Smart contracts, known for their immutable nature to ensure trust via automated enforcement, have evolved to require upgradeability due to unforeseen vulnerabilities and the need for feature enhancements post-deployment. This contradiction between immutability and the need for modifications has led to the development of upgradeable smart contracts. These contracts are immutable in principle yet upgradable by design, allowing updates without altering the underlying data or state, thus preserving the contract's intent while allowing improvements. This study aims to understand the application and implications of upgradeable smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. By introducing a dataset that catalogs the versions and evolutionary trajectories of smart contracts, the research explores key dimensions: the prevalence and adoption patterns of upgrade mechanisms, the likelihood and occurrences of contract upgrades, the nature of modifications post-upgrade, and their impact on user engagement and contract activity. Through empirical analysis, this study identifies upgradeable contracts and examines their upgrade history to uncover trends, preferences, and challenges associated with modifications. The evidence from analyzing over 44 million contracts shows that only 3% have upgradeable characteristics, with only 0.34% undergoing upgrades. This finding underscores a cautious approach by developers towards modifications, possibly due to the complexity of upgrade processes or a preference for maintaining stability. Furthermore, the study shows that upgrades are mainly aimed at feature enhancement and vulnerability mitigation, particularly when the contracts' source codes are accessible. However, the relationship between upgrades and user activity is complex, suggesting that additional factors significantly affect the use of smart contracts beyond their evolution.
The latest advancements in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and payment architectures such as the UK's New Payments Architecture, present opportunities for leveraging the hidden informational value and intelligence within payments. In this paper, we present Smart Money, an infrastructure capability for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) which enables real-time Value Added Tax split payments, oversight, controlled access and smart policy implementation. This capability is implemented as a prototype, called Making Tax Smart (MTS), which is based on the open source R3 Corda framework. The results presented herein confirm that it is feasible to build a MTS capability which is scalable and co-exists with the current payment systems. Smart Money CBDC has the potential to mobilise payments data in order to transform the role of money from a blunt instrument to a government policy sensor and actuator without disrupting the existing money system. DLT, smart contracts and programmable money have a crucial role to play with benefits for government departments, the economy and society as a whole.
In this zealous word, for a better understanding of a decentralized system, might take a revolution in the traditional banking system. This chapter examines the relationship between decentralized finance that is DeFi and technology readiness in the context of a smart global value chain. As a substitute for the centralized finance system, blockchain technology creates the groundwork for efficiency, transparency, and safety. It helps in a decentralized financial ecosystem. This chapter provides a deep introduction, working and delving into the concept of DeFi. This chapter talks about significant elements with the combination of blockchain census process, (DAPPs) that is decentralized apps, and smart contracts. Secondly, it also examines the decentralized banking system (DeFi) that is currently used in terms of technology maturity, with elements like interoperability, safety, security, and scalability. With the help of a decentralized system development of DeFi is discussed under the friction of lower transactions, democratizing access to financial services, and reducing the risk of counterparty. Various case studies and empirical research demonstrate how DeFi banking practices are posing a threat. DeFi promotes financial inclusion and is also beneficial economically and opens new doors for economic benefits. This chapter evaluates the regulatory and financial benefits of the DeFi method. Artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) and technology are also covered in it. For the decentralized banking services complex technologies and other financial ecosystems can be improved so that working on technologies, AI can increase and make work more effective, quick, and easy for making the system decentralized.
Purpose This study explores the factors impacting user adoption and trust in blockchain-based food delivery systems, with a spotlight on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). In the evolving food delivery sector, blockchain offers transparency and efficiency. Through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) lens, this research provides insights for businesses and policymakers, highlighting the importance of blockchain’s integration into food delivery. Design/methodology/approach The research employed the UTAUT and its extensions as the theoretical framework. A structured questionnaire was developed and disseminated to users of the ONDC platform, and responses were collected on a seven-point extended Likert scale. The analyses were undertaken employing the partial least squares (PLS) methodology and structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings Key factors like performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence were found influential for adoption. Trust played a central role, while perceived risk didn’t significantly mediate the adoption process. Digital culture didn’t significantly moderate the adoption intention. Originality/value This research adds to the existing body of knowledge by providing empirical insights into user adoption and trust in blockchain-based food delivery platforms. It is among the pioneer studies to apply the UTAUT model in the realm of blockchain-based food delivery platforms, thereby offering a unique perspective on the dynamics of user behaviour in this emerging field.
The financial landscape is rapidly evolving, presenting challenges for traditional systems. In response, the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector is emerging, driven by blockchain technology. This project, “DeFinance: Decentralised Lending and Borrowing of Digital Assets” aims to revolutionize financial services by providing an efficient, transparent, and inclusive lending and borrowing platform. Modules such as the dashboard, wallet connector, portfolio, markets, lending pool, and borrowing collectively offer users a comprehensive financial services platform. The key goals include trustless and transparent solutions, capital diversification, real-world asset tokenization, and seamless integration into the DeFi ecosystem. The project envisions a financial future marked by decentralization, inclusivity, and financial empowerment.
Blockchain technology enables innovative financing models in supply-chain finance. This research constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model that includes core enterprises as employers, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as contractors, and banks as financial institutions, where they have been simulated for their impact on blockchain technology, especially on the strategic choices of supply-chain financing behavior and the system’s evolutionary path under core enterprises’ guarantee mechanism. The findings show the application of blockchain technology can effectively reduce the regulatory and review costs for financial institutions, thereby enhancing the efficiency of supply-chain financing. Particularly, blockchain technology provides a more reliable credit endorsement platform for SMEs in reducing their tendency to default. The guarantee mechanism of core enterprises is more effective with the support of blockchain technology, which helps to build more solid supply-chain financial cooperation relationships. The research contributes to the theoretical research on the integration of blockchain technology into supply-chain finance, especially for improving the operational efficiency of financial services. It also highlights the need for blockchain-backed guarantees from core enterprises in optimizing supply-chain financial services.
This thesis investigates the impact of design solutions on the execution costs of Ethereum smart contracts, focusing on gas consumption at function level. The work analyzes real-world smart contracts and combines transaction data from Etherscan, function similarity analysis through SmartEmbed and ANTLR, and statistical testing to identify design patterns associated with higher execution costs. Starting from a dataset of Solidity smart contract functions, the study identifies highly similar function pairs with divergent gas costs and manually examines the surrounding contract context to detect recurring design differences. These patterns are then grouped into broader categories and evaluated through statistical analysis to assess their relationship with gas consumption. The results provide practical insights for developers and researchers interested in designing more efficient, sustainable, and cost-aware smart contracts on Ethereum.
Data offers companies the potential for a future competitive advantage as a strategic resource. Companies own a wide variety of data, from customer data, transaction data to supply chain data. To date, most companies exlusively rely on their own data. However, through efficient data sharing, companies can extend their databases and improve the quality of the data. In doing so, they jointly enhance the quality of data-driven decision-making, derive better business ideas, and improve their internal processes. To share their data, companies can decide between two options: Sharing data on established centralized databases on digital platforms or exploring decentralized distributed ledger technologies like blockchain. These two differ not only in their architecture (centralized/decentralized), but also in data privacy, access control, data security, and governance. This dissertation contains seven scientific articles that emphasize the strategic importance of data sharing. In particular, scientific and practical decision-makers can learn about the benefits and risks of data sharing and can base their willingness to share data on a more comprehensive knowledge foundation.
This chapter delves into the intersection of decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization within financial technology (FinTech). As the financial landscape continues to undergo rapid transformations, integrating decentralized and tokenized solutions has become a significant trend. This chapter explores the current state of DeFi and tokenization in Fintech and analyzes their synergies, challenges, and potential future developments with real-life case studies. The study also investigates the impact of these technologies on traditional financial systems, regulatory considerations, and the evolution of new financial instruments.
Business models of industries and ventures enabled by new and emerging technologies are under-developed and fragmented. The blockchain technology promises to disrupt the business models. However, the scholarly literature in blockchain research is only beginning to emerge, and the majority are focused on the technical aspect leaving aside the business model complexities for blockchain applications. This paper fills this gap and proposes a blockchain business model framework. The research utilizes a sequential exploratory research design (SERD), encompassing two key phases: an initial phase involving a literature review and interviews to delineate blockchain business model building blocks and types, followed by a subsequent survey to identify the most pertinent building blocks and types. The findings helped to formulate the framework, necessary building blocks, and block types specifically for the blockchain applications. Organizations can tailor their business model through various configuration options and mechanisms, considering the arrangement of block types within each block according to their significant score levels. By giving priority to those with scores above the block's average, organizations can evaluate the performance of their models and pinpoint areas for enhancement. The proposed framework can be considered as a reference point for developing business models for blockchain applications. • Enhances current knowledge by classifying specific building blocks and types within the blockchain business model. • Outlines the blockchain business model, highlighting possible building blocks and types. • Creates an instrument to configure and measure the blockchain business model. • Determines the significance of different building blocks and types to aid decision-making in providing blockchain solutions.
A few years ago, scalability seemed to be the greatest challenge in the development of the blockchain space. But the challenge has subsided since new ecosystems have opted for different consensus mechanisms to solve the problem. Yet, various new ecosystems emerged separately and independently. The resulting silos are not the interconnected world which is often envisioned as the future of the internet. Therefore, the importance of cross-chain infrastructure and applications became increasingly obvious. In this article, the current landscape of DLT interconnectivity, what it can enable and what the future might hold are presented from a practitioner’s view. A special focus is placed on the phenomenon of decentralized finance, cross-chain contracts and layer-2 solutions.
The implementation of EIP-1559 changed Ethereum’s transaction fee mechanism, including variable-size blocks and a burned base fee that rises and falls with demand. The goal of this paper is to forecast the tip component of the gas price within the new incentive model applied after EIP-1559. An easy estimation of gas price was a design goal in 1559, as it is crucial for the UX experience of users of the Ethereum network. The dataset will include a mix of the most important features and metrics like TVL, market sentiment, NFT aggregated data, and block and transaction information not only for Ethereum but also for potential substitute networks. Our models forecast the non-deterministic part of the gas price (tips), in particular the minimum tip so that a transaction will be included in a block over the next hour with a probability above 90 percent. The observed MAEP for the selected models is below 5 percent.
Essais sur les dynamiques de marché et la stabilité en Finance Décentralisée Cette thèse se concentre sur la compréhension et l'évaluation de la stabilité de la Finance Décentralisée, dans le but de renforcer l'ensemble de l'écosystème financier.Le premier chapitre explore les Automated Market Makers (AMM), soulignant leur évolution depuis les marchés de prédiction vers les Constant Function Market Makers (CFMMs), et examine leur compétitivité par rapport aux plateformes d'échange centralisées. Il aborde également la valeur maximale extractible (MEV) et ses implications pour les DEXs.Le deuxième chapitre se penche sur la microstructure des DEXs, en particulier Uniswap, et évalue sa capacité à aligner les prix avec ceux des marchés centralisés. Il met en lumière l'impact des coûts d'inventaire sur la précision des prix d'Uniswap, montrant une réactivité réduite des traders aux écarts de prix lorsque les tailles de pool augmentent, mais une convergence plus rapide des prix pour les paires stablecoin-stablecoin.Le troisième chapitre analyse la contagion financière au sein de Compound V2, un protocole de prêt décentralisé sur Ethereum. Il propose une méthodologie pour construire les bilans comptables des pools de liquidité de Compound et simule des scénarios de défaut pour évaluer la robustesse du protocole.Dans l'ensemble, cette thèse approfondit notre compréhension de la DeFi en examinant sa stabilité, sa microstructure de marché et les risques de contagion. Son objectif est de contribuer à un écosystème financier plus résilient et durable en enrichissant la discussion sur la DeFi.
Blockchain technology has garnered significant attention in recent years due to its capacity to offer secure and transparent transactional systems. However, the technology's inherent immutability can present challenges in specific scenarios. While earlier research has concentrated on the development of redactable blockchain, existing solutions have primarily focused on the modification mechanism, often overlooking the critical element of an incentive mechanism for governance, which is paramount for ensuring the security of redactable blockchain. Some previous researches have explored the design of incentive mechanisms, but these studies exhibit certain shortcomings. To promote active participation, we have designed an incentive mechanism rooted in evolutionary game theory for stakeholders in redactable blockchain, aiming to facilitate the governance of redactable blockchain. Furthermore, we have conducted a comprehensive simulation founded on game-theoretic analysis. The results substantiate the effectiveness of our redactable blockchain incentive mechanism in achieving its intended objectives.
Abstract This paper focuses on the development and deployment of a dApp (decentralized Application) for Smart Crop Production Data exchange (SCPDx) that runs on Antelope blockchain/IPFS infrastructure. The paper emphasizes practical approaches to dApp design and deployment, analyses architectural patterns of dApps, and underlines the role of smart contracts in implementing complex functionality. The paper’s contribution is the detailed description of the main smart contracts and the practical knowledge provided on the architecture and implementation of dApps, emphasizing the challenges and solutions in the development process, especially in the context of smart contract implementation. Future developments of the application towards additional data types processing, and design of an interface for leveraging, testing, and evaluating the performance of open source Large Language Models (LLMs) on specific datasets are commented on.
Processing checks has long been an integral element of the banking industry, allowing for safe and hassle-free money transfers. However, there are several issues with the efficiency, timeliness, and openness of the conventional ways of processing cheques. This study presents a system for cheque processing that makes use of blockchain technology and smart contracts to address these problems. Blockchain's immutability and decentralization, together with smart contracts' automaticity and programmability, are used in this framework to improve the process of checking. The architecture uses a distributed ledger to guarantee openness, safety, and auditability at every stage. To facilitate streamlined and unchangeable record-keeping, this framework proposes to digitize checks and represent them as unique tokens on the blockchain. Cheque verification, permission, clearing, and settlement are just some of the processes that may be automated with the use of smart contracts.
Milionis et al.(2023) studied the rate at which automated market makers leak value to arbitrageurs when block times are discrete and follow a Poisson process, and where the risky asset price follows a geometric Brownian motion. We extend their model to analyze another popular mechanism in decentralized finance for onchain trading: Dutch auctions. We compute the expected losses that a seller incurs to arbitrageurs and expected time-to-fill for Dutch auctions as a function of starting price, volatility, decay rate, and average interblock time. We also extend the analysis to gradual Dutch auctions, a variation on Dutch auctions for selling tokens over time at a continuous rate. We use these models to explore the tradeoff between speed of execution and quality of execution, which could help inform practitioners in setting parameters for starting price and decay rate on Dutch auctions, or help platform designers determine performance parameters like block times.
This paper investigates the potential of integrating supply chain management with blockchain technology, specifically by implementing smart contracts on the Ethereum network using Solidity. The paper explores supply chain management concepts, blockchain, distributed ledger technology, and smart contracts in the context of their integration into supply chains to increase traceability, transparency, and accountability with faster processing times. After investigating these technologies’ applications and potential use cases, a framework for smart contract implementation for supply chain management is constructed. Potential data models and functions of a smart contract implementation improving supply chain management processes are discussed. After constructing a framework, the effects of the proposed system on supply chain processes are explained. The proposed framework increases the reliability of the supply chain history due to the usage of DLT (distributed ledger technology). It utilizes smart contracts to increase the manageability and traceability of the supply chain. The proposed framework also eliminates the SPoF (Single Point of Failure) vulnerabilities and external alteration of the transactional data. However, due to the ever-changing and variable nature of the supply chains, the proposed architecture might not be a one-size-fits-all solution, and tailor-made solutions might be necessary for different supply chain management implementations.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a commitment between a client and provider that assures the quality of service (QoS) a client can expect to receive when purchasing a service. However, evidence of SLA violations in Internet of Things (IoT) service monitoring data can be manipulated by the provider or consumer, resulting in an issue of trust between contracted parties. The following research aims to explore the use of blockchain technology in monitoring IoT systems using smart contracts so that SLA violations captured are irrefutable amongst service providers and clients. The research focuses on the development of a Java library that is capable of generating a smart contract from a given SLA. A smart contract generated by this library is validated through a mock scenario presented in the form of a Remote Patient Monitoring IoT system. In this scenario, the findings demonstrate a 100 percent success rate in capturing all emulated violations.
This paper introduces a novel incentivization scheme tailored for a leaderless Directed Acyclic Graph-based Distributed Ledger Technology. The distinctive feature of the proposed scheme lies in enabling a no-fee environment with a fixed supply token, all while incorporating a robust anti-spam mechanism and a well-defined incentivization scheme.
In blockchain based decentralized finance, cross-chain payment channel is a crucial component for achieving the interoperability among different software-defined blockchain systems. However, there are still some challenges in existing payment channels scenarios. First, payment channels need to be established through intermediaries with service fees, but no one has developed a suitable strategy for pricing the service fees currently. Second, these scenarios disclose sensitive information when intermediaries are engaged with cross-chain requests. Last but not least, the payment channel established currently tend to lack robust mechanisms for protecting the details of transactions during trading phase. To address the above challenges, this paper proposes a zero knowledge empowered payment channel to enhance privacy and transaction details protection with intermediary pricing strategy. Specifically, we develop the pricing strategy based on GARCH model with market dynamics. Moreover, we design a mechanism based on Pedersen commitments for verifiable proofs to preserve privacy in cross-chain requests. Finally, we construct the payment channel with zk-SNARKs to guard transaction details during trading phase. The experiment demonstrates our approach develops optimal pricing strategy and offer enhanced privacy and anonymity assurances.
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a truoblemaking technology with the prospective to reform the financial landscape. This research study future aim to explore and evaluate the topic of the adoption process of cryptocurrencies from many perspectives. This research study is based on secondary data possessed by researchers from various sources i.e journal, articles, magazines, newpapers, and papers reviewed by the researcher. It was shown in secondary data that the cryptocurrency landscape continues to mature and overcome the challenges it faces, and the prospect of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies revolutionizing the worldwide financial framework and redesigning how we engage in transaction, preserve wealth, and obtain financial affordable appears more plausible. A digital currency centric environment can offer openings for fresh participants in the market and support new businesses by streamlining the fundraising procedure. Initial coin offerings allow entrepreneurs and investors to fund new ventures without relying on intermediaries and approvals from conventional investors and financial institutions. Cryptocurrency represents an ongoing progression guiding by a varied and fervent community encompassing developers, innovators, financiers, and adopters. The route of monetary evolution undergoes reinterpretation, with digital currencies like Bitcoin assuming a very important role in this dynamic metamorphosis.