The Hyperledger Project is a Linux Foundation initiative to develop an open source ecosystem of blockchain development. The Linux Foundation aims to create an environment in which communities of software developers and companies meet and coordinate to build blockchain frameworks. Hyperledger itself is not another cryptocurrency, but rather an open hub for enterprise-grade blockchain projects to incubate and mature through all stages of development and commercialization. In this chapter, we talk about the current state of the Hyperledger Project, with a focus on the currently incubating projects, a summary of the project scope being implemented, and a review of the comprehensive set of technologies involved in creating an open source enterprise-grade blockchain.
The rapid advancement in encryption and network computing gave birth to new tools and products that have influenced the local and global economy alike. One recent and notable example is the emergence of virtual currencies, also known as cryptocurrencies or digital currencies. Virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, introduced a fundamental transformation that affected the way goods, services, and assets are exchanged. As a result of its distributed ledgers based on blockchain, cryptocurrencies not only offer some unique advantages to the economy, investors, and consumers, but also pose considerable risks to users and challenges for regulators when fitting the new technology into the old legal framework. This paper attempts to model the volatility of bitcoin using 5 variants of the GARCH model namely: GARCH(1,1), EGARCH(1,1) IGARCH(1,1) TGARCH(1,1) and GJR-GARCH(1,1). Once the best model is selected, an OLS regression was ran on the volatility series to measure the day of the week the effect. The results indicate that the TGARCH (1,1) model best fits the volatility price for the data. Moreover, Sunday appears as the most significant day in the week. A nontechnical discussion of several aspects and features of virtual currencies and a glimpse at what the future may hold for these decentralized currencies is also presented.
The Internet pervades modern life, offering up opportunities to connect, inform and be informed. As the range and number of sources for information online explode, how people select and interpret information has become a pertinent area for study, not least in light of the prevalence of fake-news. People are well known to act upon information they believe to be trustworthy and where the decision to act incurs risk, an inability to accurately select and assess the credibility of information presents a challenge. Bitcoin, the nascent crypto-currency, presents a domain within which profound financial risk abounds. Even for those armed with experience and knowledge there are numerous challenges to assessing risk, especially as sources of Bitcoin information can be observed to be partisan and of questionable accuracy. Within the domain of bitcoin speculation, this thesis asks the central research question of: are people able to select and correctly evaluate information they might rely upon to make decisions? In addressing this research question, this thesis offers - through the application of a psychological model of informational trust to bitcoin speculators - two fundamental contributions: Firstly, that these users are able to identify relevant news without a reliance upon confirmation bias. Secondly, that a notable percentage of users are not evaluating the credibility of online news by expertly interpreting the fundamentals of information but, rather deferring their trust to either the source news website or a more broad trust of information on the Internet. For these users, chance or luck may mean that they are basing their decisions upon factually accurate news. But this is a position which makes them particularly vulnerable to fake-news where it is spread via sources which they might trust. This position of susceptibility provides evidence to support further security research of both the prevalence of, and counter-measures for fake-news.
Natalia G. Vovchenko, Еvgeniy N. Tishchenko, Tatiana V. Epifanova, Mark B. Gontmacher
The article reveals the essential characteristic of virtual currencies. The estimate is given to the development of risks and threats to national security, combating laundering of criminal money and terrorism financing, which are formed under the conditions of the growing interest in virtual currencies, including Bitcoin. It is suggested to minimize negative effect arising in this relation. Methods are proposed to adapt the management center in the virtual currency infrastructure.
Syftet med studien är att undersöka bitcoins kapacitet som hedge gentemot den svenska aktiemarknaden. För att identifiera om korrelation existerar mellan avkastningen i bitcoin och SIX30RX (OMXS30 med utdelning) och således besvara forskningsfrågan studeras associationen. Tidsperioden som studeras är 2012-01-02 till 2016-10-21. Associationen undersöks med hjälp av regressionsmodeller. Resultatet visar att bitcoin inte är korrelerat med avkastningen för SIX30RX under den studerade tidsperioden. Bitcoin kan således klassificeras som en hedge gentemot den svenska aktiemarknaden.
The Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic payment system that operates as an independent currency. In this paper, we have examined whether the Bitcoin should be considered a currency according to the criteria widely used by economists. We argue that the Bitcoin does not behave much like major international currencies because the excessive volatility compared to other currencies changes. Our results show that usability of the Bitcoin has increased rapidly. It is traded on many exchanges. Yet, the future of the Bitcoin is still very uncertain.
Tina Ehrke-Rabel, Iris Eisenberger, Elisabeth Hödl, Lily Zechner
Distribuierte Systeme, wie die Bitcoin-Blockchain, stellen das Recht vor neue Herausforderungen. Das disruptive Potential liegt unter anderem im Fehlen einer zentralen, verantwortlichen Kontrollinstanz, an die das Recht traditionell anknupft, und im Verschwimmen der Rollen von „ProduzentInnen“ und „KonsumentInnen“ innerhalb des Systems.
Die Erzeugung von Kryptowahrungen, wie Bitcoin, mittels „Proof of Work“ und die gleichzeitige Validierung von Transaktionen zwischen NetzwerknutzerInnen (sog „Mining“) ist ein Beispiel dafur, dass die rechtlich etablierten Kategorien heute fur eine effiziente Rechtsdurchsetzung unzureichend sind.
„Mining“ kann rechtlich zwar als Glucksspiel iSd osterreichischen GSpG eingeordnet werden. Konsequenz dieser Einordnung sind allerdings Probleme beim Vollzug des folglich anwendbaren Ordnungs-, Abgaben- und Strafrechts. Daraus wird geschlossen, dass die Regulierung von „Peer to Peer“-Systemen neue Losungsansatze erfordert, sodass dem Staat seine rechtliche Steuerungsfunktion erhalten bleibt.
Kryptowährungen wie Bitcoin verbreiten sich mit rasanter Geschwindigkeit. Der vorliegende Fachartikel zeigt auf, wie die Bitcoin-Thematik im Steuer- und Rechnungslegungsrecht einzuordnen ist und welche Fragen nach wie vor offen sind.
In bachelor thesis, reader is introduced to elemental attributes of cryptocurrency, functions they can fulfil, advantages and disadvantages. He is informed about how cryptocurrency coins are created and released, and also how the payments work, especially in case of Ether, and other possible use of the platform it is built on for improving communicational and programational processes. The thesis is only theoretical. It analyze possibilities of investing into cryptocurrency and projects based on them. There is also explained the potencial of Ether, that can lead to great evolution of communication technology, and possibilities how the blockchain technology can be used to keep and transport data on a decentralized basis.
This step considers the task of describing ownership in a way that is useful for a purely distributed peer-to-peer system of ledgers. This step explains how the blockchain documents ownership and handles the transfer of ownership. Additionally, this step points out the importance of ordering when documenting the transfer of ownership. Finally, this step highlights the importance of the integrity of transaction data for the integrity of the whole system.
How might new technical verification capabilities enhance the prospects of success in future nuclear arms control negotiations? Both theory and evidence suggest that verification technologies can influence the dynamics of arms control negotiations by shaping and constraining the arguments and strategies that are available to the involved stakeholders. In the future, new technologies may help transcend the specific verification challenge of high-security warhead authentication, which is a verification capability needed in future disarmament scenarios that address fewer warheads, limit new categories of warheads, and involve nuclear weapons states other than the United States and Russia. Under these circumstances, the core challenge is maintaining the confidentiality of the classified information related to the warheads under inspection, while providing transparency in the verification process. This analysis focuses on a set of emerging warhead authentication approaches that rely on the cryptographic concept of zero-knowledge proofs and intend to solve the paradox between secrecy and transparency, making deeper reductions in warhead arsenals possible and thus facilitating future nuclear arms control negotiations.
Following a trend of digitalization and happening after the subprime crisis, the Bitcoin event introduced the world to new possibilities regarding payment, data management and more importantly, the concept of decentralization: the possibility of building an organization without a central authority and managed by its users. \nBitcoin presents multiple innovative facets: the concept of cryptocurrency that is not submitted to any regulating authority, allowing free variations in value according to the market rule of supply and demand. The possibility of a new payment system suppressing all intermediaries, with the advantage of being faster, cheaper and more secure. But bitcoin, by being unregulated, consists of a very volatile currency and faces difficulty to inspire trust because of security matters, the bad image of an underground currency used for illegal purposes and finally the lack of recognition and trust that the financial institutions accord to it, making it a hazardous business. \nOn the other hand, blockchain benefits from a good reputation of fast, cheap and secure transactions, as well as a good potential for concrete businesses applications. But as Bitcoin, it faces trust matters and has the disadvantage of being too complex and costly to become a new norm in real economy transactions. \nIf both of these technologies have good principles, few are applicable to our system as it is now, but the principles that can be applied can change the face of our economy in the coming years; because of these two technologies, but also all the movement they generated around them in terms of innovation and inspiration for change
The main topic of this thesis is Volatility of virtual currency Bitcoin. In theoretical part I will focus on significant historical milestones of Bitcoin. We are going to find out, if Bitcoin meets the criteria to be called good money, how is it with inflation and deflation in Bitcoin and what is and how mining works. Practical part is divided into three smaller analyses. The main part looks into fluctuation in the entire history of Bitcoin and attempts to seek for its causes. The second part examines the development of places, where it is possible to pay with Bitcoin. The last part is an inquiry into mining profitability under circumstances in February 2017.
Scholarly communication is in need of disruption. Commodifying knowledge as is currently done with journals, is not sustainable any longer. An alternative is the commodification of how information is consumed. By focusing on the commodification of consumption instead of commodification of the resource, the problem of access to knowledge can be resolved in a sustainable manner. Additionally, commodification of consumption removes several perverse incentives from the scholarly system that now produce unreliable knowledge. The main tenet underlying the themes of Open Access, Open Data, Open Science, and replication initiatives in scholarly communication is sustainability through transparency of the scholarly process in all facets. The sustainability of any networked system is threatened by single points of failure (i.e., the entire system can be manipulated from one node in the network). The scholarly process is ridden with such single points of failures at all stages. Distributing the scholarly communications system would remove the problems of single points of failure. Distributing and decentralizing the scholarly communications system is achievable with newly developed peer-to-peer (p2p) Internet protocols. Alongside decentralization and distribution of the content, integrity of the scholarly record can also be reformed to transform sections of a paper into different, reusable nodes of knowledge. These nodes can be logged on a blockchain based ledger of which everyone can have a copy. In order to deposit nodes onto the ledger, the depositor needs to agree that the contents are licensed CC 0, in order to maximize legal certainty regarding reuse of the contents. This is key to create a sustainable eco-system where scholars and companies can cooperate instead of compete, as we currently do.
Resumen El proceso de descentralizacion colombiano desencadeno una serie de reformas y cambios institucionales que han incidido en el relacionamiento multinivel y las estrategias de integracion y de planeacion y desarrollo regional a lo largo del territorio nacional. Asi, cambios como la eleccion popular de gobernantes, la obligacion de gobernar por medio de planes de desarrollo y la Ley Organica de Ordenamiento Territorial prometian una mejor organizacion del proceso de planeacion debido a que introducian nuevas figuras para potenciar la cooperacion intermunicipal, la integracion regional y la justicia territorial. En Colombia existen 49 asociaciones intermunicipales, cuyos objetivos y propositos estan en funcion de problemas y necesidades comunes. Entre los logros generales de estas experiencias se encuentran: los espacios de dialogo entre los municipios, la intervencion de problematicas comunes mediante proyectos de inversion regional, asi como el mejoramiento de la planeacion y ordenamiento del territorio. Por otra parte, los desafios se concentran en el insuficiente financiamiento para la operacion y sostenibilidad de las asociaciones y el poco apoyo de los gobiernos departamental y nacional. Pero, las recientes regulaciones apuestan por un mejor proceso de ordenacion y planeacion del territorio basado en la diversidad de municipios que tiene el pais, aspecto que entraria a cumplir con los desafios del proceso de descentralizacion y la competitividad de Colombia. Palabras clave: Cooperacion intermunicipal, integracion regional, relaciones intergubernamentales, gobernanza, justicia territorial. Abstract The Provinces and the Metropolitan Areas in Colombia: Powers for Integration and Regional Development. The process of Colombian decentralization triggered a series of reforms and institutional changes that have influenced the multilevel relationship and integration strategies and regional planning and development throughout the national territory. Thus, changes such as the popular election of governors, the obligation to govern through development plans and the Organic Law of Territorial Ordering promised a better organization of the planning process because they introduced new figures to enhance inter-municipal cooperation, regional integration and territorial justice. In Colombia, there are 49 intermunicipal associations, whose objectives and purposes are based on common problems and needs. Among the general achievements of these experiences are: the spaces for dialogue between municipalities, the intervention of common problems through regional investment projects, as well as the improvement of planning and land management. On the other hand, the challenges are concentrated on the insufficient financing for the operation and sustainability of the associations and the meager support of the departmental and national governments. However, recent regulations favor a better outlining and planning process based on the diversity of municipalities that the country has, which would meet the challenges of the decentralization process and the competitiveness of Colombia. Keywords : Inter-municipal cooperation, regional integration, intergovernmental relations, governance, territorial justice.
Implementation of e-government through communication and information technology becomes a big hope towards the increasing quality of public services and improvement of performance in the management of local finance. Implementation of e-government in the effort of transparency of financial management in each region is part of synchronization and synergy between Directorate General of Regional Finance Ministry of Internal Affairs with each Local Government in order to support transparency and accountability of regional finance. through decentralized e-government management, egovernment in the local government has not been able to provide a space for communication for the community to channel aspirations and to oversee the financial management of riau province.
Fiscal decentralization has been established in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but crises emerge at the local government level due to remaining problems of the fiscal administration system of tax allocation and the impact of replacing the business tax with a value added tax. The PRC taxation system requires readjustment and local governments have begun to focus on innovative financing models. The main path to stable and sustainable government finances is to maintain the general public budget and the government fund budget. The present chapter shows that use of innovative fundraising and financing channels will lead to the upgrading of local government infrastructure and public services. Suggestions for enhancing local government fiscal stability and sustainability include: reducing the fiscal burden at the local level by standardizing and legalizing outlay establishing a modern taxation system; establishing a standardized and predictable transfer payment system by introducing block transfer payments and prioritized transfer payments as a basis for a stable growth mechanism for general transfer payments; promoting public–private partnership legislation to encourage participation of social capital and maximize the multiplier effect of public expenditure; and improving the mid-term budget and debt-annexed budget and establishing a government planning mechanism for investment and debt financing of major infrastructure construction projects.