This article explores the economic trade-offs between centralized and decentralized financial systems. Centralized finance (CeFi) relies on regulated intermediaries such as banks and custodians, offering stability, regulatory oversight, and support for monetary policy. Decentralized finance (DeFi), based on smart contracts and cryptographic protocols, reduces barriers to entry and increases flexibility but introduces technical and operational risks. The paper examines efficiency, risk allocation, financial inclusion, innovation, and international implications, supported by quantitative evidence such as global account ownership, cryptocurrency market capitalization, and total value locked (TVL) in DeFi. The analysis highlights that neither system is categorically superior; effective policy should balance innovation and stability through coordinated, technically informed, and proportionate regulations.
Tansaya Kunaratskul, Ashley Lannquist, Andre Reslow, Nicolas Zhang
How should central banks explore tokenized reserves? Central banks are increasingly exploring how to make their reserves available to selected banks using distributed ledger technology, referred to as tokenized reserves. This chapter covers policy objectives for tokenized reserves, operating models and roles of central banks, implications for monetary policy implementation, alternative solutions, and implementation strategies. Ultimately, central banks’ strategic decisions and policy options will vary across jurisdictions, reflecting differences in available resources, legal systems, and policy priorities.
Real world asset tokenization (RWA) introduces programmable finance on chain tools to the market, while bringing cash like returns. This paper focuses on token treasury bond funds to explore whether they are re anchoring the yield benchmark of decentralized finance (DeFi). The key entry point of the study is to build a de facto "interest rate corridor", which is formed by DeFi's stable monetary loan interest rate around the volatility of token treasury bond yield. The research results show that due to the widespread risk exposure in the tokenized currency market, DeFi USD returns have gradually converged towards short-term interest rate benchmarks. What is more noteworthy is that its stay time in the narrow corridor centered on the yield of token treasury bond is significantly prolonged. This re anchoring effect not only narrows the long-standing divergence between cryptocurrency native interest rates and monetary policy benchmarks, but also reshapes the incentive mechanism for liquidity supply, and further tightens the integration channels between on chain markets and traditional fixed income markets on this basis.
This paper investigates how the evolution of interbank payments towards central bank settlement, and thus central bank money as a settlement asset, has affected the dynamics of bank crises.We take the cluster of bank defaults in the United States in 2023 as a starting example and show how, alongside fractional reserves and fast digital communication, centralized settlement in central bank money played a critical role in triggering swift bank failures.We argue that technical centralization has amplified banks' fragility in the development of confidence crises, making bank runs easier and expanding the role of central banks to a point where conflict of interest becomes nearly inevitable.While previous literature has emphasized the effects of fast news spread and online banking, the role of settlement technology in recent bank runs has been largely overlooked.Thus we describe the stability consequences of different settlement architectures in detail, and also discuss potential improvements to the current architecture, particularly decentralized approaches built on distributed ledgers, to mitigate financial instability and reduce the negative effects of centralization without reverting to inefficient legacy systems.
This article explores the application of financial technologies in the auditing of decentralized finance (DeFi) and how these technologies can improve the audit process. The research aims to identify the main challenges faced in DeFi auditing and to offer recommendations for strengthening audit methodologies using financial technologies (FinTech). The article discusses decentralized finance and its innovative management principles based on blockchain technology, which fundamentally transforms traditional financial systems. The study identifies key risks associated with DeFi, such as vulnerabilities in smart contracts and the lack of regulatory frameworks. The theoretical foundation includes a detailed analysis of the differences between traditional and decentralized finance, highlighting DeFi’s advantages – lower operational costs, greater accessibility, and transparency – while addressing regulatory and security challenges. The research methodology is based on scientific literature analysis and the classification of FinTech tools according to established criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of audit methods and their potential for improvement. The main findings show that FinTech tools, such as artificial intelligence (e.g., decision tree models) and blockchain technology, enhance the reliability and speed of DeFi audits while highlighting the need for a more robust regulatory system. This article is relevant due to the rapid growth of the DeFi sector and its importance in the digital transformation of the financial industry. Moreover, this research aims to classify the most widely used financial technology tools according to their functions and analyze their impact on traditional and decentralized finance auditing processes, offering insights for improving audit methodologies.
Decentralized storage is one of the most natural applications built on blockchains and a central component of the Web3 ecosystem. Yet despite a decade of active development -- from IPFS and Filecoin to more recent entrants -- most of these storage protocols have received limited formal analysis of their incentive properties. Claims of incentive compatibility are sometimes made, but rarely proven. This gap matters: without well-designed incentives, a system may distribute storage but fail to truly decentralize it. We analyze Shelby -- a storage network protocol recently proposed by Aptos Labs and Jump Crypto -- and provide the first formal proof of its incentive properties. Our game-theoretic model shows that while off-chain audits alone collapse to universal shirking, Shelby's combination of peer audits with occasional on-chain verification yields incentive compatibility under natural parameter settings. We also examine coalition behavior and outline a simple modification that strengthens the protocol's collusion-resilience.
The rapid expansion of digital assets has created a conflict between technological innovation and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, particularly concerning the energy consumption of legacy consensus mechanisms. This has led to the emergence of "sustainable" cryptocurrencies, raising the critical question of whether the market financially rewards sustainability. This study quantitatively investigates the existence and magnitude of an "ESG premium" in the digital asset market. A quasi-longitudinal study was conducted on a panel dataset of 20 cryptocurrencies (10 sustainable, 10 traditional) from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2024. A detailed, transparent composite ESG score was developed to measure sustainability. The primary analysis utilized a panel data fixed-effects regression model to assess the relationship between asset prices and ESG scores, controlling for market capitalization, trading volume, market-wide indices, and key technological factors like protocol age, scalability, and developer activity. To address endogeneity and validate causality, we employed models with lagged independent variables. Further robustness checks were performed across bull and bear market sub-periods. A GARCH (1,1) model was used to analyze differences in price volatility. The primary regression model reveals a statistically and economically significant positive relationship between ESG scores and cryptocurrency prices. A 10-point increase in the ESG score is associated with a 4.1% price premium (b=0.0041, p < 0.001), even after controlling for technological modernity. This finding remains robust in models using lagged variables and across different market cycles. GARCH analysis confirms that sustainable cryptocurrencies exhibit significantly lower price volatility. In conclusion, the findings provide strong, robust empirical evidence for a persistent ESG premium in the cryptocurrency market. This suggests that investors price in the perceived long-term viability, reduced risk profile, and ethical alignment of sustainable assets, signaling a maturation of the market where non-financial, sustainability-focused metrics are integral to asset valuation.
Abdul Malik, Gayatri Putri, Hesti Putri, Ahmad Badruddin
The proliferation of crypto-assets has raised critical questions about their impact on global financial stability. This study rigorously investigates the structural evolution of the cryptocurrency market's role within the global financial system, testing the hypothesis that it has transitioned from a peripheral, shock-absorbing entity into a systemically significant transmitter of financial risk. We employ a Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregression (TVP-VAR) model on daily data from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2024, examining the dynamic connectedness between a bespoke, rebalanced cryptocurrency index (CRIX20) and key global financial indicators (S&P 500, MSCI World, VIX, DXY). The econometric framework utilizes a Bayesian estimation approach with standard priors, a 200-day rolling window, and a 10-day forecast horizon for Generalized Forecast Error Variance Decompositions (GFEVD). Methodological robustness is confirmed through structural break tests and sensitivity analysis of the forecast horizon. Our findings reveal a profound structural transformation. Prior to mid-2020, the cryptocurrency market was a consistent net receiver of financial spillovers. A structural break, formally identified in the third quarter of 2020, marks a definitive regime shift. Post-break, the crypto market has become a significant and persistent net transmitter of risk to the traditional financial system. The total connectedness index for the entire system shows a marked secular increase, with the crypto market's contribution to systemic risk growing substantially. Gross spillover analysis confirms this shift is driven by a dramatic increase in risk transmission from the crypto market to other assets. In conclusion, the cryptocurrency market can no longer be considered an isolated ecosystem; it is now an integral and potentially destabilizing component of the global financial architecture. The era of crypto-assets as reliable diversifiers has waned, replaced by a new reality where shocks originating within this market pose a credible threat to broader financial stability. These findings present urgent challenges for regulatory oversight, systemic risk monitoring, and portfolio management.
We present LISA, an agentic smart contract vulnerability detection framework that combines rule-based and logic-based methods to address a broad spectrum of vulnerabilities in smart contracts. LISA leverages data from historical audit reports to learn the detection experience (without model fine-tuning), enabling it to generalize learned patterns to unseen projects and evolving threat profiles. In our evaluation, LISA significantly outperforms both LLM-based approaches and traditional static analysis tools, achieving superior coverage of vulnerability types and higher detection accuracy. Our results suggest that LISA offers a compelling solution for industry: delivering more reliable and comprehensive vulnerability detection while reducing the dependence on manual effort.
Benjamin Mudiangombe Mudiangombe, John Weirstrass Muteba Mwamba
This study explores the new insights into the integration and dynamic asymmetric volatility risk spillovers between Bitcoin, currency pairs (USD/ZAR, GBP/ZAR and EUR/ZAR), and traditional financial assets (ALSI, Bond, and Gold) in South Africa using daily data spanning the period from 2010 to 2024 and employing Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregression (TVP-VAR) and wavelet coherence. The findings revealed strengthened integration between traditional financial assets and currency pairs, as well as weak integration with BTC/ZAR. Furthermore, BTC/ZAR and traditional financial assets were receivers of shocks, while the currency pairs were transmitters of spillovers. Gold emerged as an attractive investment during periods of inflation or currency devaluation. However, the assets have a total connectedness index of 28.37%, offering a reduced systemic risk. Distinct patterns were observed in the short, medium, and long term in time scales and frequency. There is a diversification benefit and potential hedging strategies due to gold’s negative influence on BTC/ZAR. Bitcoin’s high volatility and lack of regulatory oversight continue to be deterrents for institutional investors. This study lays a solid foundation for understanding the financial dynamics in South Africa, offering valuable insights for investors and policymakers interested in the intricate linkages between BTC/ZAR, currency pairs, and traditional financial assets, allowing for more targeted policy measures.
Purpose: This study explores the transformative impact of financial technology (fintech) on the global financial services industry, focusing on innovations, regulatory implications, and challenges. The research aims to identify key technological disruptions, examine the regulatory landscape, and highlight opportunities and risks introduced by fintech. Methodology/approach: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted using SCOPUS, IEEE Xplore, and ScienceDirect. Following a structured protocol, 153 peer-reviewed articles (2014–2019) were analysed through thematic and meta-analytical approaches. The study adopted an interpretative philosophy and used the PICOC framework to refine search precision and synthesis. Results/findings: The analysis reveals fintech’s disruptive innovations in financing and payment systems, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, crowdfunding, blockchain-enabled transactions, and mobile payments. These services have enhanced financial inclusion, operational efficiency, and customer accessibility. Regulatory frameworks have evolved in parallel, though challenges remain in addressing moral hazard, cybersecurity, and compliance. Geographically, Asia, particularly China and Indonesia, leads fintech research and implementation. Conclusion: Fintech has significantly reshaped financial ecosystems by enabling decentralized financial services, accelerating digital transactions, and fostering inclusivity. However, cybersecurity risks, limited regulatory clarity, and uneven global adoption continue to impede its sustainable integration. Limitations: The study is limited to English-language literature from 2014–2019 and may not capture recent post-pandemic developments or region-specific innovations in Islamic or informal economies. Contribution: This paper contributes a comprehensive synthesis of fintech’s evolution, identifies existing gaps, and offers insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and researchers to foster a balanced, secure, and innovative financial environment.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is among the most revolutionary blockchain technology applications that changes how financial systems operate globally by eliminating the middlemen and allowing peer-to-peer transactions via smart contracts. DeFi platforms built on decentralized networks recreate core banking services (e.g., lending, borrowing, trading, and asset management) in a transparent, borderless, and programmable setting. This paper looks at the ways in which DeFi is disrupting conventional banking and the regulation issues that have emerged due to the phenomenon. It discusses the technical foundations of DeFi, its benefits of inclusiveness, efficiency, and innovation and its risks of volatility, security, and systemic vulnerability. Among the major regulatory issues identified in the paper are jurisdictional ambiguity, anti-money laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) compliance, investor protection, and financial stability. Applications like Uniswap, Aave as well as MakerDAO example opportunities and threats. The same problem has dominated the United States, European Union and the emerging economies, as has been described in the comparison analysis of the response in regulation; tension of stimulation of innovation and protection of the financial structure. Research indicates that although DeFi has a revolutionary potential in relation to open finance, its decentralized form makes it difficult to regulate. It needs to be a middle ground between international coordination, hybrid sandboxes and technology neutral policy to not just promote resilience and consumer protection, but also creativity.
This paper provides a systematic review and synthesis of two converging financial literatures: mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and decentralized finance (DeFi). I trace the evolution of MBS research from the 1970s through the 2008 financial crisis to present day, while examining how blockchain innovations create new possibilities for real estate finance. The methodology combines traditional literature review techniques with bibliometric analysis, utilizing Google Scholar and Google Trends data to document the shifting research landscape and public interest in these topics over time. The findings reveal that while MBS research peaked following the 2008 financial crisis, DeFi and real estate tokenization research show more recent growth trajectories since 2016. The synthesis highlights how blockchain technology offers potential improvements in transparency, transaction costs, and liquidity for real estate markets, while acknowledging significant regulatory and governance challenges. This review contributes to understanding the current state of research at the intersection of traditional real estate finance and emerging blockchain applications, providing a foundation for future empirical investigations.
ABSTRACT This study investigates how overconfident cryptocurrency traders influence the connection between returns and risk premia, proxied by option‐adjusted credit spreads. Using daily data from January 2021 to February 2025, we uncover asymmetry and state dependence: returns decline when spreads widen, particularly during crashes, yet they do not recover when spreads narrow. Equity indices exhibit more balanced co‐movements. The asymmetry strengthens in high‐volatility periods and persists after we control for broad market returns and after we substitute a composite crypto index for individual cryptocurrencies. These findings indicate a distinctive pricing mechanism in cryptocurrency markets shaped by overconfident behaviour and credit‐spread dynamics.
Junliang Luo, Katrin Tinn, Şengül Duran, Di Wu · 5 authors
Tokenized U.S. Treasuries have emerged as a prominent subclass of real-world assets (RWAs), offering cryptographically secured, yield-bearing instruments issued across multi-chain Web3 infrastructures, with growing significance for transparency, accessibility, and financial inclusion. While the market has expanded rapidly, empirical analyses of transaction-level behaviours remain limited. This paper conducts a quantitative, function-level dissection of U.S. Treasury-backed RWA tokens, including BUIDL, BENJI, and USDY across multi-chain: mostly Ethereum and Layer-2s. Decoded contract calls expose core financial primitives such as issuance, redemption, transfer, and bridging, revealing patterns that distinguish institutional participants from smaller or retail users for the extent and limits of inclusivity in current RWA adoption. To infer address-level economic roles, we introduce a curvature-aware representation learning model. Our method outperforms baseline models in role inference on our collected U.S. Treasury transaction dataset and generalizes to address classification across broader public blockchain transaction datasets. The decoded transaction-level patterns in tokenized U.S. Treasuries across chains surface the degree of retail participation, and the role inference model enables the distinction between institutional treasuries, arbitrage bots, and retail traders based on behavioral patterns, facilitating future more transparent, inclusive, and accountable Web3 finance.
The financial services industry has experienced a fundamental transformation through the strategic adoption of distributed systems architecture, fundamentally altering how institutions design, deploy, and scale their product offerings. Traditional banking infrastructure, characterized by monolithic architectures and centralized processing systems, increasingly struggles to meet contemporary demands for real-time processing, continuous availability, and seamless scalability. Distributed systems address these challenges through horizontal scaling capabilities, enabling institutions to accommodate exponential growth in transaction volumes without proportional infrastructure cost increases. The implementation of distributed computing has enabled comprehensive portfolios of digital-first financial products, including mobile banking platforms, real-time transaction processing systems, AI-driven financial advisory services, intelligent customer support solutions, and advanced fraud detection mechanisms. These systems demonstrate superior resilience through redundancy and fault isolation, achieving exceptional availability levels through multi-region deployment strategies. Future developments in distributed financial systems encompass blockchain integration, decentralized finance protocols, advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, and edge computing with IoT integration. However, implementation presents complex technical challenges, including data consistency maintenance, security considerations, regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions, operational complexity, and performance optimization requirements that institutions must carefully navigate to realize distributed computing benefits effectively.
Cryptocurrencies, powered by blockchain technology, have emerged as a transformative force in global finance, offering alternatives to traditional financial systems by enabling decentralized, secure, and efficient transactions. This paper explores the potential of cryptocurrencies to shape the future of global finance, with a focus on their mainstream adoption, integration with traditional financial systems, and the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The paper examines how cryptocurrencies could become more widely accepted by governments, businesses, and consumers, and discusses the role of fintech companies and traditional financial institutions in incorporating these digital assets into existing financial frameworks. Additionally, it analyzes the promise of CBDCs as government-backed alternatives to decentralized cryptocurrencies and the technological advancements required to address scalability and environmental concerns. Despite their potential, cryptocurrencies face significant challenges, including regulatory uncertainty, scalability issues, environmental impact, and public perception. These barriers hinder the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, but ongoing innovation, coupled with clearer regulations and public education, could pave the way for broader integration into global finance. This study concludes that while the future of cryptocurrencies holds substantial promise, overcoming these challenges is critical to realizing their potential in transforming financial systems and increasing financial inclusion worldwide. Keywords: Cryptocurrencies, Blokchain Technology, Virtual Finance, Global Finance, Financial System
Maksym Ivasenko, Сергій Михайлович Фролов, Mykhaylo Heyenko, Nataliia Kolodnenko · 5 authors
This article highlights the results of a study investigating whether the growth of syndicated loan activity among US commercial banks was driven by measurable operational cost savings through blockchain-powered back-office automation. Quarterly data from Q1 2010 to Q4 2024 on syndicated loan stocks, commercial and industrial loans, real GDP, bank assets, and non-interest expenses were obtained from the Federal Reserve System’s FRED database. A dummy variable was applied after 2016 to denote the implementation of the first production-level Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) pilots. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) bounds testing approach, evidence of cointegration is found and long-run elasticity is estimated: a steady 1% increase in the volume of syndicated loans reduces the operating expense ratio by 0.147%, which means that almost doubling the volume of loans in the resulting sample leads to approximately 15% structural reduction in the burden on banks’ back offices. The associated error correction model gives a short-run elasticity of –0.276 (i.e., a 1% quarterly shock to loan volume reduces expenses by 0.276 p.p.) and a 47% correction rate to a new equilibrium. Diagnostic tests confirm the absence of sequential correlation and resistance to heteroscedasticity by White’s standard errors. System-wide process improvements were evaluated by examining Hyperledger Fabric’s permissioned channel blockchain, smart contract automation, and multi-signature approval policies, which together simplify Know Your Customer (KYC) document workflows and settlement processes. The findings provide empirical evidence that enterprise DLT platforms deliver significant cost reductions for syndicated loan transactions, with implications for bank, fintech, and regulatory strategies.
The accelerating geopolitical rivalry between major powers has renewed interest in diversifying central bank reserves. Traditionally dominated by the US dollar and gold, global reserve composition is now being reconsidered amid de-dollarization trends and the growing relevance of crypto assets – particularly Bitcoin. This study examines the rationale, risks, and strategic implications of incorporating Bitcoin into sovereign reserve portfolios, with a focus on the financial confrontation between the United States (US) and the People’s Republic of China (China).Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the paper integrates macroeconomic, legal, and geopolitical analysis. It explores the United States’ gradual institutional accommodation of Bitcoin, culminating in the 2025 establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, contrasted with China’s prohibitive stance and promotion of the centralized digital yuan (e-CNY). The study further analyzes the legal instruments, regulatory strategies, and infrastructural controls through which the US exerts influence over crypto markets, including indirect market interventions and custodial frameworks.Findings indicate that, despite high volatility and limited adoption, Bitcoin is increasingly perceived as a strategic hedge by states seeking to reduce dependence on traditional financial hegemony. While its formal inclusion in reserves remains marginal and politically constrained, its symbolic and geopolitical utility is growing – particularly for sanctioned or financially isolated economies.The article concludes that Bitcoin’s role in global finance may expand under specific conditions: market stabilization, regulatory convergence, and persistent geopolitical fragmentation. To support structured evaluation, the paper introduces two novel analytical concepts – the Sovereign Crypto Reserve Readiness Index (SCRRI) and the Bitcoin Reserve Exposure Threshold (BRET), which together provide a framework for assessing both institutional feasibility and risk-adjusted limits for sovereign Bitcoin integration.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has become as a world-shattering power in the financial sector, proposing a trustless, permission less, and decentralized substitute to traditional financial systems. This paper attempts to assess the impact of Decentralized Finance on traditional financial markets, emphasizing the benefits, challenges, and regulatory contemplations accompanied its implementation. The data has collected from both primary and secondary sources. This study provides experimental visions of growing impact of Decentralized Finance on investment strategies. From the study, it has been suggested, that even though Decentralized Finance provides better financial inclusion and transparency also it associated with risks related to security, instability, and regulatory uncertainty. The paper accomplishes with recommendations for integrating Decentralized Finance with traditional finance for a stronger and adaptive financial system.
The decentralized finance ecosystem has fundamentally transformed traditional financial paradigms by eliminating intermediaries and enabling permissionless financial services through smart contracts deployed on blockchain networks. However, the explosive expansion has simultaneously exposed critical vulnerabilities in existing quality assurance methodologies, which were originally designed for centralized systems with predictable failure modes and controlled environments. Traditional quality assurance approaches rely heavily on static testing protocols, periodic audits, and human-mediated verification processes that prove fundamentally incompatible with the dynamic, autonomous nature of DeFi ecosystems. The inherent characteristics of DeFi platforms create a unique risk landscape that demands innovative approaches to quality assurance, particularly given the complex interconnected protocol dependencies across major DeFi applications. This article introduces a novel dynamic risk-adaptive quality assurance framework specifically engineered for DeFi platforms that transcends traditional static analysis by implementing a self-adjusting architecture capable of continuously monitoring, evaluating, and responding to emerging threats in real-time. The framework integrates artificial intelligence-driven risk prediction algorithms with behavioral analytics to create a comprehensive defense mechanism that evolves alongside the threat landscape. Through establishing dynamic risk thresholds and implementing automated response protocols, this system represents a paradigm shift toward autonomous, intelligent quality assurance in decentralized financial ecosystems, addressing critical security challenges through four interconnected layers, including data ingestion, AI-driven risk prediction, dynamic threshold management, and automated response mechanisms.
Virtual currencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular, are currently the most used and famous compared to other circulated cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is considered one of the currencies that has been fully implemented. A cryptocurrency is a decentralized peer-to-peer virtual currency. Exchange operations between users are conducted without resorting to a bank to manage the transactions. This explains one of the major advantages offered by this system: low costs or low transaction fees, which are much lower than those provided by banks in terms of modern and traditional payment methods. To ensure the validity of transactions and the dissemination of this type of money, encryption technology is used.