This study examines the structural interplay between Decentralized Finance (DeFi) innovations and adaptive regulatory sandbox architectures within modern financial systems. The rapid proliferation of disintermediated protocols-engineered through smart contracts, Automated Market Makers (AMMs), decentralized lending pools, and algorithmic governance-fundamentally challenges traditional supervisory paradigms anchored in centralized, identifiable financial intermediaries. Utilizing the theoretical foundations of financial intermediation, transaction cost economics, and institutional regulatory design, this paper evaluates how regulatory sandboxes serve as dynamic policy testing grounds to reconcile technological experimentation with systemic stability and investor protection. The findings indicate that deploying specialized DeFi sandbox cohorts, augmented by embedded supervision and cryptographic compliance tools, substantially lowers regulatory uncertainty, prevents systemic contagion, and establishes an evidence-based pathway toward resilient decentralized financial governance.
This paper explores stability, volatility and structural change in Bitcoin using an Archive Framework that distinguishes between normal ("Archive") and abnormal ("Evental") market states. Using more than eleven years of daily Bitcoin data, the study investigates whether measures of structural tension help explain periods of market instability. While most predictive relationships prove weak after correcting for methodological bias, the analysis identifies a significant shift in Bitcoin's behaviour during the post-ETF era, characterised by lower realised volatility and substantially greater occupancy of structurally stable market states. The findings suggest that the principal value of the Archive Framework may lie in describing market regimes rather than predicting them.
The increasing reliance on digital banking solutions has significantly transformed financial services, with Automated1Teller1Machine (ATM) transactions playing a critical role in banking operations. This study examines the impact of ATM transactions on the1 financial performance of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, utilizing a Robust Least Squares (RLS) estimation technique to analyze quarterly data from 2009 to 2023. The study employs Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Capital Adequacy Ratio1 (CAR) as proxies for financial performance. The findings reveal that while ATM transactions exhibit a statistically insignificant effect on ROA and ROE, they have a significant positive relationship with CAR, suggesting that ATM services contribute more to the financial stability of banks than to their profitability. The study also highlights key challenges associated with ATM usage, including network failures, fraud risks, and high maintenance costs, which may limit its full potential in enhancing bank performance. Given these findings, the study recommends that Nigerian banks strengthen ATM infrastructure, enhance cybersecurity measures, integrate emerging technologies such as blockchain, and implement customer education programs to optimize ATM efficiency and mitigate associated risks. These measures will enhance financial inclusion, improve customer satisfaction, and sustain the overall financial health of deposit money banks in Nigeria.
Its novelty lies in: (a) formalizing seven explicit propositions (P1–P7) with explicit why-how-formal statement structure for each construct-to-construct relationship; (b) theorizing a differentiated serial mediation structure—full mediation in the upstream technical-structural segment (P1–P3) and partial mediation in the downstream relational-governance segment (P4–P7); (c) reversing the P6 direction to Sharia Compliance → Stakeholder Trust on Signaling Theory grounds; (d) defining Institutional Performance as a four-dimensional construct (financial, Sharia legitimacy, stakeholder value, and governance quality); and (e) specifying boundary conditions delimiting the framework’s scope to permissioned blockchain environments and high-religiosity market contexts.
This paper investigates how cryptocurrency advertising and social media ecosystems shape Indian teenagers’ perceptions of risk, trust and opportunity in digital assets. Against a backdrop of low youth financial literacy and rising Gen Z participation in crypto investing globally, understanding how young people interpret persuasive financial content is increasingly relevant. The study addresses a gap in existing work, which largely focuses on adult retail investors in developed markets and text-heavy platforms, by examining how Indian adolescents and young adults (13–25) encounter and evaluate highly visual, youth-facing crypto promotions. A qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design is employed. Visual content analysis of nine high-visibility crypto campaigns on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram is combined with a short online survey of 27 Indian respondents aged 13–25. The ad coding captures colour, emotional framing, FOMO and “easy money” language, celebrity presence and the visibility of risk disclaimers, while the survey records perceived trustworthiness, risk, confusion, sources of information and self-reported confidence in understanding crypto. Findings show that the analysed campaigns systematically amplify reward cues, normalise speculative trading as simple and aspirational, and relegate risk warnings to low-salience text, often using bank-like or game-like framing that exploits conceptual gaps around regulation and product safety. Survey responses suggest that many teenagers recognise hype and misleading tropes yet still rely heavily on influencers and peers, report FOMO and express limited confidence in their own financial knowledge. The paper argues for stronger youth-oriented media-literacy interventions, stricter enforcement of advertising standards, and platform-level tools that foreground risk and sponsorship in crypto content aimed at or easily accessed by young audiences.
Open access
Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
The article examines the role of FinTech solutions in the transformation of international finance and their impact on the development of the global economy in the context of rapid digitalization and technological change. The study analyzes contemporary trends in the implementation of financial technologies in international settlements, payment systems, investment activities, lending, insurance services, and financial risk management. Particular attention is paid to the development of digital platforms, mobile banking, blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, cloud computing, and distributed ledger technologies, which significantly influence the efficiency and accessibility of international financial services. The key opportunities created by FinTech for increasing the efficiency of cross-border financial transactions, reducing transaction costs, accelerating payment processing, and improving transparency in financial operations are identified. The study emphasizes the contribution of financial technologies to enhancing financial inclusion by expanding access to financial services for individuals and businesses, especially in developing countries and regions with limited banking infrastructure. The role of FinTech in facilitating the integration of national financial systems into the global financial space and strengthening international economic cooperation is substantiated. The article also outlines the main risks and challenges associated with the rapid expansion of FinTech solutions. These include cyber threats, data privacy concerns, operational vulnerabilities, regulatory fragmentation, technological dependence, money laundering risks, and potential threats to financial stability. The growing influence of global digital platforms and technology companies on international financial markets is considered, highlighting the need to balance innovation and regulatory oversight. The necessity of improving international regulation of the FinTech sector is substantiated in order to minimize systemic risks and prevent negative consequences for the global economy. Particular attention is devoted to the harmonization of approaches to licensing procedures, capital adequacy requirements, auditing standards, reporting obligations, consumer protection mechanisms, and risk management practices. The study highlights the importance of establishing common international standards for stress testing, supervisory cooperation, information exchange, and early warning mechanisms aimed at preventing financial crises and mitigating systemic shocks. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the need for coordinated international regulation of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, and tokenized assets in order to prevent illegal capital flows, tax evasion, financial fraud, and regulatory arbitrage. It is argued that effective international cooperation among governments, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, and technology providers is essential for ensuring the sustainable development of digital finance. The article concludes that the improvement of international FinTech regulation is a prerequisite for strengthening investor and consumer confidence, enhancing financial resilience, promoting innovation, and ensuring the long-term stability and sustainable development of the global economy.
Abstract Financial technologies (Fintech), such as digital payments, have become transformative economic tools. Yet despite technological advances and the documented benefits of financial inclusion, 1.3 billion adults remained unbanked in 2024, and cash persists globally. Why is fintech growth accompanied not by more intermediation but by persistent disintermediation (through cash and, increasingly, Bitcoin) that varies significantly across countries? I present a theory of disintermediation identifying three primary drivers: weak state capacity, underdeveloped infrastructure, and political institutions shaping citizens’ incentives regarding formal finance. The first two are supply-side factors: weak state capacity enables merchants to demand cash payments to avoid taxation, strengthening informal sectors, and lacking banking infrastructure raises the cost of intermediation. The third is a demand-side factor extending Hirschman’s ‘Exit, Voice, and Loyalty’ framework to finance: autocratic governance increases citizens’ exit from formal finance. I test this theory through two empirical analyses using two-way fixed effects, each capturing disintermediation within a different population: First, cash dependency among the broad population of economic actors in 158 countries, 2001–2020 ( n = 2760). Second, the choice of peer-to-peer over exchange-based channels among cryptocurrency users in 161 countries, 2019–2024 ( n = 921), using a novel dataset provided by Chainalysis, a market leader in blockchain intelligence. The two measures are deliberately not parallel: the cash analysis tests the theory on the broadest possible population, while the Bitcoin analysis tests whether the same institutional drivers predict the choice of disintermediated channels within the population of cryptocurrency users. Consistent results across populations this different indicate that the theorized mechanism is general rather than an artifact of either measure. Results are robust across estimators, including Callaway and Sant’Anna staggered difference-in-differences. Findings demonstrate that supply and demand drivers each shape disintermediation, and establish a research agenda investigating fintech adoption through financial disintermediation.
The international obligation to reach the net-zero level of emissions has enhanced the requirement to develop new financial tools that would be able to raise funds to support sustainable development. One of the factors in this transition has been financial technology (FinTech) that has employed digital innovation and financial services to help provide sustainable investment, transparency, and efficiency in capital allocation. Green FinTech is the intersection of FinTech innovations and environmentally sustainable goals, especially those of assisting climate mitigation and climate adaptation policies. The chapter analyzes the examples of green FinTech, and the way they facilitate net-zero transitions. Based on theoretical frameworks and new trends in the world, the chapter outlines the major models such as digital green lending systems, carbon markets facilitated by blockchain, AI-based climate risk analytics, and crowdfunding solutions to sustainable projects.
Switching to a low-carbon economy will demand significant funding of environmentally-friendly investments. Nevertheless, commonly traditional financial systems are known to experience problems like high transaction costs, information asymmetry and less transparency which limits the efficient mobilization of green capital. The chapter discusses the potential of financial technology (FinTech) to revolutionize the green credit market and institutional channels of carbon reduction. The conceptual and analytical approach incorporating the results of the literature on sustainable finance, digital financial ecosystem, and climate policy, the chapter examines how digital lending platforms, blockchain-based verification, artificial intelligence-based credit evaluation, and data-driven environmental monitoring can improve the effectiveness and reliability of the green finance.
Ho Thanh Tri, Le Hoang Minh Khue, Le Dinh Van, Tran Gia Linh · 6 authors
As the digital economy rapidly develops, quick access to capital has become a critical survival factor for individuals intending to start a new business. However, under traditional bank lending systems, these aspiring entrepreneurs face significant barriers due to complex financial documentation requirements and stringent credit history checks. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study investigates factors influencing users’ adoption of blockchain-enabled digital lending platforms among individual customers with startup intentions in Vietnam. The empirical model examines the effects of Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness on Attitude Toward Using, and the effect of Attitude on Behavioral Intention to Use. The results show that both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness positively influence users’ attitudes, while attitude strongly affects behavioral intention. Blockchain-related characteristics, including decentralization, data immutability, and smart contracts, are discussed as technological mechanisms that may improve lending efficiency, transparency, and users’ confidence in digital lending systems. The study provides practical implications for banks and FinTech firms seeking to design user-friendly and secure digital lending platforms for underserved entrepreneurial users.
Vanessa Itacaramby Pardim, Luis Hernan Contreras Pinochet, Jhenifer Amore Castanho, Marcos dos Santos · 5 authors
Purpose This study aims to examine how heterogeneous stakeholder groups within the Brazilian non-fungible tokens (NFT) visual arts ecosystem prioritize acquisition criteria and evaluate market alternatives. Design/methodology/approach The study applies a quantitative multi-criteria decision-making approach to data from 128 participants grouped into artists/creators, designers/creative entrepreneurs, collectors/investors, and analysts/intermediaries. The criteria weights are derived using the method based on the removal effects of criteria, and five NFT-related alternatives are ranked using 11 compensatory multi-criteria decision-making techniques. Ranking robustness was assessed through stability and rank correlation analyses. Findings The results indicate stakeholder-sensitive decision patterns rather than sharply separated evaluative structures. NFT auctions have emerged as the dominant alternative for creative and analytical actors, whereas crowdfunding-based NFT projects are consistently preferred by collectors and investors. Criterion importance varies moderately among stakeholder groups, whereas alternative rankings exhibit greater stability across several aggregation methods. Practical implications The findings provide actionable insights for artists, platform managers, investors, and policymakers by demonstrating how different stakeholder groups evaluate NFT acquisition mechanisms. Understanding these differentiated decision patterns can support more targeted platform design, governance structures, and strategic positioning in NFT-based markets. Social implications This study highlights the importance of transparency, security, and stakeholder-sensitive governance in NFT-based creative ecosystems, particularly in emerging markets where digital assets remain institutionally unstable. Originality/value This study integrates institutional logics, digital innovation ecosystems, and multi-criteria decision-making to analyze NFT-related decisions from a multi-stakeholder perspective. It shows how NFT governance mechanisms and platform strategies can be aligned with different stakeholder priorities.
The rapid diffusion of crypto currency in Nigeria has attracted considerable attention from academics, practitioners, and policymakers. This study investigates the determinants of crypto-currency adoption, market growth, and price dynamics in Nigeria, with a particular focus on financial inclusion, regulatory environment, technological advancement, investor sentiment, and macroeconomic factors. The research objectives are (i) to assess the appeal and growth trajectory of crypto-currencies in Nigeria; (ii) to identify the risk factors that shape their evolution; and (iii) to derive policy-relevant insights for regulators and industry stakeholders. A quantitative approach was employed using quarterly data spanning 2012-2023 (N = 43). Five hypotheses were formulated and tested using a battery of time-series techniques: Granger-causality, unit-root tests, Johansen cointegration, and autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) modelling. The proxies for the independent variables were: number of crypto users, transaction volume, and number of exchanges (cryptocurrency adoption); number of regulatory approvals, regulatory clarity, and regulatory support (regulatory environment); internet penetration, mobile-phone adoption, and tech-startup count (technological advancement); social-media mentions, sentiment analysis, and investor-confidence index (investor sentiment); and GDP growth, inflation, and exchange rate (economic factors). Dependent variables included percentage of the population with financial-service access, number of bank accounts, mobile-money adoption (financial inclusion); market capitalization, trading volume, and new listings (crypto-market growth); standard deviation of price returns and frequency of price jumps (price volatility); and number of transactions and users (crypto demand). The empirical findings reveal a complex interplay among the variables. Granger-causality tests indicate bidirectional predictability between crypto currency adoption and financial inclusion, as well as unidirectional causality from regulatory environment, technological advancement, investor sentiment, and economic factors to their respective outcomes (p < 0.05). Unit-root tests confirm stationarity of all series (I(0)), justifying the use of cointegration analysis. Johansen tests detect at least one cointegrating vector for each hypothesis, suggesting long-run equilibria. ARDL models provide nuanced short-run dynamics: a 1 % improvement in regulatory quality raises market growth by 0.98 % (p < 0.001); technological advancement has a modest, borderline-significant short-run effect on adoption (p = 0.09); investor sentiment exhibits a contemporaneous calming effect on volatility followed by a lagged increase (p = 0.04); and economic factors display a near-unit elasticity (0.98, p < 0.001) with crypto demand in the short run but a negative long-run association, implying that sustained economic improvement may reduce crypto’s appeal. The study concludes that while regulatory clarity, technological infrastructure, and macroeconomic stability are pivotal in shaping the short-run trajectory of the Nigerian crypto market, their long-run impact can be ambivalent. Investor sentiment emerges as a significant driver of price volatility, underscoring the role of behavioural factors in this emerging asset class. The findings underscore the need for a balanced regulatory framework that encourages innovation while safeguarding financial stability, alongside targeted investments in digital infrastructure and financial-literacy programmes.
Zheng Lin Chia, Hui Wei You, Sardar Muhammad Usman, Bee Wah Yap
Purpose Following the introduction of the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR), crowdfunding has experienced rapid growth within the European alternative finance sector. However, the harmonisation of regulatory requirements has not fully eliminated concerns regarding information asymmetry among investors. This study aims to examines how financial disclosure (FINANCIALD) and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) function as disclosure-based signals that influence the success of equity and debt crowdfunding campaigns regulated under the ECSPR. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on signalling theory, this study examines campaign-level data from a single ECSPR-authorised crowdfunding platform: 154 Invesdor campaigns (123 equity crowdfunding and 31 debt crowdfunding campaigns) operating in Germany. Logistic regression is used as the primary estimation technique. The models account for a comprehensive set of campaign characteristics, including the number of project updates, fundraising-target disclosure, financing type and engagement-related features. Findings The results indicate that both FINANCIALD and SDG alignment have a positive and statistically significant relationship with crowdfunding success. Voluntary disclosure of accounting-related financial information and alignment with the SDGs are associated with a higher probability of achieving funding targets. In contrast, commonly studied campaign characteristics, such as media presence and the disclosure of founder background, do not show a strong influence on the success of equity and debt crowdfunding campaigns. Research limitations/implications The generalisability of the findings may be limited due to the study’s focus on ECSPR-regulated campaigns in Germany. Future research could extend the analysis to cross-country comparisons, examine the quality of disclosures and investigate the impact of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-based auditing and blockchain-based reporting, on disclosure practices within crowdfunding markets. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of transparent FINANCIALD and clearly communicated sustainability orientation for entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital through crowdfunding. For policymakers, the results highlight the complementary roles of regulation and voluntary disclosure in supporting trust and efficiency in financial technologies (FinTech)-enabled capital markets. The observed association with SDG alignment should not be interpreted as evidence of the credibility or actual sustainability performance of the disclosed commitments. Originality/value The research contributes to the evolving literature on FinTech regulation by providing a timely assessment of the ECSPR’s impact on investor behaviour. It identifies a critical shift in the crowdfunding landscape: while regulatory harmonisation provides a baseline, voluntary financial transparency remains a primary differentiator for campaign success. The findings offer unique value to policymakers by demonstrating how standardised European regulations interact with voluntary disclosures to enhance market efficiency.
A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is a novel form of blockchain-based organization designed for collective decision-making. As DAOs emphasize a decentralized, democratic decision-making approach, participation serves as the foundation for their sustainable operation and development. Unfortunately, many DAOs struggle with low participation rates, often falling short of the required quorum. To address this critical issue, an increasing number of DAOs have adopted delegated voting, which allows members to transfer their voting rights to others. However, the impact of delegated voting within the DAO context remains unknown. By leveraging variation in the adoption of delegated voting across DAOs, we find that delegated voting increases members’ participation in proposal voting and enhances decision quality. Our results further show that delegated voting stimulates greater participation in proposals with higher participation costs, including those that are more complex, urgent, or operational in nature. However, in the long term, delegated voting also leads to greater voting power concentration and reduces engagement from both new and active voters, potentially harming sustained participation and the growth of the DAO community. Overall, our findings highlight the need for DAOs to balance the short-term gains from higher participation with the potential long-term risks to decentralization.
The digital transformation of Islamic finance encourages the evolution of musharakah contracts into a technology-based crowdfunding ecosystem. However, this change also presents a more complex moral hazard risk due to the limitations of direct supervision. This research aims to synthesize the scientific literature for the period 2015-2025 in order to map the digital evolution of musharakah contracts and formulate a moral hazard risk mitigation framework that is adaptive to the characteristics of sharia crowdfunding platforms. The study uses a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with a descriptive-analytical approach across 15 reputable scientific articles. The findings show that the moral hazard in sharia crowdfunding stems from information asymmetry, weaknesses in digital financial reporting, and limited platform oversight capacity, which collectively weakens the integrity of profit-sharing-based contracts. Effective mitigation requires the integration of four dimensions, namely algorithmic technology such as blockchain and smart contracts, strengthening digital sharia supervisory institutions, updating specific OJK regulations, and increasing the capacity of Islamic financial literacy, which together form the concept of Algorithmic Sharia Governance as a novelty in this study.
This chapter explores how youth-led Fintech is reshaping pathways to planetary sustainability by combining digital innovation with regenerative economic principles. It examines the theoretical foundations linking Fintech, environmental goals, and youth agency, highlighting how mobile banking, blockchain-based transparency, and AI-driven analytics mobilise green finance and expand inclusion. Drawing on global case studies across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the chapter demonstrates how young innovators use digital tools to advance clean energy access, carbon accountability, ethical consumption, and circular-economy financing. It also discusses challenges including digital divides, regulatory gaps, greenwashing, and data risks and offers policy directions to strengthen youth-inclusive, accountable, and scalable sustainable Fintech ecosystems.
Zaid Tahat, Ahmad Alomari, Ibrahim Al-Radaideh, Adham Taher Alessa · 7 authors
This study examines the mediating role of investor trust in the relationship between perceived blockchain integration and perceived stock market efficiency within the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), established in 1999, is the sole securities exchange in Jordan and one of the leading emerging markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Drawing on technology acceptance theory, trust theory, and market efficiency theory, the research develops and tests a dual-pathway model wherein perceived blockchain integration relates to perceived market efficiency both directly and indirectly through investor trust. Using structural equation modeling with data collected from 400 market participants, the findings reveal that perceived blockchain integration is significantly and positively associated with investor trust (β = 0.849, p < 0.001) and with perceived stock market efficiency (β = 0.448, p < 0.001). Importantly, investor trust partially mediates this relationship (β = 0.380, p < 0.001), confirming the dual-pathway impact. Among blockchain dimensions, security demonstrates the strongest effect on both investor trust and market efficiency. The study contributes to the emerging literature on blockchain in financial markets by empirically validating the psychological mechanisms through which technological innovations translate into more favorable perceptions of market functioning. For market regulators and exchange administrators, the findings suggest that comprehensive blockchain implementation strategies should address both technological deployment and trust-building initiatives to strengthen favorable investor perceptions of market efficiency in emerging markets.
Modern charitable donation platforms involve multiple stakeholders, including donors, charity organizations, financial institutions, and regulatory authorities. However, traditional centralized systems often suffer from limited transparency, weak trust management, and insufficient traceability, which significantly undermine public confidence in charitable activities. To address these challenges, this study proposes an intelligent blockchain-enabled framework for transparent multi-stakeholder donation management. The proposed system integrates consortium blockchain infrastructure with smart contract mechanisms to support trustworthy transactions, automated governance, and transparent information sharing across participating entities. The framework adopts a modular architecture that facilitates role separation, traceable transaction management, and scalable system evolution. In addition, the system enables transparent supervision and evaluation processes, allowing donors, recipients, and regulatory bodies to participate in collaborative monitoring of charitable activities. A prototype implementation based on the FISCO BCOS consortium blockchain platform is developed to evaluate the feasibility and performance of the proposed framework. Experimental results demonstrate that the system effectively enhances traceability, operational transparency, and trust among participants while maintaining acceptable performance in terms of throughput and latency. The proposed framework provides a practical reference architecture for developing intelligent and trustworthy multi-party platforms and contributes new insights into the design of decentralized expert systems for social good applications.
Omar A. Esqueda, Mohammad Sharif Karimi, Daniel P. Liston, Saleh Ghavidel Doostkouei
This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between macroeconomic factors—particularly Bitcoin pricing—and the equity returns of firms in the financial technology (FinTech) sector. Using a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) framework with daily data from July 2013 to March 2025, the analysis examines how shocks in major financial variables affect FinTech equity performance. The results indicate that positive shocks to the S&P 500 index are associated with a significant increase in the FinTech sector indicator, underscoring the sector’s close linkage with overall equity market performance. Shocks to the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield also generate a positive but comparatively weaker and delayed response, suggesting a secondary influence of interest rate dynamics. In contrast, Bitcoin price shocks do not produce a statistically significant effect on FinTech returns, implying limited spillovers from cryptocurrency markets to traditional FinTech equities. Robustness checks using PARCH and TARCH models confirm the stability of these findings. Overall, the evidence suggests that FinTech firms remain more sensitive to developments in conventional financial markets than to movements in digital asset prices, highlighting the sector’s growing integration with institutional finance rather than speculative crypto-based activity.
This article examines cryptocurrency adoption in the Bicol Region of the Philippines through 14 months of multisited ethnography with the Bicol Blockchain Community (BBC) and three national government agencies. Against libertarian narratives framing blockchain as a tool of financial emancipation, the Bicol case reveals institutional absorption: the incorporation of a nominally anti-statist technology into existing hierarchies of governance, credentialing and capital accumulation. While agencies and community entrepreneurs forged mutually beneficial alliances, material and symbolic benefits accrued primarily to those with prior educational and economic advantages. Extending domestication theory and scholarship on techno-politics, the study develops institutional absorption as a concept for the cultural studies of technology: a culturally constituted process through which digital disruption is translated into legible, governable and hierarchical form. Rather than a universal account of the Global South, the concept offers a core analytical perspective for remittance-dependent, climate-vulnerable peripheral regions, with boundary conditions specified for comparative testing.
This study delves into how blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and financial technology (FinTech) can complement one another to propel inclusive banking with regard to emerging economies like Nigeria. It examines how the convergence of these technologies has the potential to improve the provision of service, lower costs of operation, improve financial inclusivity, and improve security in the financial industry. The research also investigates how AI can be leveraged to make informed decisions based on data, how blockchain technology can provide transparency and immutability, and how FinTech platforms can provide underbanked and unbanked people with easily accessible alternatives to conventional financial services. Even though it brings advantages, the convergence also comes with devastating drawbacks, such as issues of data privacy, ethical dilemmas when using AI, scalability constraints of blockchain, cybersecurity threats, and unclear regulations. This paper identifies critical risks and offers strategic suggestions to financial institutions, technology disruptors, and policymakers based on a thorough conceptual analysis and review of the literature over the last few years. These include investing in digital infrastructure, encouraging ethical AI activities, improving regulatory environments, and creating public-private partnerships. The study concludes that although this intersection of these technologies has enormous potential for fueling inclusive finance, their use will need a balanced approach combining innovation with effective governance, moral protection, and human-centered design. Developing strong, accessible, and inclusive financial systems can be expedited by the synergy of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and fintech if harnessed correctly.
ABSTRACT This study critically examines how financial technology (fintech) may facilitate digital and financial inclusion for ethnic minority and Indigenous women engaged in environmentally oriented livelihood and enterprise practices within historically marginalized communities. The study adopts a context‐sensitive and intersectional perspective, recognizing that digital inclusion and entrepreneurship are culturally embedded rather than universally transferable models of development. Using a conceptual review approach guided by the PRISMA framework, 43 studies published between 2019 and 2025 were systematically analyzed to explore how fintech tools such as mobile money, crowdfunding, peer‐to‐peer lending, and blockchain‐enabled systems interact with local socio‐economic realities, community trust structures, and production systems that demonstrate environmental or sustainability‐related objectives in particular local settings. The findings suggest that fintech can support expanded economic participation and market access and facilitate environmentally oriented enterprise development where such an orientation is locally demonstrated, provided that digital financial systems are adapted to local cultural contexts, institutional conditions, and community‐based practices. Meaningful inclusion depends on culturally grounded forms of digital engagement, participatory governance, and the interpretive translation of entrepreneurial and financial systems. The study contributes to sustainable development scholarship by integrating perspectives from inclusive development, intersectionality, digital inclusion, and decolonial approaches to entrepreneurship and finance. Policy implications emphasize the need for gender‐responsive, culturally situated, and community‐embedded fintech ecosystems. The review further emphasizes that successful fintech interventions require not only technological accessibility but also broader processes of “worldview translation” through which digital financial systems become socially intelligible and culturally legitimate within local community contexts.