Blockchain Papers

Wenyu Du, Shan L. Pan, Dorothy E. Leidner, Wenchi Ying

No abstract is available for this record.

Raphael Warren Jankeeparsad, Dev Datt Tewari

Since its introduction in 2008, the value and popularity of Bitcoin have risen exponentially. Despite being 10 years old, the concept of crypto currency is fairly new in South Africa. The increase in the value of Bitcoin, together with extensive media coverage, has led to the creation of a Bitcoin economic system with many South Africans jumping on the Bitcoin bandwagon. This study aims to identify the determinants affecting end-user adoption of Bitcoin in South Africa and to determine the main use of the crypto currency by South Africans. A research model was developed utilising constructs from the technology acceptance model and theory of planned behaviour. The model was then tested empirically by utilising two survey-based questionnaires, one for current users of Bitcoin and one for non-users. For users, perceived usefulness and access to facilitating conditions were the primary determinants influencing their decision to adopt the crypto currency while lack of trust and social influences were the primary reasons non-users chose not to adopt Bitcoin.

Yonggen Gu, Dingding Hou, Xiaohong Wu

Since the security and fault tolerance is the two important metrics of the data storage, it brings both opportunities and challenges for distributed data storage and transaction. The traditional transaction system of storage resources, which generally runs in a centralized mode, results in high cost, vendor lock-in, single point failure risk, DDoS attack and information security. Therefore, this paper proposes a distributed transaction method for cloud storage based on smart contract. First, to guarantee the fault tolerance and decrease the storing cost for erasure coding, a VCG-based auction mechanism is proposed for storage transaction, and we deploy and implement the proposed mechanism by designing a corresponding smart contract. Especially, we address the problem - how to implement a VCG-like mechanism in a blockchain environment. Based on private chain of Ethereum, we make the simulations for proposed storage transaction method. The results showed that proposed transaction model can realize competitive trading of storage resources, and ensure the safe and economic operation of resource trading.

Massimo Bartoletti, Tiziana Cimoli, Livio Pompianu, Sergio Serusi

The rise of blockchain technologies has given a boost to social good projects, which are trying to exploit various characteristic features of blockchains: the quick and inexpensive transfer of cryptocurrency, the transparency of transactions, the ability to tokenize any kind of assets, and the increase in trustworthiness due to decentralization. However, the swift pace of innovation in blockchain technologies, and the hype that has surrounded their "disruptive potential", make it difficult to understand whether these technologies are applied correctly, and what one should expect when trying to apply them to social good projects. This paper addresses these issues, by systematically analysing a collection of 120 blockchain-enabled social good projects. Focussing on measurable and objective aspects, we try to answer various relevant questions: which features of blockchains are most commonly used? Do projects have success in fund raising? Are they making appropriate choices on the blockchain architecture? How many projects are released to the public, and how many are eventually abandoned?

Adjowa Karikari, Ling Zhu, Rozita Dara

Blockchain is the notorious technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. A large industrial chain ecology is growing around innovations of blockchain. However, given that it is being developed exponentially the challenges businesses are facing finally have a solution - blockchain. Blockchain is undeniably revolutionary in a sense that it brings convenience to customers and companies. Due to its characteristics of decentralization, trustworthiness and collective maintenance, it provides a trustworthy platform in order to achieve a reliable peer-to-peer delivery of value without relying on a single centralized organization. With this in mind, blockchain is foundation businesses need to establish new relationships. The objective of this paper is to explore how blockchain plays a role in different business applications by illustrating what blockchain is as well as exactly how it can be applied to businesses in the current day.

Az Azrinudin Alidin, Abdo Ali Abdullah Al-Wosabi, Zamri Yusoff

Saadiqin is an industrial solution for contract based Islamic core banking which comply with the necessary pillars and conditions related to Muamalah Financial Contracts. The introduction of Blockchain provides new opportunities for financial services to harness the benefits of Blockchain. This paper discusses current problem with financial services particularly Islamic financial, the benefits of Blockchain implementation in financial services and the possibility of Saadiqin integration with Blockchain. Overall structure of integration is presented and initial progress is presented in this paper.

Kei-Leo Brousmichc, Andra Anoaica, Omar Dib, Tesnim Abdellatif · 5 authors

The growing interest for decentralized production of renewable energies calls for new market approaches. In this context, the blockchain is considered as a key technology for enabling decentralized local energy markets. Following this idea, several market solutions were proposed by the academic community. However, their technical feasibility or economical viability are yet to be assessed due to the lack of simulation frameworks. In this paper, we propose an agent-based simulation framework to experiment blockchain-backed energy market places. Moreover, based on realistic data of households located in northern France, we perform a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of parameters on economics and blockchain system performances. Finally, we have implemented our solution on Raspberry Pies IoT devices to measure the actual power consumption of such systems.

Bingsheng Zhang, Hamed Balogun

Blockchain technology has pioneered a new consensus approach to building a distributed public ledger globally. A key feature expected from cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems is the absence of a centralized control over the operation process. That is, blockchain solutions should neither rely on "trusted parties or powerful minority" for their operations nor introduce such centralisation tendencies into blockchain systems. On the other hand, real-world blockchain systems require steady funding for continuous development and maintenance of the systems. Given that blockchain systems are decentralized systems, their maintenance and developmental funding should also be void of centralization risks. Therefore, secure and "community-inclusive" long-term sustainability of funding is critical for the health of blockchain platforms. In this work, for the first time, we provide a systematic exposition of blockchain development funding, planning, management, and disbursement mechanisms aka "treasury systems" (for cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems). Drawing from existing literature, we identify and categorise various treasury models, thereby enabling an exploration of their properties, benefits and drawbacks. Particularly, we perform an evaluation of real-world cryptocurrency treasury system of top cryptocurrencies e.g., Dash governance system, and ZCash Foundation. Finally, we briefly discuss desired properties of decentralised treasury systems and provide suggestions for improvement or alternative solutions to existing systems or implementations.

Sandi Rahmadika, Bruno Joachim Kweka, Cho Nwe Zin Latt, Kyung-Hyune Rhee

Blockchain technology combined with IoT to improve the reliability of the supply chain system is one of the topics in great demand lately. Due to the nature of blockchain, it is suitable to be applied in the supply chain to improve the level of service with security guarantees. In this paper, we present a preliminary study of blockchain in the supply chain using Ethereum smart contract to maintain ownership of digital assets and to track the origin of a product. By leveraging the proposed model, the user can be protected by minimizing the fake online trading activity because product assets that have been recorded by blockchain can be guaranteed since the data cannot be changed by anyone (tamper-proof). Further research needs to be developed, especially the connection between IoT devices and the blockchain network to improve the reliability and effectiveness of the decentralized supply chain system.

Lucie Mercenne, Kei-Léo Brousmiche, Elyes Ben Hamida

The Blockchain technology is currently considered as a major paradigm shift in software architectures and applications. Indeed, it enables the automation of business worflows, using smart contracts, and hence the collaboration between trustless entities, without having to rely on any centralized or third parties. In this context, the automated generation of smart contracts, from high level business process models, has recently received increased interests within the research community. In this paper, we introduce the Blockchain Studio framework, which is a fork of Caterpillar, and whose objective is to enable the generation and automation of role-based business workflows on Ethereum based blockchains. The architecture and implementation of Blockchain Studio are firstly discussed, followed by the analysis of the achieved benefits on a practical use case related to the management of vehicles' life-cycles and data history. Various research challenges and opportunities are then highlighted.

Maury Shenk, Michael Mainelli

One needs permission from somebody or someone to do pretty much anything these days. Whether it be parking your car, gaining a license, accessing a stock exchange or, more recently and topically, retaining personal data from a client business card, somebody somewhere insists you provide evidence that you have permission. This paper explores ‘permissions’, i.e. the actions one is allowed to perform with items, and more specifically, permissions surrounding digital items, which are becoming increasingly complex. In order to effectively manage such permissions in contemporary markets, we believe that a new framework for defining and managing distributed permissions is needed: what one might call a species of ‘information rules’. The goal of this report is to consider how Smart Ledgers could implement such a permissions framework. We intentionally explore new technical approaches, rather than recommending an evolution of current frameworks and technology. We believe that current technical ‘architectures’, largely based around a central third party and its information technology, are giving way to more distributed architectures. These distributed architectures are based on ‘Smart Ledgers’, multi-organisational databases with a super audit trail, typically containing some embedded computer code. The research was led by Maury Shenk, Managing Director, Lily Innovation and Professor Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group. The report concludes that the criteria for successful permissioning systems appear to be: Precision – ability to accurately convey permissions; Breadth – scope to convey any type of permission; Applicability – comprehensibility and practicality of application in real-world markets and related interactions.

Ella Tallyn, Larissa Pschetz, Rory Gianni, Chris Speed · 5 authors

Technologies such as distributed ledgers and smart contracts are enabling the emergence of new autonomous systems, and providing enhanced systems to track the provenance of goods. A growing body of work in HCI is exploring the novel challenges of these systems, but there has been little attention paid to their impact on everyday activities. This paper presents a study carried out in 3 office environments for a 1-month period, which explored the impact of an autonomous coffee machine on the everyday activity of coffee consumption. The Bitbarista mediates coffee consumption through autonomous processes, presenting provenance data at the time of purchase while attempting to reduce intermediaries in the coffee trade. Through the report of interactions with and around the Bitbarista, we explore its implications for everyday life, and wider social structures and values. We conclude by offering recommendations for the design of community shared autonomous systems.

May AlTaei, Nedaa Baker Al Barghuthi, Qusay H. Mahmoud, Sonia Al Barghuthi · 5 authors

A blockchain is a distributed ledger and the underlying technology of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, allowing it to operate in a decentralized fashion with no intermediaries such as financial institutions. The use of blockchain, however, will be far beyond the financial sector; smart contracts, for example would allow business and legal agreements to be stored and executed online. It is anticipated that blockchain will do to middle- and back-office functions what the Internet and the Web have done to the front-office - automate functions. In this paper, we investigate what Chief Information Officers (CIOs) think of blockchain and how they plan to utilize it for their organizations. We conducted a survey that was completed by 25 CIOs in the United Arab Emirates and found mixed feelings about the technology and barriers for use. In this paper, we also discuss opportunities and challenges in adopting blockchain.

Iman Vakilinia, Shahriar Badsha, Shamik Sengupta

Organizations are interested in transferring their cyber-risks to insurers aiming to mitigate the cost of cyber-threats. However, cyber-insurance has not been widely accepted due to several obstacles. First, the lack of reliable data to measure the cyber-risks makes it hard to calculate the insurance premium. Second, there are legal and procedural hurdles for assessing the organizations security posture deterring insurer for auditing. On the other hand, the blockchain technology has been extensively popularized due to its ability to provide transparency and security. Blockchain applies the distributed ledger to store transaction histories, and the information is stored across a network of computers instead of on a single server. In order to improve the application of the cyber-insurance, in this research, we propose a new framework to insure a cyber-product using the blockchain technology. First, a vendor initiates a request for insuring a cyber-product, then the interested insurers participate in a sealed-bid auction by bidding their preferred premium for the insurance service. The auction winners will be selected as the insurers, and they receive tokens in return of their obligations. In the case of an indemnity request, the auditor checks the validity of a request, then calls the claim function to retrieve the corresponding amount from the funds collected from the insurers. Furthermore, we propose a new method to implement a sealed-bid auction for the insurance crowdfunding in smart contract.

Quoc Khanh Nguyen, Quang Vang Dang

Along with other advanced technologies (AI, AR/VR, IoT), Blockchain technology has established a way to digitize all of our activities through cloud based development. A complex technology that embodied an ingenious and powerful vision to create a comprehensive solution to internet securities, Blockchain is rapidly evolving to be the next disruptive innovation for secured connectivity, promising major changes to how we work and live in the coming century. Our new challenge is how we will adapt with the advancements put forward by this new revolution. This article presents an overall view of Blockchain technology and its potential to contribute to the development of the future by proposing several directions for further research.

Faisal Hammad

Cloud Computing has powered a wide range disruptive technology that changed the economic landscape of many industries. One of these disruptive technologies is Block Chains and the emergence of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins. This research explores the Islamic perspective of Bitcoin Mining. For a Bitcoin transaction to be processed it needs to be `mined', which is the process to solving a mathematical equation as well as approve Bitcoin transactions distributing it over various ledgers. The research will highlight the notion of anonymity of the source and destination of the funds in Bitcoin which seen as problematic with Islamic Banking scholars. Especially since anonymity is the cornerstone of Bitcoin and the feature that allowed Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to spread. This research will rely on leading Islamic Banking scholars in the Kingdom of Bahrain to evaluate Bitcoin Mining's compliance with Sharia.

Yuqi Huang, Ping Yang, Zejian Liu, Yuhua Lyu · 5 authors

Among several common financing methods for solar project, loans from banks requires many conditions that are not easy to meet. Finance lease is easier to acquire but the interest rate is usually higher than loans. Internet financing lacks credibility and efficient regulation methods. Blockchain provides a decentralized, tamper-resistant, auditable ledger. This paper proposed a design of photovoltaic plants financing platform based on blockchain technology. The open source blockchain framework Fabric is used and smart contracts are developed to conduct automatic and compulsory transactions, thus improving the efficiency of financing process.

Jörn Erbguth, Jean‐Henry Morin

Illegal content on a blockchain cannot be removed and the originator might not be identifiable. At the same time, node operators that have no control over the content stored on their nodes might be held legally responsible. As a decentralized system, Digital Ledger Technology (DLT) needs decentralized governance and smart contract dispute resolution. Existing DLT governance and dispute resolution is only aimed at balancing the interests of DLT and smart contract participants. It fails to address the interests of third parties and society. The failure to do so could trigger government and court intervention within DLT systems. Although the decentralized nature of a DLT system will offer some protection against this intervention, participants might be identifiable and subject to legal prosecution. We present a design also addressing the interests of society and third parties that will have to be accompanied by an international legal framework.

Cláudio Lima

Reports on the development of Open and Interoperable Distributed Ledger Technology/Blockchain standards. Discusses how these standards drive global blockchain adoption and take development of the technology ecosystem to the next level. The field of blockchain or distributed ledger is growing rapidly. The lack of consensus on definitions, implementation, management, and core attributes is driving the need for standardization. Blockchain is often confused with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but the potential applications of this technology in diverse fields, such as smart contracts, buying and selling energy, and so much more, make distributed ledger technologies one of the high-potential technologies for the future.

Miroslav Stefanović, Sonja Ristić, Darko Stefanović, Marko Bojkić · 5 authors

Large number of stakeholders is interested in data stored in land administration systems (LASs), so it is understandable that data quality in LASs is of utmost importance. Data in LASs are often in incorrect state since they are not in accordance with reality. Since data stored in LASs are considered to be correct in all legal affairs, these incorrectnesses could be a cause for large number of problems. Blockchain technology, more precisely smart contracts, could bring improvements to process of registering transactions in LASs. In this paper, two presented case studies propose improvements that would result in faster process of executing transactions and elimination of possibility of “double spending”.

M. Dorofeyev, M. Ksov, Vadim V. Ponkratov, A. Masterov · 6 authors

M. Vasyunina6 The main aim of this article is to analyze the prerequisites for the development and the promotion of cryptocurrencies, covering the period from the emergence of the first forms of money to recent period. The paper focuses on findings of comparative analysis of consumer value of precious metals, cash and non-cash money and cryptocurrencies as different forms of money. The authors provide comprehensive descriptions and expert quantitative estimates for each of the listed forms of money, as well as determine the place of cryptocurrency in the modern financial system as a means of payment. The research presents a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of new technologies. The paper defines the status of cryptocurrencies in various countries of the world and names promising development trends. The authors determine the main obstacles hindering the circulation of cryptocurrencies in certain markets and assess the risks and prospects associated with the introduction and use of cryptocurrencies as a new form of money which aims at full/partial replacement of fiat money in the modern financial system. As a conclusion it is noted that weak integration into the financial system is the main obstacle to major distribution of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

Georgios Papadodimas, Georgios Palaiokrasas, Αντώνιος Λίτκε, Theodora Varvarigou

An increasing number of people, organizations and corporations are expressing their interest in the decentralization technology of the blockchain. The creation of the blockchain marks the time when we start building distributed peer-to-peer networks consisting of non-trusting members that interact with each other without a trusted intermediary but in a verifiable manner. In this paper, we propose a decentralized application (DApp) based on blockchain technology for sharing Internet of Things (IoT) sensors' data, and demonstrate various challenges addressed during the development process. This application combines blockchain technology with IoT and operates through smart contracts that are executed on the Ethereum blockchain. More specifically the application is a platform for sharing (buying and selling) measurements of IoT weather sensors and operates on the Ethereum blockchain, acting as a marketplace for IoT sensor data. This application applies the Sensing-as-a-Service (S2aaS) business model combined with blockchain.

Chibuzor Udokwu, Aleksandr Kormiltsyn, Kondwani Thangalimodzi, Alex Norta

The application and use of smart contracts in organizations require a holistic overview. This overview helps to understand the current adoption of this technology and also deduces factors that are inhibiting its use in the modern organization. This study provides a systematic review of previous studies comprising of frameworks, methods, working prototypes and simulations that demonstrate the application of smart contracts in organizations. Understanding the current state and usage of smart-contract technology in an organization is a focal point of this paper. Much progress occurs in developing technologies that support smart contracts, while little understanding exists pertaining to their usage in organizations. In this study, we identify properties of smart-contract applications in different domains of modern organizations. We further analyze and categorize challenges and problems mitigating the adoption of smart-contract applications.

Maher Alharby, Amjad Aldweesh, Aad van Moorsel

Blockchain based smart contracts are computer programs that encode an agreement between non-trusting participants. Smart contracts are executed on a blockchain system if specified conditions are met, without the need of a trusted third party. Blockchains and smart contracts have received increasing and booming attention in recent years, also in academic circles. We carry out a systematic mapping study of all peer-reviewed technology-oriented research in smart contracts. Our interest is twofold, namely to provide a survey of the scientific literature and to identify academic research trends and uptake. We only focus on peer-reviewed scientific publications, in order to identify how academic researchers have taken up smart contract technologies and established scientific outputs. We obtained all research papers from the main scientific databases, and using the systematic mapping method arrived at 188 relevant papers. We classified these papers into six categories, namely, security, privacy, software engineering, application, performance & scalability and other smart contract related topics. We found that the majority of the papers falls into the applications (about 64%) and software engineering (21%) categories. Compared to our 2017 survey [1], we observe that the number of relevant articles has increased about eightfold and shifted considerably towards applications of smart contracts.