Blockchain Papers

Trung H. Le, Hung Xuan, Duc Khuong Nguyen, Ahmet Şensoy

No abstract is available for this record.

Thi Ngoc Lan Le, Emmanuel Joel Aikins Abakah, Aviral Kumar Tiwari

No abstract is available for this record.

Khaled Mokni, Ahdi Noomen Ajmi, Elie Bouri, Xuan Vinh Vo

No abstract is available for this record.

Hongwei Zhang, Peijin Wang

No abstract is available for this record.

A.A.K.K. Jayawardhana, Sisira Colombage

Blockchain technology is an extension of distributed ledger technology and it is used in cryptocurrencies. Many studies describe blockchain technology and cryptocurrency is an application of it in a very broad sense. Blockchain technology has several applications. Some of these applications could have direct or indirect relevance to either or both pillars of sustainability advocated by Crowther, Seifi, and Wond (2019). Extending to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, one possible connection to sustainability may be the reduction of the use of paper for printing currency notes, which can save forests. Furthermore, the growing cryptocurrency market attracted the investors to focus on the price fluctuations but making them forget about the terrifying carbon problem associated with cryptocurrencies. However, this possibility has not been demonstrated anywhere so far. The issue examined here is how blockchain technology can be used for solving sustainability problems. We initiate a qualitative study of the blockchain technology/cryptocurrency and sustainability using the twin pillars of sustainability: (1) responsibility, (2) governance. An exploratory review linking blockchain technology/cryptocurrency and sustainability and its two pillars revealed many actual and trial applications by corporates as CSR initiatives and other novel programs by various agencies in various countries. In governance, corporates use the CSR route to address sustainability issues. However, no definition is an available linking cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and sustainability and we developed a definition to fill the gap. This paper stresses that the sustainability perspective has not been used to develop the cryptocurrency definition, but rather technological and legal perspectives have employed.

Khaled Lafi AL-Naif

This study aims to explore the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) effects on gold and bitcoin prices variabilities and on the relationship between each of them, both prices are denominated in USD.The study period is divided into two groups, first group included 120 workdays before 30 January 2020 when WHO first declared COIVD-19 outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, and the second group included 120 observations post that date. The period as a total extends from June. 24, 2019 to 22 of May 2020.To this end, the study used the appropriate statistical tools including stationery and unit root test, Levene's test for the equality of variances, correlation, least squares regression, and pairwise Granger causality test.The results of testing the equality of variances and homogeneity between each of the study groups before and after COVID 19 revealed a strong rejection of the null hypothesis of equal variances for gold but not bitcoin which was accepted. The results also indicate a significant relationship between gold and bitcoin before and after COVID-19, but the sign changed from negative to positive respectively.Finally, the study concludes that there were significant effects of COIVD-19 on gold but not bitcoin prices. These results are consistent with gold’s traditional role as a safe-haven in crises, and bitcoin as a ‘virtual gold’ which has some similarities, and likely to be complementary rather than in a competion with gold.

Olga Martynov

Cutting edge technology behind cryptocurrency can revolutionize payment systems and transform the global economy. However, data shows cryptocurrencies major limitation, such as the significant energy consumption due to the high computing power requirement (De Vries, 2018). Moreover, recent study published in Nature claims that increasing carbon dioxide emissions from Bitcoin mining alone could lead to a 2° C increase in global mean average temperatures within 30 years (CRS, 2019). The definition of the circumstances under which cryptocurrencies evolution could be beneficial, or scenarios when it becomes a dramatic burden on society is needed. This research aims to estimate cryptocurrencies’ benefits by comparing its market value against its electric costs and associated social and environmental externalities in ten years from now. My research examines cryptocurrencies true profitability through cost-benefit analysis and evaluates its environmental footprint, utilizing a range of scenarios and various models. To address my research questions, I test two hypotheses. First, if cryptocurrencies’ adoption rate follows the broadly used technologies growth pattern scenario, then in ten years, cryptocurrency’s mining will require more electricity than consumed by the entire United States in 2018. Secondly, if the penetration of renewable energy into the electricity supply mix used by mining remains at current levels, I project that cryptocurrencies’ fossil fuels consumption growth will lead to carbon dioxide emissions reaching 2018 United States CO2 emissions mark (5,269MMmt) (EIA, 2019). The findings of this study show that by 2028, amount of cryptocurrencies market value needed to support economic activities will expand from current $240 billion to a range between 2.4 trillion USD to 2.9 trillion USD. The rising electricity requirements to produce cryptocurrencies could lead to likely electricity consumption of 293TWh (equivalent to 1 % of US energy consumed in 2018). This electricity consumption level would generate electricity costs ranging between 23 to 57 billion USD per year and carbon emissions ranging between 53 to 63.6 MtCO2. The research results do not suggest that cryptocurrency is “burning down the planet”, but the negative externalities identified in the research should be considered. For example, the results illustrate a scenario where each 1 USD of cryptocurrency coin value created would be responsible for 0.66 UDS in health and climate damages. The externalities discussed in this study can be valuable for the development of standards around disclosure practices and in setting the right rules concerning adoption of blockchain and encrypted currencies.

Fang Zhang

No abstract is available for this record.

Shangrong Jiang, Yuze Li, Quanying Lu, Yongmiao Hong · 7 authors

Abstract The large energy consumption and the associated carbon emission of the Bitcoin blockchain operations are growing to a non-negligible problem that could potentially undermine the sustainable efforts of many countries around the world. In this paper, we make the first and original attempt to investigate the carbon emission flows of the Bitcoin blockchain operations in China under different carbon policies with a Bitcoin blockchain carbon emission (BBCE) model. We find that without any policy interventions, the annual energy consumption of the Bitcoin blockchain in China is expected to maximize in 2024 at 296.59 Twh and generate 130.50 million metric tons of carbon emission flows correspondingly, which would exceed the annualized greenhouse gas emission level of the Czech Republic and Portugal in 2016. Moreover, the maximum carbon emission per GDP of the Bitcoin industry is estimated to reach 10.77 kg/USD in June 2026 based on benchmark assessments. In addition, policies that induce changes in the energy consumption structure of the mining activities may be more effective than intuitive punitive measures in limiting the total amount of carbon emission in the Bitcoin blockchain operation. In particular, we find that market access policy has an incentive effect on the emission reduction of the Bitcoin industry. After evaluating the policy effectiveness, we provide some novel insights for the sustainable operations of the disruptive blockchain technology by analyzing the carbon emissions pattern of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Nuri Avşarlıgil

Bu çalışma ile 2019 Aralık ayında Çin Halk Cumhuriyeti’nde ortaya çıkan ve 13 Ocak 2020 tarihinde Covid-19 olarak tanımlanan virüsün tüm Dünya’yı etkilemesi sonucunda, finansal piyasalarda yaşanan kırılma ve değişikliklerin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Salgın öncesi dönemde yapılan eş bütünleşme analizi sonrası West Texas Ham Petrol fiyatı (WTI), Bitcoin (BTC) ve Euro/Dolar paritesi (EUR) değişkenlerinin aralarında eş bütünleşme ilişkisi olmadığı görülürken, salgın sonrası dönemde ise üç değişken arasında anlamlı bir eş bütünleşme hareketi olduğu belirlenmiştir. Yani, salgın öncesi aralarında eş bütünleşik bir hareket olmayan BTC, EUR ve WTI arasında ortak bir davranış şekli gelişmiş ve eş bütünleşik hareket etmeye başlamışlardır. Salgın öncesi ve sonrası seriler açısından ortalamaların önemli ölçüde değiştiği ve WTI’daki değişimin BTC’de değişimin bir nedeni olduğu, bunun yanı sıra EUR’daki değişiminde WTI fiyatının da bir değişikliğe neden olduğu görülmüştür. Ayrıca yapısal kırılmalı birim kök testlerinden Zivot-Andrews birim kök testi sonucunda, hem WTI hem BTC hem de EUR için covid-19 salgını başlangıcında her hangi bir yapısal kırılma olmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır. İlerleyen dönemde, söz konusu değişkenlerin birbirleriyle olan ilişkilerinin incelenmesi, gerçekleşen dönüşümün devamlılığını anlayabilmek açısından oldukça önemlidir.

Ehsan Bagheri, Seyed Babak Ebrahimi

No abstract is available for this record.

Abdelkader Derbali, Lamia Jamel, Monia Ben Ltaifa, Ahmed K. Elnagar · 5 authors

Purpose This paper provides an important perspective to the predictive capacity of Fed and European Central Bank (ECB) meeting dates and production announcements for the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) between Bitcoin and energy commodities returns and volatilities during the period from August 11, 2015 to March 31, 2018. Design/methodology/approach To assess empirically the unanticipated component of the US and ECB monetary policy, the authors pursue the Kuttner's approach and use the federal funds futures and the ECB funds futures to assess the surprise component. The authors use the approach of DCC as introduced by Engle (2002) during the period from August 11, 2015 to March 31, 2018. Findings The authors’ results suggest strong significant DCCs between Bitcoin and energy commodity markets if monetary policy surprises are incorporated in variance. These results confirmed the financialization of Bitcoin and commodity energy markets. Finally, the DCC between Bitcoin and energy commodity markets appears to respond considerably more in the case of Fed surprises than ECB surprises. Originality/value This study is a crucial topic for policymakers and portfolio risk managers.

Sercan Ozcan, Serhan Ünalan

Blockchain is considered to be a general-purpose technology (GPT) by many scholars. However, previous studies offer no proof that Blockchain is a GPT. Thus, approximately 2500 Blockchain-related patent data are investigated by deploying the mixed-method approach, using patentometrics with the support of semi-structured interviews conducted with Blockchain experts. This article investigates six main GPT indicators: pervasiveness, improvement, spawning, prevalence, reallocation of resources, and inclusive democratization. Overall, the results demonstrate that Blockchain has not yet become a GPT, though it already shows some GPT characteristics. There are six specific findings: 1) Blockchain shows pervasive characteristics; 2) Blockchain is capable of further improvement; 3) Blockchain facilitates and encourages the creation of innovations; 4) several countries with strong R&D capabilities, particularly China and the United States, are showing the prevalence of Blockchain technology; 5) the Blockchain landscape is witnessing greater participation of “younger” companies; and 6) Blockchain is strongly related to the Information and Communication Technology domain with the potential of inclusivity and democratization. China and the United States have the potential to influence the future development of Blockchain technology. This article is assumed to be of great interest to a broad spectrum of stakeholders, such as scholars and policymakers.

Mikhail Stolbov, Maria Shchepeleva

No abstract is available for this record.

Muhandiramge Rodrigo, Srinath Perera, Sepani Senaratne, Xiaohua Jin

Carbon emissions are categorised as Embodied Carbon (EC) occurring in the production phase and Operational Carbon (OC) occurring in the operational phase of buildings. The current focus on producing zero-carbon buildings, emphasises reducing OC and ignores the importance of reducing EC emissions. This study focuses on EC. Methods available in EC estimating currently produce estimates that often do not complement each other. This makes it important to develop a robust and accurate methodology for estimating EC. Blockchain is an emerging technology that has significant potential for transaction processing in supply chains. The construction industry being the second least digitalised industry, the adoption of innovative technologies is predominantly important. This paper explores the potential application of blockchain for accurate estimation of EC in construction supply chains. A detailed literature review and expert interviews revealed that, compared to traditional information systems, blockchain systems could eliminate issues in EC estimating highlighting its potential credible application for EC estimating. Scalability was identified as a feature that was lacking in a blockchain system, however, for EC estimating, its impact was identified as minimal. It will be difficult to generalise the findings of the study due to interview based qualitative methodology adopted in this study along with the fact that blockchain is an emerging and fairly new technology. However, a similar process could be followed by other studies to compare blockchain with traditional information systems, to evaluate the suitability of blockchain technology to develop prototype systems.

Anupam Dutta, Debojyoti Das, Rabin K. Jana, Xuan Vinh Vo

No abstract is available for this record.

Muhammad Farooque, Vipul Jain, Abraham Zhang, Zhi Li

No abstract is available for this record.

Natthinee Thampanya, Muhammad Ali Nasir, Toan Luu Duc Huynh

No abstract is available for this record.

Toan Luu Duc Huynh, Erik Hille, Muhammad Ali Nasir

No abstract is available for this record.

Mobeen Ur Rehman

No abstract is available for this record.

Khánh Hoàng, Cuong Nguyen, Kongchheng Poch, Thang Xuan Nguyen

This paper examines the connectedness between Bitcoin and commodity volatilities, including oil, wheat, and corn, during the period Oct. 2013–Jun. 2018, using time- and frequency-domain frameworks. The time-domain framework’s results show that the connectedness is 23.49%, indicating a low level of connection between Bitcoin and the commodity volatilities. Bitcoin contributes only 2.55% to the connectedness, while the wheat volatility index accounts for 12.51% of the total connectedness. The frequency connectedness shows that Bitcoin’s contribution to the total connectedness increases from high-frequency to low-frequency bands, and the total connectedness reaches up to 22.47%. It also indicates that Bitcoin is the spillover transmitter to the wheat volatility, while being the spillover receiver from the oil and corn volatilities. The findings suggest that Bitcoin could be a hedger for commodity volatilities.

Qiang Wang, Min Su

No abstract is available for this record.

Ling-Ou Wang, Haitao Wu, Yu Hao

In the past two decades, land finance, a phenomenon of the financing arrangement based on land development, has gradually become a fiscal model that profoundly affects China's economic development. Based on the theory of fiscal decentralization and environmental federalism, this study employs a specially designed two-stage regression method to capture both direct and indirect (through economic development and industrial structure) influences of land finance on carbon emissions. Using the provincial panel data for the period of 1998–2016, the empirical results indicate that the direct influences are dominant, and the total impact of land finance on carbon emissions is non-linear and is dependent on the level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. After 2003, the total effect is that carbon emissions increase continuously along with the economic development. To balance economic development and environmental protection and to enhance sustainable development, the traditional style of land finance should be changed as soon as possible.

Qiang Ji, Dayong Zhang, Yuqian Zhao

No abstract is available for this record.