Abstract Blockchain technology has become an ubiquitous phenomenon. While the topic originated in computer science, the business and economics literature was comparatively slow to pick up on it. To better understand the academic basis, current developments and future research avenues of the discourse, 9672 cited references of 467 blockchain and cryptocurrency articles from the fields of business and economics are gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection and are analyzed. Five major strands of research are identified through factor analysis. They are reviewed and their interrelation is mapped using social network analysis. Research on (I) market efficiency and economics and (II) asset pricing and valuation is relatively mature and focuses on cryptocurrencies, while research on (III) the principles and applications of blockchain technology, (IV) transactions and anonymity and (V) monetary theory and policy lacks maturity. Potential paths for future research are pointed out and in conclusion, it is assessed that this young field of research still leaves plenty of room for manoeuvre. A scientific place next to Nakamoto (2008) is still available for existing, emerging and new research streams.
The Bank of Canada has undertaken a multi-phase experimental project, called Jasper, to critically examine the value proposition of distributed ledger technology in the financial system.Unlike most technologies blockchain is not value free: it attempts to organize the world with a different conception of trust.We describe our journey, collaboration with other central banks and financial institutions, our findings and outstanding questions.Bio: Dinesh Shah is a director of Fintech research at the Bank of Canada.He leads a team that focuses on research on e-money and fintech.His research interest includes the analysis of emerging and potentially disruptive technologies with wide applications to financial market infrastructure and the financial system.He also drives the five phases of Project Jasper, which was the first project globally that involves a collaboration between a central bank and commercial banks to build a proof-of-concept interbank payment system with distributed ledgers.He joined the Bank of Canada in 2009 as an Enterprise Architect, then became a technical researcher focusing on research and analysis developments in e-money and payment systems and their impact on the Bank of Canada's mandate.
Orientation: This article examines the normal tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions performed by natural persons in South Africa. Research purpose: The aim of this article was to document the normal tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions subsequent to the inclusion of cryptocurrency in the definition of ‘financial instrument’ in section 1(1) of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962, and to determine whether this inclusion gives rise to unanticipated issues. Motivation for the study: This investigation was necessitated by the distinguishing features of cryptocurrency that differentiate it from other financial instruments. Research approach/design and method: This article falls within the reform-orientated genre of doctrinal research. A desktop literature review was conducted to determine the normal tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions, based on an interpretation of relevant legislation and a review of secondary commentary. Key issues identified in the normal tax treatment of cryptocurrency transactions were documented, and recommendations were made for addressing the issues identified. Main findings: A misalignment may occur between taxable incomes and economic gains of taxpayers engaged in cryptocurrency mining. Practical/managerial implications: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) should allow for a deduction equivalent to the market value of cryptocurrency acquired through cryptocurrency mining in terms of section 22(2)(a). Contribution/value-add: A risk of misalignment between taxable incomes and economic gains of taxpayers performing cryptocurrency mining has been identified and documented, which may inform legislative amendment, or the practice of the SARS.
Smart contract is a disruptive FinTech that is signed in advance and automatically executed when the goods are received. Therefore, the buyer will settle accounts without delay payment under smart contract, which benefits the supplier in B2B transactions. However, how to motivate the buyer to participate in smart contract? In this paper, we consider a supplier selling goods through retailers such as Wal-Mart in a co-opetitive supply chain, where the retailer buys and resells the supplier's goods and the supplier encroaches on the market by opening a direct channel. Without smart contract, the supplier incurs cash opportunity cost because of the retailer's delay payment (referred to as Traditional Contract scenario). With smart contract, the retailer needs to pay the supplier immediately when the goods arrive (referred to as Smart Contract scenario). We use Generalized Nash Bargaining to formulate the contract negotiation, and show that the adoption of smart contract changes the competition and cooperation between the supplier and the retailer both vertically and horizontally. We find that, when the supplier's unit cash opportunity cost is high (low), the smart contract enhances (weakens) the coordination in the reselling channel, increases (decreases) the reselling channel's market share compared to the direct-selling channel, and increases (lowers) the retailer's proportion in the reselling revenue. Interestingly, we show that, when the supplier's bargaining power is moderate or extremely low, it prefers traditional contract when the unit cash opportunity cost is moderate. We also show that, the retailer and the supplier have incentive alignment to adopt smart contract when the supplier's unit cash opportunity cost is high. We further study the impact of the supplier's merchant discount fee under traditional contract and its commission cost when the direct channel is an online store, finding that our main results are qualitatively unchanged.
O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi, a partir de um caso de estudo, criar um modelo de Sistema em blockchain e smart contracts, para gestão da tributação da prestação de serviços digitais com base no local do usuário à luz da Teoria da Agência. O trabalho foi guiado pelas diretrizes do método Design Science Research (DSR), proposto na área de Sistema de Informações. O artefato resultado deste trabalho, a partir do caso de estudo, foi um Sistema Unificado de Tributação Automática (SUTRA), como solução viável à ausência de um ambiente que integre empresas prestadoras de serviços digitais, seus usuários e entes tributantes, mitigando a assimetria informacional, existente entre estes atores, e suas consequências. A contribuição teórica deste trabalho foi no sentido de relacionar estudos relativos à teoria da agência e blockchain no ambiente tributário, especificamente no que tange à assimetria de informação, controles de tributação e mitigação de fraudes tributárias. A contribuição prática deste trabalho foi propor um artefato, baseado em blockchain e smart contracts, que integre empresas prestadoras de serviços digitais, seus usuários e entes tributantes, em um único ambiente onde possam compartilhar informações entre si.
The birth of Bitcoin ushered in the era of cryptocurrency, which has now become a financial market attracted extensive attention worldwide. The phenomenon of startups launching Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to raise capital led to thousands of tokens being distributed on blockchains. Many studies have analyzed this phenomenon from an economic perspective. However, little is know about the characteristics of participants in the ecosystem. To fill this gap and considering over 80% of ICOs launched based on ERC20 token on Ethereum, in this paper, we conduct a systematic investigation on the whole Ethereum ERC20 token ecosystem to characterize the token creator, holder, and transfer activity. By downloading the whole blockchain and parsing the transaction records and event logs, we construct three graphs, namely token creator graph, token holder graph, and token transfer graph. We obtain many observations and findings by analyzing these graphs. Besides, we propose an algorithm to discover potential relationships between tokens and other accounts. The reported case shows that our algorithm can effectively reveal entities and the complex relationship between various accounts in the token ecosystem.
Guido Felipe Valderrama Herrera, Leonardo Garcia Sanchez
Este trabajo analiza la relación que tienen las ventas en corto, los sesgos de los agentes junto la interacción de los fundamentales de oferta y demanda respecto la formación de precios en el mercado del Bitcoin. Dentro del análisis encontramos que las tendencias aportadas en la literatura se mantienen en cuanto a las ventas en corto y sus restricciones a pesar de no encontrar evidencia estadística.
Purpose: The paper explores the differences between countries concerning perception and use of traditional and virtual money. We try to answer the question who uses virtual money for investment and building assets and who uses it just for Internet payments. The background of the analysis are significant changes that have taken place in the virtual money market in recent years in relation to changes in the global financial market. Design/methodology/approach: A pilot study was conducted in Poland, the Russian Federation, and China, which is supposed to be an introduction to the bigger and wider survey. It was conducted within December 2019 and January 2020 with 81 surveyed persons. These were students of financial studies in the chosen countries. The paper questionnaire used in the survey consisted of 26 questions connected to virtual money plus 5 demographic questions. It was provided personally by teachers in class. Findings: The findings indicated that there are differences between countries in perception and the use of traditional and virtual money. These discrepancies can have cultural or historical background. Practical Implications: The practical usefulness of the whole study is that gathered information will permit to examine the economic and financial literacy of the respondents and their preferences for the use of innovative financial instruments. Originality/value: The study is related to the very current issue – virtual money as alternative to the currently functioning fiduciary money. The result of the research as one of the first indicated that a different perception of traditional and virtual money among different countries exist. This statement might be a huge contribution to the analysis of the current and further financial system.
Cilj ovog rada je otkriti i proširiti moje znanje o distribuiranim mrežama i teoriji aukcija izradom koncept aplikacije za aukcije na Ethereum mreži koristeći pametne ugovore. Nezamjenjivi tokeni koriste se za stvaranje digitalne povjerljivosti, a prvi put bili su implementirani koristeći Ethereum ERC721 token standard. NFT-Auction-dapp je aplikacija bazirana na Ethereumu koja omogućuje korisnicima da kreiraju i sudjeluju u aukcijama NFT tokena u stvarnom vremenu, na globalnoj i distribuiranoj mreži, zadržavajući garancije plaćanja i dostave. U radu ću se služiti znanjima koja sam stekao tijekom studija na Visokom učilištu Algebra i znanjima koja sam stekao samostalno kako bih izgradio aplikaciju, objavio ju na javnu Ethereum mrežu i testirao njezinu funkcionalnost.
Despite the anticipated benefits and the numerous announcements of pilot cases, we have seen very few successful implementations of blockchain technology (BCT) solutions in supply chains. Little is empirically known about the obstacles to blockchain adoption, particularly in a supply chain's interorganizational setting. In supply chains, blockchains' benefits, for example, BCT‐based tracking and tracing, are dependent on a critical mass of supply chain actors adopting the technology. While previous research has mainly been conceptual and has lacked both theory and empirical data, we propose a theory‐based model for interorganizational adoption of BCT. We use the proposed model to analyze a unique in‐depth revelatory case study. Our case study confirms previous conceptual work and reveals a paradox as well as several tensions between drivers for and against (positive and negative determining factors, respectively) of BCT adoption that must be managed in an interorganizational setting. In this vertical context, the adoption and integration decision of one supply chain actor recursively affects the adoption and integration decisions of the other supply chain actors. This paper contributes midrange theory on BCT in supply chain management (SCM), future research directions, and managerial insights on BCT adoption in supply chains.
Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are current hot topics\nin research and practice. However, the potentials of their combination have\nbeen studied just recently to a larger extend. While different use cases for\ncombining AI and blockchain have been discussed, the idea of enabling\nblockchain-based smart contracts to perform "smarter" decisions by using AI or\nmachine learning (ML) models has only been considered on the conceptual level\nso far. It remained open, how such AI-enabled smart contracts could be\nimplemented in a robust way for real-world applications. Therefore, in this\npaper a new, enterprise-class implementation of AI-enabled smart contracts is\npresented and first insights regarding its feasibility are discussed.\n
Rowan van Pelt, Slinger Jansen, Djuri Baars, Sietse Overbeek
In this article, we introduce a blockchain governance framework that defines the governance of a blockchain as a combination of six dimensions and three layers. An evaluation through eight expert interviews confirms the perceived usefulness and operational feasibility of the presented framework. Furthermore, the framework, is demonstrated by an application in two case studies. The introduced blockchain governance framework establishes a shared understanding and discussion surrounding the topic of blockchain governance.
Liudmila Zavolokina, Rafael Ziolkowski, Ingrid Bauer
In recent years, an increasing number of blockchain consortia have emerged. However, little is known about how these consortia are developed and what tensions emerge in such collaborations. We describe the evolution of the cardossier blockchain consortium in Switzerland, which is building a system for managing car data and seeking to improve collaboration between players in the car-related ecosystem. From our involvement with the cardossier project, we have gained insights that will be valuable to enterprises considering whether to join a blockchain consortium.
We model a cryptocurrency as membership in a decentralized digital platform developed to facilitate transactions between users of certain goods or services. The rigidity induced by the cryptocurrency price having to clear membership demand with supply of token by speculators, especially with strong complementarity in membership demand, can lead to market breakdown. While user optimism mitigates the market fragility by increasing user participation, speculator sentiment exacerbates it by crowding users out. Informational frictions attenuate the risk of breakdown by dampening price volatility and platform performance. Furthermore, the users' anticipation of losses from strategic attacks by miners exacerbates the market fragility.
Tobias Riasanow, Lea Jäntgen, Sebastian Hermes, Markus Böhm · 5 authors
Abstract Digital transformation is continuously changing ecosystems, which also forces established companies to re-evaluate their value proposition. However, only transformations of single ecosystems have been studied. Therefore, this work targets to examine the similarities of digital transformation in five platform ecosystems: automotive, blockchain, financial, insurance, and IIoT. For our analysis, we combine the strengths of conceptual modeling using e3 value with a cluster analysis based on text mining to identify similarities in the respective ecosystems. As a result, we identified 15 clusters. Cluster 01 is the core cluster, containing the roles of organizations from all five ecosystems. Cluster 02–05 are intertwined, as they include roles from at least two ecosystems. Clusters 06–15 are ecosystem-specific that only include roles found in one ecosystem. Scholars and practitioners can use these clusters when analyzing or building a new platform ecosystem, or transforming a traditional ecosystem towards a platform ecosystem.
Open innovation is a concept in flux; from the practice of large-scale, internet-mediated collaboration, to a strategic option and business model for firms. However, the scope and breadth of its transformative dynamic is arguably restrained. Despite the theoretical and empirical benefits of openness, established firms face significant challenges deploying the coordination patterns of open innovation communities, further reducing the potential of spill-overs in the supply chain. Viewed differently, open innovation presents more user-centric and responsible innovation paths. These are manifested in the processes and outputs of open innovation by empowering participation and by successfully employing the capacities of user communities. To reap the benefits of open innovation, a rapid reconfiguration of the production and exchange structures is needed in intrafirm and interfirm relations. Sensorica is an open enterprise that achieves such forms of organization and a unique techno-social infrastructure supporting them. It illustrates a potential path that can realize the full potential of open innovation, for users, firms, and the economic system as a whole.
Marta Cristina Pelucio Grecco, Jacinto Pedro dos Santos Neto, Diego Constancio
Abstract This essay presents recommendations in regard to accounting for operations that involve bitcoins, in compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and analyzes their main tax aspects. There is no specific pronouncement on the part of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) or from the Brazilian Accounting Pronouncements Committee (CPC) regarding the accounting treatment to be applied in operations that use these currencies. Bitcoin is of interest to economists as a virtual currency with the potential to disrupt existing payment systems and even monetary systems. This essay offers a contribution for standard-setters and the tax authority (fisco) by providing the basis for possible guidelines to be issued on the accounting treatment of bitcoin operations, as well as by defining the appropriate tax treatment; in addition, it makes a contribution for accounting professionals by suggesting the accounting policy to be adopted in these operations. Here, the analysis of the characteristics of bitcoins is compared with the guidelines and concepts of IFRS, in order to elaborate the recommendation for accounting treatment, and it suggests that the most adequate procedure would be that of foreign currency, which would go against the tax treatment adopted up until now by the Brazilian Internal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States of America (USA), which suggest treating virtual currencies as goods and not as currencies. It warrants mentioning that this contradiction may cause tax risks for taxpayers.
Stefan Tönnissen, Jan Heinrich Beinke, Frank Teuteberg
Abstract Start-ups in the blockchain context generate millions by means of initial coin offerings (ICOs). Many of these crowdfunding endeavours are very successful, others are not. However, despite the increasing investments in ICOs, there is still neither sufficient theoretical knowledge nor a comprehensive understanding of the different types of business models and the implications for these token-based ecosystems. Scientific research equally lacks a thorough understanding of the different business model forms and their influence on collaboration in token-based economies. We bridge this gap by presenting a taxonomy of real-world blockchain-based start-ups. For this taxonomy, we used 195 start-ups and performed a cluster-analysis in order to identify three different archetypes and thus gain a deeper understanding. Our taxonomy and the archetypes can equally be seen as strategic guidance for practitioners as well as a starting point for future research concerning the token-based business models.
Ingrid Bauer, Liudmila Zavolokina, Fabian Leisibach, Gerhard Schwabe
Blockchain technology is expected to create a variety of new opportunities for businesses. Yet, little is known about how the technology actually enables to create value and how companies will be able to exploit true business value. However, without a clear understanding of the value creation potential from the technology, and corresponding adaption of business practices, the realization of value is doomed to failure. Hence, we contribute to this gap by exploring and explicating the specificities of value creation from blockchain in the ecosystem of a car. In the course of an exploratory case study analysis, over a time period of 2 years, we conducted three iterations of interviews and workshops with industry and blockchain experts from five diverse stakeholder groups. In brief, we provide early evidence that (1) blockchain enables value creation through: Distributed Product Innovation, Shared Operational Efficiency, and Controlled Customer Intimacy. Furthermore, we discuss our learnings for businesses in other domains aiming to leverage value from blockchain technology. We do so, by deriving guidelines for each blockchain value discipline. Furthermore, we give recommendations on how blockchain projects in ecosystems should approach multiple blockchain value potentials.
Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchain systems that supports more than half a million transactions every day and fosters miscellaneous decentralized applications with its Turing-complete smart contract machine. Whereas it remains mysterious what the transaction pattern of Ethereum is and how it evolves over time. In this paper, we study the evolutionary behavior of Ethereum transactions from a temporal graph point of view. We first develop a data analytics platform to collect external transactions associated with users as well as internal transactions initiated by smart contracts. Three types of temporal graphs, user-to-user, contract-to-contract and user-contract graphs, are constructed according to trading relationship and are segmented with an appropriate time window. We observe a strong correlation between the size of user-to-user transaction graph and the average Ether price in a time window, while no evidence of such linkage is shown at the average degree, average edge weights and average triplet closure duration. The macroscopic and microscopic burstiness of Ethereum transactions is validated. We analyze the Gini indexes of the transaction graphs and the user wealth in which Ethereum is found to be very unfair since the very beginning, in a sense, "the rich is already very rich".
Over the past decade, the blockchain technology and its Bitcoin cryptocurrency have received considerable attention. Bitcoin has experienced significant price swings in daily and long-term valuations. In this paper, we propose a partial differential equation (PDE) model on the bitcoin transaction network for predicting bitcoin price. Through analysis of bitcoin subgraphs or chainlets, the PDE model captures the influence of transaction patterns on bitcoin price over time and combines the effect of all chainlet clusters. In addition, Google Trends Index is incorporated to the PDE model to reflect the effect of bitcoin market sentiment. The experiment shows that the average accuracy of daily bitcoin price prediction is 0.82 for 362 consecutive days in 2017. The results demonstrate the PDE model is capable of predicting bitcoin price. The paper is the first attempt to apply a PDE model to the bitcoin transaction network for predicting bitcoin price.
Jan 1, 2020·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Nico Abbatemarco, Leonardo Maria De Rossi, Aakanksha Gaur, Gianluca Salviotti
New digital technologies are changing the way organizations create and capture value. In particular, blockchain is bringing up opportunities for organizations in terms of transparency and security, and at the same time threatening the position of intermediaries such as banks and notaries. Therefore, intermediaries need to design new business models to generate value from blockchain. Little academic re-search has been conducted to identify the business models that intermediaries could exploit to leverage a disintermediation technology such as blockchain. Employing a qualitative research based on focus group and interviews, this study highlights how a specific intermediary, the Italian notaries, tried to design appropriate business models to derive value from blockchain ecosystems. Specifically, drawing on the key concepts of value configuration, value creation and business model dimensions, this paper identifies three different business models that Italian notaries can implement to create and capture value from permissionless blockchain ecosystems.