Xihan Xiong, Zhipeng Wang, Tianxiang Cui, William J. Knottenbelt · 5 authors
Technological advancement drives financial innovation, reshaping the traditional finance landscape and redefining user-market interactions. The rise of blockchain and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) underscores this intertwined evolution of technology and finance. While DeFi has introduced exciting opportunities, it has also exposed the ecosystem to new forms of market misconduct. This paper aims to bridge the academic and regulatory gaps by addressing key research questions about market misconduct in DeFi. We begin by discussing how blockchain technology can potentially enable the emergence of novel forms of market misconduct. We then offer a comprehensive definition and taxonomy for understanding DeFi market misconduct. Through comparative analysis and empirical measurements, we examine the novel forms of misconduct in DeFi, shedding light on their characteristics and social impact. Subsequently, we investigate the challenges of building a tailored regulatory framework for DeFi. We identify key areas where existing regulatory frameworks may need enhancement. Finally, we discuss potential approaches that bring DeFi into the regulatory perimeter.
This research examines the polycentric governance of digital assets in blockchain-based Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). It offers a theoretical framework and addresses a critical challenge facing decentralized governance by developing a method to identify Sybils, or spurious identities. Sybils pose significant organizational sustainability threats to DAOs and other, commons-based online communities, and threat models are identified. The experimental method uses an autoencoder architecture and graph deep learning techniques to identify Sybil activity in a DAO governance dataset (snapshot.org). Specifically, a Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCNN) learned voting behaviours and a fast vector clustering algorithm used high-dimensional embeddings to identify similar nodes in a graph. The results reveal that deep learning can effectively identify Sybils, reducing the voting graph by 2-5%. This research underscores the importance of Sybil resistance in DAOs, identifies challenges and opportunities for forensics and analysis of anonymous networks, and offers a novel perspective on decentralized governance, informing future policy, regulation, and governance practices.
Juan F. Prados-Castillo, Juan Antonio Torrecilla-García, Georgette Andraz, José Manuel Guaita Martínez
Blockchain technology is emerging as a high-impact solution for the tourism industry, a topic chosen for its growing research relevance and potential to revolutionise the tourism sector in several areas. This study examines how the combination of Blockchain technology and P2P platforms advances sustainability and marketing in the tourism accommodation market. It attempts to fill a gap in the literature by focusing on its application in two areas, namely digital markets and technology, which are expanding. The originality of this research lies in its comprehensive review of blockchain applications in tourism from a practical point of view, which has been largely unexplored in the existing literature. Through a bibliometric review of forty-two papers, various Blockchain applications were identified, such as improving transparency, trust, and efficiency in hotel operations and eliminating intermediaries to reduce costs. The adoption of smart contracts and the use of cryptocurrencies have also emerged as key trends. These findings highlight the transformative potential of Blockchain technology to build trust between hosts and guests, streamline processes, and improve the customer experience. However, they emphasise the need for the careful planning and consideration of the challenges associated with implementing this technology. Future research should further explore the specific applications of Blockchain technology in tourism to optimise its impact on industry and ensure long-term sustainability.
Purpose This research aims to develop a blockchain smart contract–enabled framework to resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a design science research method to develop the blockchain smart contract–enabled framework. The authors then develop a prototype system. Finally, the authors evaluate its performance in solving power imbalance-induced payment problems. Findings The results show that the prototype system can resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment by allowing project participants to make transparent and decentralized decisions that are self-enforceable by blockchain smart contracts. Research limitations/implications This study provides theoretical explanations for how blockchain smart contracts can resolve power imbalances in construction payment; based on that, it proposes a novel blockchain smart contract–enabled method to rebalance the power of stakeholders in construction payment. Thus, it contributes to the body of knowledge on blockchain technology and construction payment. Practical implications This study moves beyond a conceptual framework and develops a practical blockchain smart contract system for resolving power imbalances in construction payment, strengthening construction project members' confidence in using blockchain technology. Social implications The proposed blockchain smart contract–enabled solution helps mitigate negative social impacts associated with late payment and non-payment. Furthermore, the research maximizes trust among participants in payment processes to inspire collaborative culture in the construction industry. Originality/value This paper introduces a novel blockchain smart contract integrated method, allowing project stakeholders to resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment through decentralized decision-making.
Gambling sponsorships are common in international soccer due to the substantial funds they provide to clubs. For example, in the 2022/23 English Premier League season, eight clubs collectively received an estimated £60 million from gambling shirt-front sponsorships.While the Premier League plans to ban gambling shirt-front sponsorships by 2026, this will not include shirt sleeves or pitch-side hoardings, which are the most frequently seen forms of in-game marketing. In contrast, Italy and Spain have fully banned gambling sponsorships and in-game marketing due to public health concerns. Relatedly, much less attention has been paid to the emergence of sponsorships associated with cryptocurrency or financial trading. These are both gambling-like products, which are engaged in disproportionately by those experiencing gambling-related harm, and which also use soccer to market themselves. Researchers have suggested that these products might look to fill the gap in high- level sports left by gambling sponsorship bans, and so have highlighted the need to monitor their use of sponsorship agreements with high-level soccer teams. We therefore provide an overview of gambling and gambling-like sponsorship of soccer teams within high-level leagues across England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Argentina. Overall, our findings indicate that gambling sponsorship remains prominent, but has reduced in comparison to previous seasons across most countries. However, we have observed betting ‘partnerships’ which circumvent gambling sponsorship prohibitions in Italy. In relation to cryptocurrency and financial trading companies, there are limited numbers of active sponsorships outside of the UK, but ‘partnerships’ between teams and these companies have become prevalent.
In China's Greater Bay Area (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao), the increasing use of Blockchain technology in financial services has the potential to generate benefits for many stakeholders. Blockchains are known for their distinctive features, such as decentralized architecture, tamper-proof data structures, and traceable transactions. These features make Blockchain a preferred choice of platform for developing applications in financial service areas. Meanwhile, some questions have been raised regarding Blockchain's suitability to compete with or even replace existing financial systems. This paper provides insights into the current progress of Blockchain applications in insurance, banking, payments, asset trading, loans, remittances, the Internet of Things (IoT) for the finance industry, financial inclusions, and enterprise-level interaction in finance and governance. We review the barriers to widespread Blockchain adoption, especially the risks when transaction fees dominate mining rewards. By comparing the emerging Blockchain technologies and incentive issues related to real-world applications, we hope that this paper can serve as a valuable source of reference for Blockchain researchers and developers in financial service areas.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has the potential to transform the agri-food sector, empowering rural and underserved farming communities by enabling the creation of a more environmentally sustainable and socio-economically inclusive food system. Several PoC and pilot projects are running all over the world to test this specific use case. However, the success rate of these initiatives is still limited. A critical analysis of the state-of-the-art suggests as a possible explanation for the observed trend that the current research approach to DLT for agriculture is mostly technology-driven. This limits our ability to develop solutions that provide benefits to the communities they’re meant to serve, while potentially increasing inequalities and further marginalising these underserved groups. Achieving a sustainable and inclusive food supply chain entails a paradigm shift that goes beyond technological development to address how technology is socially constructed, thus implying the need for designing DLT applications around and together with users. By adopting a user-centred perspective to technology-enabled innovation, design can help shift the agri-food industry from being tech-centred to being people-centred. To explore the potential contribution of design for facilitating transformation and technology-enabled social innovation in the agri-food sector, we conducted a case study involving Portuguese small farmers which resulted in DigiFarm, a blockchain-based service concept. In this article, we detail the methodology adopted for the scoping and ideation of DigiFarm, concluding with a discussion highlighting the added value of adopting a design-driven approach to research and practice on DLT applications in the agri-food sector.
أدى ظهور تقنية بلوكتشين ومنصة إيثريوم تحديدًا إلى انتشار تطبيقات العقود الذكية في القطاع المالي عالميًا، وتعرف العقود الذكية بأنها عقود مبرمجة ذاتية التنفيذ تتم بين طرفين أو أكثر بمجرد استيفاء شروط العقد من خلال شبكة بلوكتشين لامركزية وفق نظام الند للند Peer to Peer، بما يتناسب وأحكام الشريعة الإسلامية وبما يضمن حقوق الأطراف والآثار المترتبة على العقد. وبسبب هذا الاهتمام والانتشار فقد هدف هذا البحث إلى تسليط الضوء على بعض هذه التطبيقات في المالية الإسلامية تحديدًا، وتناول البحث أربعة نماذج على تطبيقات هذه العقود في المالية الإسلامية مع مشروعية التعامل لكل منها وهي: نموذج بلوسوم فايننس Blossom finance، ونموذج منصة وثاق Wethaq Platform، ونموذج فنتيرا وقف تشين Finterra Waqf chain، ونموذج هلّوجولد HelloGold من خلال اتباع المنهج الوصفي الاستقرائي والتحليلي. وتوصل البحث إلى أن هذه التطبيقات الأربعة على العقد الذكي متوافقة وأحكام الشريعة الإسلامية وتتمثل هذه التطبيقات بنموذج بلوسوم فايننس Blossom finance في إصدار صكوك المضاربة، ونموذج منصة وثاق Wethaq Platform في إصدار صكوك الإجارة، ونموذج Finterra Waqf chain في الوقف والتمويل الإسلامي، ونموذج HelloGold في حفظ وبيع وشراء وإرسال واسترداد الذهب المادي. الكلمات المفتاحية: العقود الذكية، بلوكتشين، تطبيقات العقود الذكية، الامتثال الشرعي، التكنولوجيا المالية، المالية الإسلامية.
Blockchain technology, the bedrock of cryptocurrency, has evolved beyond its initial scope, paving the way for a plethora of decentralized, secure applications.The anticipation surrounding blockchain's potential to become the dominant technology orchestrating online transactions is growing, due to its ability to provide efficient and secure solutions for a diverse range of applications on a global scale.This study delves into the potential benefits of deploying blockchain technology in the realm of crowdfunding.In recent years, crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative route for startups to garner funds, presenting a less bureaucratic and simpler process.The conventional crowdfunding model entails a collective of individuals contributing minor sums to support a project or start-up, with the crowdfunding platform earning a commission to coordinate the needs of both funders and fundraisers.Nonetheless, blockchain technology could potentially enhance the crowdfunding process by introducing a decentralized, tamperproof system comprised of interconnected nodes, thereby bolstering transparency, trust, efficiency, and convenience.To realize this potential, this paper proposes the application of Ethereum smart contracts to tackle prevalent issues in both Donation-Based and Equity-Based crowdfunding models.By adopting this approach, we hope to bring about greater transparency and efficiency to the crowdfunding process, thereby fostering an environment of trust that may catalyze further innovation in this space.
Nekada davno svaki oblik trgovine podrazumijevao je trampu za određene artikle bez formiranja standardiranih cijena. Izumom novca eliminira se potreba "dvostruke podudaranost želja" čime se omogućava specijalizacija poslova. Povećanjem specijalizacije proprocionalno se ubrzavaju i inovacije i razvoj tehnologije. Što postepeno dovodi do fundamentalnog izuma interneta, koji u potpunosti mjenja ljudski život u gotovo svakom pogledu. Počevši od brzine i količine informacije koje postaju lako dostupne, novih oblika trgovina i plaćanja, pa do ljudskih navika. 2008. počinje nova era interneta, pojavom blockchain tehnologije i Bitcoina. Kroz vrijeme se pojavljuju novi alternativi tokeni koji nude razne mogućnosti na decentraliziranoj mreži. U radu se provodi istraživanje na temu "Kriptovalute i njihov utjecaj na turizam" gdje se utvrđuju glavne motivacije, zadovoljstvo i namjera ponovnog korištenja kriptovaluta. Rezultati pokazuju kako su ljudi primarno motivirani brzinom i jednostavnošću transakcije, te uklanjanjem konverzije valuta. Korisnici su zadovoljni dosadašnjim transakcijama, te većinskim dijelom smatraju kako bi ih koristili i češće ukoliko bi se povećao broj turističkih usluga koji bi primali kriptovalute.
Purpose This research aims to extract Industry 4.0 technological building blocks (TBBs) capable of value generation in collaborative consumption (CC) and the sharing economy (SE). Furthermore, by employing a mixed methodology, this research strives to analyse the relationship amongst TBBs and classify them based on their impact on CC. Design/methodology/approach Due to the importance of technology for the survival of collaborative consumption in the future, this study suggests a classification of the auxiliary and fundamental Industry 4.0 technologies and their current upgrades, such as the metaverse or non-fungible tokens (NFT). First, by applying a systematic literature review and thematic analysis (SLR-TA), the authors extracted the TBBs that impact on collaborative consumption and SE. Then, using the Bayesian best-worst method (BBWM), TBBs are weighted and classified using experts’ opinions. Eventually, a score function is proposed to measure organisations’ readiness level to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. Findings The findings illustrated that virtual reality (VR) plays a vital role in CC and SE. Of the 11 TBBs identified in the CC and SE, VR was selected as the most determinant TBB and metaverse was recognised as the least important. Furthermore, digital twins, big data and VR were labelled as “fundamental”, and metaverse, augmented reality (AR), and additive manufacturing were stamped as “discretional”. Moreover, cyber-physical systems (CPSs) and artificial intelligence (AI) were classified as “auxiliary” technologies. Originality/value With an in-depth investigation, this research identifies TBBs of Industry 4.0 with the capability of value generation in CC and SE. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that identifies and examines the TBBs of Industry 4.0 in the CC and SE sectors and examines them. Furthermore, a novel mixed method has identified, weighted and classified pertinent technologies. The score function that measures the readiness level of each company to adopt TBBs in CC and SE is a unique contribution.
This article examines non-fungible token (NFT) applications and their users through a qualitative textual analysis of NFT-based video game Axie Infinity’s Discord server. It considers NFT applications’ dual purposes as entertainment media and financial instruments and posits that the interests of capital inform users’ engagement. In an environment defined by distrust and uncertainty, predominantly Filipino digital laborers’ (“Scholars”) experiences and interactions with the game’s ownership class (“Managers”) reflect pre-existing patterns of exploitation made inexpensive by differences in currency valuations, accessible by access to digital devices, available by global financial uncertainty, possible by a lack of user protection and governance, and permissible by light government regulation. To navigate an interplay of designed systems and human behavior, users share gameplay and marketplace knowledge. The blurring of gaming, gambling, and finance discussed here risks fostering an increasingly gamified approach to work and finance and facilitates exploitation of global, stratified labor.
Abstract Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) faces increasing environmental scrutiny, particularly concerning the energy consumption of the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism and broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues. However, existing systematic literature reviews of DLT rely on limited analyses of citations, abstracts, and keywords, failing to fully capture the field’s complexity and ESG concerns. We address these challenges by analyzing the full text of 24,539 publications using Natural Language Processing (NLP) with our manually labeled Named Entity Recognition (NER) data set of 39,427 entities for DLT. This methodology identified 505 key publications at the DLT/ESG intersection, enabling comprehensive domain analysis. Our combined NLP and temporal graph analysis reveals critical trends in DLT evolution and ESG impacts, including cryptography and peer-to-peer networks research’s foundational influence, Bitcoin’s persistent impact on research and environmental concerns (a “Lindy effect”), Ethereum’s catalytic role on Proof of Stake (PoS) and smart contract adoption, and the industry’s progressive shift toward energy-efficient consensus mechanisms. Our contributions include the first DLT-specific NER data set addressing the scarcity of high-quality labeled NLP data in blockchain research, a methodology integrating NLP and temporal graph analysis for large-scale interdisciplinary literature reviews, and the first NLP-driven literature review focusing on DLT’s ESG aspects.
Tri Nguyen, Huong Nguyen, Juha Partala, Susanna Pirttikangas
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is an advanced Intelligent Transport System (ITS) that integrates various modes of transportation to meet the demands of travellers. The system relies on frequent communication for data exchange between the MaaS provider and transport service providers. Ideally, such communication would utilize trust technologies between these entities. However, current MaaS systems lack transparency and reliability, and their centralized nature creates a single point of failure for the entire service. To address these issues, this paper proposes a blockchain-based MaaS, which includes an architecture and smart contract functionalities. The solutions are built on permissioned and permissionless Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum blockchain platforms, respectively, for a realistic deployment of network architecture and proposed smart contracts. Additionally, the paper presents a framework derived from comparing these two blockchain platforms. Finally, the framework is evaluated, and open questions and challenges are analyzed.
Erya Jiang, Bo Qin, Qing K. Wang, Zhipeng Wang · 10 authors
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a new paradigm in the creation, distribution, and utilization of financial services via the integration of blockchain technology. Our research conducts a comprehensive introduction and meticulous classification of various DeFi applications. Beyond that, we thoroughly analyze these risks from both technical and economic perspectives, spanning multiple layers. We point out research gaps and revenues, covering technical advancements, innovative economics, and sociology and ecology optimization.
Social sciences are investigating the societal implications of using blockchains for social collaborative economies and participatory practices. This article contributes by advancing an original approach to blockchain-based applications defined as Civic Blockchain. It is implemented with a wallet app currently experimented upon in local communities. Our approach is informed by an analysis of the critical literature on ethical and design dilemmas concerning blockchain for social impact. The conceptual framework revolves around three principles (Internet of Values 2.0, disintermediation of services, and local adaptation), that are reflected in our technical choices. The approach makes blockchains accessible to local community members, leveraging some of their core affordances and advancing new interpretations with a focus on technical and economic accessibility. Blockchain technology can support new socio-economic practices on a local level when intentional actions are undertaken by developers and users to address the societal challenges.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms are often governed by Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) which are implemented via governance protocols. Governance tokens are distributed to users of the platform, granting them voting rights in the platform's governance protocol. Many DeFi platforms have already been subject to attacks resulting in the loss of millions of dollars in user funds. In this paper we show that governance tokens are often not used as intended and may be harmful to the security of DeFi platforms. We show that (1) users often do not use governance tokens to vote, (2) that voting rates are negatively correlated to gas prices, (3) voting is very centralized. We explore vulnerabilities in the design of DeFi platform's governance protocols and analyze different governance attacks, focusing on the transferable nature of voting rights via governance tokens. Following the movement and holdings of governance tokens, we show they are often used to perform a single action and then sold off. We present evidence of DeFi platforms using other platforms' governance protocols to promote their own agenda at the expense of the host platform.
The emergence of a decentralized peer-to-peer platforms that matches lending and borrowing without collateral requirements and bank lending channels allowed to develop the new market of alternative financial instruments. In this paper, we aim to analyze the origins and nature of alternative finance, consolidate, and categorize the theoretical foundation of the alternative finance market, determine the taxonomy of its instruments, and identify and critically analyze the strategies and legislative framework for the development and functioning of the alternative finance market in the Republic of Moldova. The theoretical and practical significance of this research lies in the development of an econometric model that examines the influence of various groups of factors (regulatory, social, economic development, information technology) on the per capita volume of the alternative finance market. The obtained data enabled the identification of priority areas and specific proposals for the development of conditions and the potential of alternative finance in the Republic of Moldova.
Diego Cagigas, Judith Clifton, Daniel Díaz‐Fuentes, Marcos Fernández Gutiérrez · 5 authors
The adoption of a new technology such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in government is a complex process with numerous potential benefits, but also costs and risks. Early pilots introducing DLT into the public sector show that its potential impact will likely vary depending on the context, including, the type of public service. Even within the same public service, the impact of DLT might be distinct for each of the stakeholders involved (the government, civil servants and citizens, among others). As the public sector is diverse, it is critical to get a proper analysis and understanding of the process of introduction of this technology, which encompasses the different dimensions that play a role in the process. This paper presents an original and multi-dimensional evaluation framework to analyze and compare the benefits, costs and risks of the introduction of DLT in the public sector. It considers a comprehensive set of factors, identified and extracted after conducting a systematic review of the literature, representing potential benefits, costs and risks of DLT in the public sector. These are categorized into four separate dimensions: technological, socio-economic, organizational-cultural, and institutional (legal and political). This evaluation framework has been designed to be used by policy-makers interested in analyzing and comparing the benefits and risks of the introduction of DLT in real-world applications of this technology in the public sector.
Recently blockchain has become a tool for spatial coordination and appropriation. Globally, the tokenization of land and housing has led to new forms of datafication and increased financialization. In the case of land non-fungible tokens), security token offerings, and blockchain-based real estate investment trusts, blockchains act as exclusionary digital platforms, with new socio-technical assemblages emerging as complex predatory formations of speculation that are intentionally obfuscatory and difficult to regulate. With the security token offering, crowdfunding and venture capital are combined with cryptocurrency to create a “tokenized venture capital fund” tied to tangible assets, such as ownership rights in housing, real estate, or land. Distributed ledgers are proposed to be used as the digital technology underlying new forms of land/property documentation, ownership, and inhabitation – from conducting and recording land surveys and title creation to transference of land/property rights. This paper addresses the question: how equitable is tokenized equity – does it prioritize the right to the city for all or to all but a very few? This paper looks toward the means of contestation against extractive crypto-settlements, speculation, and housing financialization, critically comparing a range of proposed distributed ledger technology projects that claim to inject equity in the system, pose alternative housing economies, or leverage distributed ledgers for land rights and data sovereignty. I question the utility and limits of datafication and explore how engaging with digital technology – with or without distributed ledgers – can raise awareness and enact alternative forms of housing and land stewardship, from cooperativism to Community Land Trusts and to counter-hegemonic commoning practices.
Abstract Play-to-earn (P2E) is a new form of monetised gaming based on blockchain and crypto-currency technology. Such games offer opportunities to combine gaming with speculative investment through the purchase of tradable in-game currencies and assets (non-fungible tokens). In this paper, we investigate the profile of people most likely to be attracted to this emerging form of gaming. A sample of 560 participants aged between 18-65 ( M = 28.3, SD = 8.3) were recruited via Prolific to complete an online survey that included measures of gaming ( Petry’s Internet Gaming Disorder Scale ) and gaming risk ( Problem Gambling Severity Index ), measures of gaming motivation and impulsivity. Other existing engagement in gaming monetization as well as digital asset ownership was also assessed. P2E interest was associated with higher gambling risk scores, but not with internet gaming disorder. P2E gamers also scored higher on extrinsic motivation and monetised gaming was generally associated with higher impulsivity. The results suggest that P2E may be attractive to those with a pre-existing interest in financially risky activities. Policy implications include the increasing need to monitor the growth of digital asset technology and the increasing convergence of gambling, financial speculation and gaming and the potential for increasing financial harm in gaming populations.
Abstract The goal of a content delivery network (CDN) is to reduce the content delivery latency to end-users by using distributed cache servers. Nevertheless, it is very expensive to deploy and maintain cache servers in a large-scale. To solve this problem, CDN providers have come up with a new content delivery strategy: allowing end-users's IoT edge devices to share their storage/bandwidth resources. This new edge CDN platform needs to address two core questions: (1) how can we incentivize end users to share IoT devices? (2) how can we facilitate a safe and transparent content transaction environment for end users? In this paper, we introduce SmartSharing, a new content delivery network solution. In smartSharing, the over-the-top (OTT) IoT devices belonging to end-users are used as mini-cache servers. To motivate end users to share the idle devices and storage/bandwidth resources, SmartSharing designs the content delivery schedule and the pricing scheme based on game theory and machine learning algorithms (to be specific, a tailored Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm). To facilitate content trading among end users, SmartSharing creates a secure and transparent transaction platform based on smart contracts in Ethereum. In addition, SmartSharing's performance evaluation not only through trace-driven simulations in the real world, but also a prototype using content metadata and the achieved pricing schemes. The evaluation results show that CDN providers, end users and content providers can all benefit from our SmartSharing framework.