Blockchain Papers

Dov Fischer

No abstract is available for this record.

Cathy Barrera, Stephanie Hurder

No abstract is available for this record.

Primavera De Filippi, Greg McMullen

No abstract is available for this record.

Hongjiang Zhao, Cephas Paa Kwasi Coffie

No abstract is available for this record.

Paul P. Momtaz

Token sales or initial coin offerings (ICOs) are smart contracts on a blockchain designed to raise external finance by issuing tokens or coins. This introduction provides an overview of this novel financing method. Differences between tokens and coins, types of tokens, and various ICO mechanisms are discussed. The author also describes the evolution of the ICO market and surveys some advantages of ICOs. <b>TOPICS:</b>Currency, volatility measures

Hongjiang Zhao, Cephas Paa Kwasi Coffie

No abstract is available for this record.

Alastair Berg, Chris Berg, Mikayla Novak

No abstract is available for this record.

Usman Chohan

No abstract is available for this record.

Gregory S. Rowland, Trevor Kiviat

Digital assets can serve several functions. Some digital assets, such as Bitcoin or Litecoin, are widely regarded as decentralized stores of value or mediums of exchange due to certain common economic features that support these functions; these are sometimes referred to as “pure cryptocurrencies.” Other digital assets, such as Monero or Zcash, are a subset of pure cryptocurrencies that also possess certain features designed to enhance transaction privacy and confidentiality (“privacy-focused coins”). Beyond pure cryptocurrencies and privacy-focused coins, there exists a broad array of general purpose digital assets (“platform coins”), such as Ethereum, NEO and Ravencoin, which are designed to facilitate various peer-to-peer activity, from decentralized software applications to “smart” contracts to digital collectibles, such as CryptoKitties. Platform coins also enable the creation of new digital assets called “tokens”, which are described further herein. The digital asset market extends beyond the assets themselves. As this industry continues to grow, it has captured the attention of retail and institutional investors alike, including asset managers seeking to develop investment strategies and products involving these emerging assets and companies. Some strategies resemble early-stage growth strategies, featuring long-term investments either directly in certain digital assets or in start-up ventures developing complementary goods and services for the industry. Other strategies include hedge fund strategies, such as long/short funds, which often use derivatives, or arbitrage strategies, which seek to capitalize on the price fragmentation across the hundreds of global online exchanges. This chapter outlines the current U.S. regulatory framework applicable to cryptocurrency and other digital asset investment funds (“digital asset funds”) offered to U.S. investors and how those regulatory considerations affect fund structuring decisions.

Nilam Panchal

Block chain, the technology behind Bit coin, promises to be nothing less than Internet 2.0. The financial services industry, in particular, is preparing for the disruption block chain/distributed ledger technology promises to cause. In the current business environment, the majority of startups and small businesses have to look for alternative sources of funding given that ‘going public’ is increasingly expensive. The crowd funding space has seen tremendous growth as an alternative way to raise capital by businesses. However, these crowd funded shares cannot be traded for 7 - 10 years on average on any given platform in the current market scenario. To build a trading platform on the block chain which completely P2P, immutable, fully transparent and low cost is presents some key design issues. In particular, the issue of liquidity - and price discovery - on the block chain continues to be a puzzle. At the same time, the proposition of removing middlemen from equities trading is a very attractive one, streamlining the process of capital formation with higher market efficiency. The current paper addresses the following key questions: How can a DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) trading platform ensure adequate liquidity? What would be the process of price discovery? While some recent studies hail block chain technology as a boom for market liquidity, it is not immediately clear what the impact of P2P trading would be on the prices of various stocks. There are no ‘solutions’ just yet. At the same time, the lack of regulation around trading on the block chain creates an environment of uncertainty for all players. In particular, the implementation of such a platform can revolutionize capital formation and build robust markets in both developing and developed countries where crowd funding has proven to be a successful model. While my research is targeted at solving a very specific pain point for both researchers and companies working on distributed ledger technology, ultimately, it would be a significant step forward towards on boarding underserved communities across the world who don't have access to financial services.

John Hill

No abstract is available for this record.

Manuel Schlegel, Liudmila Zavolokina, Gerhard Schwabe

The blockchain, the ledger that underlies the famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin, has huge implications for many industries. There have been various papers dedicated to research how blockchain technology will transform businesses and industries. However, current research lacks an overview of what the blockchain implies for the biggest stakeholder of these businesses and industries: consumers. This paper aims to provide an overview of how the blockchain affects consumers. We conduct a systematic literature review and enrich it with interview-based knowledge from blockchain experts to show how blockchain technology changes business sectors, name affected consumers in these sectors, derive implications for these consumers and list existing as well as currently emerging blockchain-based products and services. Finally, we warn of the technical, institutional and human challenges and manifold pitfalls blockchain technology must overcome to gain widespread adaptation among consumers.

Franciska Mifanyira, Sophia C. B. Kusumawardhani

No abstract is available for this record.

Jeffrey M. Lipshaw

“Smart contracts” are a hot topic. Presently, smart contracts are mostly evidence of property, like cryptocurrencies or mortgages, created and/or transferred using blockchain technology. This is an exploration of the theoretical possibilities of artificial intelligence in a far broader range of complex and heretofore negotiated transactions that occur over time. My goal is to understand what it means to make a contract smarter, i.e. to delegate more and more of the creation, performance, and disposition of legally binding transactions to machine thinking. Moreover, I want to do so from the perspective of one who is neither a true believer in the purported technological singularity to come nor a digital Luddite.

Matthew J. Higgins

No abstract is available for this record.

Meg Murray

Blockchain, introduced as the underlying technology supporting the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, is quickly taking hold as a trusted and secure platform for recording the transfer of all types of assets of value in the digitized networked world. While often described simplistically as a distributed ledger system, the blockchain is a complex technology that integrates peer-to-peer networking, public-key/private-key cryptography, and distributed consensus based on the resolution of a mathematical challenge. Even as use cases for the blockchain proliferate across a variety of industries, the technology is still not well understood by most business executives, scholars, and technologists. This tutorial provides participants with a foundational understanding of how the blockchain works, explores its potential and limitations, examines research strategies that will expand understandings of the technology and speculates on the progressive adoption of the blockchain as a disruptive technology.

Yongge Wang, Qutaibah Malluhi

Although smart contracts are Turing complete, it is a misconception that they can fulfill all routine contracts.

Mutugi Mutegi

No abstract is available for this record.

George Bouchagiar

Initial Coin Offering (ICO) has become global. Cryptocurrencies are offered to finance projects in the blockchain arena. This crypto-phenomenon challenges traditional capital raising and investment mechanisms and many strongly believe in its potential. This paper analyses some key characteristics of ICOs and investigates potential risks. It also examines the shift from traditional mechanisms to “cryptos” and studies several features of blockchains. An overview on trust is provided to detect some trust-enhancing and trust-diminishing aspects of technologies. Finally, cryptology is discussed to test cryptocurrencies’ potential as objects of trust.

Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P. M. Vermeulen

No abstract is available for this record.

Robert Anascavage, Nathan Davis

No abstract is available for this record.

Christian Fries, Peter Kohl-Landgraf

No abstract is available for this record.

John Hill

No abstract is available for this record.

Sofia Johan, Anshum Pant

No abstract is available for this record.