Blockchain Papers

David Krause

No abstract is available for this record.

Min-Bin Lin, anon anon, Ruitong Wang, Daniel Traian Pele

No abstract is available for this record.

Ihlas Sovbetov

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lacks centralized oversight, often resulting in heightened volatility. In contrast, centralized finance (CeFi) offers a more stable environment with institutional safeguards. Institutional backing can play a stabilizing role in a hybrid structure (HyFi), enhancing transparency, governance, and market discipline. This study investigates whether HyFi-like cryptocurrencies, those backed by institutions, exhibit lower price risk than fully decentralized counterparts. Using daily data for 18 major cryptocurrencies from January 2020 to November 2024, we estimate panel EGLS models with fixed, random, and dynamic specifications. Results show that HyFi-like assets consistently experience lower price risk, with this effect intensifying during periods of elevated market volatility. The negative interaction between HyFi status and market-wide volatility confirms their stabilizing role. Conversely, greater decentralization is strongly associated with increased volatility, particularly during periods of market stress. Robustness checks using quantile regressions and pre-/post-Terra Luna subsamples reinforce these findings, with stronger effects observed in high-volatility quantiles and post-crisis conditions. These results highlight the importance of institutional architecture in enhancing the resilience of digital asset markets.

Lin Cong, Yilei Dong, Yunbo Lu, Qingsong Ruan · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Son Duy Pham, Weihao Han, Hung Xuan, Linh Pham

No abstract is available for this record.

Petar Zhivkov

No abstract is available for this record.

Zhengyang Chen

This paper examines cryptocurrency shock transmission to financial markets and the macroeconomy using a Bayesian structural VAR with Pandemic Priors from 2015 to 2024. By affecting overall risk appetite, cryptocurrency price shocks generate positive financial market spillovers, accounting for 18% of equity and 27% of commodity price fluctuations. Real economic effects are significant in driving investment but remain limited, contributing only 4% to unemployment and 6% to industrial production variance. However, cryptocurrency shocks explain 18% of price-level forecast error variance at long horizons. Narrative analysis reveals sentiment and technology as primary shock drivers. These findings demonstrate cryptocurrency’s deep financial system integration with important inflation implications for monetary policy.

Ravnish

No abstract is available for this record.

Shabnam Bolandhemat

No abstract is available for this record.

Anthony Chidi Nzomiwu

No abstract is available for this record.

Damaris Macharia, Alper Kara, Abdul Jabbar

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to transform the current centralized architecture of traditional payment systems. In this paper, applying a multivocal literature review and a thematic analysis to analyze the grey and academic literature, we identify and categorize the use cases related to DLT-based applications in central bank payment systems functions. We identified six DLT-based use cases as real-time gross settlement systems, cross-border settlements arrangements, infrastructure for central bank digital currencies, information registry and data sharing, and digital know your customer/anti-money laundering applications. Furthermore, we explore the motivation behind adopting DLT and the role of central banks for applicable use cases. Our findings show that the primary and recurrent theme on motivation across the different use cases is to improve efficiency compared to conventional systems. The range of DLT platforms and consensus algorithms that we identified indicates that there is no universal solution that can be applied in all cases. Finally, we provide insights into the current state of research in this niche area. We observe that the practical implementation of the use cases is mostly discussed in the grey literature, which emphasizes its importance in providing complementary perspectives on the practical and theoretical aspects of the use cases.

Shabnam Bolandhemat

Blockchain-based tokenization is transforming the real estate sector, presenting a compelling alternative to the traditional model of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). As the industry shifts from financialization to decentralization, driven by technological advancements, these two models offer different approaches to democratizing real estate investment.REITs have been a foundational aspect of real estate financialization, enabling individual investors to participate in large-scale real estate ventures through fractional ownership of diversified property portfolios. This has broadened the investor base and improved market liquidity. However, the emergence of blockchain technology and decentralized finance (DeFi) introduces a new paradigm: real estate ownership can now be fractionalized into digital tokens. This enhances liquidity, transparency, and accessibility through global 24/7 trading platforms. While REITs have made significant strides in expanding access to real estate investment, blockchain-based tokenization can further enhance these achievements by lowering entry barriers, reducing transaction costs, and decentralizing market operations. Nevertheless, the adoption of blockchain technology in real estate also comes with challenges, including regulatory uncertainties, technological risks, and the need for robust governance frameworks. As the lines between finance and technology continue to blur, it is essential to adapt regulatory frameworks and investment strategies to navigate this evolving landscape. The critical review highlights the future implications of these trends, emphasizing the importance of continued research and regulatory innovation to fully realize the potential of decentralized real estate markets. This is particularly relevant in addressing issues of housing inequality and affordability, as housing serves not only as an investment vehicle but also as a fundamental shelter for people.

Fatemeh Mottaghi, Bertram I. Steininger

No abstract is available for this record.

Agrawal, Shyam Sunder, Kandpal, Vinay, Dhiman, Babli, Mohd Afjal · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Richard Yifan Zhou

No abstract is available for this record.

Anthony Chidi Nzomiwu, Franca Okoye

The rise of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization-converting property, bonds, or commodities into blockchain-based tokens-and its integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols is altering how liquidity is created, credit is intermediated, and monetary signals propagate through the financial system. Rather than replacing central banks, these innovations are rerouting traditional channels: for example, tokenized Treasury bonds on Ethereum now serve as collateral in DeFi lending pools, effectively creating parallel money markets outside regulated banking. This paper investigates the mechanisms through which tokenization and DeFi interact with-and strain-existing monetary and regulatory frameworks. Using a mixed-methods approach (quantitative analysis of on-chain RWA flows, plus interviews with central bankers, fintechs, and supervisors in the EU, Singapore, and Brazil), we ask: (1) How does RWA-backed liquidity in DeFi respond to interest rate changes compared to traditional repo markets? (2) To what extent do DeFi protocols substitute for-or complement-bank intermediation for SMEs? (3) Where do current regulatory perimeters fail to capture systemic linkages (e.g., stablecoin runs affecting tokenized bond markets)? Early evidence suggests that while RWA tokenization can improve market access, it also fragments liquidity and weakens conventional policy transmission-especially when stablecoins (e.g., USDC) become de facto settlement layers. We propose a "functional equivalence" regulatory approach: supervise activities by economic function (e.g., maturity transformation, liquidity provision), not legal form. This work provides timely, empirically grounded input for central banks and regulators navigating the co-evolution of digital and traditional finance.

Nakul Goel

No abstract is available for this record.

Samidh Pal

This study examines how decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms coordinate capital and liquidity through algorithmic mechanisms. Using reproducible on-chain data from the DeFiLlama API, the analysis constructs a structural econometric framework linking micro-level choice, production efficiency, and network spillovers. A sequence of models-conditional logit, nested logit, nested CES, and spatial error-captures how algorithmic inputs, digital capital, and inter-protocol dependencies shape efficiency and systemic behavior. Results show that DeFi protocols exhibit strong internal substitution between algorithmic and traditional inputs, while cross-protocol linkages produce measurable spatial effects in efficiency and growth. The findings highlight how decentralized systems can self-organize productive coordination without central intermediaries, contributing to ongoing debates on financial autonomy, digital liquidity, and algorithmic governance.

Seth Oranburg

No abstract is available for this record.

Vince P. Dangcalan, John Daniel V. Barbadillo, Ed Glen E. Bueno, Cereneo S. Santiago · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Viraj Nadkarni, Jiachen Hu, Ranvir Rana, Chi Jin · 6 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Priti Aggarwal

Decentralized Finance ( DeFi ) has become one of the most disruptive technologies in the blockchain ecosystem with borderless, permissionless and programmable alternatives to traditional financial services. DeFi has grown as an ecosystem to allow people to lend, borrow, trade, and earn through the use of smart contracts and distributed ledgers, without requiring a centralized asset custodian. On the one hand, innovations are expected to further improve the transparency, efficiency, and financial inclusion of the industry; however, on the other hand, they pose a range of risks that question the stability and sustainability of the industry. Important issues that many people should know about relate to weaknesses in the code of smart contracts, risks of liquidity, governance assaults, and the influx of market volatility on users. Besides, the pseudonymous character of the blockchain transactions is characterized by concerns involved with fraud, money laundering and the risk of misuse of financial system. Concurrently, lack of harmonized regulation systems has created a disunified environment where regulation quality is either non-existent or highly variable along the lines of sectors. This presents a regulatory vacuum that not only makes risk management difficult, but also puts institutional adoption and long term integration in the mainstream finance into doubt. In contrast, the blistering pace of innovation in DeFi illuminates its potential to democratite access to capital, decrease transaction costs and transform globalfinancial infrastructures. In this paper, the critical nature of both rewards and risks inherent in DeFi and the current regulatory solutions to this issue and its weaknesses will be discussed. Withvention to further case study examples and potential governance solutions, the study seeks to answer the question of how DeFi can be developed in a sound and accountable manner. To sum up, the paper highlights that there is a need to have a balance of both protecting users, innovation and systemic resilience in an increasingly digital financial environment.

H. Y. Chen

Imagine being able to lend and earn interest without ever having to talk to a bank. That's the vision of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), a fast-growing area of finance that is built on blockchain and smart contracts. This paper discusses how lending sites like Aave, Compound, and MakerDAO work, and why clients from ordinary savers looking for high returns to institutions seeking clout are joining. We delve into the technology behind smart contracts, how they deal with risk using over-collateralization, and what motivates people to lend or borrow under this trustless system. But DeFi is not just a tech story-it's social too. It has the potential to disrupt traditional finance, open up access in underserved communities, and put a strain on global regulatory systems. But challenges of scalability, security, and restricting usage to crypto holders only also raise underlying questions. Drawing on a mix of on-chain data and user case studies, this paper further applies resilience theory to discover how DeFi responds to economic shocks compared to traditional banks. By doing so, it fills a key research gap in terms of the long-term economic contribution of DeFi. We offer policy proposals like undercollateralized lending programs and single point regulation, and argue that DeFi, if carefully constructed, can support goals like decent work and economic growth (UN SDG 8). There needs to be future work on what drives take-up and how DeFi could scale across blockchains and geographies to realize its potential.

Mathew Abraham

No abstract is available for this record.