The rise of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization-converting property, bonds, or commodities into blockchain-based tokens-and its integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols is altering how liquidity is created, credit is intermediated, and monetary signals propagate through the financial system. Rather than replacing central banks, these innovations are rerouting traditional channels: for example, tokenized Treasury bonds on Ethereum now serve as collateral in DeFi lending pools, effectively creating parallel money markets outside regulated banking. This paper investigates the mechanisms through which tokenization and DeFi interact with-and strain-existing monetary and regulatory frameworks. Using a mixed-methods approach (quantitative analysis of on-chain RWA flows, plus interviews with central bankers, fintechs, and supervisors in the EU, Singapore, and Brazil), we ask: (1) How does RWA-backed liquidity in DeFi respond to interest rate changes compared to traditional repo markets? (2) To what extent do DeFi protocols substitute for-or complement-bank intermediation for SMEs? (3) Where do current regulatory perimeters fail to capture systemic linkages (e.g., stablecoin runs affecting tokenized bond markets)? Early evidence suggests that while RWA tokenization can improve market access, it also fragments liquidity and weakens conventional policy transmission-especially when stablecoins (e.g., USDC) become de facto settlement layers. We propose a "functional equivalence" regulatory approach: supervise activities by economic function (e.g., maturity transformation, liquidity provision), not legal form. This work provides timely, empirically grounded input for central banks and regulators navigating the co-evolution of digital and traditional finance.
This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) research, focusing on adoption, digital transformation, and sustainability within urban contexts. Utilizing a dataset of 284 publications from 2016 to 2025 compiled from the Scopus database, the analysis employs advanced bibliometric techniques and network visualization tools to reveal collaborative patterns, thematic clusters, and research evolution. Results demonstrate significant scholarly emphasis on technological innovation and adoption factors shaping DeFi’s integration into urban financial ecosystems, alongside an increasing focus on sustainability. A regression-based Bibliometric Influence Score (BIS) adjusts for publication age and journal prestige, indicating that leading publications consistently exceed expected citation influence. Additionally, a conceptual framework is proposed linking digital financial literacy and sustainability outcomes, moderated by urban contextual factors. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing digital capabilities and mitigating systemic barriers to facilitate sustainable DeFi adoption in rapidly urbanizing regions, providing valuable insights for academia, policymakers, and practitioners engaged in fostering inclusive and resilient digital finance ecosystems.
Обушний, Сергій Миколайович, Прядко, Андрій Вячеславович
У статті розглянуто сучасні механізми функціонування фінтех-сервісів та децентралізованих фінансів (DeFi) як інструментів залучення й інвестування фінансових ресурсів домогосподарств. Визначено місце фінтех-інновацій у трансформації фінансового сектору України та їхню роль у формуванні нових каналів інвестування поза традиційною банківською системою. Особливу увагу приділено аналізу моделі P2P-кредитування, яка поступово перетворюється на один із ключових сегментів сучасної цифрової економіки. Узагальнено теоретико-методологічні засади функціонування платформи P2P-фінансування, охарактеризовано її переваги для інвесторів та позичальників, а також ризики, що супроводжують цей процес. На основі аналізу досвіду країн Європейського Союзу — Литви, Латвії, Естонії, Великої Британії — окреслено основні інституційні умови розвитку ринку децентралізованих фінансів, роль державних регуляторів та особливості нагляду за діяльністю фінтех-платформ. Визначено головні бар’єри, які стримують розвиток P2P-кредитування в Україні: недосконалість нормативно-правової бази, низький рівень довіри до цифрових фінансових сервісів, обмеженість платоспроможного попиту та відсутність системи захисту інвесторів. Запропоновано напрями державного регулювання, що передбачають створення сприятливого правового поля для легалізації децентралізованих фінансових платформ, розвиток національної системи фінансової грамотності населення, розбудову інфраструктури кібербезпеки та забезпечення прозорості транзакцій. Розкрито потенціал DeFi-технологій у формуванні альтернативних джерел фінансування малого бізнесу, стимулюванні інвестиційної активності домогосподарств і підвищенні рівня фінансової інклюзії. Результати дослідження мають прикладний характер і можуть бути використані у процесі формування національної стратегії розвитку фінтех-ринку, адаптації законодавства України до стандартів ЄС та розроблення інструментів підтримки інновацій у сфері цифрових фінансів.
Decentralizirane financije (DeFi) predstavljaju inovativan oblik financijskog sustava koji se temelji na blockchain tehnologiji i pametnim ugovorima, nudeći transparentnost, globalnu dostupnost i uklanjanje posrednika. Unatoč brojnim prednostima poput nižih troškova, bržih transakcija i potencijala za veću financijsku uključenost, DeFi još uvijek izaziva različite percepcije i razine prihvaćanja među korisnicima. Provedeno istraživanje s 101 ispitanikom ukazuje da su korisnici relativno dobro upoznati s pojmom kriptovaluta, ali nedovoljno prepoznaju kriptovalute kao sastavni dio DeFi ekosustava. Financijska pismenost u kontekstu DeFi-ja pokazuje se niskom, što se odražava na nerazumijevanje njegovih ključnih funkcija i usluga. Većina ispitanika DeFi povezuje s nesigurnošću, izražavajući bojazan od hakerskih napada, krađe osobnih podataka i nedostatka regulatornog okvira. Tradicionalni financijski sustavi i dalje uživaju višu razinu povjerenja. Regulacija se percipira kao dvosjekli mač, jer ispitanici smatraju da bi regulacija mogla povećati sigurnost i povjerenje u DeFi, dok s druge strane strahuju da bi ona mogla narušiti slobodu, fleksibilnost i inovativnost ovih sustava. Posebno je izražena skepsa prema sposobnosti zakonodavstva da uopće razumije složenost DeFi-ja. Demografski podaci pokazuju da mladi ispitanici (18-25 godina), osobito oni s višim stupnjem obrazovanja, pokazuju najveću spremnost za prihvaćanje i korištenje DeFi sustava. Međutim, opća učestalost korištenja DeFi platformi je vrlo niska, a većina ispitanika ili ih nikada ne koristi ili ne planira koristiti u budućnosti. Edukacija se prepoznaje kao ključan čimbenik popularizacije DeFi-ja, iako je interes za osobnu edukaciju ograničen. U pogledu budućnosti, rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na određeni optimizam: ispitanici vjeruju da bi DeFi mogao postati važan dio financijskog sustava, posebno uz podršku novih tehnologija poput umjetne inteligencije i kroz razvoj formalnih obrazovnih programa. Zaključno, iako DeFi još nije značajno zaživio u široj javnosti, njegovi potencijali ostaju veliki, a njegovo daljnje širenje ovisit će o razini financijske edukacije i uspostavljanju jasnog regulatornog okvira.
Anthony Chidi Nzomiwu, Michael Ndubisi Nwobodo, Ekene Ezinwa Nwankwo
This article examines the technical foundations, evolutionary trajectory, and emerging challenges of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) systems built upon blockchain infrastructure. Through analysis of protocol architectures, governance mechanisms, and security frameworks, this research identifies vulnerabilities in current implementations while highlighting innovative solutions addressing ecosystem fragmentation and scalability limitations. Cross-chain interoperability and layer-2 scaling technologies demonstrate promising pathways toward more robust financial infrastructure. The research combines quantitative analysis of on-chain data with qualitative assessment of protocol designs to evaluate DeFi's technological capabilities. Findings suggest that while significant progress has been made in creating alternative financial primitives, considerable challenges remain in security model maturation, governance distribution, and regulatory compliance. This work contributes to the growing literature on blockchain-based financial systems by providing an integrated analysis of technical developments and their practical implications for future financial infrastructure.
Blockchain's decentralized characteristics have posed unique challenges and unlocked novel opportunities for the accounting and auditing sector. While the potential impact of blockchain and smart contracts on auditing has been raised, comprehensive studies remain scarce. Using the Solidity language, this study explores the viability of encoding into smart contracts specific auditing rules that can automatically identify suspicious transactions in common fraud schemes. To illustrate the feasibility, it presents a proof-of-concept framework encompassing system architecture, smart contract development, and workflow procedures. Simulation results demonstrate that blockchain-based smart contract approach in this study can effectively identify problematic transactions in near real-time. Consequently, this could help auditors to allocate audit resources to focus efforts on higher risk transactions. The findings provide implications for future studies on the application of smart contracts in auditing.
Mohamed Fartitchou, Ismail Lamaakal, Khalid El Makkaoui, Zakaria El Allali · 5 authors
Morocco’s Vision 2030, known as Maroc Digital 2030, aims to position the kingdom as a regional leader in digital technology by boosting digital infrastructure, fostering innovation, and advancing digital skills. Complementing this initiative, the Pacte ESRI 2030 strategy, launched in 2023, seeks to transform the higher education, research, and innovation sectors by integrating state-of-the-art digital technologies. In alignment with these national strategies, this paper introduces BlockMEDC, a blockchain-based system for securing and managing Moroccan educational digital certificates. Leveraging Ethereum Layer 2 (zk-Rollups) smart contracts and the InterPlanetary File System, BlockMEDC automates the issuance, management, and verification of academic credentials across Moroccan universities. The proposed system addresses key issues such as document authenticity, manual verification, and lack of interoperability, delivering a secure, transparent, and significantly low-cost solution that aligns with Morocco’s digital transformation goals for the education sector.
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are fundamentally reshaping the financial landscape by challenging traditional centralized models that have dominated global finance for centuries. This article examines how decentralized technologies are creating new paradigms across key financial domains. By eliminating intermediaries and implementing trustless execution through smart contracts, these innovations are democratizing access to financial services while reducing costs and settlement times. The tokenization of real-world assets is unlocking previously illiquid markets, while self-sovereign identity solutions are extending financial services to previously excluded populations. Through technical implementations ranging from automated market makers to interoperable protocols, blockchain is not merely digitizing existing financial practices but reimagining the foundational infrastructure upon which financial interactions occur.
Tanuj Surve, Amit Kumar Tyagi, Bukola Fatimah Balogun
Blockchain’s use in smart finance is transforming financial technology. This detailed study examines blockchain’s role in decentralized governance and its potential to transform digital transactions. An enlightening introduction emphasizes blockchain’s importance in the ever-changing banking sector. Blockchain, originally connected with digital money, is now a versatile technology that has influenced banking. The literature review dominates, covering blockchain in finance studies on decentralized governance. Smart contracts and distributed ledger architecture are game-changers, promising transparency, security, and efficiency. Decentralized governance undermines centralized authority systems, creating a more inclusive and democratic financial landscape. The article highlights the adoption of blockchain by traditional banks and creative fintech startups as it explores blockchain’s impact on finance. Blockchain applications range from digital identity verification to supply chain financing on public, private, and group blockchains. The methodology section emphasizes the research methodologies’ robustness and completeness. A review of relevant studies and case studies as far as observed are capable of helping comprehend blockchain in smart finance. Blockchain architecture and decentralized governance in smart finance are explored in the article. A detailed review of blockchain systems and consensus processes illuminates their merits and cons. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contracts show how blockchain technology might alter financial systems. Considering the changing regulatory landscape and the need for clear frameworks, challenges and prospects are examined. The paper suggests researching decentralized governance in financial services and its effects on existing banking models.
Imagine being able to lend and earn interest without ever having to talk to a bank. That's the vision of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), a fast-growing area of finance that is built on blockchain and smart contracts. This paper discusses how lending sites like Aave, Compound, and MakerDAO work, and why clients from ordinary savers looking for high returns to institutions seeking clout are joining. We delve into the technology behind smart contracts, how they deal with risk using over-collateralization, and what motivates people to lend or borrow under this trustless system. But DeFi is not just a tech story-it's social too. It has the potential to disrupt traditional finance, open up access in underserved communities, and put a strain on global regulatory systems. But challenges of scalability, security, and restricting usage to crypto holders only also raise underlying questions. Drawing on a mix of on-chain data and user case studies, this paper further applies resilience theory to discover how DeFi responds to economic shocks compared to traditional banks. By doing so, it fills a key research gap in terms of the long-term economic contribution of DeFi. We offer policy proposals like undercollateralized lending programs and single point regulation, and argue that DeFi, if carefully constructed, can support goals like decent work and economic growth (UN SDG 8). There needs to be future work on what drives take-up and how DeFi could scale across blockchains and geographies to realize its potential.
Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchains that are distributed ledgers for recording transactions. In 2024, these had a value of more than $3.70 Trillion in market capitalization. Ethereum is one of the most representative cryptocurrencies and dominates approximately 10% of total cryptoassets in 2025. The Ethereum blockchain system includes two types of account; contract accounts (CAs) and externally owned accounts (EOAs). We focus on the unilateral sending of cryptocurrencies to CAs and EOAs on Ethereum blockchain. We call this unilateral sending of cryptocurrencies without the recipient’s awareness, the recipient’s unapproved transactions. If the sender were malicious or criminal, the recipient of the unilateral sending might have been involved in some crime. In this paper, we provide two protection methods for CAs and EOAs on the Ethereum blockchain system and combine the two methods into a two-phase receipt mechanism for recipients to selectively reject unilateral sending of cryptocurrencies. We introduced and implemented this mechanism on open-source software for Ethereum developers, called Truffle Suite, and then executed experiments on a personal Ethereum blockchain called Ganache, provided by Truffle Suite. The experimental results demonstrated that the overhead of introducing the mechanism is reasonable at a few US dollars.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have emerged as the de facto governance layer for major decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platforms, yet they operate in a profound legal and regulatory vacuum. Unlike traditional financial entities, DAOs lack formal legal personality, fiduciary duties, or mechanisms for regulatory accountability, despite managing assets estimated at $25 billion globally as of 2024. This research examines how DAOs are transforming financial governance and identifies the necessary regulatory adjustments to ensure investor protection, market integrity, and systemic resilience without compromising the core innovation of decentralized coordination. Through a mixedmethods approach-including governance mapping of 30+ financial DAOs, comparative legal analysis of emerging regulatory responses (from the EU's MiCA framework to Wyoming's DAO LLC statute), and semi-structured interviews with developers, regulators, and institutional participants-the study proposes a novel "functional equivalence" model for DAO regulation. This model grants legal recognition to DAOs when they engage in regulated financial activities, while preserving code-based autonomy in non-regulated functions. The research offers a pragmatic pathway toward aligning decentralized innovation with public accountability, filling a critical gap in both academic literature and policy design.
Blockchain is influencing the social media platforms by promising to solve the biggest issues of today, such as privacy concerns and content moderation, and the ability to provide a decentralized system for the management of social media platforms through cryptographic techniques and distributed structures. Conventionally, social media systems are based on central architectures that may indirectly solve the problems of data privacy and platform responsibility since there are increased threats, including identity theft and fake news spread across such systems. Blockchain has stepped up as an anti-centralized platform that allows multiple numbers of users to transact securely and authentically through P2P channels without a middleman. Here in this survey, we introduce a brief overview of the latest trends of the blockchain protocols and the interactions with the social media platforms, as well as present a systematic review of the related area. Specifically, the use case we consider and elaborate on is how blockchain can be applied to various types of social media services: smart contract-based content moderation platforms, user incentives using token economics, social media governance through decentralized autonomous organizations, and cross-chain connections. We then go further and offer a comprehensive literature review of blockchain incorporating main social media applications that cutting across them include identity, tokenization, and self-governance. The key points that can be derived from this review of the blockchain-enabled social media services and applications are also underlined here. We conclude this survey by listing the existing issues in the field, including scalability and compliance with the existing regulations, and suggesting the possible areas of research in this ever-evolving field.
This study presents a comprehensive systematic review of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in DecentralizedFinance (DeFi), emphasizing AI’s pivotal role in mitigating the vulnerabilities and operational complexities inherentin permissionless financial systems. By systematically analyzing 39 peer-reviewed studies from major scholarlydatabases, the review identifies five dominant application domains: fraud detection, smart contract security, marketprediction, credit risk assessment, and decentralized governance. It examines the diverse range of AI methodsspanning machine learning, deep learning, graph neural networks, and reinforcement learning—and evaluates theircomparative performance and limitations. The findings reveal that AI not only enhances DeFi’s transparency, trust,and efficiency but also underpins emerging capabilities such as autonomous governance and adaptive marketmechanisms. Persistent challenges including data scarcity, cross-chain generalization, interpretability, andscalability—underscore the need for robust, explainable, and ethical AI solutions. The review concludes that AIconstitutes a foundational enabler for secure, transparent, and resilient decentralized financial ecosystems, andoutlines critical future research directions for integrating trustworthy intelligence into the evolving DeFi landscape. (PDF) A Systematic Review on the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Decentralized Finance. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/397514996_A_Systematic_Review_on_the_Application_of_Artificial_Intelligence_in_Decentralized_Finance [accessed Nov 11 2025].
The complex interplay between the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the established realm of traditional banking presents a fascinating tale of convergence, divergence, and potential collaboration. This article takes a comprehensive look at the multifaceted interactions between these two financial landscapes to explore whether they are destined to merge or whether their collision is inevitable. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, represents a paradigm shift in the financial sector. Based on blockchain technology and smart contracts, DeFi platforms offer innovative solutions for lending, borrowing, trading and more. Meanwhile, traditional banking, with its long-standing institutional foundation, served as the cornerstone of financial services. However, the emergence of DeFi has challenged established norms, questioning the need for intermediaries and centralization.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) emerged with the promise of eliminating traditional financial intermediaries and hierarchies, replacing them with trustless, automated, and decentralized systems. However, the reality of DeFi governance shows that disintermediation does not eliminate conflicts of interest or the need for trust. Cryptoenterprises—financial Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)—operate without conventional governance structures such as boards of directors or managerial oversight, relying instead on code-based mechanisms. This absence of internal governance frameworks creates fertile ground for misaligned incentives, governance opacity, and unchecked internal controls, ultimately exacerbating conflicts between insiders (cryptopromoters) and investors (cryptoasset holders). This Article examines the emerging role of cryptogatekeepers: a new category of cryptointermediaries that counterbalances these governance failures. It explores the structural deficiencies of cryptoenterprises, including the absence of internal monitoring mechanisms, and identifies the conflicts. The analysis highlights how cryptopromoters—those in control of DeFi protocols—retain significant decision-making power while obscuring accountability, which leads to agency problems reminiscent of traditional finance, sans regulatory safeguards. By assessing the function of cryptointermediaries as potential de facto governance enforcers, this Article argues that cryptogatekeepers can introduce a layer of oversight that compensates for the current governance void in DeFi. It outlines best practices for mitigating conflicts of interest, enhancing disclosure standards, and improving the monitoring of cryptointermediaries. The Article also considers transnational regulatory approaches to bolster accountability in DeFi by proposing mechanisms such as cryptointermediary registries, mutual recognition of licensed cryptointermediaries, and standardized reporting frameworks. Ultimately, this Article contends that while DeFi presents an innovative model for financial services, it cannot escape fundamental governance challenges. The rise of cryptogatekeepers suggests that some level of reintermediation is inevitable and necessary to balance decentralization with investor protection and market integrity.
This article explores the potential of investments in the cryptocurrency segment, focusing on the factors driving this resurgence, the evolving landscape of decentralized finance (DeFi), and the long-term prospects for investors. Decentralized finance has emerged as one of the most promising sectors within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. By leveraging smart contracts and blockchain technology, DeFi platforms offer financial services without intermediaries, enabling users to lend, borrow, trade, and invest with unprecedented ease and transparency. The year 2023 marked a significant turning point for the cryptocurrency market, as it emerged from what many had dubbed the "cryptowinter." The cryptowinter of 2022 was triggered by a combination of macroeconomic challenges, including rising interest rates, inflationary pressures, and the collapse of major crypto entities like FTX. This period, characterized by declining asset prices, reduced investor sentiment, and widespread uncertainty, tested the resilience of both the industry and its participants. These events led to a loss of trust among retail and institutional investors alike. However, as the cryptowinter waned, new opportunities began to surface, revealing the untapped potential of investments in the cryptocurrency segment. Yet, as 2023 unfolded, the market demonstrated remarkable recovery capabilities. Despite market downturns, institutions continued to explore blockchain technology. In 2023, we witnessed greater participation from traditional financial players, such as banks and hedge funds, who recognized the transformative potential of cryptocurrencies and DeFi.