With the continuing innovation of information and network technologies, on the one hand, social media has gradually become a necessary tool for internal communication within the organization, resulting in great changes in the behavioral patterns of employees; on the other hand, emerging technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts have enlightened many outstanding issues in organizational management, such as opaque data, tamable information and incomplete execution. Responding to the impact of new media on organizational management model, combined with the emerging technologies--blockchain and smart contracts, this paper aims to explore the behavioral management model of employees for trusted data within virtual cyberspace. It is devoted to the description modeling of employees' behavior and the guidance of employees' behavior based on smart contracts. We also validate our proposed method in a real-world scenario, and the experimental results prove our analysis, as well as the effectiveness of our approach. This paper is a basic research in the new application field, and is expected to offer helpful guidance and reference for future research efforts and industrial applications.
Alen Hrga, Mirna Gržanić, Ning Zhang, Tomislav Capuder
With the rise of blockchain technology and distributed ledger application platforms in general, it became possible to create new forms of digital assets and implement financial mechanisms in a transparent and secure way. Many companies use these features to create crowdfunding campaigns to raise funds for projects and offer digital assets in form of tokens to investors in return for their investments.This paper aims to propose and elaborate a platform based on distributed ledger technology for investing in flexible assets of an energy community. In addition to the investment platform, complex management mechanisms would be implemented to enable the investors to freeze transactions or stop fund withdrawals if they find the investment wrong or unnecessary. In this system, tokens modeled on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform would be issued to investors as proofs of their investment, and as voting stakes for managing the collected funds. Tokens would also be used as tradeable assets in complex market mechanisms implemented on top of the investment platform.The investment platform is complemented with community energy management system, where the community manager (CM) is an electricity market entity and optimizes the operation of the energy community assets in order to minimize the investment return period. Benefits gained by smart positioning of the energy community in the market are shared among micro-loan investors. The concept is demonstrated for energy community investments in different distributed energy sources.
The previous part of this article proposed a conceptual framework for a sociological understanding of the uses of bills of lading. We argued that platforms that aim to facilitate an electronic format of bills of lading should be based upon the constituent components of the practices associated with paper bills of lading. In this second part of the article, we suggest that distributed ledger technology (DLT), including blockchains, is the best technological means for facilitating the use in practice of immaterial bills of lading. The appropriate type of DLT is then evaluated in light of expected legal difficulties.
Blockchain technology is an open-source decentralized (peer-to-peer) transaction model with offers transparency among participants without third party validation. It is impacting any traditional industries. This paper reviews its potential in the public financial sector along with its technical challenges and limitations. We also raise and identify potential questions in the current trend, challenges and future directions for Blockchain technology pertaining to its application to national taxation. The work also includes core components and underlying infrastructure to address its associated challenges.
Abstract Smart contracts are software codes based on the Blockchain technology which are involved in the field of information technology. The Blockchain smart contract is still in the contractual scope in nature, although its origin and automatic performance functions are different from existing contracts, but it can be identified as a typical unnamed contract. Therefore, at the legal level, a smart contract is a new form of contract that can automatically and automatically perform all or part of the contract. While discussing the technical aspects of smart contracts, we cannot ignore the relevant issues at the legal level. Smart contracts are developments and innovations in the form of traditional contracts. Smart contracts exist in electronic form and automatically fulfill contracts through software that is accurately encoded on the Blockchain. How to create smart contracts according to law and evaluate the legal effect of smart contracts are the main research issue of this paper.
Weiqi Dai, Chenlong Wang, Changze Cui, Hai Jin · 5 authors
Research has shown that smart contracts have become a significant and promising technology. However, the lack of mature and stable security mechanism, such as access control, makes smart contracts quite vulnerable. To mitigate this problem, we present an attributed-based access control system based on blockchain by building a hierarchical management mechanism of contract administrator and contract owner. After combining blockchain inherent synchronization function with our designed system-level smart contract, all peers can easily get access control rules timely. Moreover, we modify the original smart contract finite state machine to prevent malicious modification on the rules through system contract. In our evaluation, the system only introduces 2%-5% additional cost with assured security on Hyperledger.
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance
Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques
Ilhaam A. Omar, Raja Jayaraman, Khaled Salah, Mecit Can Emre Simsekler
Blockchain is a distributed ledger that ensures the authenticity of business transactions without the involvement of intermediaries, brokers or trusted third parties. The main features of blockchain technology include transparency, immutability and data provenance offers an important role in satisfying the requirements of a more secure, visible, efficient, and trusted clinical trial (CT) management. This is because the traditional CTs face significant challenges such as protocol compliance, transparency and patient enrollment. In this paper we discuss how blockchain technology can be leveraged to tackle data management challenges in clinical trials. We propose a blockchain-based framework using Ethereum based smart contract. In the framework, three stages of a CT process were captured: new drug application, CT initiation and patient enrollment stages. The framework captures key interactions among CT stakeholders including the regulatory agency, drug sponsor, principal investigator, physician and patients. The smart contract was written in Remix IDE and was successfully compiled and tested for different scenarios. The proposed approach and results can be highly beneficial to various stakeholders in CT data management.
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance
Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
Peilin Zheng, Zibin Zheng, Jiajing Wu, Hong‐Ning Dai
Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies have received extensive attention recently. Massive data has been stored on permission-less blockchains. The analysis of massive blockchain data can bring huge business values. However, the absence of well-processed up-to-date blockchain datasets impedes big data analytics of blockchain data. To fill this gap, we collect and process the up-to-date on-chain data from Ethereum, which is one of the most popular permission-less blockchains. We name such well-processed Ethereum data as XBlock-ETH, which consists of transactions, smart contracts, and cryptocurrencies (i.e., tokens). However, it is non-trivial to partition and categorize the collected raw Ethereum data to the well-processed datasets since the whole processing procedure requires sophisticated knowledge on software engineering as well as big data analytics. Moreover, we also present basic statistics and exploration for each of the well-processed datasets. Furthermore, we also outline the possible research opportunities based on XBlock-ETH, with the data and code released online.
As technological innovation transforms our economies, companies and start-ups all over the world are performing developments on financial technologies called “FinTech/fintech” for a chance to thrive. It even sparked the invention of blockchain and the inception of cryptocurrencies (digital/virtual money) such as Bitcoin. The blockchain technology provides Bitcoin's public ledger, an ordered and timestamped record of transactions. Blockchain is one of a kind decentralized technology mainly used by fintechs and it is a distributed as well as decentralized ledger that presents a radical, new, modern, and disruptive way of conducting all manner of transactions over the internet. Blockchain-based applications provide many opportunities to create a more sustainable world. With this research agenda, this chapter contributes to the discussion on future avenues for sustainability and information systems research on fintechs, especially cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based platforms and services.
This article examines options to improve efficiency and prevent counterfeits related to distributor-to-consumer (D2C) transaction processing in the consumer electronics (CE) industry. Particularly, we propose a smart contract enabled D2C model that provides a blueprint for the smart integration of CE transactions. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed CE-specific D2C model is among the very few attempts of leveraging smart contracts to enhance the efficiency and efficacy of CE applications.
Banks as a group have traditionally been considered “special” in the sense of meriting the full set of provisions of the financial safety net. The specific motivations for that view have evolved over time, although it owes more to a specific combination of economic functions performed as opposed to any particular function. These functions include offering transaction accounts redeemable in cash on demand, providing liquidity, and serving as conduits for payments and monetary policy transmission. Recent developments suggest however that almost all of the individual economic functions performed by banks can in fact be provided in unbundled form by Fintech initiatives, in some cases more rapidly, at lower fees, and via more streamlined digital interfaces. One important exception remains monetary policy transmission. For the performance of this function, policy makers and central bankers have reserved a privileged role for banks. A radical departure from the current fractional reserve system would be required to unbundle that function and separate money from the banking system, and some private cryptocurrencies have been proposed with the explicit intent to change the nature of money. So far, the present article concludes such initiatives remain marginal, so that banks as a group remain “special”. This observation owes much to the fact that central banks rely on the capacity of the banking system to create money and provide the economy with adequate liquidity and, despite occasional financial crises, have concluded that the efficiency of the current system outweighs the associated costs.
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to disrupt many financial service domains. Aiming to explore the use of DLT to enhance financial system efficiency and resiliency, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) launched the Project Inthanon and Project DLT scripless bond initiatives in 2018. Project Inthanon is a proof-of-concept for wholesale domestic and cross-border funds transfer using central bank digital currency. The Project DLT scripless bond is an initiative to increase efficiency for the saving bond registration and sales processes. With these two projects, the BOT aims to catalyze an industry-wide effort to innovate digitally by exploring and assessing the potentials and applications of DLT. In addition, the BOT focuses on cultivating people's way of thinking and redesigning work processes to accommodate decentralized settings. In this paper, we discuss the project design, key findings, and future considerations of both projects. In brief, we find that DLT demonstrates promise for enhancing the financial infrastructure by enabling digital value direct transfers among parties, along with immutable record keeping, and programmable automation using smart contracts. However, further explorations of technology capacity, governance arrangement, and regulatory issues are needed as a prerequisite before moving these proofs-of-concept into production.
Eka Purnama Harahap, Qurotul Aini, Reza Khaerul Anam
Crowdfunding sebagai program sosial di era teknologi ini merupakan terobosan baru untuk penggalangan dana kepada orang-orang yang membutuhkan atau untuk permodalan suatu project tertentu dengan cepat melalui media internet. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui manfaat dari kemajuan teknologi blockchain dengan konsep smart contract sebagai media transaksi dalam platform crowdfunding, serta bagaimana teknologi ini dapat menyelesaikan masalah kepercayaan masyarakat karena platform ini melibatkan transaksi menggunakan uang. Dengan diterapkannya teknologi blockchain pada platform crowdfunding diharapkan dapat memastikan keamanan data serta transparansi dalam setiap transaksinya, sehingga tidak ada pemalsuan suatu project untuk mendapatkan keuntungan pribadi.
Invoice discounting is a market with a double-digit potential growth rate in Europe and worldwide in the next years. The main benefit of invoice discounting is the acceleration of cash flow from customers to suppliers: suppliers get advance payments from the bank, rather than waiting for the customers to pay. Hence, thanks to the quick availability of capital, businesses can invest in expansion and growth. More specifically, one of the most relevant problems today is how to provide better and faster invoice discounting services while preventing the double spending and maintaining the risk low. The blockchain frameworks have the potential to provide the right solution and thus to revolutionize the invoice discounting process. The benefits for suppliers, customers and financial institutions are related to the increased transparency added to the whole discounting process and the following risk reduction for the banks due to the capability to enhance the entire process and to reduce the double spending. In our paper, we introduce a blockchain-based invoice discounting system, called Distributed Ledger Invoice, and we propose a novel assessment method for evaluating currently available blockchain solutions for the invoice discounting scenario. Moreover, we also discuss two main issues regarding the information accessibility and the interoperability. In particular, since blockchain is still an emerging technology interoperability is a key factor for the blockchain adoption in inter-banking processes, where different blockchains solutions might be used. In this work we propose a decoupling layer, based on the Attribute-Based Access Control language, to unify the access control to reserved information across heterogeneous blockchains.
Blockchain technology was initially employed as the public transaction ledger for cryptocurrencies. However, beyond cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology has been recently considered for a plethora of other applications as it encapsulates unique properties including decentralization, security, transparency and anti-tampering. Such properties are particularly advantageous for variety of prominent issues experienced in the financial sector. As a result, blockchain technology holds the potential to revolutionize the financial industry by altering the way in which different services are conducted in the financial industry. In this paper, we outline five different financial industry use cases that are expected to be radically transformed by the use of blockchain technology.
Since 2013, Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) have allowed companies to attract financing with the help of cryptocurrencies. Statistics of ICO shows that the ICO market is increasing and demand for funds continues to grow with claims of over $ 15 billion raised in the first half of 2018. The increasing volumes of investment in ICO projects as an alternative method to venture capital or IPO are caused by, for example, the possibility of reselling the received tokens at a higher price after the launch of the project or obtaining the company’s services at lower prices. While the importance of the topic is growing, there is the absence of fundamental works emphasizing the determinants of an ICO’s success. The scientific novelty of the forthcoming research consists in the formation of the model evaluation of ICO success. Using econometric analysis based on data for 1392 projects, we show that the volatility of the main cryptocurrencies has a significant impact on the success of ICO. The constraints of the platform for Smart Contacts (ERC-20) and dependence on the Ethereum volatility overcome all other factors. Our data contributes to existing literature and shows the insignificance e of the sector of the project, almost all location region and fl of infl e of quality of the team. This result may be explained by the uncertainty of the investor about the project (weak signals), absence of the regulation and legal framework. This result is beneficial for owners of companies since it is an argument for decreasing costs for marketing.
Douglas W. Arner, Ross P. Buckley, Dirk Andreas Zetzsche, Bo Zhao · 7 authors
Abstract Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology have risen to global attention. It is now clear Bitcoin and a number of other cryptocurrencies were the focus of one of the largest speculative bubbles in history. This chapter explores blockchain, cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), as well as policy and regulatory responses in Asia. It demystifies key aspects of blockchain systems, while also disentangling concepts that are often (incorrectly) used interchangeably, such as distributed ledgers and blockchains. The chapter provides data on total capital raised through ICOs and analyzes the distribution of ICOs by country and region. Based on this framework, it conducts a comprehensive analysis of regulatory statements and disparate policy approaches in Asian countries toward digital assets, focusing on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and ICOs.
In recent years, the term “blockchain” has been sprinkled widely and the hype around it attracts billions in investments. The promises that this technology can be a solution to many of society’s present problems have drawn attention from all sectors, including development aid. The historical recognition of potential and actual corruption resulting from development aid sparked a rise in demands for more transparency and accountability in this sector. So far, there have been reflections in different academic disciplines about the potentials of Blockchain in this area. However, little empirical investigation has been conducted to understand the technological and institutional enablers and barriers for its adoption in the development aid sector. This study aims to take initial steps towards such understanding with a focus on the potential role for Blockchain Technology in financial aid flows through an analysis of the donors’ perspectives. Our research is based on diverse qualitative material. It relies on reports and discussion papers produced by donor organizations and on case studies of two start-ups focused on introducing Blockchain into development aid management. Besides a body of archival qualitative material, we conducted interviews with different actors in the development financing field. Based on an inductive qualitative methodology, we grouped findings into three categories of barriers and enablers: discursive, technological and institutional. Our study shows that discourses about Blockchain Technology vary a lot and there is a lack of common framing of its definition, attributes, and insufficient engagement around these concerns between different actors. Overall, the ability to increase the visibility of cash flows and a potential to reduce administration costs were perceived to be the most useful features, combined with the desire/need expressed by some donors to be at the forefront of technological developments. Lack of understanding about this technology and fear of its complexity and related security challenges were the most cited technological obstacles. Lack of institutional structures for rule making and for enabling field-level exchanges and knowledge production around Blockchain-based projects is currently the most prominent challenge to its diffusion and wider adoption.
Mohammad Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Dzuljastri Bin Abdul Razak
Technology advanced has brought rapid changes in all human activities along with financial activities and tools. Digital currency one of the technological innovations which have taken significant focuses from consumers, investors, researchers, entrepreneurs and policy makers around the world. with the trend of changing patterns, Islamic finance is rapidly developing all over the world by serving Muslims and non-Muslims, as a result, it is mandatory for Islamic finance to adapt with modern technology systems in terms of providing innovative products and services to the consumers in line with shariah perspectives. As a result, cryptocurrency (digital currency) has taken the focus on Islamic scholars in regards of its permissibility. There are many arguments over the permissibility issues. Therefore, this study aims to explore those issues and mechanisms of cryptocurrency in order to evaluate with Islamic perspective. This study gathered secondary sources from past literatures, books, news and websites with qualitative approach. The findings inclined that there are still lacking in mechanisms of digital currency to comply with Islamic perspective such as real asset backed and legal authorization. The findings of this study will benefit the Islamic scholars and policy makers along with Muslim consumers and investors in regards of permissibility and developing existing cryptocurrency to widely use in the Islamic finance and banking sector.
Investing into a new product or service is a high-risk, high-return activity. This is best symbolized by the observation that the return over investment distribution of startups is a power law. Introduction of new products or services to the market might fail to generate profit even though there is a demand. Early adopters are also penalized, as they often pay a high price for something which will end up being cheaper, and might lose their warranty if the firm goes bankrupt. Innovation is slowed down. We propose to equally redistribute part of the generated profit at the end of a predefined time period to previous customers using Ethereum smart contract. Because customers are aware of the amount they would get back, their behaviors will change. The return over investment distribution and therefore the risk and return balance of the firms will also be affected. We formally define both a classic market and a market that is using our proposed system, and present an architecture to deploy such system. A preliminary numerical simulation is provided.
Purpose Financial technology innovation within the developed world is driving financial markets, yet its adoption is lagging among consumers in emerging markets. At the same time, most African economies continue to be at the tail end of global financial innovations adoption. Given lagging consumer adoption of cryptocurrency in South Africa, the purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Design/methodology/approach A survey instrument based on the TPB was used to collect quantitative data for predicting adoption from adult distance students at the Mancosa, Cape Town campus. For data analysis, the two-step structural equation modelling approach was used. Findings The findings indicate that attitude and perceived behavioural control positively impact the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Subjective norm showed a negative non-significant influence. Overall, the results of the study show that the model has a good model fit and can be used to explain the theory. Research limitations/implications The results of this study may not be generalisable to the wider population as it is only based on a cross-sectional study of a sample of adult students at a single institute in South Africa. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is threefold: it is one of a few studies on the behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency in South Africa using the TPB model, it contributes towards the use of predictive behavioural economics models in understanding consumer behaviour critical to accelerating the adoption of financial innovations, and the results of the study also inform behaviour change strategies that can be applied by practitioners or policymakers to improve adoption. Studies of this nature may lead to the development of financial innovation in emerging markets through a nuanced understanding of consumer behaviour.
Rantai pasok finansial (Supply Chain Finance/SCF) merupakan topik baru dalam penelitian manajemen rantai pasok (Supply Chain Management). SCF bertujuan melakukan diversifikasi sumber pendanaan dari perusahaan dengan modal terbatas dan meningkatkan efisiensi keuangan seluruh jaringan rantai pasok perusahaan. SCF telah menjadi sumber pendanaan jangka pendek bagi ribuan usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah (UMKM). Penelitian tentang SCF yang ada sekarang ini masih menggunakan framework keuangan konvensional dan belum ada penelitian SCF yang menggunakan framework keuangan Islam. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan framework dan system SCF berdasarkan prinsip- prinsip syariah Islam berupa platform crowdfunding syariah dengan menggunakan teknologi blockchain dan smart contract . Rancangan system yang dihasilkan pada penelitian ini menggunakan smart contract yang dijalankan menggunakan protocol Ethereum untuk mencegah adanya penipuan/penggelapan dan meningkatkan system keamanan dari platform yang dirancang, sesuai dengan karaktrist i k blockchain yang sangat sulit di - hack.