Blockchain Papers

Dmitrii Sumkin, Sameer Hasija, Serguei Netessine

No abstract is available for this record.

Antonín Paseka

The financial and legal aspects of alternative payment systems from the anti-money laundering prespective Abstract The aim of this thesis is to provide a general overview of the current state of alternative payment systems with regard to their inclusion in the financial market, their properties and potentials for wider use, and to evaluate their possibilities to more effectively combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In the first chapter, the thesis explains the broader context with regard to financial systems, especially within the money market systems focusing on retail, while providing a deeper explanation of the context of European law and Czech law. The second chapter is focused on closer analysis of alternative payment systems with regard to their use. Alternative payment systems are divided into two basic categories for centralized alternative payment systems and decentralized alternative payment systems. The category of centralized alternative payment systems corresponds to the current conventional financial market, taking into account the innovations that have emerged in recent years. Decentralized alternative payment systems are based on the DLT Blockchain technology and the Islamic Hawala payment system is analyzed as a purely informal,...

Jackie Johnson

No abstract is available for this record.

Charalampos Chelmis, Yogesh Kumar Angajala

We present a prototype decentralized transactional platform designed to improve the transparency of homeless serving organizations and facilitate their accountability and oversight. In the proposed system, the complete history of transactions between organizations offering homelessness services (e.g., shelters, transitional housing) and individuals seeking such services is stored in a distributed ledger. Using smart contracts, the proposed tamper-proof framework can automate the exchange of information between clients, organizations and government agencies, and allow government agencies audit organizations without violating the privacy of homeless individuals. We begin by describing the goals and concepts, the stakeholders’ requirements and the corresponding desirable system properties, and identified challenges. We continue with an in-depth description of the overall architecture of the proposed system designed to achieve these goals, and lessons learned towards transitioning this system to the real-world.

Caroline Covell

One of the agendas of those who want to establish the New World Order through the “Great Reset” is to have cryptocurrency as the medium of exchange for goods and services or as a reward for obedience and submission is cryptocurrency, stated in a “leak” communication from a Canadian Member of Parliament. The problem with cryptocurrency is that it is not a physical money, but only represents numbers in the database or a blockchain. Rather, it is an e-money or a virtual money stored in databases. It does not have tangible values, has no legal status and by definition, it is unconstitutional. But it allows the owner to exchange it for a real physical money from the financial institution as an exchange. It is illegal and a fraud. Cryptocurrency is based on a computer software that helps you to mine cryptocurrency and allows you to make payment for goods and services electronically, but only for the institutions or commercial organizations that participate in the scheme of cryptocurrency. This paper discusses the politics of cryptocurrency, the policy proposed, the risk associated with its implementation, and that it may lead to the collapse of financial markets and fosters the rational men to declare “The world is mine.”

Danielle Mendes Thame Denny, Emre Kazim, Adriano Koshiyama, Philip Treleaven · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Najihah Rusli, Mohamad Fadli Zolkipli

The advantages and disadvantages of blockchain technology in cryptocurrency attacks will be explained in this article. Digital currency has been widely used around the world. The soaring value of digital currencies has also led to an increase in the use of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. The increasingly popular use of cryptocurrency around the world is causing criminals, and hackers are starting to attack cryptocurrency on an ongoing basis. With the advent of blockchain technology, it managed to save the digital currency system with the availability of a decentralized database. Each block has many transactions, and for new transactions will be recorded and added to a decentralized database with a cryptographic signature that does not change making it difficult for abuse and theft. The authors have examined the strengths and weaknesses of the blockchain in cryptocurrency attacks. As a result, the authors support that this blockchain technology can help deal with cryptocurrency attacks that occur.

Jona Stinner

No abstract is available for this record.

Cindy Vestergaard

No abstract is available for this record.

Steve H. Hanke, Nicholas Hanlon, Parth Thakkar

In the middle of the night of June 8th, El Salvador’s Congress hastily passed the Bitcoin Law. This law will make bitcoin legal tender (actually, forced tender). Since the modalities concerning the implementation of the Bitcoin Law change with each passing day, we cannot opine on the details surrounding the scheduled launch of the Bitcoin Law on September 7, 2021. That said, it’s abundantly clear that if the Bitcoin Law is actually implemented, El Salvadoran banks, merchants, and their customers will cross swords with Financial Action Task Force regulators and be ensnared in the FATF’s web of regulations.

Maike Rafael, Jorge Renato Verschoore, Jefferson Marlon Monticelli

Bitcoin is a social movement, which promises free and decentralized money, absent from the traditional regulatory institutions, but it can be challenging for financial industry regulators and other players in the financial markets. Thus, our study aims to analyze how the institutional voids manifest in the bitcoin institutionalization process as a currency. We adopt the institutional theory, from the perspective of institutional voids, in order to observe the concepts in emerging markets that show the difficulty or the beginning of the institutionalization of bitcoin as a currency. The institutional theory provides an opportunity to understand the reasons for using particular practices, actions, or manifestations. Our method is based on a qualitative exploratory approach with semi-structured interviews to understand how financial market experts perceive this phenomenon. Our results show that it is possible to identify how institutional voids manifest themselves, reinforcing the debate on whether bitcoin is, in fact, a currency.

Simon Butler

No abstract is available for this record.

João Apolónia, Margarida Abreu

This paper aims to analyze the consequences of adding Bitcoin to an investment portfolio. The main methodology used is the Mean-Variance model combined with the Monte Carlo Simulation. Results show that Bitcoin can improve the Sharpe Ratio of an already diversified portfolio, however the inclusion of Bitcoin has to be done in proportions averaging 3.83 percent of the portfolio's weight. This paper also found that Bitcoin does not seem to behave as a safe haven/hedge asset during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Taimur Bakhshi, Bogdan Ghita

No abstract is available for this record.

Jorge Renato Verschoore, Eduardo Henrique Diniz, Ricardo Colomo‐Palacios

One panel in the International Conference of Information Systems (ICIS), held in December 2016 in Dublin, attracted attention that surpassed the hundreds of seats of the auditorium and forced the security to close the doors when the stairs became completely occupied. The audience, eager to join the debate on the research perspectives on the topic of blockchain in the information systems (IS) field, represented one of the first academic manifestations of the great expectations placed on this emergent topic in this research community. One year later, the organizers of this panel Although these events indicate milestones for the IS field, the blockchain started to shake the world almost a decade before.

Srđan Radulović

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to imagine an effective legal system that is not somehow inspired by nominalistic ideas. However, the principle of monetary nominalism is not necessary in correlation with other higher principles, such as the principle of fairness, for example. Thus, legislators build and implement corrective instruments in legal acts, most of the time allowing legal subjects to choose and adapt those instruments to best fit their economic interests. In that context, (foreign) currency clauses are probably the most frequently used instrument. Those norms, when implemented in contract, prevent the negative effects of domestic currency depreciation through the denomination of the amount of debt in foreign currency. Whether we regard them as currency or not, cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming an important part of our digitalized economic world. So, unless the legislature strictly limits or abolishes the freedom of will (the principle of party autonomy) in contract law by banning cryptocurrencies, contracting parties can hedge against domestic currency depreciation by pegging the amount of debt to the exchange rate of one of thousands of existing cryptocurrencies. If parties choose to make such an agreement, it is most likely that they will peg the amount of debt to the Bitcoin exchange rate. If parties choose to make such an agreement, it is most likely that they will peg the amount of debt to the Bitcoin exchange rate. In this paper, the author analyzes (crypto)currency clauses nominated in Bitcoin and their effects on contract relations in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia. This research heavy relies on the advantages of the normative and the comparative method, and various techniques of the analytical method.

Hadar Yoana Jabotinsky, Michal Lavi

Terror attacks pose a serious threat to public safety and national security. New technologies assist these attacks, magnify them and render them deadlier. The more funding terrorist organizations manage to raise, the greater their capacity to recruit members, organize and commit terror attacks. Since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, law enforcement agencies have increased their efforts to develop more anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering regulations, which are designed to block the flow of financing of terrorism and cut off its oxygen. However, at present most regulatory measures focus on traditional currencies. The more efforts to restrict the financing of terrorism by traditional fiat currencies succeeds, the greater the likelihood that cryptocurrencies will be used in order to fund illicit behavior. Furthermore, the COVID-19 virus and social distancing guidelines that followed it have increased the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering, material support to terror and other financial crimes. Cryptocurrencies, electronically generated and stored tokens which can be exchanged via a decentralized payment system, are a game changer, significantly affecting market functions like never before and making it easier to finance terrorism and other types of criminal activity. These decentralized and (usually) anonymous usable currencies facilitate a high volume of transactions, allowing terrorists extensive fundraising, management, transfer and spending of money for illegal activities. The ability of terror organizations and those who finance them to increase their activities and attacks by using cryptocurrencies poses a major threat to national security. As cryptocurrencies gain popularity, the issue of how to regulate them becomes more urgent. The scope and utility of financing of terrorism begs for a coherent legal response. This Article proposes to reform the regulation of cryptocurrencies. It advocates the promotion of mandatory obligations directed at cryptocurrency issuers, wallet providers and exchanges to verify the identity of users on the blockchain. Thus, courts could grant warrants obligating companies issuing cryptocurrencies to unmask the identity of cryptocurrency users when there is probable cause that their activities support terrorism or other money laundering activities. Such reforms would make it possible to allow stifling the financing of terrorism and other types of criminal activity financed through cryptocurrencies, and in so doing would make it possible to curb harmful lethal activities and promote national security. As we are aware of the legal challenges our solution poses, this Article also addresses substantial objections that might be raised regarding the proposed reforms, such as jeopardizing innovation, First Amendment freedom of expression objections, Fourth Amendment protection from surveillance and measures for promoting efficiency in the application of the proposed reforms.

Gengsheng Xue, Yang Li, Zibin Zheng

No abstract is available for this record.

Kelvin Fatt Kin Low

No abstract is available for this record.

Timothy King, Dimitrios Koutmos, Francesco Saverio Stentella Lopes

No abstract is available for this record.

Farimah Poursafaei, Reihaneh Rabbany, Željko Žilić

No abstract is available for this record.

Georgios C. Bitros

No abstract is available for this record.

Sean Foley, Bart Frijns, Alexandre Garel, Tai‐Yong Roh

We examine the relationship between national culture and a country’s Bitcoin usage. Given that Bitcoin is a high-risk currency/investment that is frequently used for illegal purposes and whose market is relatively opaque, we focus on the cultural dimension of individualism, which has been related to risk-taking behavior and overconfidence. Using unique data that includes the originating country for Bitcoin transactions, we examine the relationship between individualism and a country’s Bitcoin usage for a sample of 80 countries between 2009-2018. We find a significant and positive relationship between a country’s individualism and its use of Bitcoin consistent with cultural values affecting the demand for such high-risk currency/investments.

Lucianna Kiffer, Rajmohan Rajaraman

In cryptocurrencies, the block reward is meant to serve as the incentive mechanism for miners to commit resources to create blocks and in effect secure the system. Existing systems primarily divide the reward in proportion to expended resources and follow one of two static models for total block reward: (i) a fixed reward for each block (e.g., Ethereum), or (ii) one where the block reward halves every set number of blocks (e.g., the Bitcoin model of halving roughly every 4 years) but otherwise remains fixed between halvings. In recent work, a game-theoretic analysis of the static model under asymmetric miner costs showed that an equilibrium always exists and is unique. Their analysis also reveals how asymmetric costs can lead to large-scale centralization in blockchain mining, a phenomenon that has been observed in Bitcoin and Ethereum and highlighted by other studies. In this work we introduce a novel family of mining reward functions, HaPPY-Mine (HAsh-Pegged Proportional Yield), which peg the value of the reward to the hashrate of the system, decreasing the reward as the hashrate increases. HaPPY-Mine distributes rewards in proportion to expended hashrate and inherits the safety properties of the generalized proportional reward function. We study HaPPY-Mine under a heterogeneous miner cost model and show that an equilibrium always exists with a unique set of miner participants and a unique total hashrate. Significantly, we prove that a HaPPY-Mine equilibrium is more decentralized than the static model equilibrium under a set of metrics including number of mining participants and hashrate distribution. Finally, we show that any HaPPY-Mine equilibrium is also safe against collusion and sybil attacks, and explore how the market value of the currency affects the equilibrium.