Blockchain technology has been used in finance, health care, supply chain, and transport, with the main goals of improving security and eliminating the need for a third party to manage transactions in the system. In blockchain, smart contracts are used to facilitate negotiation between stakeholders. The sharing economy movement has gained popularity in recent years in various sectors including transport. Ride-sharing has become an important component of sustainable transportation by increasing vehicle utilisation and reducing the number of vehicles on the road. Current ride-sharing systems are centralised with an intermediary maintaining users' data and managing transactions between drivers and passengers. This paper proposes the use of blockchain and in particular smart contracts, to develop decentralised ride-sharing systems. The benefits of having a distributed approach to maintaining users' data and managing transactions between users include more automation, more transparency, better data privacy, and possibly more trust between users.
Experts predict that the use of smart contracts and other applications of blockchain technology can potentially revolutionize the manner in which we do business. Blockchain promises the elimination of middlemen, as well as trust, transparency, and improved access to shared information and records. Thus, it is no surprise that companies and entrepreneurs are now developing blockchain solutions for an array of markets, ranging from real estate to health care. But, can this new technology revolutionize tax administration? Our current tax administration system suffers from a large tax gap, high compliance and administrative costs, and many inefficiencies. Blockchainâs core attributes may present a solution to these shortcomings. This Article is the first to consider the technologyâs potential role in revolutionizing tax administration and the challenges that must be overcome before incorporating blockchain technology into the tax space. The Article demonstrates that implementing a blockchain-based platform for tax administration would present significant opportunities to digitalize and automate certain tax processes, minimize government information constraints, increase the transparency and trustworthiness of tax-related transactions, and reduce costs, data redundancies, and other inefficiencies involved in the tax administration process. The Article concludes, however, that many blockchain tax initiatives are merely aspirational at this point. Governments need to overcome significant challenges and limitations in order to meaningfully take advantage of blockchain technology. It, therefore, sets forth normative steps for policymakers to take in supporting the development of blockchain technology and helping it to realize its full potential in the tax space. By doing so, the Article aims to promote a proactive approach to exploring and understanding the technologyâs benefits, limitations and implications, and thereby to place the government in the best position to harness the advantages of blockchain technology and modernize our system of tax administration.
The real estate market in many African countries reflects inefficiency, indiscipline, suspicion, and fraudulent activity. Beyond the direct personal and financial costs, the friction of the existing property transfer process prevents assets from being utilized and valued at their maximum utility. The frustrations and lack of trust affect most real estate markets across Africa, including Ghana, where we will focus the investigation and examples in this paper. Remarkably, the existing Ethereum blockchain platform and smart contract capabilities can be used to bring efficiency, accuracy, trust, and value to the property transfer and registration process without a significant investment in new infrastructure.
A blockchain is a class of technology that allows the creation and management of \ndifferent forms of decentralised and distributed digital ledgers where data are stored, \nchronologically recorded, transferred and finally shared between the ânodesâ participating in \na peer-to-peer network. These features prima facie clash with the GDPR that informs the EU \ndata protection legislation and is based on a centralised representation of the reality in which \ndata are processed, collected, and recorded in a database controlled by identified subjects. \nThe underpinning idea of this article is diametrically opposed to the one which considers the \ntechnology not GDPR-compliant by default. First, the author argues that the points of tension \ncan be mitigated by technical and/or governance methods, thus acting at both application and \ninfrastructure level. In essence, a case-by-case analysis is the only feasible option to assess the \ncompliance between the regulation and the technology. Second, a further and closer look at \nblockchainâs underlying concepts reveals how both the GDPR and the blockchain have the \nsame purposes but different approaches. More interestingly, the article suggests that the \nblockchain could be seen as a Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET), which might help data \nsubjects gain more control over their personal data and hence support one of the GDPRâs \npurposes (recital 7).
The significance of supply chain collaboration, communication and data exchange along with the importance of the relationships established among interconnected parties in a digital connected world, indicates the power of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to transform the business model. In our study we set out to advance our understanding on how DLT impacts the business model. Since DLT is in its primitive stage of development, most studies focus into the implementation aspect of the technology and limited research has been done into the business model implications. Our research closes that knowledge gap in the literature by answering the question of âWhat are the secondary effects in business model that stem from DLT adoption?â Due to the inherent characteristics of the DLT, in respect to its network facet and the network effects created, we argue for a business ecosystem approach for our research. The main contributions of this paper are twofold. It presents implicit effects on business model beyond the direct trust and data openness aspects, and it also provides managers and scholars a process model for assessing how each implicit effect impacts the various business model dimensions.
âSmart Contractsâ are tools based on distributed ledger technologies deployed in order to increase the efficiency of transactions. Their adoption is growing at an exponential scale due to the undisputable advantages brought by their property of self-executing tasks, yet on the opposite it raises concerns since it does not require any sort of moral scrutiny. In our paper we first address how the current ethical discussion can be framed in Decentralized Ledger Technologies, then we unfold the evolution in legal theory of a decentralized approach â epitomized by the motto âcode is lawâ â finally we focus on âsmart contractsâ discussing the application of âengineering ethicsâ or the implementation of âethical oraclesâ. At the end we conclude with a few remarks and some perspectives for future research.
The essay addresses the issue of the regulation of smart contracts and technologies based on distributed ledgers, as regulated by the national law 12/2019. It highlights some critical issues related to the formulation and understanding of these concepts, definitely relevant for scholars but, at the same time, very complex in their understanding, giving the multidisciplinary implications they are related to. Finally, the essay addresses the two different approaches in the matter, the European and the national one, and underlines the necessity of a more uniform perspective, also in consideration of the missing guidelines by the Agenzia per lâItalia digitale (AgID).
In pursuing its declared mission "to enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure with a safe, secure and compliant payment system that empowers billions of people," Diem encounters apparent resistance from various social fields and politics. On the one hand, many critics recognise dangers to state currency sovereignty and the stability of the financial system; on the other hand, they fear negative developments regarding money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In addition, there are considerable concerns about an ever deeper erosion of privacy, consumer and data protection, which reaches a new dimension by linking such world currencies with already existing social networks governed and controlled by private entities. Under these circumstances, the chance of success of the Diem project clearly depends on the extent to which the aforementioned concerns can be dispelled and whether public trust can be established. Together with an overview of the developments of the Diem project since the inception of the underlying idea, the authors highlight the actors and their respective roles in an infrastructure primarily run and operated on distributed ledger technology (DLT), with computer nodes distributed across different jurisdictions. Moreover, it is argued that the level of control by end users over their digital representations and online footprints remains untested in the context of a worldwide digital financial infrastructure as proposed by Diem. The paper further elaborates and puts data protection and privacy of end users under scrutiny, outlining the need for a self-sovereign identity (SSI) management system in order to address the risks associated with correlation and profiling of individuals concerning their behaviour in payment systems.
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) have changed the regulatory landscape globally. Regulators are working hard to create conducive environment for the deployment of DLT and the blockchain. However, robust growth of technology does not come with speedy regulatory changes. This includes reviewing and adapting regulatory requirements or procedures that may unintentionally inhibit innovation or render them non-viable due to lacuna in law. This article is an attempt to analyse the DLT and blockchain from legal perspectives in Brunei. The issues raised in the article warrant considerable merits of law makersâ attention. The article concludes with several suggestions and recommendations.The paper employs library research with main references to the policy papers, Act and legislations. Where necessary, the paper makes reference to other countries for comparative purposes. The paper includes several suggestions and recommendations for authorityâs consideration. The findings suggest that despite of the existing enabling provisions in Brunei, there is a need to have acomprehensive regulations for blockchain and DLT due to excessive big data and other liabilities issues involves.
Abstract This chapter explores the English law as an example of a particular model for the analysis of intermediated securities. It analyzes the rights of investors through the lens of trust law rather than through bailment and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the no-look-through model. It also reviews cases where individuals hold a relatively small number of securities through a financial service provider, including the Duomatic principle that gives license to the court to override the formal requirements for shareholder decisions contained in the Companies Act. The chapter demonstrates why the intermediated holding structure that has evolved across the world does not sit comfortably with English law. It cites the recent scoping study conducted by the UK Law Commission combined with the UK Governmentâs ambition to attract a global pool of investors, which suggests that the UK Government is motivated to address the problem with the English law.
Charitable giving in legacy systems is subject to several major downsides that can be addressed with decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Centralized legacy charitable organizations often lack foundational transparency and are subject to significant power imbalances that favor the donor and lead to centralization of the charity. Existing legal incentives often lead to so-called Zombie Charities in many jurisdictions. The donative intent can therefore often not be optimally fulfilled. DAOs combine unique feedback loops and transparency features with community governance that address the existing shortcomings of charitable organizations in decentralized structures.
Permissionless blockchains offer an information environment where users can interact privately without fear of censorship. Financial services can be programmatically coded via smart contracts to automate transactions without the need for human intervention or knowing user identity. This new paradigm is known as decentralized finance (DeFi). We investigate Compound (a leading DeFi lending protocol) to show how it works in this novel information environment, who its users are, and what factors determine their participation. On-chain transaction data shows that loan durations are short (31 days on average), and many users borrow to support leveraged investment strategies (yield farming). We show that systemic risk in DeFi arises from concentration and interconnection, and how traditional risk management practices can be challenging for DeFi.
Benedikt C. Eikmanns, Pascal Mehrwald, Isabell M. Welpe, Philipp Sandner
Similar to mobile operating systems, public blockchain infrastructures, such as Ethereum, represent a platform for the development of software applications. Since 2020, we observe the emergence of a rapidly evolving ecosystem of blockchain-based applications called Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which aspires to challenge traditional finance and associated business models. To explore the economic structures that constitute DeFi, we follow an interdisciplinary approach, supplementing information systems (IS) research with strategic management literature. We apply the theoretical lens of strategic groups to identify platform-specific dimensions and conceptualize DeFi as a hierarchical structured platform economy consisting of four strategic groups, namely 1) Token Management Applications, 2) Protocol Platforms, 3) Aggregation Platforms, and 4) Decentralized Financial Services Solutions. Further, we give a market overview of DeFi applications and discover archetypal attributes of the respective groups. Lastly, we present an integrated framework for the analysis of software-based platform ecosystems and derive areas for future research.
With the adoption of blockchain technology, initiatives to provide financial, investment and insurance services to a wide range of users in a decentralized manner have emerged. But can decentralized finance be the alternative to the traditional financial system, or has it only created another "technology playground" for users who are biasedly enthusiastic about crypto-assets? The study examines the key definitions of decentralized finance and then synthesizes them to formulate a new, more complete definition. This is followed by a presentation of the different layers of decentralized finance and their prevalence, as well as an analysis of its benefits and risks. In the conclusions, the author finds that decentralized finance has the potential to provide financial services with an open, transparent and robust infrastructure, and has the possibility of reaching a broad range of users with its basic financial services. However, this requires further development of the sector and effective management of emerging risks.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is an ecosystem of financial applications that are built on top of blockchain networks. DeFi aims to create an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial system that operates without any central authority. Instead, a smart contractâwhich is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between transacting parties written into lines of codeâreplaces financial institutions in the transaction. As a result, DeFi is available to everyone with reliable access to electricity and Internet connectivity. It also serves as a form of non-custodial finance since users maintain full control of their assets and transact through smart contract programs that facilitate peer-to-peer interactions. While DeFi presents huge opportunities, it also poses significant risks to traditional finance ecosystems, including the use of stablecoins and the absence of a know-your-customer framework. This essay argues that for DeFi to secure credibility, it needs to be adequately regulated in a way that aligns with how the technology works.