Blockchain Papers

Nicolin Decker

No abstract is available for this record.

Chaminda Jayamal Gunawardana Dharmadasa Migelhewage

No abstract is available for this record.

Primavera De Filippi, Morshed Mannan

Abstract In this chapter, we develop the concept of ‘regulatory equivalence’. As opposed to functional equivalence, used to extend the scope of existing legal frameworks to new technological arrangements, regulatory equivalence refers to the use of technological guarantees to serve the same purpose as traditional legal formalities. This approach goes beyond the use of technology to execute certain legal formalities, but involves analysis of the equivalence between the values undergirding legal rules and the affordances of technological artifacts. This chapter draws on the distinct properties of blockchain-based systems, such as notarization systems, Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)s, and privacy pools, to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges they present to establishing regulatory equivalence. Public actors, however, are hesitant to recognize regulatory equivalence, due to competing perceptions of legitimate governance between participants within these systems and external actors such as regulators. We explore this tension before concluding that this challenge can be overcome through co-regulatory engagement between public authorities and actors within blockchain-based systems, and public authorities more explicitly stating the values they seek to promote within blockchain-based systems.

José Martin Leonardo Marquez Vaamonde

Introduction:The study examined blockchain technology as a pillar of Web3, highlighting its principles of immutability, transparency, and decentralization. It analyzed the paradox that these same virtues could become disadvantages when it was necessary to correct errors, delete data, or deal with malicious uses, generating legal and ethical tensions.Development:Cases and studies were reviewed that showed how immutability guaranteed integrity and resistance to censorship but was incompatible with rights such as the “right to be forgotten” under the GDPR. Situations were also documented in which decentralization empowered both legitimate actors and criminals, eliminating consumer protection mechanisms. Faced with these dilemmas, solutions such as off-chain storage, updatable smart contracts, decentralized identity, and zero-knowledge proofs were evaluated. The proposal for double validation was highlighted, which incorporated a layer of smart contract verification to authenticate the origin and legitimacy of information before it was recorded. The validation of sensitive content by the people involved was also proposed as a strategy to prevent defamation, misinformation, or the dissemination of illegal material.Conclusion:The paper concluded that the potential of blockchain lay in its integration within an ethical, legal, and social framework. The implementation of mandatory verification and validation mechanisms strengthened accountability and individual protection, transforming blockchain into a tool that is not only secure and transparent, but also fair and socially responsible.

Luke D. Graham

Internet access is a prerequisite for access to Web3. Consequently, Web3 and the benefits thereof are rendered inaccessible for those individuals who lack Internet access. Presently, rich discussion exists on the topic of a right to Internet access. The central purpose of this contribution is not to argue for the recognition of such a right. Rather, the central purpose of this contribution is to suggest that if a right to Internet access is to be recognised, then it can be grounded in Article 11 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Examining the potential of a right to internet access to be derived from this provision facilitates an examination of the parameters of the right to an adequate standard of living. It is suggested that the right to an adequate standard of living is not fixed or static but is instead capable of capturing technological and societal advancements. The advantages of this approach are two-fold. First, grounding a right to internet access within the right to an adequate standard of living recognises a right to internet access both as a constituent part of the right to an adequate standard of living and as an independent right. After all, independent rights have been interpreted as deriving from Article 11 (1) ICESCR. Second, anchoring a right to Internet access in Article 11 (1) ICESCR allows the established legal framework of the ICESCR to be applied to delimiting the content of a right to internet access so understood.

Shengxian Yu

No abstract is available for this record.

Igor Calzada

Chapter 4, “The (Dis)Illusion of the Web3 Decentralization,” interrogates the technopolitical and socioeconomic promises of decentralization amid the rise of Web3 and Generative AI (GenAI). Drawing from iterative action research, including fieldwork in Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., the chapter questions whether decentralization genuinely redistributes power or merely consolidates it within a tech-savvy elite. Framed within a post-Westphalian context, it identifies three emerging paradigms—Network States, Network Sovereignties, and Algorithmic Nations—as divergent responses to this governance transformation. Engaging with the intellectual legacy of Karl Polanyi’s critique of market fundamentalism and Richard R. Nelson’s call to bridge the “moon and the ghetto,” the chapter exposes how digital infrastructures may privilege computational capital while marginalizing civic participation. Web3, often mythologized as democratizing, risks replicating algorithmic hierarchies under the guise of innovation. GenAI amplifies these risks by introducing opaque decision-making architectures governed by proprietary models and technical gatekeeping. Ultimately, this chapter urges hybrid, inclusive policy frameworks attentive to both global asymmetries and local contexts. It advances the volume’s core agenda: to critically “unplug” prevailing digital governance narratives, reinvigorate normative commitments to justice, and propose a more democratic and equitable digital transition in the era of datafied democracies and AI-driven economies.

Kelsie Nabben, Ellie Rennie

This paper examines the role of hardware security as the basis for order in the decentralised metaverse. It does this by considering the infrastructural tools and governance practices at the heart of KONG Land, an example of a blockchain-based decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) and decentralised physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project. KONG Land manufactures open-source microchips to create verifiable hardware that anyone can use or integrate into their own application. KONG Land’s focus on the materiality of infrastructure led them to pursue a governance model as a digital-physical, politically decentralised polity. By foregrounding the physicality and affordances of decentralised efforts to manufacture microchips, this paper shows how rematerialising digital domains leads back to questions of statehood and its purpose and provides an explanation for emerging sovereignties. Building on Olson’s (1993. Dictatorship, democracy, and development. American Political Science Review , 87 (3), 567–576) theory of the stationary bandit, the paper positions projects like KONG Land as an attempt to create a ‘better bandit’ – one that sets out to provide its citizens with a superior level of security than that offered by either nation states or the corporate metaverse, with the intention of creating the conditions for Web3 production and expansion.

Anh Tuan Hoang, Bao Cong Nguyen To, Hoang Dinh Tran

This study examines the impact of geopolitical risks (GPR) on cryptocurrency volatility, with a focus on green and non-green cryptocurrencies. Geopolitical risks - stemming from conflicts, terrorism, and political tensions - have significant implications for financial markets and investment decisions, as highlighted by recent events such as the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas conflict, tensions in the Korean Peninsula, China-Taiwan disputes, and US-UK actions against Houthi forces in the Red Sea. Using a dataset of 10 cryptocurrencies from 2014 to 2023, the analysis employs the GARCH-M-GJR-LEV econometric model to investigate volatility dynamics. The results show a negative correlation between geopolitical risks and cryptocurrency volatility, indicating that as geopolitical tensions increase, cryptocurrency markets tend to stabilize, suggesting their potential as safe havens. Moreover, the findings reveal that green cryptocurrencies are more resilient to geopolitical shocks than non-green ones, highlighting the rising importance of sustainability in financial markets. This research contributes to the literature by offering insights into the differential responses of green and non-green cryptocurrencies to geopolitical events. The findings have practical implications for investors looking for hedging tools during periods of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, as well as for policymakers aiming to understand the broader impacts of geopolitical dynamics on emerging financial markets like cryptocurrencies.

Zhuolun Li, Evangelos Pournaras

Distributed ledger systems, such as blockchains, rely on consensus protocols that commit ordered messages for processing. In practice, message ordering within these systems is often reward-driven. This raises concerns about fairness, particularly in decentralized finance applications, where nodes can exploit transaction orders to maximize rewards referred to as Maximal Extractable Value. This paper provides a systematic understanding of consensus protocols that order messages with different approaches, especially focusing on the ones that promote order fairness, using methods including First-In-First-Out (FIFO), random, and blind ordering. We review the challenges and trade-offs of deriving fair message ordering in a Byzantine fault-tolerant setting, and summarize the requirements for making a fair message ordering consensus protocol. We introduce a design guideline, with which we propose a latency optimization to the state-of-the-art FIFO ordering protocol of Themis. This work provides a systematic way for assessing and enhancing message order fairness in blockchain systems.

Igor Calzada

This article explores how decentralized Web3 is reshaping Internet governance by enabling the emergence of new forms of nation-statehood and redefining traditional concepts of state sovereignty. Based on fieldwork conducted in Silicon Valley since August 2022, this article systematically addresses the following research question: How is decentralized Web3 reshaping Internet governance and influencing the rise in new nation-statehood paradigms? It compares three emerging paradigms around Web3: (i) Network States (Srinivasan), envisioning digital entities rooted in crypto-libertarian principles; (ii) Network Sovereignties (De Filippi), emphasizing communal governance aligned with digital commons; and (iii) Algorithmic Nations (Calzada), drawing on Arendtian thought and demonstrating how communities—such as indigenous and stateless groups, as well as e-diasporas—can attain self-determination through data sovereignty. This article contributes a unique conceptual analysis of these paradigms based on fieldwork action research in Silicon Valley, responding to evolving technologies and their potential to reshape Internet governance. This article argues that decentralized Web3 provides a transformative vision for Internet governance but requires careful evaluation to ensure that it promotes inclusivity and equity. It advocates for a hybrid approach that balances global and local dynamics, emphasizing the need for solidarity, digital justice, and an internationalist perspective in shaping future Internet governance protocols.

Nori Katagiri

I explore how criminals use cryptocurrencies in ransomware operations and leverage the vulnerability of virtual currencies to evade legal restrictions and international scrutiny. I do so by examining three drivers of the ‘merger’ between ransomware and cryptocurrency. First, criminal groups have embraced cutting-edge technologies to make their attacks more effective and maximise benefits that cryptocurrency presents, which include the convenience of fast payment and money laundering and the ease of hacking the currencies themselves. Second, ransomware groups have exploited the legal vacuum in the widespread use of rapidly circulating monetary instruments. Finally, groups have adopted cryptocurrencies because states – primary regulators of international financial transactions – remain in such disagreement over the control of digital activities that they have failed to address problems associated with them. In sum, this article presents a set of technical, legal and political reasons why groups have incorporated crypto in their operations.

Leila Dagher, Amar Rao, Vishal Dagar, Olatunji A. Shobande

This study aims to investigate the spillover effects from geopolitical risks (proxied by the geopolitical risk index GPRD) and cryptocurrencies-related uncertainty (proxied by the Cryptocurrency Uncertainty Index UCRY) to cryptocurrencies. We utilize the Baruník and Křehlík (2018) framework to detect time-frequency connectedness. Our investigation for the period 2017 to 2022 discovers significant spillover effects from both indices (GPRD and UCRY) to cryptocurrencies. Utilizing the information transmission theory and network graphs, our findings reveal that some cryptocurrencies function as net receivers of spillovers from geopolitical risks and uncertainty in the short-term, while over longer time horizons they transform into net transmitters of spillovers to uncertainty. The study underscores the importance of comprehending how uncertainty due to various factors (geopolitical, policy changes, regulatory changes, etc.) could affect the cryptocurrencies’ markets.

Petar Radanliev

Cyber diplomacy is critical in dealing with the digital era's evolving cybersecurity dangers and possibilities.This article investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchains, and Quantum Computing on cyber diplomacy.AI holds the potential for proactive threat identification and response, while IoT enables international information sharing.Blockchains enable secure data sharing and document verification, but they also pose new threats, such as AI-driven cyber-attacks, IoT privacy breaches, blockchain vulnerabilities, and the potential for quantum computing to break encryption.This article conducts case study reviews in combination with secondary data analysis and emphasises the value of international cooperation in developing global norms and frameworks to control responsible technology adoption.Cyber diplomacy can promote cybersecurity, protect national interests, and foster mutual trust among nations in the digital sphere by capitalising on possibilities and reducing threats.

M.G. Kellerman

Security and Global Affairs

Xiaoyan Xu, Yue Wang, Rongfang Ye, Haizhu Hu

Purpose This paper aims to investigate optimal anti-counterfeiting strategies for non-fungible token (NFT) platforms in decentralized digital marketplaces. Using a game-theoretic model, it analyzes how verification policies shape interactions among platforms, genuine creators, counterfeiters and consumers. Addressing a theoretical gap, the study models the incentives and trade-offs platforms face when deciding whether and how much to verify product authenticity. It evaluates the impact of these decisions on consumer surplus and creator welfare, providing insights for platform operators and regulators seeking to balance profitability, authenticity and stakeholder interests. Design/methodology/approach A game-theoretic model examines strategic interactions among NFT platforms, genuine creators, counterfeiters and consumers across varying verification levels. The model incorporates dual sales channels (authentic and dubious), platform commissions and consumer heterogeneity in quality preference. By solving for subgame perfect equilibria, the analysis reveals how verification intensity influences counterfeiter entry, pricing and welfare outcomes. Comparative statics and equilibrium analysis provide managerial implications. The framework highlights the trade-offs platforms face in balancing verification costs with consumer trust and marketplace efficiency. Findings The study reveals counterintuitive results. First, the relationship between verification intensity and counterfeiter entry is non-monotonic – moderate verification can increase counterfeit activity by softening price competition between the dual channels. Second, stronger verification may reduce consumer surplus as price increases outweigh trust benefits. Third, the optimal verification level depends on verification costs and commission structures. Moderate verification often emerges as optimal, while excessive verification can harm both consumers and genuine creators. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature on digital platform governance and anti-counterfeiting by introducing a formal game-theoretic model tailored to decentralized NFT marketplaces. It advances understanding of how verification strategies influence market structure and welfare outcomes in environments with limited enforcement. The findings challenge conventional views that stronger verification always benefits consumers and sellers, revealing nuanced trade-offs in decentralized platforms. These insights provide a foundation for future research on optimal platform design and regulation in blockchain-enabled, trust-sensitive digital ecosystems. Practical implications This paper offers actionable guidance for NFT platform managers in designing effective anti-counterfeiting strategies. It reveals that moderate verification – rather than maximal enforcement – is often optimal, even without cost constraints, as excessive verification can unintentionally reduce consumer surplus and original creator welfare. The findings highlight the importance of aligning verification intensity with platform commission structures. Regulators are also advised to consider incentive-compatible policies that promote trust while preserving market participation. These insights support more balanced and efficient governance in decentralized digital marketplaces. Social implications This study highlights the broader societal impact of anti-counterfeiting strategies in decentralized digital economies. It shows that well-intentioned verification efforts may unintentionally harm consumers by increasing prices and limiting access to authentic digital goods. The findings call for a more nuanced understanding of how policy and platform design affect consumer welfare, creator livelihoods and digital trust. By emphasizing the trade-offs between authenticity and accessibility, the study informs policymakers and platform designers about the importance of inclusive, efficient verification mechanisms that protect stakeholders without stifling innovation or participation in the rapidly evolving NFT and blockchain ecosystems. Originality/value This study fills a theoretical gap by modeling decentralized NFT marketplaces with limited enforcement and uncertainty. It is among the first to analyze anti-counterfeiting strategies in this context, offering practical guidance for platform operators and regulators. The findings enrich digital platform governance literature by highlighting nuanced trade-offs in verification strategies.

Rachael A. Ntongho, Joseph Lee

We explore how cybersecurity should be incorporated into corporate governance and develop a specific framework for implementing it. We consider different types of cybersecurity incidents, such as ransomware and data leaks, and their impacts on companies. We then discuss how cybersecurity situates in the current corporate governance theoretical framework. Based on the Resource Dependency Theory (RDT), we develop a specific governance framework with a focus on the role of chief cybersecurity officer, the audit committee, the regulatory powers, and market enforcement mechanisms. As more companies are becoming digital native and more services provided are digital in the Web3 space, this chapter is policy relevant as it provides a theoretical basis for implementing cybersecurity within companies in the digital space and a specific framework for the implementation.

Е.В. Парфенов

At the beginning of the 21st century, the rapid development of digital technologies occurs, which can be used both for the benefit of the majority of the population and to the detriment. According to the new view of the future of digital democracy, it should use decentralized digital instruments of digital public infrastructure (DPI) to achieve universal progress and development. These tools should be decentralized voting, digital identification, digital money. Each of these categories is mutually associated in real time with other categories. These technologies are also collectively called Web3. The opponent of digital democracy is a dictatorship that can use the same digital tools, but created in another way, through centralization. At the same time, freedom and justice cannot be achieved by usurpation of power through the centralization of new digital instruments. The digital dictatorship, where most citizens are operated to increase the welfare of a small group of people through fear and coercion should not be a goal. The digital dictatorship should be rejected by the current generation.

Sohaib Alzoubi

This thesis examines the responses of diverse states and political systems to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It also aims to understand the underlying factors. The thesis is positioned within the realms of political economy and comparative politics and seeks to understand how different political systems, including democratic and authoritarian regimes, respond to technology in general and blockchain specifically. Through a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study provides insights into states' orientations and the reasons behind them. Contrary to the hypothesis that cryptocurrencies and blockchains are threats to states, the research refutes this notion with 99% confidence intervals based on a comprehensive study of 87 countries. It reveals a moderate positive correlation between a state's level of democracy and its adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. However, caution is warranted as authoritarian countries have found ways to utilize this technology for control. Additionally, bureaucratic challenges and political instability place democratic states at a disadvantage in the broader technological race. Economic power positively influences a state's ability to introduce its Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), while economically struggling countries make progress in issuing CBDCs to address their challenges. The use of cryptocurrencies in the Russia-Ukraine conflict indicates the need for further study on their potential role in conflicts. The lack of international efforts to legalize cryptocurrencies reduces states' regulatory influence. This thesis culminates by generating hypotheses for future research and holds implications for investors, states, and international entities.

Sonja Bunčić, Milica Njegovan

Accelerated technological development has brought many novelties, among which is distributed ledger technology (DLT), often called blockchain (BC). BC is perceived as a peer-to-peer distributed immutable ledger that could revolutionize economies, societies and even our daily lives. All protocols for dealing with data and transactions are coded with an algorithm, so there is no need to trust the other contracting party or the intermediary. With the concept of decentralization and the absence of hierarchy, BC wants to avoid all traditional intermediaries and any regulation. The question arises, are BCtechnologies really decentralized and who controls them? What are the consequences if decision-making in BC is influenced by small groups of people or corporations? This article, in an attempt to answer these questions, explores technological scandals in which there have been significant deviations from the basic principles of BC (The DAO Hack, Parity's Smart Contract Bug on Ethereum and Facebook's Libra). Analysis of the above scandals suggests that decentralization is threatened and the current regulatory status of BC is substandard. It was shown that BC technology, due to its deterministic nature, cannot provide solutions for all life situations and that human judgment is irreplaceable.

Sam McCarthy

No abstract is available for this record.

Burcu Yüksel Ripley

Cryptocurrencies, introduced in 2009 with the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, have grown significantly in recent years and attracted attention globally. One of the main characteristics of cryptocurrencies and their key innovation is that they are underpinned by distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain as a type of DLT. This technology enables cryptocurrencies to be transferred, stored or traded electronically within DLT-based systems in a peer-to-peer manner among (pseudonymous) system participants across the world without the involvement of the usual central trusted authorities or intermediaries such as banks. This raises the question of if, and how, one should ascertain internationality for cryptocurrency transfers taking place within truly global systems underpinned by DLT for private international law purposes. This article aims to raise awareness of and address the question of internationality in the context of cryptocurrency transfers in DLT-based systems. It considers internationality in private international law, potential factors that might be relevant in ascertaining internationality for cryptocurrency transfers through a comparison to that for electronic funds transfers (EFTs), and the approaches of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the Hague Conference for Private International Law (HCCH) on internationality in their current projects concerning digital assets and digital economy respectively.

Garv Sultania, Prathik Karthikeyan

A primer to the Web3 system designed to serve as a introduction to Web3 concepts. It also highlights the legal issues related to Web3 and it's related fields covering cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO's), Non-Fungible Tokens, Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

Jorge Constantino

Cryptocurrency is a digital exchange medium stored in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and form the basis for the term crypto-assets. This paper focuses on the group of cryptocurrencies (or crypto-assets) that belong to Public Permissionless Blockchains and explains historical pump-and-dump, and how this old scheme appears to be applied now to cryptocurrency trading. This work explores the nature of the blockchain ecosystem, where cryptocurrencies exist, and proposes that ironically the encryption and immutability nature of the blockchain make cryptocurrencies vulnerable to pump-and-dump schemes. The lack of adequate regulation in Europe leaves cryptocurrencies vulnerable to pump-and-dump schemes causing an overall effect of vulnerable consumers expossed to fraudsters. Cryptocurrency pump-and-dump also affects investors, the development of cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain itself.