Attaining consensus with no constraints on the consensus participation is a fundamental feature of decentralized blockchain solutions such as Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2008) and Ethereum (Buterin et al., 2013). Unrestricted consensus participation removes the possibility of censorship and a potential single point of failure, but this design has led to a new concern: that of centralization. Centralization in decentralized blockchain refers to the concentration of a large portion of computing resources to a select few participants. In this paper, we identify the restriction on new participation as a critical contributor to the centralization of consensus power towards commercial and large-scale entities. We also examine the cause of the indirect restriction on participation and propose a metric to identify the degree of these indirect restrictions. This new metric may be used as a threat indicator to identify the centralization of decentralized blockchain caused by indirect participation restrictions.
This project focuses on making it easy for both developers and non-developers to develop smart contracts for solidity on the Ethereum blockchain. Our tool, LATTE, visually represents and simplifies the concepts in blockchain, which is still in its infancy. Graphical objects and diagrams are used to represent code and logic, which will allow quicker prototyping of smart contracts. LATTE also allows easy deployment of smart contract code on to the blockchain with the click of a button. We also examine the performance and gas usage of smart contracts generated using LATTE and compare it to reference smart contracts. This document summarises all design issues, challenges faced and the steps taken to complete the project.
While global sourcing arrangements are highly complex and usually represent large value to the partners, little is known of the use of e-contracts or smart contracts and contract management systems to enhance the contract management process. In this paper we assess the potential of emerging technologies for global sourcing. We review current sourcing contract issues and evaluate three technologies that have been applied to enhance contracting processes. These are (1) semantic standardisation, (2) cognitive technologies and (3) smart contracts and blockchain. We discuss that each of these seem to have their merit for contract management and potentially can contribute to contract management in more complex and dynamic sourcing arrangements. The combination and configuration in which these three technologies will provide value to sourcing should be on the agenda for future research in sourcing contract management.
Smart contracts are a new form of contracts that handle transactions of economical value between users on a network, without the need for a middle man. This is possible as the integrity of the transactions are ensured using Blockchain technology. However, safe transactions are not always a guarantee as secure smart contracts can be difficult to write. Security vulnerabilities in smart contracts can be exploited and result in great financial losses for contract users. In this report we examine how interference can be counteracted in transactions involving smart contracts. This is to ensure that assets of economical value do not run the risk of disappearing and that the flow of information between smart contracts remains truthful. The term "interference" is coined precisely in relation to smart contracts. Moreover, two different solutions for two interference problems are examined, which mainly involve locking the access to certain functions for specific contracts so that no modification of the state of one contract can take place until a transaction is finished. The methods for counteracting interference in the transactions work, but the solutions are adapted to the specific pr blems and do not serve as a "general" solution to the problem of interference.
Jan 1, 2019·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Rafael Ziolkowski, Geetha Parangi, Gianluca Miscione, Gerhard Schwabe
The blockchain comes with the promise of being a disruptive technology with the potential for novel ways of interaction in a wide range of applications. Although scholarly interest in the technology is growing, a comprehensive analysis of blockchain applications from a governance perspective lacks to date. This research pays special attention to the governance of blockchain systems and illustrates core governance decisions on 15 blockchain implementations from four application domains. Additionally, this research sheds light on changes brought by the blockchain in terms of governance. Based on academic literature, semi-structured-interviews with representatives from those companies, and content analysis of grey literature, different blockchain governance decisions have been derived and their enactment described. The identification of those enriches the scarce body of knowledge on blockchain-based implementations with a better understanding of how key governance decisions are enacted.
Transactions involving cryptocurrency are rapidly gaining traction in the United States, prompting the need for regulation. Hence, California legislators proposed the cryptocurrency regulation Assembly Bill 1123. However, based upon the outcome of a virtually identical regulation in New York, this proposed bill is theoretically projected to stifle business growth and potential innovation. This Article focuses on one approach to remedy this by advocating for reform at the federal level and recommending the utilization of the regulatory sandbox as a framework for future regulation.
After its introduction the smart contract platforms got practical use when they become key part of the Ethereum public blockchain and defined the concept of distributed applications (dApps). Smart contract platforms, based on distributed ledger technologies (DLT), are used in various industries such as banking, government and law, healthcare, insurance, and transportation. One area of a DLT and smart contracts could also be used is the area of the software lifecycle management (SLM). Complex SLM procedures involve many parties such as customer, software provider, technical and business consultants, auditors, hardware providers, third party software vendors, and others. In this paper we investigate the applicability of DLT-based smart contract platforms to support multi-party SLM processes for complex customer systems, components of which are running on premise, in the cloud and on edge devices.
Hai Trieu Le, Ngoc Tien, Nguyen Ngoc, Nghia Duong‐Trung · 7 authors
One of the major problems of e-commerce globally is the selling and buying of goods among the parties over the Internet in which the traders may not trust their partners. Cash on delivery allows customers to pay in cash when the product is delivered to their home or a location they choose. This is sometimes called a payment system because customers receive goods before making a payment. This paper investigates a critical verification process issue in the cash on delivery system. In particular, we propose a multi shippers mechanism, which consists of blockchain technology, smart contracts and hyper-ledger fabric platform to achieve distributed and trustworthy verification across participants in the decentralized markets. Our proposed mechanism is given to not only ensure the benefits of the seller but also prevent shipper’s fraudulent. The solution leverages the consistency and robustness of decentralized markets where trust is flexible and effectively controlled. To demonstrate the application and implementation of the proposed framework, we conduct several case studies on real-world transaction datasets from a local computer retailer. We also provide our sources codes for further reproducibility and development. Our conclusion is that the continued integration of multi-shipper mechanism and blockchain technology in the decentralized markets will cause significant transformations across several disciplines.
Jan 1, 2019·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
This paper explores the emergence of ecosystems in the context of Fintechs infusing digital technology into financial services. The rapid rise of Fintechs has changed the business landscape, challenging the established firms with novel solutions and services. As a result, the established firms are turning to new models of cooperation, replacing the hierarchically managed value chains with ecosystems that are modular and decentralized in their architecture. First, a bibliometric analysis was conducted to present the content and relationships in Fintech research in general. Then, a case study on two of the biggest retail banks in Finland and their innovation relationships in developing Distributed Ledger Technologies and related services was conducted. The results show how established players have established multiple innovation relationships, in different ecosystems as well as between them. These can be seen to demonstrate the emergence of Fintech ecosystems. The study contributes to previous literature by making the linkages explicit, particularly by examining the contextual elements that are crucial enablers or hindering factors in such relationships.
Jan 1, 2019·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Benedikt Notheisen, Sven Willrich, Maximilian Diez, Christof Weinhardt
In recent years, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) and its disruptive potential has been one of the most discussed topics in the field of information systems. Driven by the prospect of cost savings and efficiency gains, financial markets are at the core of these discussions. However, in the increasingly convoluted and constantly evolving market of technology providers and platforms, organizations struggle to find a solution that fulfills the specific requirements of their application scenario. To evaluate the suitability of different blockchain-based platforms for securities post-trading, we develop a new methodology to create a technology classification that takes the demands of a specific application context into account. The resulting requirement-based taxonomy sheds light on factors that impede the adoption of blockchain- and DLT-based post-trading, highlights future research challenges, and offers a valuable tool to induce communication between involved stakeholders.
Christian Fries, Peter Kohl-Landgraf, Björn Paffen, Stefanie Weddigen · 11 authors
In this note we describe the application of existing smart contract technologies with the aim to construct a new digital representation of a financial derivative contract. We compare several existing DLT based technologies. We provide a detailed description of two separate prototypes which are able to be executed on a centralized and on a DLT platform respectively. Beyond that we highlight some insights on legal aspects as well as on common integration challenges regarding existing process and system landscapes. For a further introductory note and motivation on the theoretical concept we refer to https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2018/12/smart-derivative-contract-constructing-digital-financial-derivative . A very detailed methodological overview of the concept of a smart derivative contract can be found in doi:10.2139/ssrn.3163074.
Given the ubiquity of digital technologies, and increased use of autonomous algorithms, it is likely that many of today’s social and organizational processes will one day include autonomous elements. The Bitcoin blockchain is likely the first case of an increasingly generative and autonomous way of organizing, and the specific properties of blockchain infrastructures—distribution of control, openness to manipulation, and generativity of the underlying source code—make it an ideal case to study patterns of self-organizing. This paper investigates the phenomenon of self-organizing through a study of forking in the Bitcoin blockchain infrastructure between 2010 and 2016. It adds to the emerging body of research on digital infrastructures, and particularly blockchain infrastructures, by conceptualizing forking as a pattern of self-organizing in blockchain infrastructures that specifically involves the underlying infrastructure, the scale of code changes, individual objectives, and collective adoption, whether specific or general. Thus, this paper demonstrates how forking in blockchain infrastructures mediates between divergent organizing objectives and existing capabilities, on the one hand, and generates self-organizing on the other hand. In this paper, we further contextualize our findings in extant work on digital infrastructures, offer a guide for designers of blockchain infrastructures, and propose the concept of “generative mirroring” as a pattern through which blockchain infrastructures and organizing adaptively coevolve.
This paper examines companies' adaptation of cryptocurrencies and comprises a quantitative empirical study. The emerging potentials of cryptocurrencies but the gap of practical application and respective existing knowledge are addressed in this paper. Technological, economic, social and regulatory aspects are depicted in the literature review. In addition, a comprehensive status quo of on companies' cryptocurrency adaptation research is provided and previous contributions are discussed. This study is based on an online questionnaire that was sent out to CFOs of German Prime Standard listed companies. As suggested in preceding papers the extended technology acceptance model (TAM2) is applied. Results indicate a very low level of adaptation and companies' utilisation of the blockchain technology. Lower potentials are seen in cryptocurrencies than in the underlying blockchain technology. The main obstacles are to overcome regulatory uncertainty and high price volatility. Low transaction costs and the omission of intermediaries are seen as great potential benefits. Suggestions for further research and practical implications are provided.