The term 'trustlessness' has given rise to a common misperception of smart contracts reducing or even eliminating the need for trust. At first glance, smart contracts appear to do away with the need for trust in the counterparty. Since performance is automatic, smart contracts enable the promisee to obtain what has been promised to them, without the need to depend on interpersonal trust vis-a-vis the counterparty or a system of contract law to enforce the promise. However, if we take into account the social, economic, and political contexts in which smart contracts operate, do they override the need for trust? In other words, are they really 'trustless'? We argue that a new set of trust concerns arise in the context of smart contracts, especially when they run on blockchains.
Decentralization is heralded as the most important technological design aspect of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). In this chapter we’ll analyze the concept of decentralization, with the goal to understand the social, legal, and economic forces that produce more or less decentralized techno-social systems. We first give an overview of decentralization as a political ideology and as an ideal and natural endpoint in the development of digital technologies. We then move beyond this discourse and treat decentralization, its extent, its mode, and the systems which it can refer to as the products of particular economic, political, and social dynamics around and within these techno-social systems. We then point at the concrete forces that shape the actual degree of (de)centralization. Through this, we show that the extent to which a techno-social system is (de)centralized at any given moment should not be measured by its distance from an ideological ideal of total decentralization but should be seen as the sum of all the social, economic, political, and legal forces that impact a techno-social system.
One of the pressing legal questions of the energy transition is how to integrate “prosumers”, consumers who start producing electricity, in the electricity market. So far, their influence remains limited or fully absent because their role as independent market participants is barely or not facilitated as they are usually subject to regulated remuneration schemes. Blockchain technology offers changing the approach of “integration in the market” into “becoming the market” by enabling peer-to-peer transactions. Currently, transactions are facilitated by third parties, suppliers and system operators, whose main task is centrally compiling and coordinating information on loads and generation and contracting supply and distribution services. Instead, blockchain technology enables new ways of organising decentralised persons without the immediate need for one centrally connecting entity. This implies profound legal- and policy consequences. Based on information on first use cases of blockchain applications in the electricity sector, this article identifies those main policy implications for EU electricity law and thereby adds to the discussion how blockchain technology could facilitate “prosumers” to develop as independent market participants in the electricity sector from an energy law perspective.
Similar to the Internet several decades ago, Blockchain technology is expected to become a highly disruptive technology that will presumably impact society and economy alike. In this paper we present various scenarios as to how Blockchain might affect the future of work. We build on Self-Determination Theory, which takes into account different types of human needs and motivations, as a theoretical framework. We conducted 24 qualitative interviews with Blockchain experts and created three different scenarios that outline potential future developments. The experts’ opinions range from predicting no significant impact of Blockchain on the work environment toward substantial changes that can have both beneficial and adverse consequences for the work force. In this chapter we detail the three scenarios and further illustrate Blockchain’s potential implications for basic human needs in the context of the future of work.
The subject of the thesis is the parallel digital economy created around the monetary innovation called Bitcoin and the interaction between this technology and its users. Bitcoin is a new kind of digital money and a payment system. Transactions are cryptographically verified by users and subsequently recorded in a publicly distributed account book called blockchain. Bitcoin, as an open-source project, has created a worldwide community of Internet-connected users who are further transforming this cryptocurrency by their specific use. Ethnographic research took place during the meetings of the community surrounding the Prague place called Parallel Polis in the period of years 2017-2018 and was subsequently extended to the "online" world. Bitcoin forms the intersection between technology and the economy, and therefore emphasis is placed on exploring the dynamics that this complex phenomenon creates. The work examines the social practices that actors are constantly shaping on the basis of their various motivations through their participation in Bitcoin and the complex ideas connected with it. It examines the visions, attitudes and practices of the "bitcoiners", who support the functioning of this system and allows its very own existence. These ideas are characterized by certain paradoxes and dilemmas...
It is widely assumed that the selection process in a blockchain is based on proportional winning probabilities. The reliability and security of any blockchain is based upon this assumption. However, making an analogy between the Bitcoin protocol and the classical statistical urn problem, we argue that, at least on a theoretical level, the selection process in several blockchains is based on nonproportional winning probabilities. This reveals a misconception regarding the incentive structure of many blockchain protocols. We develop an empirical approach to testing for nonproportional winning probabilities in any blockchain, and offer a solution to this problem.
A great challenge for democracy is to account for the conflict between the ideal of self-governance and the capacity of the average person to participate in democratic decision-making. This challenge has led some observers to question the defensibility of democracy and consider other systems of social organization. I argue instead that the problem can be solved with a technologically enhanced version of Thomas Christiano’s choice of aims model of democracy. I begin by setting up the voter competency problem: I describe the ideals of democracy and the role that is ascribed to citizens under traditional accounts of democracy, then proceed to a discussion of the empirical evidence that shows how unlikely it is that voters could ever adequately perform such a role. While I consider a number of alternative democratic models which attempt to reconstruct the role of citizens in a way that is consistent with their capacities and with the democratic ideal of self-governance, I find that the choice of aims model strikes this balance in a way that is most tenable. Despite this, I argue that changes to the way information is distributed in modern democracies, to do with the rise of the internet, pose a serious threat to the viability of even this model, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for voters to ascertain reliable information. The second half of the thesis offers support to Christiano’s model in the form of technologically enhanced institutions. Chapter 3 provides a basic understanding of an emerging technology called distributed ledger technology, which offers a new paradigm for how information is stored, controlled, and distributed around society. The final chapter demonstrates how this technology can be used to strengthen democratic institutions so that citizens are able to truly be said to self-govern in a way that is consistent with their capacities.
Democracy requires rules that are designed to prevent the abuse of power and money. Blockchain technology is sometimes heralded as a solution to mitigate the problems associated with voting procedures, such as counting errors, fraud, or the improper use of money to influence the outcome of the collective choice procedure. In this article, I argue that the democratic potential of the blockchain hinges on the specific design of the rules governing the validation of blocks.In support of this argument, I shed light on the governance problems raised by standard protocols such as proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, and on-chain voting.
This paper introduces a use case for blockchain in the field of education. The concept of a social networking DApp (Decentralised App) Edu-Coin that uses the concept of giving the control of their data back to the users, reward them for sharing their skills and using the platform. This idea uses the Tendermint core for blockchain, a framework in which individuals can make peer-to-peer transactions without needing to trust a third party, a blockchain that is based on the Proof of Stake. In Edu-Coin, working professionals can ensure that their skills are validated by an unbiased majority, called validators. It also assesses the Emotional Quotient of an individual. Validators whose responses get accepted to the blockchain are able to earn Edu-Coin, which can be utilized for making different purchases on the site. The platform makes use of one tradable token (Edu-Coin) and one internal accounting token (ERP) that serves as an evaluation of the users on the respective skill sets. This rating can be useful in the evaluation process of educational institutes as well as for professional grading of employees and job applicants.
This study highlights the potential impacts of blockchain technology on the collaborative economy (CE), colloquially known as the sharing economy. This conceptual review first analyzes how the CE intersects with the blockchain technology. Collaborative consumption involves an intensification of peer-to-peer trade, underpinned by robust digital infrastructures and processes, hence an increased use of new technologies and a redefinition of business activities. As an inherently connected economy, the CE is, therefore, prone to integrating the most recent technological advances including artificial intelligence, big data analysis, augmented reality, the smart grid, and blockchain technology. This review then furthers the examination of the organizational and managerial implications related to the use of blockchain technology in terms of governance, transaction costs, and user confidence. A closing case finally examines the role of a prominent social networking site (i.e., Facebook ) in the CE-blockchain nexus.
Peer-to-peer energy trading and next generation local energy market mechanisms are expected to provide new use cases and opportunities within the future sharing economy landscape. To this anticipation, we propose alternative incentive mechanisms as energy policy instruments that can be used by policy makers for directly supporting local energy producers, and hence indirectly the consumers, at current local energy markets using capabilities provided by contemporary distributed ledger technology. Under such peer-to-peer local market setting, we first detail market pricing and relevant market parameters thoroughly, and then we discuss fair incentive distribution to local producers in detail, by means of two distinct incentive systems what we call as the fixed stipend and the decaying stipend incentive mechanisms, respectively. We provide an analysis of market pricing and market parameters under German power market conditions, and an illustration of proposed support instruments with resorting to three scenarios experimented on a local energy market test bed that is equipped with realistic energy generation and consumption profiles for its participants.
Fostering Worker Cooperatives with Blockchain Technology: Lessons from the Colony Project In recent years, there has been growing policy support for expanding worker ownership of businesses in the European Union. Debates on stimulating worker ownership are a regular feature of discussions on the collaborative economy and the future of work, given anxieties regarding the reconfiguration of the nature of work and the decline of standardised employment contracts. Yet, worker ownership, in the form of labour-managed firms such as worker cooperatives, remains marginal. This article explains the appeal of worker cooperatives and examines the reasons why they continue to be relatively scarce. Taking its cue from Henry Hansmann’s hypothesis that organisational innovations can make worker ownership of firms viable in previously untenable circumstances, this article explores how organisational innovations, such as those embodied in the capital and governance structure of Decentralised (Autonomous) Organisations (D(A)Os), can potentially facilitate the growth of LMFs. It does so by undertaking a case study of a blockchain project, Colony, which seeks to create decentralised, self-organising companies where decision-making power derives from high-quality work. For worker cooperatives, seeking to connect globally dispersed workers through an online workplace, Colony’s proposed capital and governance structure, based on technological and game theoretic insight may offer useful lessons. Drawing from this pre-figurative structure, self-imposed institutional rules may be deployed by worker cooperatives in their by-laws to avoid some of the main pitfalls associated with labour management and thereby, potentially, vitalise the formation of the cooperative form.
У статті розглянуті особливості інновацій, що лежать в основі технології розподілених реєстрів, її різновиди, потенційні і фактично реалізовані напрями застосування, організаційні форми відповідних проектів. Показано, як ця технологія трансформується в напрямку наближення до централізованих реєстрів, але водночас стимулює удосконалення і модернізацію останніх. Виявлено, що для максимального використання потенціалу ТРР необхідна інтеграція децентралізованих систем з правовим полем і зміна технології не лише у проблемних ланках, що найбільше виграють від її застосування, а й в середовищах, з якими ці ланки взаємодіють. Як свідчить досвід реально запроваджених ТРР-проектів, найбільш успішними з технічних та інституційних причин виявляються платформи, що перебувають десь посередині спектру централізованих і децентралізованих реєстрів, тож втілення радикальної лібертаріанської місії ТРР ще не знайдено – системам потрібний централізований арбітр, координатор, суб’єкт відповідальності і гнучкість, якої можна досягти за допомогою авторитетного втручання в протокол. Зроблено висновок, що навіть максимальне поширення ТРР не означатиме перемогу мереж над ієрархіями і демократизацію: по-перше, тому, що будь-яким мережам властиві процеси подальшої ієрархієзації, а по-друге, відновлення ієрархічного порядку може виявитися необхідним для запобігання сповзанню в анархію.
Abstract Since new distributed ledger technologies hold out a promise to restructure cross‐border flows of people and material resources, they affect globalization and alter transnational spaces. Their capacity to facilitate secure and disintermediated value transfer through crypto‐code and smart contracts enables novel forms of remittance transfer, resource management and digital identity verification – and may also generate new vulnerabilities. In this article, we examine the use of emerging blockchain applications in various migration and diaspora related initiatives in the emerging economies of Africa, Asia and Europe. By building on existing social networks of mutual obligation and quasi‐ethnic affinities, blockchain technologies may facilitate the ability to enlarge the scope of diasporas and change the nature of belonging, sovereignty, migration and statehood. Through exploring the selective foregrounding of mutuality and materiality in such alternative value transfer systems, we seek to explain the dynamics of trust and agency that these networks generate to extend commitments and loyalties in the transnational space.
This article departs from the post 2008 financial crisis context, from its intersection with technological developments, and from the socio-technical arrangements configured by this conjuncture. It explores plans and actions – of mainstream financial institutions, and of a community seeking for alternatives to centralised economy and governance – for the use of digital platforms supported by blockchain infrastructure. In particular, it explores how such plans and actions relate to conceptions of public and peer trust and how they appear to produce, or reinforce, reputational imaginaries and quantification practices within added value philosophies. By illuminating a tension between the two identified case examples, I seek to render alternative communities’ and financial institutions’ conceptions, imaginaries and practices (more) visible and to analyse their organisational marketing strategies – where there is a pragmatic and discursive operationalisation of technology as well as of trust as means to gain more self-sovereignty in action, while navigating markets and regulated actual world contexts.
Abstract The emerging blockchain technology is expected to contribute to the transformation of ownership, government services and global supply chains. By analysing a crisis that occurred with one of its frontrunners, Ethereum, in this article I explore the discrepancies between the purported governance of blockchains and the de facto control of them through expertise and reputation. Ethereum is also thought to exemplify libertarian techno‐utopianism. When ‘The DAO’, a highly publicized but faulty crowd‐funded venture fund was deployed on the Ethereum blockchain, the techno‐utopianism was suspended, and developers fell back on strong network ties. Now that the blockchain technology is seeing an increasing uptake, I shall also seek to unearth broader implications of the blockchain for the proliferation or blockage of global finance and beyond. Contrasting claims about the disruptive nature of the technology, in this article I show that, by redeeming the positive utopia of ontic, individualized debt, blockchains reinforce our belief in a crisis‐ridden, financialized capitalism.
Italian Abstract: Blockchain puo significare anche riorganizzazione dei sistemi di sicurezza sociale. Di qui l'idea di approfondire l'applicazione possibile della blockchain a alcuni istituti previdenziali, tra cui il distacco europeo, l'invalidita e il REI, per definire il quadro delle potenzialita e delle criticita. Nel saggio si studia anche il concetto di smart contract.
English Abstract: Blockchain technologies and smart contracts can be applied to social security systems. The paper is aimed at investigating the possible social fields of such application, the legal consequences, the critical points. Posting and invalidity benefits regimes are examined in light of the possible application of blockchain.
This article examines the labor power of digital miners. Though an obscure and still incipient facet of the digital economy, crypto‐mining powers and secures transactions across blockchains, or public distributed digital ledgers. Drawing from interviews with cryptocurrency enthusiasts, blockchain advocates, and developers; participation in online and offline discussions; and a survey with small‐scale crypto‐miners, this article takes on the material and technoscientific valuation of crypto‐mining to understand how a future of open, decentralized accountability implicates human labor alongside automated processes. The work of digital mining, performed in the work of inscribing, registering, and politically organizing mining operations, enables the formation of democratic communities in the digital economy and remains inevitably embedded in social relations as a mode of productive, meaningful action.