D. A. Vidhate, Prajesh Gaikwad, Aditya Gadge, Abhijay Jadhav · 5 authors
The growth of financial technology has introduced Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which is basically a digital version of money issued by central banks. In this work, a blockchain-based system is proposed that uses QR codes and UID numbers to make transactions easier and more secure. Blockchain helps keep a proper record of transactions so they cannot be easily changed or tampered with. Using QR codes makes payments quick and simple, especially for everyday use. The system also uses smart contracts to handle processes automatically. Since everything runs on a decentralized network, it reduces dependency on a single authority and lowers the chances of fraud. At the same time, user privacy is maintained by storing only encrypted verification data instead of actual personal details.
This study examines the factors contributing to cryptocurrency adoption in South Africa. This study utilized an exploratory research design that applied a qualitative technique. 10 key informants were selected using purposive sampling from organizations involved in the bitcoin industry in South Africa. The study demonstrates that the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country is influenced by factors such as financial inclusion and access, innovation and entrepreneurship, economic diversification and regulatory frameworks, and teamwork. The challenges and hurdles encompass legislative ambiguity, cybersecurity risks, investor safeguarding, financial education and awareness, infrastructure limitations, and accessibility issues. The findings indicate that adopting cryptocurrencies can enhance financial inclusion, stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, and tackle systemic problems in the financial industry. Nevertheless, the effective implementation and assimilation of cryptocurrencies in South Africa will necessitate a collaborative endeavour among all parties involved. Robust regulatory frameworks, comprehensive educational programmes, and cooperative endeavours are essential for maximizing the advantages of cryptocurrencies while minimizing the accompanying hazards.
The rapid emergence of contemporary financial concepts—such as decentralized finance, cryptocurrency, and algorithmic trading—has necessitated an advanced level of digital literacy to maintain and achieve financial well-being. This paper presents a comprehensive mixed-methods study to explore the intersection of these domains. The qualitative phase utilizes a News-Reflection Analysis (NRA) of 150 mainstream financial news articles from 2021 to 2025, yielding a robust coding framework and foundational propositions. Building upon these qualitative insights, the quantitative phase employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on a simulated dataset of 450 respondents. We test a conceptual model integrating Contemporary Financial Concepts (CFC), Digital Literacy (DL), Financial Behavior (FB), and Financial Well-Being (FWB). Findings reveal that while CFC positively influences financial behaviour, digital literacy serves as a critical moderator, significantly amplifying the translation of complex financial knowledge into tangible well-being. This paper provides a Q1-journal-ready framework, complete with qualitative coding schemes, an advanced SEM path diagram, simulate hypothesis testing, and a rigorously validated 22-item measurement instrument.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending protocols like Aave v3 rely on over-collateralization to secure loans, yet users frequently face liquidation due to volatile market conditions. Existing risk management tools utilize static health-factor thresholds, which are reactive and fail to distinguish between administrative "dust" cleanup and genuine insolvency. In this work, we propose an autonomous agent that leverages time-to-event (survival) analysis and moves beyond prediction to execution. Unlike passive risk signals, this agent perceives risk, simulates counterfactual futures, and executes protocol-faithful interventions to proactively prevent liquidations. We introduce a return period metric derived from a numerically stable XGBoost Cox proportional hazards model to normalize risk across transaction types, coupled with a volatility-adjusted trend score to filter transient market noise. To select optimal interventions, we implement a counterfactual optimization loop that simulates potential user actions to find the minimum capital required to mitigate risk. We validate our approach using a high-fidelity, protocol-faithful Aave v3 simulator on a cohort of 4,882 high-risk user profiles. The results demonstrate the agent's ability to prevent liquidations in imminent-risk scenarios where static rules fail, effectively "saving the unsavable" while maintaining a zero worsening rate, providing a critical safety guarantee often missing in autonomous financial agents. Furthermore, the system successfully differentiates between actionable financial risks and negligible dust events, optimizing capital efficiency where static rules fail.
Cryptocurrency airdrops power the growth and governance of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, yet attract airdrop hunters, who coordinate wallets, script interactions, and cash out quickly, distorting metrics and fairness. Prior detection strands (heuristics/clustering, light-supervised community partitioning, and graph learning) face three fundamentals: inconsistent definitions, weak explainability, and poor cross-context generalization. We distill expert knowledge into a computable, interpretable baseline: open/axial coding of expert narratives followed by two Delphi rounds to (1) formalize a consensus, operational definition with six contrasts to regular users; (2) derive 15 measurable indicators spanning operations and fund-flow, tempered by human-ness counter-evidence; and (3) report thresholds as reference distributions (medians, quartiles). The baseline supplies shared semantics and computation for labeling/evaluation, yields inspectable why-flagged rationales for audit and governance, and offers context-aware guidance across chains, campaign designs, and market phases, thereby strengthening on-chain security while informing the design of socio-technical systems perceived as fair, trustworthy, and resistant to strategic misuse.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has emerged as one of the most transformative applications of blockchain technology, constructing a financial ecosystem that operates without traditional intermediaries through smart contracts and distributed protocols. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of DeFi in terms of technical architecture, core protocols, governance models, and application scenarios, with particular focus on analyzing key domains including lending platforms, decentralized exchanges, stablecoin mechanisms, and asset tokenization. Research indicates that although DeFi demonstrates revolutionary potential in enhancing financial inclusion and transaction efficiency, it still faces significant challenges in smart contract security, regulatory compliance, and systemic risk prevention. This paper further explores future research directions including the integration of DeFi with traditional finance, technological innovation, and real-world asset integration, providing reference for scholars, policymakers, and industry participants to understand this rapidly evolving field.
The advent of blockchain technology has introduced new alternatives to traditional banking systems, providing a decentralized, secure, and transparent framework. However, its adoption is still complex and uneven for many reasons. This study provides a comprehensive mapping of the intellectual trajectory, thematic structure, and development of blockchain technology research in the banking sector. Using a hybrid literature review methodology that combines bibliometric analysis and systematic content review, the study analyzes 389 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from Scopus (2015–May 2025). VOSviewer was employed to conduct performance analysis and science mapping, including co-authorship, co-citation, keyword co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling analyses. In parallel, qualitative thematic analysis identified six clusters: (1) blockchain in banking and financial intermediation to enhance operational efficiency, (2) decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies, (3) integration of blockchain with other digital innovations, (4) trust-related dimensions, (5) institutional and regulatory aspects, and (6) strategies for modernizing banking business models. The findings reveal a steady rise in research output, regional disparities in collaboration, and thematic evolution from early conceptualization to recent signs of diversification of applied research. By integrating quantitative and qualitative insights, this study highlights key research gaps, offers directions for future work, and provides guidance for academics, practitioners, and policymakers on the transformative potential and challenges of blockchain in banking.
Traditional philanthropic frameworks often struggle with financial opacity and a relianceon centralized intermediaries, which frequently leads to an erosion of donor trust andsystemic mismanagement. This paper proposes a Decentralized Charity Fund ManagementSystem that mitigates these risks by encoding the complete donation lifecycle withinEthereum smart contracts, ensuring transparency and accountability by design. Utilizing agovernance model inspired by Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), thesystem grants donors proportional voting rights based on their contributions, empoweringthem to collectively oversee fund disbursement. Capital is released to campaign organizersonly after a majority of donors approve specific withdrawal proposals, which must besupported by cryptographic expenditure proofs hosted on the InterPlanetary File System(IPFS). Additionally, the system features an autonomous refund mechanism that activatesif a campaign fails to reach its financial target by a set deadline, allowing for the directreclamation of funds without central intervention. Implementation via a React-baseddecentralized application (DApp) and validation through Hardhat-based testing confirmthat this frameowrk enforces all governance rules deterministically, effectively eliminatingthe need for centralized authority in the charitable ecosystem.
Due to the fast development of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies, the field of financial innovation, data privacy, and legal regulation has become a complex area with a multi-faceted regulatory environment. In this paper, the authors discuss the critical problem of ensuring the rights to privacy of individuals and the necessity of an effective control over the regulatory framework in decentralized digital financial systems. Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have facilitated peer-to-peer payments, increased transparency, and financial inclusion, their pseudonymous and borderless characteristics have also brought serious concerns associated with money laundering, terrorist funding, market volatility, and consumer protection. In a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the research assesses the current regulatory reactions and outlines the increasing role of international principles, constructed by the Financial Action Task Force. It contends that the conventional approaches to regulation, which were developed to deal with centralized financial institutions, cannot deal with the contingencies of decentralized ecosystems. In this regard, the paper will present a technology-based governance model that incorporates the use of law, institutional, and technological solutions to emerge with a harmonious regulatory strategy. This is highlighted in the study as the new technologies including blockchain analytics, artificial intelligence, smart contracts, and privacy protection tools like zero-knowledge proofs could be used to facilitate regulatory compliance without compromising user privacy. It also highlights the significance of risk-based, adaptive regulation, regulatory sandboxes and international collaboration in reducing regulatory arbitrage and global financial integrity. Finally, the paper argues that the future of cryptocurrencies regulation is in the creation of adaptable, innovation-oriented, and privacy-sensitive rules. A balance between law and technology can enable policymakers to create a secure, transparent, inclusive digital financial ecosystem and protect basic rights and the larger interest of society.
This paper examines cryptocurrency adoption among unbanked, underbanked, and fully banked households in the United States, using data from the 2023 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households; the first wave of the survey to include household-level information on cryptocurrency usage. We estimate a Probit model, supplemented by Logit and Linear Probability Model (LPM) specifications as robustness checks, to assess whether underbanked and unbanked households are more likely to adopt cryptocurrency than fully banked households, controlling for a range of demographic and socioeconomic factors. The results consistently show a statistically significant and positive association between underbanked status and the likelihood of cryptocurrency use across all model specifications. Specifically, underbanked households are 1.9 to 2.1 percentage points more likely to use cryptocurrency than their fully banked counterparts, suggesting that cryptocurrency functions as an alternative financial tool for the partially excluded. In contrast, unbanked households either show no statistically significant difference or exhibit a small negative association with cryptocurrency adoption, indicating that cryptocurrency is neither a substitute for formal financial services among the completely excluded nor widely adopted by the fully included. This suggests that those with full access to the financial system likely do not feel the need to seek alternatives. Cryptocurrency adoption is also shaped by key demographic and socioeconomic factors. Younger individuals, men, White respondents, those identifying with two or more races, and individuals with higher income and education levels are significantly more likely to adopt cryptocurrency. Overall, the findings highlight the nuanced role of cryptocurrency as a supplemental financial instrument for the underbanked, rather than a comprehensive solution to financial exclusion particularly for the unbanked.
This paper discusses the economic principles and policy requirements of cryptocurrency regulation in a more complex and fast developing digital financial ecosystem. It examines how decentralized blockchain-based assets, though having immense advantages such as financial inclusion, efficiency, and innovation, can also create enormous regulatory issues such as market volatility, information asymmetry, illegal financial transactions, and systemic risk. Basing the analysis on the concepts of economic analysis, the authors assess regulation as a method that addresses market failures, distributes resources efficiently, and maximizes social welfare in general. The paper expounds the relevance of cost-benefit modeling in regulatory design, with the emphasis on the fact that policy-makers need to strike a balance between the cost of compliance, administrative burden, and possible limitations on innovation and the benefits of regulatory transparency, investor protection, and financial stability. It also examines incentive systems in international cryptocurrency markets, and especially the so-called regulatory arbitrage, where national regulatory differences affect the geographical location of digital asset practices. One of the priorities is the trade-off between financial privacy and regulatory enforcement. Even though privacy-related aspects of cryptocurrencies can secure the autonomy of users and the safety of their data, they also make it more challenging to trace and intercept illegal financial activities. This article proposes the combination of risk-based and technology-neutral regulatory frameworks that will be capable of adapting to a variety of blockchain applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, and tokenized assets. Also, the paper highlights the increasing significance of cross-border coordination and new regulatory technologies (RegTech) to handle cross-border problems and increase the efficiency of compliance. It concludes that to have good cryptocurrency governance, there must be an interdisciplinary approach that comprises of economic theory, legal analysis, and understanding of technology. This balancing and adaptive action is what is needed to encourage innovation and still maintain financial stability, investor protection, and overall interest of the digital economy by the general population.
This paper examines the evolving relationship between blockchain architecture and financial privacy, focusing on the inherent tension between transparency, pseudonymity, and regulatory oversight. It begins by analysing the structural foundations of blockchain systems, including distributed ledgers, cryptographic security, and decentralized consensus mechanisms, which collectively replace institution-based trust with system-based verification. While such architecture enhances transparency and immutability, it simultaneously generates new privacy challenges. Through a comparative analysis of Bitcoin, Monero, and Zcash, the paper highlights a spectrum of privacy designs within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Bitcoin represents a model of transparent yet pseudonymous transactions, where public ledger visibility enables traceability despite the absence of explicit identity markers. In contrast, Monero adopts a privacy-centric approach using ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions to obscure sender, receiver, and transaction value. Zcash introduces a hybrid model, employing zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to reconcile transactional confidentiality with verifiability, alongside selective disclosure mechanisms. The study further explores the limitations of transparent blockchains, including risks of transaction traceability, address clustering, and linkage to real-world identities through regulatory touchpoints such as exchanges. It also evaluates the regulatory implications of privacy-enhancing technologies, particularly their impact on anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) frameworks. The paper underscores the growing role of international standards and regulatory bodies in shaping compliance mechanisms within decentralized ecosystems. Finally, the paper considers emerging solutions such as privacy-preserving smart contracts, decentralized identity systems, hybrid blockchain models, and regulatory technologies (RegTech), which aim to balance user privacy with legal accountability. It argues that the future of blockchain governance lies not in choosing between transparency and privacy, but in developing adaptive frameworks that integrate both. The study concludes that achieving this balance will require sustained interdisciplinary collaboration and coordinated global regulatory efforts.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments facilitate rapid direct transactions but are frequently compromised by trust asymmetry, leading to substantial risks of non-delivery or non-payment. This study addresses these vulnerabilities by introducing a lightweight, deterministic escrow mechanism based on Ethereum smart contracts, specifically designed to bridge the regulatory gap in consumer protection. Unlike conventional escrow systems that rely on costly human intermediaries or complex decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structures, the proposed "FairPay" model advances the state-of-the-art by offering a streamlined five-state lifecycle architecture comprising Created, Funded, WorkSubmitted, Released, and Refunded stages. The research prioritizes an analytical problem-solution flow, focusing on a state-machine design that enforces automated role-based restrictions. Methodological evaluation conducted on the Ethereum Sepolia testnet demonstrates a 100% functional success rate across all unit test scenarios. Furthermore, gas cost analysis reveals that the system is economically viable for granular transactions, with core operational functions maintaining a low execution overhead. Beyond operational success, the primary scholarly contribution lies in the design insight of balancing high cryptographic security with granular transaction accessibility, providing a scalable framework for the modern digital economy. However, the system currently assumes binary participant decisions for work verification, representing a transparency-oriented limitation in handling highly subjective service deliverables. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that algorithmic trust, mediated through a simplified state-machine, offers a more efficient and transparent alternative to existing high-complexity blockchain models, effectively resolving the tension between decentralized security and practical usability in P2P digital interactions.
The emergence of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) represents a significant shift in organizational design driven by blockchain technology. Unlike traditional hierarchical structures, DAOs operate through decentralized governance, algorithmic rules, and collective coordination embedded within distributed systems. Despite growing scholarly attention, existing research remains fragmented, with limited integration across technological, governance, and organizational dimensions. This paper addresses this gap by developing a multidimensional theoretical framework that explains the organizational logic of DAOs through the interaction of blockchain architecture, governance mechanisms, and coordination processes. Drawing on an integrative review of the literature, DAOs are conceptualized as socio-technical systems in which technological infrastructure enables decentralized governance, governance mechanisms shape participation and decision-making, and coordination processes support collective action and value creation. The framework highlights the interdependencies among these dimensions and advances a set of theoretical propositions to guide future research. By offering a more integrated perspective, this study contributes to DAO scholarship and extends organizational theory to better account for decentralized and algorithmic forms of organizing. The findings also provide insights for designing and governing DAOs in the evolving digital economy.
ABSTRACT This paper explores how financial innovation and environmental sustainability intersect by analyzing spillovers between FinTech, blockchain energy use, and green finance. Using a Quantile Vector Autoregression (QVAR) framework, we examine weekly data from 2018 to 2024 across 11 digital, environmental, and macro‐financial indices. Our findings reveal a striking asymmetry: FinTech and equity markets consistently act as systemic shock transmitters, especially during crises and booms, while blockchain energy consumption behaves as a passive shock absorber. Notably, Ethereum's energy profile remains sensitive to market exuberance even after its transition to proof‐of‐stake. Connectedness weakens markedly in tranquil regimes but resurges sharply at market extremes, underscoring the fragility of digital–green linkages. These results advance the literature on climate‐FinTech integration by showing how digital finance volatility propagates to sustainability assets. We call for targeted policy interventions that align blockchain development with climate goals and promote transparency and resilience in digital financial markets.
Blockchain technology has emerged as one of the most transformative innovations in the financial sector, enabling secure, transparent, and decentralized transaction systems. Among its key applications, smart contracts have gained significant attention for automating financial agreements and reducing the need for intermediaries. Smart contracts are self-executing digital agreements embedded within blockchain networks that automatically enforce contractual terms when predefined conditions are met. The present study examines the role of blockchain-based smart contracts in financial transactions and evaluates their impact on efficiency, transparency, security, and cost reduction in financial systems. The study is based on secondary data collected from industry reports, academic publications, and financial technology databases. Analytical methods including descriptive analysis and regression-based conceptual modeling are used to examine the relationship between smart contract adoption and financial transaction efficiency. The findings indicate that smart contracts significantly enhance transaction speed, reduce operational costs, minimize fraud risk, and improve transparency in financial systems. The study concludes that blockchain-based smart contracts have the potential to transform financial transactions by improving efficiency, reliability, and trust in digital financial ecosystems.
O presente artigo analisa a dicotomia entre descentralização teórica e descentralização real em redes blockchain, com foco nas métricas de distribuição de nós validadores e de poder de voto. O objetivo é investigar em que medida os fundamentos técnicos e econômicos dos mecanismos de consenso refletem, de fato, uma distribuição ampla de controle, ou se concentram poder em poucos agentes, contrariando as promessas de infraestrutura verdadeiramente distribuída. A metodologia adotada baseia-se em revisão bibliográfica de trabalhos recentes sobre descentralização em consenso Prova de Participação (Proof-of-Stake – PoS) e Prova de Trabalho (Proof-of-Work – PoW), em estudos de caso empíricos que medem coeficiente de Nakamoto, índices de Gini e Herfindahl-Hirschman (HHI), além de relatórios sobre distribuição geográfica e por provedores de validadores em redes como a Solana. Os resultados obtidos indicam que métricas superficiais, a exemplo da simples contagem de nós, podem mascarar riscos sistêmicos: em diversas redes PoS, um conjunto relativamente pequeno de validadores, países e provedores de infraestrutura controla fração substancial do stake, de forma que poucas entidades seriam suficientes para censurar transações ou comprometer a liveness da rede. Estudos recentes sobre consenso PoS mostram ainda que modelos de ponderação de stake alternativos – como Square Root Stake Weight (SRSW) e Logarithmic Stake Weight (LSW) – podem melhorar, em média, 51% e 132% as métricas de descentralização (Nakamoto, Gini, HHI), sugerindo caminhos concretos para tornar a distribuição de poder mais equitativa. Conclui-se que a descentralização real exige métricas multidimensionais que incorporem stake, geografia, infraestrutura e diversidade de clientes, e que o desenho de protocolos e políticas de governança precisa considerar explicitamente esses indicadores para alinhar a prática ao ideal normativo de descentralização da Web3.
O presente artigo examina as distinções entre finalidade probabilística e finalidade absoluta em sistemas blockchain, bem como suas implicações para o desenho e a operação de aplicações financeiras que visam a replicar ou substituir infraestruturas tradicionais de liquidação. Em cadeias que operam sob finalidade probabilística – modelo historicamente associado a protocolos baseados em Prova de Trabalho (Proof-of-Work) – o grau de irreversibilidade de uma transação cresce à medida que novos blocos são adicionados sobre o bloco que a contém, de modo que a probabilidade de reversão tende assintoticamente a zero sem, contudo, alcançar garantia determinística, o que justifica a prática de mercado de aguardar múltiplas confirmações antes de considerar a liquidação efetivamente concluída. Em contrapartida, cadeias dotadas de finalidade absoluta – também denominada finalidade instantânea – usualmente implementadas sobre protocolos de tolerância a falhas bizantinas (BFT) ou em arquiteturas híbridas que combinam Prova de Participação (PoS) e BFT, oferecem irreversibilidade assim que um bloco é atestado por um superconjunto qualificado de validadores, aproximando-se das expectativas de definitividade inerentes a sistemas de liquidação financeira tradicionais. A metodologia adotada combina revisão conceitual das diferentes acepções de finality em mecanismos de consenso, análise de documentação técnica de protocolos BFT – a exemplo de Tendermint, IBFT e QBFT – e discussão de relatórios recentes sobre risco de liquidação e finality aplicáveis à tokenização de ativos do mundo real (Real World Assets – RWA) em infraestruturas on-chain. Os resultados obtidos sinalizam que, embora a finalidade probabilística se mostre adequada a pagamentos de varejo e transferências de valor moderado, aplicações financeiras de maior montante, processos de tokenização de ativos e infraestruturas de mercado requerem, na prática, garantias mais robustas de irreversibilidade, com frequência combinando finalidade técnica e mecanismos jurídicos de mitigação de risco de liquidação. Conclui-se que a opção entre os dois modelos de finalidade encerra trade-offs relevantes entre segurança, velocidade de confirmação, complexidade de protocolo e conformidade regulatória, e que o desenho de aplicações financeiras em ambiente Web3 deve considerar explicitamente essas diferenças ao definir janelas de liquidação, políticas de gerenciamento de risco e estratégias de integração com o sistema financeiro tradicional.
Monetary technology (FinTech) represents the integration of era into financial services to enhance performance, accessibility, transparency, and purchaser revel in. over the last decade, FinTech has disrupted conventional banking structures, charge mechanisms, investment control, insurance, and lending practices. innovations along with blockchain, synthetic intelligence (AI), digital payments, peer-to-peer lending, and decentralized finance (DeFi) have reshaped the monetary panorama. This paper explores the evolution of FinTech, key technological improvements, economic and regulatory implications, dangers and challenges, and destiny potentialities. The study concludes that whilst FinTech fosters financial inclusion and operational efficiency, it also introduces regulatory, cybersecurity, and systemic dangers that require coordinated global governance frameworks.
This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of six volatility forecasting models applied to twelve dominant and less dominant cryptocurrencies across multiple time horizons using high-frequency intraday data. The exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (EGARCH), integrated GARCH (IGARCH), standard GARCH, GJR-GARCH, lagged realized volatility (LRE), and heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) models are systematically compared using 5 min computed return data from September 2018 to September 2020. Our analysis encompasses three forecast horizons (1-day, 7-day, and 30-day) to assess model performance under varying temporal constraints. Through univariate Mincer–Zarnowitz regressions, encompassing tests, and out-of-sample evaluation using root mean squared error (RMSE) and quasi-likelihood loss (QLIKE) functions, we identify significant performance heterogeneity across models and cryptocurrencies. The HAR model exhibits stronger predictive accuracy at short horizons, while EGARCH exhibits relatively stronger performance at longer horizons, although overall explanatory power declines as forecast horizon increases. Importantly, no single model consistently provides optimal forecasts across all cryptocurrencies. Consistent with prior evidence suggesting model performance varies across assets. Encompassing regressions reveal that combining HAR with EGARCH specifications significantly enhances explanatory power across all temporal frames. Out-of-sample Diebold–Mariano tests indicate that HAR generates the lowest forecast errors for most cryptocurrencies, though EGARCH performs exceptionally well for high-market-capitalization assets. These findings provide regime-conditional insights into horizon- and asset-specific volatility dynamics during the pre-institutionalization phase of cryptocurrency markets. The study contributes to emerging literature by incorporating less-dominant cryptocurrencies and offering robust empirical evidence on the asymmetric and persistent volatility characteristics unique to digital asset markets. These findings should be interpreted within the context of the 2018–2020 sample period, representing a pre-institutionalized phase of cryptocurrency markets, and may not fully generalize to structurally different market regimes characterized by increased institutional participation and regulatory development.
This study investigates the rising security vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms from both technical and operational perspectives. Through literature review, case studies, and a comparative platform analysis, the research identifies the root causes, user impacts, and mitigation strategies for common security issues. Prominent incidents such as Ronin Network, Poly Network, Mango Markets, and Curve Finance are examined in depth, while security strategies of major DeFi platforms such as Aave, Compound, Uniswap, and Synthetix are compared. The study also discusses the implications of new technological developments like Ethereum Layer-2 solutions, Zero-Knowledge rollups, and account abstraction mechanisms on DeFi security. Findings emphasize that achieving a sustainable DeFi ecosystem requires a holistic approach involving not only technical safeguards but also transparent governance, user education and robust audit processes.
This paper examines the market maturation hypothesis in cryptocurrency markets through a three-stage analysis of the evolution of tail risk in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Using daily closing prices from January 2015 to February 2026 for BTC (n = 4058) and November 2017 to February 2026 for ETH (n = 3015), we employ 365-day rolling windows—reflecting the continuous 24/7 operation of cryptocurrency markets—to trace the temporal dynamics of Value-at-Risk (VaR), Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR), and Maximum Drawdown (MDD). The empirical strategy combines (i) Newey–West trend tests on rolling risk metrics, (ii) regime-conditional analysis across market states (Bull, Bear, or Neutral) and volatility regimes (high/low uncertainty), and (iii) exceedance correlation analysis to capture asymmetric BTC–ETH tail dependence. The results are consistent with the market maturation hypothesis: all ten trend coefficients across both assets are statistically significant (p < 0.001), with linear time trends explaining up to 46.8% (BTC VaR1%) and 67.5% (ETH VaR1%) of variation in rolling tail risk. Sub-period comparisons confirm economically meaningful declines—BTC VaR1% fell by 22.0% and ETH VaR1% by 26.6% between the early and late subsamples. However, maturation is markedly asymmetric across uncertainty regimes: tail-risk reductions concentrate in low-uncertainty periods, whereas BTC MDD in high-uncertainty regimes shows no significant improvement (+1.0%, p = 0.176). Excess correlation analysis reveals a persistent and widening downside asymmetry (ρ− = 0.847 vs. ρ+ = 0.246 at the 90th percentile), with late-period upper-tail correlation turning negative (ρ+ = −0.175 at the 95th percentile), implying that portfolio diversification within the cryptocurrency asset class remains illusory during market stress. These findings carry direct implications for institutional risk management, stress-testing frameworks, and prudential regulation of digital assets.
This research paper provides an exhaustive and multi-dimensional analysis of the relationship between financial literacy and the investment behaviors of the teenage demographic (ages 13–19). In the contemporary era, characterized by the "fintech revolution" and the ubiquitous nature of digital assets, traditional barriers to entry in financial markets have largely disintegrated. Consequently, adolescents are now engaging with highly complex and volatile financial instruments, including fractional equities, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), often before they have attained a basic understanding of economic principles. This study identifies a critical "literacy-participation gap" that exposes young investors to unprecedented risks. Utilizing a qualitative-descriptive meta-synthesis, the paper integrates perspectives from behavioral economics, social learning theory, and adolescent neurobiology to evaluate how varying levels of financial knowledge influence risk perception, asset selection, and long-term financial health. The findings suggest that while high levels of financial literacy correlate with diversified portfolios and risk-mitigation strategies, the "gamified" architecture of modern trading platforms and the influence of social media "finfluencers" often override rational decisionmaking processes. The paper concludes with an urgent call for a paradigm shift in financial pedagogy, advocating for the integration of digital media literacy and behavioral psychology into standard secondary education to foster a more resilient generation of investors.
This paper examines the transformations in finances in the developing markets such as India due to digital money, decentralized finance (DeFi), and blockchain technology. It pays attention to what makes people desire to access such services, what dangers they believe they pose, and how prepared the governmental regulation is (Davis, 1989; Schueffel, 2016). The researchers completed the survey which questioned 420 Indian retail shoppers and fiscal experts about digital finance. They then analyzed the data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS -SEM). They discovered that individuals tend to move to such services when they believe that it is useful, easy to utilize, reputable and with adequate regulation. People fear to take risks and will be less willing to use them (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000; Zhang et al., 2022). The actual use can also be predicted by the intention to use, and individuals who are knowledgeable of contemporary trends, including DeFi, tokenisation, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), are even more eager to use useful services (Rogers, 2003; Auer et al., 2022). These findings provide practical suggestions to regulators and banks interested in promoting sound innovation and broader adoption of digital and blockchain finance in India.