The Bitcoin white paper introduced blockchain technology, enabling trustful transactions without intermediaries. Smart contracts emerged with Ethereum and blockchains expanded beyond cryptocurrency, applying to auctions, crowdfunding and electronic voting. However, blockchain's transparency raised privacy concerns and initial anonymity measures proved ineffective. Smart contract privacy solutions employed zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encryption and trusted execution environments. These approaches have practical drawbacks, such as limited functionality, high computation times and trust on third parties requirements, being not fully decentralized. This work proposes a solution utilizing zk-SNARKs to provide privacy in smart contracts and blockchains. The solution supports both fungible and nonfungible tokens. Additionally, the proposal includes a new type of transactions, called delegated transactions, which enable use cases like Delivery vs Payment (DvP).
This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of the intersection between machine learning and smart contract vulnerabilities on the Ethereum blockchain. Introduced by Vitalik Buterin in 2015, Ethereum stands as a prominent blockchain network, necessitating innovative approaches to secure smart contracts against vulnerabilities and potential attacks. This research follows PRISMA guidelines, posing three fundamental questions and conducting a meticulous literature review. The study categorises machine learning applications into seven distinct groups, analysing their taxonomy, feature types, and engineering methods. The findings indicate a dynamic landscape characterised by a noticeable trend towards increased complexity. This complexity is evident not only in the integration of machine learning frameworks that combine different architectures of deep learning models, such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Graph Neural Networks (GNN), or Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN), but also in the incorporation of various types of data related to smart contracts (SCs). The discussion dissects the advantages, limitations, and future directions in securing smart contracts using machine learning. The paper concludes by emphasising the evolving role of machine learning in strengthening the Ethereum blockchain, fostering trust, and enhancing security in decentralised systems.
Cryptocurrencies have introduced a transformative paradigm in financial technology, challenging traditional financial structures and creating novel transactional frameworks. With the rapid expansion of the cryptocurrency market, the need for objective assessment and comparative analysis of leading digital assets has become increasingly pertinent. This study presents a detailed, data-driven evaluation of five prominent cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), USD Coin, and Lido Staked Ether (STETH). Drawing on an extensive dataset sourced from IntoTheBlock, a leading platform for cryptocurrency analytics, we assess these cryptocurrencies based on selected efficiency indicators. Our research methodology encompasses a systematic exploration of financial and network metrics, including market capitalization, volatility, daily active addresses, and transaction statistics. The results provide nuanced insights into the relative performance of these assets, identifying Bitcoin as the most efficient based on the selected criteria. This work emphasizes the significance of empirical, data-centric methodologies, eschewing subjective judgments, to deliver actionable insights for investors, policymakers, and scholars in the domain of decentralized finance.
This paper provides a brief overview of the ongoing financial revolution, which extends beyond the emergence of cryptocurrencies as a digital medium of exchange. At its core, this revolution is driven by a paradigm shift rooted in the technological advancements of blockchain and the foundational principles of Islamic economics. Together, these elements offer a transformative framework that challenges traditional financial systems, emphasizing transparency, equity, and decentralized governance. The paper highlights the implications of this shift and its potential to reshape the global economic landscape.
Over the past decade, digitalization, which has become a key driver of innovation in the financial industry, has led to the development of new products and financial services. The services and opportunities provided in the field of decentralized finance have similar characteristics to traditional financial services. The lack of sufficient experience in the functioning of the decentralized finance sphere determines the relevance of the study of the content and problems of the development of this format of financial organization. The object of study is the relations arising in the process of providing financial services in traditional and decentralized finance. The subject of the study is the impact of decentralized finance on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries. The purpose of the study is to determine the aspects of the impact of decentralized finance on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries. The objectives are to study the theory of trust in relation to decentralized finance, identify problems of their development, assess the challenges and prospects for the impact of decentralized finance on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries. The authors use general scientific and special methods, including system, comparative analysis, generalization, scientific abstraction. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive assessment of the impact of decentralized finance on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries through the prism of the capabilities of the decentralized finance system at the current stage of financial market development. The authors conducted a study of the theory of trust in relation to decentralized finance, and also proposed forms of ensuring trust in financial services provided in the traditional (TradFi) and decentralized financial systems (DeFi). To assess the challenges and prospects of decentralized finance and their impact on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries, a PEST analysis was conducted, identifying groups of political, economic, technological and socio-cultural factors of influence. It is concluded that the influence of the decentralized finance sphere on the activities of traditional financial intermediaries will expand due to the increase in the market capitalization of DeFi and the spread of systemic risks characteristic of TradFi. Focus on minimizing risks should facilitate the use of DeFi services by traditional financial intermediaries in the context of creating and developing innovative projects. The conducted research can be useful both for users of traditional and decentralized finance services and for regulatory and supervisory authorities.
Olanrewaju Oluwaseun Ajayi, Chisom Elizabeth Alozie, Olumese Anthony Abieba, Joshua Idowu Akerele · 5 authors
Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative force within the financial technology (Fintech) sector, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, transparency, and security. However, its adoption also brings forth new challenges and vulnerabilities, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. This review explores the dynamic landscape of Blockchain Technology and Cybersecurity in Fintech, highlighting both the opportunities it presents and the vulnerabilities it introduces. Blockchain technology, most notably recognized as the underlying framework for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, operates on a decentralized ledger system, enabling secure and immutable transactions. In Fintech, this technology promises enhanced transactional speed, reduced costs, and increased transparency, revolutionizing traditional banking and payment systems. Nevertheless, the decentralized nature of blockchain networks, while offering resilience against single points of failure, also poses unique cybersecurity risks. Smart contracts, self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code, introduce vulnerabilities such as code bugs and exploits. Moreover, the anonymity associated with blockchain transactions has raised concerns regarding illicit activities, money laundering, and terrorist financing. In response to these challenges, the intersection of Blockchain Technology and Cybersecurity in Fintech offers opportunities for innovation. Advanced cryptographic techniques, such as multi-signature authentication and zero-knowledge proofs, are being leveraged to enhance security and privacy in blockchain-based systems. Additionally, regulatory frameworks are evolving to address the emerging risks associated with Fintech innovations, ensuring compliance and consumer protection. While Blockchain Technology presents promising opportunities for revolutionizing Fintech, its integration must be accompanied by robust cybersecurity measures to mitigate vulnerabilities and safeguard against potential threats. Collaborative efforts between industry stakeholders, regulators, and cybersecurity experts are imperative to foster a secure and resilient ecosystem for blockchain-based financial services.
The rapid development of fintech over the past decade has dramatically changed global financial markets and profoundly influenced investor behavior. This paper examines the impact of fintech innovation, particularly robo-advisors, blockchain technology, and social trading platforms, on investor behavior through the lens of behavioral finance. By reviewing the existing literature, this paper explores how these techniques affect decision-making processes, market efficiency, and investor biases such as overconfidence, loss aversion, and herding behavior. The study found that through algorithms and automated investment management, robo-advisors can mitigate certain behavioral biases, but can also introduce new challenges, such as over-dependence. The inherently volatile and decentralized nature of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies magnifies speculation and introduces new biases. Social trading platforms, while democratizing access to financial markets, have exacerbated herding behavior and short-term speculation. The study identifies gaps in current research, including the need for long-term impact studies and ethical considerations, and suggests directions for future research, such as exploring new behavioral biases and improving regulatory frameworks. Overall, fintech innovation offers great potential for improving market efficiency and financial inclusion, but it also presents new challenges that require ongoing investigation and adaptation strategies.
According to the latest data from CryptoSlam, as of November 2024, NFT sales have approached USD 7.43 billion, with trading profits exceeding USD 33.303 million. In the buyer–seller market, the potential demand for NFT transactions continues to grow, leading to rapid development in the NFT market and giving rise to various issues, such as price manipulation, counterfeit products, hacking of investment platforms, identity verification errors, data leaks, and wallet security failures, all of which have caused significant financial losses for investors. Currently, the NFT investment market faces challenges such as legal uncertainty, information security, and high price volatility due to speculation. This study conducted expert interviews and adopted a two-stage research methodology to analyze the most common risk factors when selecting NFT investments. It employed the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to explore risk factors such as legal issues, security concerns, speculation, and price volatility, aiming to understand how these factors influence investors in choosing the most suitable NFT investment platform. The survey was conducted between February and June 2023, targeting professionals and scholars with over 10 years of experience in the financial market or financial research, with a total of 13 participants. The empirical results revealed that speculation had the greatest impact compared to legal issues, security concerns, and NFT price volatility. Speculation and price volatility directly influenced other risk factors, potentially increasing the risks faced by NFT investment platforms. In contrast, legal and security issues had less influence on other factors and were more affected by them, indicating a relatively lower likelihood of occurrence. Thus, investors must be cautious of short-term speculation, particularly when dealing with rare NFTs. The best approach is to set an exit price to minimize potential losses if the investment does not proceed as planned.
This study examines the legal certainty of using cryptocurrency as an investment instrument in companies in Indonesia. Although cryptocurrency is not recognized as a legal means of payment, it has been acknowledged as a tradable commodity in futures exchanges. This research utilizes a normative legal approach to analyze existing regulations, challenges encountered, and legal protections available for investors. The findings indicate that despite significant profit potential, investors still face high risks due to price volatility, insufficient legal protections, and cybersecurity threats. It is crucial for the government to formulate more comprehensive and supportive regulations to protect investors and prevent misuse and illegal practices. Additionally, an extensive educational program is needed to enhance public understanding of the risks and benefits of investing in cryptocurrency. With adequate regulation and improved public awareness, cryptocurrency is expected to contribute positively to Indonesia’s digital economic growth. This study aims to contribute to the development of policies and regulations related to cryptocurrency in Indonesia and to encourage greater public participation in this investment ecosystem.
Jul Aidil Fadli, Toto Rusmanto, Yohannes Kurniawan, Yanthi Hutagaol
This study investigates how financial availability and herding behavior influence the experience of investing in cryptocurrencies, with government policies serving as a moderating factor. This study involved 297 individuals who actively invest in cryptocurrencies in Indonesia. A structural equation model with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) approach was used in this study. The results show that financial availability and government policy affect cryptocurrency investment experience. Meanwhile, government policies have been shown to strengthen the influence of herding behavior. The results also show that herding behavior has no direct effect on cryptocurrency investment experience. Similarly, there is no evidence that government policies can moderate the effect of financial availability on cryptocurrency investment experience. The results show the importance of assessing the financial availability of investors in their investment activities and highlight the importance of government policies to increase the convenience of investing.
Digital technology in the metaverse field has promising potential and economic advantages. Therefore, digital assets such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrency, and virtual real estate have the potential to become objects of waqf, although there are challenges in the application of civil law. This research aims to analyze the opportunities and challenges of civil waqf for digital assets in the metaverse and to examine the governance of digital asset waqf in the metaverse. Digital assets in the metaverse have the potential to become waqf objects, as emphasized by Islamic law and UU RI Nomor 41 Tahun 2004 Tentang Wakaf, although there are no clear legal regulations governing them. To maximize the benefits of digital asset waqf governance in the metaverse, it is necessary to adapt smart contracts on the blockchain to ensure legal certainty and digital security, as well as appoint a nazhir capable of managing digital assets in the metaverse effectively. Therefore, despite legal challenges, the potential for managing digital waqf in the metaverse is vast, requiring regulations that are more adaptive to technological developments to ensure the sustainability and benefits of waqf for the broader community.Kata Kunci: Waqf, Digital Assets, Metaverse, Civil Law, Islamic Law, Blockchain, NFT, Cryptocurrency, Real Estate Virtual.
S.M. Masudur Rahman, Abu Naser Mohammad Saif, Sadman Kabir, Md. Fakhrudoza Bari · 9 authors
Abstract In the new era of adopting and managing new and robust technologies in banking, the use of blockchain technology has significantly transformed overall banking systems. To add new insights to the body of existing knowledge, the authors conducted a systematic review with bibliographic network mapping to identify and analyse the factors contributing to adopting blockchain in the banking industry. Following the latest protocols of the PRISMA flowchart, this study acknowledged 16 relevant publications from 2590 papers in the databases, namely Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore. The bibliographic data were grouped and analysed using VOSviewer to create network visualization maps that included citation and co‐citation, bibliographic coupling, co‐authorship, and co‐occurrence of terms. Subsequently, significant terms were identified through the analyses and compared with those found in the 16 relevant papers. The aggregate findings suggest that multiple influencing factors have been recognized and later categorized into three thematic drivers: transparency‐driven security, collaborative interoperability, and organizational infrastructure. The current research provides valuable insights for policymakers, technologists, researchers, consultants, and practitioners of information systems by proposing a technological framework, which will aid in developing tailored strategies to facilitate the sustainable practice of blockchain in the banking industry to a wider extent.
The scalability of blockchain storage presents a critical bottleneck that hinders the widespread adoption of this transformative technology. Addressing this challenge is paramount to realize the full potential of blockchains. This paper presents a systematic review of the literature (SLR) that focuses on storage scalability challenges and solutions in the context of blockchain technology. The SLR meticulously extracted 131 primary articles from prominent scientific databases, including Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The synthesis of these papers enables an in-depth analysis of storage scalability issues in blockchain networks. Highlights key factors contributing to these issues, identifying eight key factors, including distributed storage, immutability, decentralization, programmability, block size, transaction volume, node capacity, and replication strategy. Then, it examines the latest state-of-the-art solutions proposed to address them. These solutions are broadly categorized into (1) on-chain solutions and (2) off-chain solutions. Furthermore, the paper evaluates storage optimization strategies in light of the blockchain trilemma, which highlights the inherent balance between scalability, security, and decentralization. By providing a comprehensive overview of existing research, this study aims to offer valuable insights and pathways for future research and development of scalable blockchain storage solutions while preserving its core principles.
Jan 1, 2025·Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information Technology, Civil Innovation, Science, and Management, ICITSM 2025, 28-29 April 2025, Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, India, Part I
M. S. Minu, Kaviya Kumar, T Vedha, M. Keerthana · 5 authors
Increasing greenhouse gas emissions has raised the concern of climatic change and a global crisis. This study inspects the innovation in building smart contracts using blockchain technology in a decentralized nature. By trading energy digitally, focusing on the transaction prices within carbon credi
Operations based on cryptocurrency maintain financial infrastructures that work separately from conventional banking networks. All digital currencies operate through blockchain systems to manage their decentralized operations with digital solutions superior to basic banking functions and standardized management systems. The assessment investigates the value relationships between cryptocurrency assets and normal money provisions together with regulatory oversight and protective measures within the two systems. Both mobile payments and digital currency operations lack any factors which could interfere with their joint operations. The analysis depends on financial statistical data for standardization evaluations throughout this work. The financial industry underwent significant global changes through Bitcoin and Ethereum while Litecoin required changes that led to both positive and negative outcomes for its development. The cryptocurrency supporter group argues that asset-based crypto systems lead to reduced operational expenses and better worldwide financial outreach for wire transfers. Users of digital currency bypass traditional banking intermediaries to achieve faster processing which causes permanent breakdown at traditional banks and creates opportunities for banking customers who were previously unbanked. The cryptocurrency system remains inaccessible to computer users because of inconsistent values and safety risks and regulatory restrictions. Traditional banks invested significant time exclusively to construct their core infrastructure because such measures serve both economic safeguards and public trust requirements and regulatory standards. Standard transactions serve as essential requirements to succeed in international finance operations since banks rely on standardized systems for handling cash deposits and issuing loans while supervising money flows. Traditional bank users tend to give negative feedback due to their sluggish information processing combined with high fees and nonaccessibility to residents of remote locations and undeveloped towns. This paper uses a standardized economic analysis which examines monetary outlays against processing times as well as security procedures between the two banking systems. The research indicates that cryptocurrency provides faster worldwide payment transactions and lower costs than traditional banking procedures. The unstable crypto market shows its main weakness through hacking incidents which combine with fraudulent schemes within cryptographic security systems. Standard banking institutions perform operations at an average speed until they need extended periods for international money transfers. The study analyzes system control of decentralized operations by examining oversight concerns related to cryptocurrency management. Different national governments implement cryptocurrency regulations but several institutions remain cautious since China maintains one of the strictest crypto policies. Traditional banking security needs absolute control which prevents financial method innovation from happening. Finance systems utilizing combined cryptocurrency and traditional banking programs will develop secure systems that provide full benefits needed for worldwide financial institutions serving society across multiple levels. The study proposes academic recommendations to evaluate approaches for cryptocurrency bank integration and to study regulatory effects on business financial operations.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile digital currencies based on a decentralized system. Their market behavior, shaped primarily by communal factors such as developer activity and community engagement, differs from that of traditional financial instruments, which are typically driven by intrinsic factors. This study examines the impact of community engagement, as measured by developer activity on GitHub, on the valuation and trading volume of decentralized assets. A quantitative research design is used to analyze developer data from multiple cryptocurrencies. Statistical methods, including correlation analysis, are applied to assess the strength of the relationships between developer activity, asset valuation, and trading volume. Preliminary findings indicate a consistent correlation between developer engagement and both asset valuation and trading volume, offering insight into what drives the success of cryptocurrency projects. This research contributes to the rapidly growing field of cryptocurrency market analytics, highlighting developer activity as a predictive indicator and a potential tool for anticipating shifts in both market dynamics and community sentiment.
In today's digital world, online transactions are an everyday occurrence.From shopping and sending money to sharing information, these digital exchanges provide convenience but also come with significant risks.Ensuring the safety of these transactions is crucial, as a single security breach can lead to substantial financial losses and erode trust in the system.Blockchain technology presents a promising solutionby decentralizing control, making it much harder for hackers to manipulate the data.This paper explores how blockchain protects digital transactions, the challenges it faces, and its potential to transform various industries, such as finance and healthcare.Understanding blockchain security helps us appreciate its role in fostering trust and transparency in our online activities, ultimately making digital interactions safer for everyone involved.
Тулаев, Д. А., Голованова, К. А., Tulaev, D., Golovanova, K.
В статье рассматриваются смарт-контракты как инновационный инструмент в финансовой сфере, акцентируя внимание на их необходимости и преимуществах в условиях цифровизации экономики. Автор анализирует функции смарт-контрактов, такие как автоматизация процессов, повышение прозрачности и безопасность транзакций, а также их влияние на сокращение затрат и временных издержек. Исследование базируется на современных примерах использования смарт-контрактов в финансовых услугах и обсуждает потенциальные вызовы и риски, связанные с их распространением. В заключение подчеркивается важность интеграции смарт-контрактов в финансовые экосистемы для повышения эффективности и конкурентоспособности в условиях цифровой трансформации.