Shafiq Ur Rehman, Sajjad Nawaz Khan, Waseem Subhani, Iftikhar Mehboob · 6 authors

 
 
 Central banks confront enormous hurdles in preserving the efficiency of their monetary policies in the face of rapid technological improvements in the financial industry. The effects of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) adoption, fintech investment, and regulatory flexibility by central banks on the effectiveness of monetary policy is investigated in this paper. Data were gathered quantitatively through surveys of financial professionals, policymakers, and central bank officials. The findings demonstrated that DLT adoption, fintech investment, and regulatory flexibility have a considerable positive effect on the effectiveness of monetary policy. The study not only validates but also extends previous material and provides policymakers with practical consequences. Limitations and future research directions are also highlighted.
 
 
Gautami Tripathi, Mohd Abdul Ahad, Gabriella Casalino
Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger technology that has revolutionized businesses, industries, and commerce by eliminating the need for a central storage and control authority. Blockchain presents time-stamped and immutable blocks of data that are not owned by any single entity but rather managed by a group of nodes or computers where each block is secured and linked using cryptographic principles. The immutable and decentralized nature of blockchain has redefined trust, ownership, identity, and financial systems by providing a secure, fast, transparent, and pseudo-anonymous solution. This paper provides a comprehensive review of blockchain technology focusing on the historical background, underlying principles, and the sudden rise in the popularity of blockchain technology. The paper also discusses the various consensus algorithms of blockchain technology. Next, the paper focuses on the various application areas and prospective use cases of blockchain technology with the underlying challenges and issues. Further, the paper presents some unconventional use cases of blockchain technology. The study also reviews state-of-the-art articles to provide a comprehensive overview of the various aspects of blockchain technology in varied domains. The comparison between traditional database systems and blockchain technology is presented, and the appropriate scenarios where blockchain-based solutions may or may not provide the best solutions are also discussed. Further, it discusses some of the most infamous security breaches that impacted the blockchain industry in the recent past.
Caijian Hua, Sichao Wu, Yan Zhang, Kun Luo · 6 authors
Currently, there are several issues in China’s rural property rights trading, including poor credit reporting, low transaction efficiency, non-standardized transaction contracts, and high costs for rights protection. However, blockchain technology, known for its convenience, security, and traceability, is highly compatible with the requirements of standardization, convenience, and agility in rural property rights trading. Therefore, we propose a system framework for rural property rights trading based on the Hyperledger Fabric consortium blockchain. This framework significantly enhances transaction efficiency, improves the security of rural property rights trading, effectively resolves contract disputes in property rights transactions, and promotes rural revitalization and development. Furthermore, we design the information data structure on the blockchain, present the information flow, and develop smart contracts that utilize automation capabilities to automatically summarize, analyze, and issue alerts based on on-chain data, enabling risk assessment for both buyers and sellers. Additionally, we introduce an improved PBFT consensus algorithm called CA-PBFT, which is based on the PBFT consensus protocol and integrates a scoring model and simplified consensus protocol. CA-PBFT efficiently reduces transaction response latency and improves information throughput. Finally, we develop a prototype system for rural property rights trading and perform a performance comparison and analysis of CA-PBFT against other PBFT-based consensus algorithms in this prototype system. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the prototype system framework for rural property rights trading.
Oct 19, 2023·Companion Proceedings of the 2023 ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Systems, Programming, Languages, and Applications: Software for Humanity
Abstract The personal lending marketplace, known as Peer‐to‐Peer (P2P) lending, has increased globally. However, providing unsecured loans to peers without requiring collateral remains a challenge. A platform called TrustLend is proposed to enable trustworthy transactions in the personal lending application. The platform attempts to eliminate or minimize the collateral requirement. The trustworthiness score adds to this platform's variable selection rules and can help lenders decide on reliable candidates as borrowers. The prototype implementing the TrustLend platform based on Ethereum smart contracts that use the trustworthiness score is also described and it is illustrated with a Decentralized Application (DApp) case study and customized smart contracts. The prototype demonstrates fundamental features and supports borrowers, lenders, and recommenders in establishing proposals and approvals. Finally, the prototype shows how end‐users can easily access loans with reduced collateral without hidden costs and swift transactions.
The crypto space offers numerous opportunities for users to grow their wealth through trading, lending, and borrowing activities. However, these opportunities come with inherent risks that need to be carefully managed to protect your assets and maximize returns. By understanding the risks associated with wallets and depository services, trading, lending, and borrowing, users can make informed decisions and enjoy the benefits of the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies. This review paper analyses 43 papers for the period of 2019–2023 and proposes recommendations for policy makers. The results confirm that international regulators expect national authorities to implement a regulatory framework for digital assets comparable to those that already exist for traditional finance. For national authorities, this means having and using the powers, tools and resources to regulate and oversee a growing market. Authorities should cooperate and coordinate with each other, at the national and international levels, to encourage consistency and knowledge sharing. Market operators (exchanges), service providers, exchanges and wallets, create effective risk management structures, as well as reliable mechanisms for collecting, storing, protecting and reporting data.
Randomness plays a pivotal role in modern online gaming, but disputes have arisen over the accuracy of stated winning chances, resulting in legal issues and financial setbacks for gaming companies. Fortunately, blockchain-based games offer a solution to the transparency and fairness issue regarding randomness. Furthermore, emerging blockchain technology like Sui Network enhances the efficiency of smart contracts by eliminating traditional web3 barriers, such as inefficiencies and expensive transaction fees. This unlocks the potential for extensive decentralized gaming applications. This paper aims to provide insights into designing a fair, verifiable, and efficient smart contract game on blockchain by the example of building raffles on the Sui Network. We explore efficient methods for implementing randomness on smart contracts, including DRAND committee-based decentralized random beacons and single private-key-based verifiable random functions (VRF). Then, progress from basic to comprehensive smart contract design. We addressed limitations in developing blockchain games in general, such as data input and storage space constraints. We propose corresponding solutions, encompassing the utilization of Object Tables, Delegate Object Creation, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) to optimize storage and input efficiency. After testing our designs, we found that the transaction fees for DRAND beacons and private-key-based VRFs are similar. Moreover, Object Tables incur higher overall transaction fees, while the ZKP setup fee is cheap but becomes very expensive during the verification process. Moreover, we identified suitable designs for different application scenarios by comparing the pros and cons of different smart contract implementations. Our findings provide valuable guidance for future researchers and developers in building random, fair, and verifiable games with smart contracts.
This research was conducted on Investment Risk in Cryptocurrency Transactions in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to find out how the risks of investing and cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia are. Source of data in this study using secondary data. Then using a qualitative descriptive research type because researchers want to find facts about "Investment risks in cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia" to accurately convey what are the risks of investing in cryptocurrency transactions through several phenomena that occur. In this case, the research location is carried out, namely from the phenomena described on the website obtained from the Data Box which discusses developments and activities in cryptocurrency with hypotheses (allegedly Investment Risk Affects Cryptocurrency Transactions in Indonesia). Based on the results of the discussion, it can also be concluded that investing in cryptocurrency has a fairly high risk, because cryptocurrency price movements are a bubble or momentary enthusiasm, lack of regulation, still leaves legality issues, becomes the target of cybercrime and has a dependence on technology.
The role of online pharmacies in supplying pharmaceutical products has witnessed substantial growth.However, it is crucial to highlight that online platforms and supply chain infiltration constitute a significant portion of counterfeit pharmaceutical products, accounting for 40.9% of counterfeit product distribution; owing to their inherent characteristics, online pharmacies possess the capability to procure products from a diverse array of suppliers.The records utilized for consumers to verify product authenticity are centralized, rendering them susceptible to manipulation, including the potential inclusion of products from unregulated supply chains.The proposed framework capitalizes on the immutability of blockchain data to secure the integrity of authentication records and smart contracts to facilitate interaction with blockchain records.The study employed sequence diagrams to conceptualize the framework's design and utilized algorithms for its practical implementation.By incorporating smart-contracts and implementation of hashing for backend data records, consumers can place trust in the integrity of these records, which plays a pivotal role in authenticating pharmaceutical products distributed by online pharmacies.
The legal standing of smart contracts, specifically with regard to their irreversible execution on distributed ledgers, remains a subject of ongoing debate in the realm of jurisprudence. The 'code is law' principle introduces significant questions about legal validity. This paper ventures to provide a novel perspective by situating 'code is law' within the framework of contract law, specifically through the lens of contractual consideration. I propose that the irreversible execution of smart contracts furnishes symmetrical added value for the parties involved by potentially minimizing transaction costs. I argue that this could serve as a valid form of consideration, thereby providing a possible legal grounding for the 'code is law' principle.
The construction industry, characterized by its intricate processes and extensive stakeholder networks, stands at the cusp of a digital revolution. The adoption of blockchain-smart contract (BCSC) technology is at the heart of this transformation. This research delves deep into the BCSC within the construction arena to provide comprehensive insight into its probable applications, inherent challenges, and potential future trajectories. Leveraging the PRISMA analysis technique, a curated collection of relevant academic research articles was assembled, shedding light on the existing body of knowledge regarding the application of BCSC technology in construction. The authors developed an innovative user interface tool customized to automatically analyze Excel files exported from Scopus and Science Direct databases to ensure a rigorous approach. Preliminary findings highlight the existing gaps between the theoretical potential of blockchain and its tangible implementation in the construction domain. This study consolidates existing literature and emphasizes the critical domains and key parameters that future studies should address. The paper paves the way for innovative breakthroughs by pinpointing these gaps, pushing the boundaries of how blockchain and smart contracts might reshape the construction industry's future landscape.
Cryptocurrencies have become extremely popular as a form of payment in recent years. They are supported by blockchain, a cutting-edge advanced technology that makes extensive use of cryptographic mechanisms and other sophisticated distributed computing techniques. On these grounds, cryptocurrencies have been a target of several attacks. Cyber-attacks, for example, are exogenous events that can robustly affect cryptocurrencies by influencing their stabilization of price and market valuation. This study describes an overview of cybercriminals’ activities on cryptocurrencies. It provides a detailed discussion on the most popular types of attacks on the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Moreover, it provides possible countermeasures to these attacks. Finally, it produces insights into the most impactful attacks on cryptocurrencies and the best methods that have been proposed for detecting cryptocurrency attacks. The main goal of this survey is to obtain a thorough understanding of cryptocurrency attacks, which have been the subject of major studies concerning financial risks on cryptocurrency. A large number of existing publications have reviewed and assessed various forms of attacks to achieve this goal. However, these works have considerably flawed. To the best of our knowledge, the present survey sheds light on future research directions.
This paper delves into the role of technological tools in bolstering cryptocurrency tax compliance for individuals and businesses, addressing the challenges posed by the decentralized and anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies. The investigation revolves around the necessity and effectiveness of software and platforms like CoinTracker, CryptoTrader.Tax, and TokenTax, which aid in monitoring, reporting, and ensuring compliance with tax norms. These tools exemplify the innovation required to reconcile the discrepancy between decentralized cryptocurrencies and centralized tax compliance, mitigating legal risks. Moreover, the inherent characteristics of blockchain technology, including its immutability and transparency, coupled with smart contracts, revolutionize tax compliance by creating tamper-proof transaction records and automating tax calculations and payments. Nevertheless, the implementation of these technologies raises concerns regarding data privacy and security, necessitating robust legal and ethical frameworks. Additionally, the evolving cryptocurrency market, characterized by developments like DeFi, NFTs, and novel blockchain protocols, demands continual adaptation and innovation from these technological tools. Countries with favorable tax environments for cryptocurrencies, such as Germany, Singapore, and Switzerland, are also explored. The paper concludes with comprehensive recommendations for implementing a robust model for taxing cryptocurrencies, emphasizing the significance of employing blockchain analysis software, comprehensive tax software, Artificial Intelligence, APIs, cloud computing, and educational platforms. These tools, integrated meticulously, ensure accuracy, efficiency, and foster a knowledgeable environment, thereby facilitating adherence to tax norms in the rapidly expanding cryptocurrency domain.
Cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia are carried out by millennial generation cryptocurrency investors, which have reached above Rp 470 trillion, a sudden and drastic decline in the value of crypto assets due to the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine.The nature of cryptocurrency is the fundamental reason for the large number of transactions against the phenomenon of a drastic decline due to the Russian war attacking Ukraine, so this study was conducted to analyze the behavior of Indonesian millennial generation investors who are active when investing in cryptocurrency on the Indodax exchange market and Crypto Shop.Analysis of the behavior of these investors is measured in terms of risk, return, perception, decision making towards cryptocurrency investment.This research data collection is primary data by distributing questionnaires to respondents of millennial generation cryptocurrency investors as many as 94 respondents.The results show that the risk and perception variables have a positive effect on the cryptocurrency investment variable, while the return and decision making variables have no effect on the cryptocurrency investment variable.From the results of this study concluded that the implications that are applied are still paying attention to the risks that will be accepted and considering the mindset when facing an increase or decrease in assets because it is very influential when making decisions later, then when the return offered is large, you must pay attention to the time when selling or buying because basically high risk hogh return so consideration is still needed.
Kirumirah Mubarack Hamidu, Dickson Pastory, Jane Massi, Allen Mrindoko
The emergence of cryptocurrency financial technology in the world has introduced new global cashless payment system. Researchers, scholars, jurisdictions, central banks and governments all over the world has put much attention in this payment technology. Despite the enormous benefits of cryptocurrency, it has been associated with several risks and challenges including high price volatility, security vulnerabilities and the illegal activities such as money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption and fraud. Moreover, the level of acceptance and adoption of this currency is questionable among the public and especially in the financial sector. This study uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), to assess the level of adoption, anticipated risks and challenges. The study used the mixed research design with a qualitative embedded design. The study collected data from 100 respondents obtained through convenient sampling approach. Respondents were sampled from BOT and Commercial banks based in Dar Es Salaam, Cryptocurrency traders among others. Data were analysed by the use of descriptive (quantitative data) and content analysis (qualitative data). Findings reveal that, the rate and intention of adopting cryptocurrency is very low because of ICT related challenges. It was further revealed that in Tanzania, volatility of the currency, security problems and awareness among customers are anticipated challenges. Moreover, it was revealed that because of regulatory landscape and its connection to security threats the public considers cryptocurrency to have several challenges. The study concludes that the rate and intention to adopt cryptocurrency is still low in Tanzania and recommends the government and other financial institutions in the financial sector to set facilitating environment for cryptocurrency because it is a technology that is taking over in the finance sector in the near future.
Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, is acknowledged as the most significant and disruptive innovation in accounting since the double-entry system. All the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms and several major S&P500 companies have invested considerable resources in developing blockchain technologies. Some maximalists of this technology have even hinted that it will fundamentally change accounting and auditing if all transactions can be captured in an immutable blockchain. It is a daunting task for accounting academics to determine how to infuse blockchain in accounting curricula since the body of knowledge in this area spans several disciplines, such as, accounting, economics, finance, computer science, and engineering. It is also difficult for accounting practitioners to know what aspects of this technology are relevant to accountants for the same reason. In this paper, using the diffusion of innovation theory, I help explain why we need to incorporate the accounting-relevant aspects of blockchain in accounting curricula and practice and how we can accomplish that goal without introducing unnecessary technological complexity and jargon. I also provide eight case studies, which were successfully trialled by me at CPA organization/association conferences, that can be used to communicate the accounting relevant aspects of blockchain in the domains of accounting, tax, and audit services.
This research aims to determine the impact of Cryptocurrency on macroeconomics, especially in terms of inflation, exchange rates, and other relevant aspects. This article also analyzes the various regulatory approaches that governments around the world have implemented to address risks and manage the development of cryptocurrencies. The method used in this research is qualitative with a descriptive-analytic approach. The methods used in this research include collecting data from various sources, including historical cryptocurrency data, macroeconomic data, and cryptocurrency regulatory data. The results of the analysis show that cryptocurrencies can have a significant impact on macroeconomic stability, both positive and negative, depending on factors such as widespread use, price volatility, and role in the global financial system. Additionally, the different regulatory approaches reflect the diversity of global views on cryptocurrencies and the challenges of regulating technological innovation. This article summarizes these findings and underscores the importance of a deep understanding of cryptocurrencies in the era of digital finance.
Nii Osae Osae Dade, Margaret Lartey-Quaye, Emmanuel Teye-Kofi Odonkor, Paul Ammah
Programming has always been at the heart of technological innovation in the 21st century. With the advent of blockchain technologies and the proliferation of web3 paradigms of decentralised applications, smart contracts have been very instrumental in enabling developers to build applications that reside on decentralised blockchains. Despite the huge interest and potential of smart contracts, there is still a significant knowledge and skill gap that developers need to cross in order to build web3 applications. In light of this, we introduce MazzumaGPT, a large language model that has been optimised to generate smart contract code and aid developers to scaffold development and improve productivity. As part of this research, we outline the optimisation and fine-tuning parameters, evaluate the model's performance on functional correctness and address the limitations and broader impacts of our research.
Misbah Sadiq, Ahmet Faruk Aysan, Umar Nawaz Kayani
This study examines how blockchain and digital currency have affected the supply of credit and financial stability. It pays particular attention to industry-based analyses and options presented by cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and digital currencies for the credit supply and financial stability. A positivistic or quantitative research design is employed. The method of data collection is a survey-based questionnaire, as well as the time interval data method, from December 2021 to December 2022. The study sample comprises of five industrial zones of Punjab. The respondents are businessmen, managers, and employees (N = 449). The study finds that the use of various digital currencies quickly transforms business. The study shows that most industries do not require central banks and, instead, concentrate on modern digital currency and blockchain systems for monetary transfers. The private and public models of physical money will likely fail in the future. Rather, central banks should adopt digital currency and blockchain with an online technological payment strategy in order to enhance domestic financial stability and payment systems.
David Aveiro, Leonardo Abreu, Duarte Pinto, Vítor Freitas
This article presents a practical research project aimed at developing a method for automatically generating smart contracts from business models. The project has as a context the logistics in- dustry and uses Hyperledger Fabric as the blockchain (BC) platform. The main contributions are a mapping from DEMO (Design and Engineering Methodology for Organizations) language to Hyperledger Chaincode using GO language, as well as an evolution of DEMO’s Action Model Grammar, that enable specification of elements necessary for automatic SC generation. The proposed approach extends the DEMO methodology so that it includes an SC concern, enabling the generation of reusable action rule specifications and other elements necessary for SC genera- tion. Our research contributes to combining the strengths of the DEMO methodology and smart contracts. The design and implementation considerations of this approach are discussed in de- tail, and the results can be applied in future business cases requiring enterprise interoperability supported by distributed ledger technology.
A generation of millennials is rewriting the rules of the investment and Fintech industry. In contrast to the past when they played a relatively passive role, they now are leading some of the hottest trends in the industry. Today, it is the millennials who are driving many hot investment industries. For example, Robin hood a company founded by millennials, has disrupted the stock market and investment industry. The Federal Reserve's expansionary policies during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in significant gains in cryptocurrencies and other assets. The Federal Bank responded to the trend of inflation and deflation by lowering interest rates and implementing a quantitative easing programme that pushed its balance sheet to over $8.5 trillion. This, in turn, led many millennials to seek alternative assets that offered better returns than cash. Cryptocurrencies have emerged as one of the most popular assets among millennials.
Blockchain is an inspiring new technology that requires a lot of attention from various researchers and companies. This technology offers various benefits, where the newest derivative of this technology is Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). In NFT, various digital assets such as images, videos, music or virtual creations are traded. The relatively new NFT creates a lack of user knowledge to be able to utilize this technology as a digital asset for trading. On the one hand, users welcome the use of NFTs as a tool to gain financial gain, but on the other hand, there are users who doubt the long-term success of NFTs as a form of investment and see them as a temporary trend that may be detrimental in the event of a market crash. The purpose of this research is to explore various factors that can impact the attitudes of NFT users. The research used a quantitative method which was carried out at the Indonesian NFT Community, involving 377 respondents as a sample. Questionnaires were distributed online using the Google form on the Telegram platform. The data analysis used in this research is by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results of the study show that there are five factors that significantly influence the attitude of NFT users. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived trust, and personal innovativeness have a positive and significant effect on user attitudes, while perceived risk has a negative effect and is one of the factors that has the most impact on user attitudes than other factors, followed by perceived trust in the second position as the most dominant variable. So like any new technology, NFTs have risks and trust issues that most users consider.
Dirk Draheim, Ahto Buldas, Mike Gault, Märt Saarepera
The Web3 vision takes blockchain disintermediation to a next level by making it ubiquitous, encompassing not only payments and financial services but also digital identities, data and business models. Recently, Web3 has gained massive attention by major analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, Forbes Technology Council and the Harvard Business Review. Albeit the current enthusiasm about Web3, we are lost in a state of confusion about what Web3 actually is - or could be. The purpose of this paper is to mitigate the gap between the perceived usefulness of Web3 and its potential implementation. We take a descriptive design science approach. We provide informed arguments for a potential foundation of Web3 in terms of fundamental components, architectural principles and a Web3 design space. We demonstrate the usefulness of the provided Web3 foundation by describing Alphabill, a platform that allows for universal asset tokenization and transfer as a global medium of exchange. The findings of this research enable policy makers, decision makers and information systems architects alike to make informed decisions about Web3 and its potential implementation as follows: (i) The Web3 can be characterized as the integration of digital rights exchange into the (application layer) internet protocols. (ii) The Web3 has the potential to revolutionize today's information systems's landscape by turning today's information systems into deeply standardized views on a huge, single underlying information structure. The killer application of a well-founded Web3 is the Web3 itself -- being the currently missing backbone (value-added middleware) for all of today's and future enterprise applications and business-to-business communication. (iii) The scenario-based evaluation of the provided Web3 foundation reveals the described Alphabill platform as a Web3 enabling technology.