Blockchain technology for IoT devices. An informal cryptographic analysis that used proof by contradiction showed that it is cryptographically safe to build Blockchain based Public Key Infrastructures. The analysed Blockchain based public key infrastructure was implemented with smart contracts and tested on the Ethereum platform along with a dynamic access control protocol ensuring dynamic authentication and distributed logging. The project also concluded that advancements in the software clients of nodes are required before Blockchain can be used in Internet of Things devices. This is due to the high storage demands required by currently available nodes.
The recent surge in renewable energy in the distribution grid could transform the generation side to be more variable, which potentially reduces power quality. This technical local challenge could be compensated by introducing a market solution, which could be realised in the form of a local energy market. Such markets requires a comprehensive infrastructure, where a centralised database solution traditionally have been used. However, blockchain technology have lately been presented as a possible preferable alternative. Blockchain is a decentralised communication platform, which logs all information in a structured and tamper-proof manner. This design makes it potentially suitable for operating a local energy market. However, there have not been performed a lot of research on the feasibility of developing local energy markets using blockchain technology. This will be therefore be the focus of this thesis, where a technical, economic and regulatory analysis are performed.\n\nThis thesis address this feasibility by developing a complex local energy market, deploying this on a test blockchain and analyse the results. The market consists of three unique trading mechanisms, where all explores the benefits of flexible loads. These trading mechanisms are then represented as blockchain applications, and simulated over a range of scenarios. The results illustrate a proof of concept, in addition to measure the usage of computational resources of operating blockchain applications.\n\nThe market simulation proved the technical feasibility of running several complex mechanisms in a blockchain environment, with an integrated payment solution. The observed computational resource consumption of the market revealed that a complex real time trading with 600 nodes and a trading frequency of 5 minutes requires a blockchain that can process 10.2 standard Ethereum transactions per second. This is considered to be possible for a modern blockchain protocol to process. The blockchain application design is also analysed, where it is identified how applications should be designed in order to lower the resulting computational consumption. In result, this thesis identifies blockchain technology as suited to operate a local energy market, without significant negative computational consequences. \n\nRegarding the economical feasibility, such a solution is considered to be more expensive than a database solution when it comes to development costs. However, a blockchain solution presents new market possibilities, which could result in a more efficient market, and hence be more economically beneficial. Regarding a regulatory analysis, the Norwegian energy market regulations presents several challenges towards decentralised local energy markets. However, the technology behind blockchain could provide arguments for changing these regulations, and hence make it possible for end users to participate actively in an energy market.
Intelligent space is an environmental robot system where many intelligent sensor nodes are distributed for supporting humans and mobile robots. This paper introduces a blockchain-based sensor network system for the intelligent space. Blockchain is a system for distributed ledgers of crypto currencies such as bitcoin. Recently, blockchain is considered to be effective for construction of distributed sensor network systems without central servers. In this paper, a prototype sensor system with blockchain based on Ethereum is introduced for intelligent space.
Open access
Innovation in Digital Healthcare Systems
Robotics and Automated Systems
Internet of Things and Social Network Interactions
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate and study the various issues faced by educational and technological researchers while raising the funds for their respective projects and the issues faced by the fund’s providers. Multiple existing traditional fundraising platforms were identified, and their advantages and disadvantages were studied to check if it was suitable for educational and technological researchers to carry on their funding campaign using the existing platforms. Finally, the goal was to develop a decentralized research funding application which would replace the existing traditional methods of raising funds by providing the researchers the ability to create a fundraising campaign on Ethereum blockchain while ensuring the transparent and auditable usage of the funds provided for the development of the project by the stakeholders.\n\nThe research funding application was developed and deployed to Ethereum blockchain. During the development process, the technologies used were Solidity, HTML, CSS, Javascript and React. The requirements for the Minimum Viable Product of the research funding application were finalized and the project was implemented by following the Waterfall software development model. \n\nAs a result, the requirements set for the research funding application were accomplished and the application was deployed to the blockchain and can be accessed by the general public. Furthermore, additional features such as the ability to create and manage multiple funding campaigns by a single entity were also developed successfully.
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.
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. }
The aim of the paper is to fit a regression model which can be used commonly for the four important crypto currencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple to predict the prices. The data has information over the past six years regarding price, transaction volume, transaction count, exchange volume, generated coins etc of these currencies. Understanding the dynamics of crypto currency market can help to a certain extent to take wise investment decisions. Among the variables under consideration the study revealed that transaction volume can be used as an influencing variable to fit a quadratic regression model and predict the prices of the crypto currencies.