Resources

Non-fungible tokens, digital art, online marketplaces, exchanges, value-added tax… Experts highlighted investment scams as the main risk concerning the foreseeable development of NFTs. NFTs are a blockchain representation of a digital product subject in many jurisdictions to value-added tax. Are NFTs the perfect vehicle for evading Value Add Tax?

In this paper, we attempt to trace three intersecting development pathways that represent incarnations of shared ledger systems. In particular, we explore possible connections among the long-established REA and TEA frameworks, and the nascent blockchain technology. By filling in the gaps in the genealogy of shared ledger systems, we correct historical misconceptions, and give due credit to related prior works that have been insufficiently recognised. A clearer understanding of the historical evolution of shared ledger systems potentiates further cross-pollination in academic and practitioner circles, in particular between proponents of Resource-Event-Agents, triple-entry accounting and blockchain.

Digital enthusiasts associated with Blockchain technology predict that seven to ten years from now none would talk about what is Blockchain technology like not even a common man talks today about what is internet. In 2030s a common man will speak about what is the new application from the stable of Blockchain. From the perspective of accounting and reporting blockchain is also due to evolve further and bring in revolutionary developments. One can make out from the above narratives the capabilities of Blockchain technology at its present state. Alvin Toffler, one of the world’s most outstanding futurists and known for works on modern technologies, including the digital revolution, said that “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

The author is of the view that the above comment was never applicable and will continue to be not applicable to accounting and auditing professionals. However, accountants would have to evolve further, transform, and reorient themselves more for the role of a management accountants and value aggregators. The professionals of auditing fraternity will have to also evolve and make themselves savvy and confident for applying digital tools. Their roles will also evolve with the advent of Blockchain technology. The commercial world expects them to apply tools and techniques that would enable them to conduct concurrent audit using digital tools instead of applying post facto and lagging techniques. Their reports must add values by proactive alerts for risks that can cause value destruction, digital crimes, breach of data, defacing of digital displays and spawning of malwares

• Blockchain is gaining adoption quicker than the Internet did during its developmental phase
• Much broader application than just Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

Governments were not prepared for the arrival of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and various digital assets. And until recently, they did not provide clear direction on how cryptocurrency earnings should be reported. As a result, investors and businesses have struggled to remain in compliance.

Even in the midst of new “regulation” that is not yet codified, professionals and investors alike remain confused and uncertain about the future of crypto regulation for accounting and tax. The Crypto Tax Report 2020 addresses the immediate and future challenges for tax and accounting professionals tasked with reporting on cryptocurrency.

The EFRAG research on the accounting for crypto-assets (liabilities) (EFRAG research) was approved by the EFRAG Board following the EFRAG Agenda Consultation in 2018. The focus of this Discussion Paper (DP) is on the accounting by holders and issuers of crypto-assets as these are broad topics that encompass most of the accounting issues that are likely to be relevant for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting entities.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has presented many compelling use cases that would make financial services processes easier, quicker, cheaper and more transparent.

This has been demonstrated already by numerous major banks who have launched projects in areas such as identity, settlement and foreign exchange.

In this report, Finextra Research explores this and other use cases for DLT in conjunction with experts from the financial services industry, and examines what needs to happen for the technology’s potentials to be fulfilled.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) promise to provide cash-like safety and convenience for peer-to-peer payments. To do so, they must be resilient and accessible. They should also safeguard the user’s privacy, while allowing for effective law enforcement. Different technical designs satisfy these attributes to varying degrees, depending on whether they feature intermediaries, a conventional or distributed infrastructure, account- or token-based access, and retail interlinkages across borders. We set out the underlying trade-offs and the related hierarchy of design choices.

As of the production of this paper, mid-2020, the broader economic and financial services landscape remains uncertain at best, and the blockchain and cryptoasset space remains no exception to this ambiguity. That said, the policy actions undertaken by governments around the world to support economies and markets may actually make the potential or idea of a legitimate stablecoin more appealing than it might otherwise might have been. Following the economic impact of both COVID19 and the policies undertaken to offset the damage caused by the virus, investors across the globe will once again seek out high-quality assets. An asset class that is both secured and governed by cryptographic hashing and associated security, as well as underpinned by an external asset such as gold, may represent an interesting investment option. Even as the blockchain and cryptoasset space continues to mature, however, accounting and financial reporting issues remain an emerging issue without much in the way of authoritative guidance. Identifying and discussing the issues related to accounting, governance, and the use of stablecoins remains an area in need for objective analysis. The Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and all of its working groups stand ready and able to provide this information and analysis that the market and investors need.

To reduce the mystery and to highlight the power of these technologies, CPA Canada is pleased to present this publication on the Distributed Ledger Technology / Blockchain: Technology, Governance and Social Innovation conference in collaboration with an important academic stakeholder, the Master of Management & Professional Accounting (MMPA) Program at the Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto.

The conference papers gathered here complement CPA Canada’s existing guidance publications on cryptocurrency and blockchain.1 As thought papers, they introduce the possibilities, limitations, and disruption the technologies present and open readers’ eyes to new ways of becoming involved.

More and more regulators are worrying about criminals who are increasingly using cryptocurrencies for illegitimate activities like money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion. The problem is significant: even though the full scale of misuse of virtual currencies is unknown, its market value has been reported to exceed EUR 7 billion worldwide. This paper prepared by Policy Department A elaborates on this phenomenon from a legal perspective, focusing on the use of cryptocurrencies for financial crime, money laundering and tax evasion. It contains policy recommendations for future EU standards.

Crypto-assets experienced a breakout year in 2017. Cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether, have seen their prices surge as the public’s awareness has increased, and financial market participants have thus increasingly turned their attention to the phenomenon. Simultaneously, a wave of new crypto-asset issuance has been sweeping the start-up fundraising world, sparking the interest of regulators in the process.

The development of Blockchain is still at a1 very early stage and many issues have yet to be resolved. It is an undisputable fact that eight years after the introduction of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies remain the sole example of a common Blockchain system. The main issues Blockchain has yet to overcome are the complexity of the system and a deficient number of IT specialists with the ability to create a business Blockchain. Moreover, as common Blockchain technology is used in cryptocurrencies, the issue of transferring it onto a more complex system, i.e. taxes, is still a work in progress. Technology development is an ongoing process, and revolutionary inventions like the Internet would not be what they are today without considerable development and brainstorming. Still, Blockchain is already showing many benefits and while the main hype and buzz is concentrated around financial services and banking, in a long time perspective it is also promising in the world of taxation. Digitalization of tax is gaining speed, with not only superbly developed countries adopting various electronic tax reporting, but those just developing as well. It is only a matter of time until the revolution of Blockchain reaches taxation on all levels.

In Internet of Things (IoT) environments, privacy and security are among some of the significant challenges. Recently, several studies have attempted to apply blockchain technology to increase IoT network security. However, the lightweight feature of IoT devices commonly fails to meet computational intensive requirements for blockchain-based security models. In this work, we propose a mechanism to address this issue. We design an IoT blockchain architecture to store device identity information in a distributed ledger. We propose a Blockchain of Things (BCoT) Gateway to facilitate the recording of authentication transactions in a blockchain network without modifying existing device hardware or applications. Furthermore, we introduce a new device recognition model that is suitable for blockchain-based identity authentication, where we employ a novel feature selection method for device traffic flow. Finally, we develop the BCoT Sentry framework as a reference implementation of our proposed method. Experiment results verify the feasibility of our proposed framework.

Internet of Things (IoT) networks are typically composed of many sensors and actuators. The operation controls for robots in smart factories or drones produce a massive volume of data that requires high reliability. A blockchain architecture can be used to build highly reliable IoT networks. The shared ledger and open data validation among users guarantee extremely high data security. However, current blockchain technology has limitations for its overall application across IoT networks. Because general permission-less blockchain networks typically target high-performance network nodes with sufficient computing power, a blockchain node with low computing power and memory, such as an IoT sensor/actuator, cannot operate in a blockchain as a fully functional node. A lightweight blockchain provides practical blockchain availability over IoT networks. We propose essential operational advances to develop a lightweight blockchain over IoT networks. A dynamic network configuration enforced by deep clustering provides ad-hoc flexibility for IoT network environments. The proposed graph neural network technique enhances the efficiency of dApp (distributed application) spreading across IoT networks. In addition, the proposed blockchain technology is highly implementable in software because it adopts the Hyperledger development environment. Directly embedding the proposed blockchain middleware platform in small computing devices proves the practicability of the proposed methods.

One key finding is that the net number of jobs lost or gained is an artificially simple metric to gauge the impact of digitization. For example, eliminating 10 million jobs and creating 10 million new jobs would appear to have negligible impact. In fact, however, doing so would represent a huge economic disruption for the country—not to mention for the millions of people with their jobs at stake. Therefore, policymakers and countries that want to understand the implications of automation need to drill down and look at disaggregated effects. Understanding the future of jobs is a tall order, but the groundbreaking analysis we conducted helps governments, companies, and individuals take the critical first step to prepare for what is to come.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (BC) are two of the most significant disruptive technologies of our time, set to have a major impact on future societies and economies. As transversal technologies, AI and blockchain can potentially disrupt a wide range of sectors and will likely play central roles in the success of Europe’s green and digital transitions, and in strengthening its technological sovereignty. Regions lagging behind in the AI race will probably see diminished global market shares in several industries, from finance and e-commerce to manufacturing and mining. Investments in AI research and development (R&D) are also crucial for security and defence, so underinvestment could undermine Europe’s national security.3 AI is expected to have a significant impact on progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially on climate4 but also on diversity and inclusion, notably “gender smart” technological development. Both AI and blockchain have their own degree of complexity, but their development can be mutually reinforcing, for example on the integration of machine learning (ML).

This study highlighted that Blockchain technology is not just for financial transactions or cryptocurrencies. Rather, Blockchain is seen as an emerging technology for securing crucial applications. Since 2019, there has been massive growth in the publications in the Blockchain domain. Many countries contribute to the research of Blockchain and its applicability, but China and the United States are leading in the contribution. Bibliometric analysis was conducted for “Blockchain” AND “Artificial Intelligence” publications. Most of the literature was available in the English language. About 930 documents out of 957 documents were retrieved from Scopus, and 417 documents out of 442 documents were from Web of Science core collection (and are in English language only). For analysis, documents from all of the languages are considered. Network analysis was completed by using the VoSviewer tool for co-citation, co-occurrence, citation, and bibliographic coupling analysis based on documents, authors, sources etc. Each technology has its degree of complexity, but both Blockchain and AI are in situations where they can benefit from each other and help one another. The integration of machine learning and AI into blockchain, and vice versa, can improve basic Blockchain architecture and increase AI capabilities, respectively. In this study, the focus is Blockchain for Secure AI and open innovation. It can make AI more coherent and understandable, and we can track and determine why decisions are made in learning models and how much trustworthy they are. Blockchain and its ledger can record all data and variables that go through a decision made under AI models. AI can securely access heterogeneous data through Blockchain while maintaining the privacy of data providers and data.

The terms decentralized organization and distributed organization are often used interchangeably, despite describing two distinct phenomena. I propose distinguishing decentralization, as the dispersion of organizational communications, from distribution, as the dispersion of organizational decision-making. Organizations can be distributed without being decentralized (and vice versa), and having multiple management layers directly affects only distribution – not decentralization. This proposed distinction has implications for understanding the growth of digital platforms (e.g. amazon.com), which dominate the global economy in the 21st century. While prominent platforms typically use machine learning as their core technology to transform inputs (e.g. data) into outputs (e.g. matchmaking services), blockchain has emerged as an alternative technological blueprint. I argue that blockchain enables platforms that are both decentralized and distributed (e.g. Bitcoin), whereas machine learning fosters centralized communications and the concentration of decision-making (e.g. Facebook Inc.). This distinction has crucial implications for antitrust policy, which, I contend, should shift both its analysis and its target of action away from the corporate level and focus instead on the data level. Based on this essay’s framework, I make several predictions regarding the future of competition between centralized and decentralized platforms, the evolution of government regulation, and broader implications for managers in the digital economy and for the business schools charged with their education. I conclude with reflections on the opportunity to revive cybernetic thinking for preventing a dystopian future dominated by a handful of platform behemoths.

Today, the coronavirus infection COVID-2019 deals a devastating blow to the economies of most countries due to disruption of production chains, bankruptcy of small and medium-sized businesses, increasing the number of unemployed and more. Under these conditions, the coverage of digitalization of all sectors of the economy and basic spheres of life of citizens becomes especially important. The article is devoted to the analysis of the possibilities of the latest blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things in view of their impact on the transformation of the business process management system. The study used methods of bibliographic analysis of scientific publications and analytical reports of international organizations related to the concept of "Industry 4.0" and diseases of coronavirus infection, analyzing from the audit point of view, how to reinforce the principles of transparency, responsibility, and participation. It has been proven that blockchain technology is able to service online payments without intermediaries, receipt and transfer of digital assets, as well as political elections and voting. Artificial intelligence models can help map, manage, predict, and model complex processes, reducing uncertainty, and supporting professionals in decision-making. The Internet of Things allows you to transfer information, improve control and automation, and provides opportunities to optimize the company's operating costs. The result of the study can be practically valuable for many stakeholders: auditors - conducting audits by artificial intelligence; public administration - developing measures to address the economic, social and political crisis triggered by the pandemic, by building trust between government and citizens through communication, and by ensuring transparency and accountability.

Integration of blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) to build a secure, trusted and robust communication technology is currently of great interest for research communities and industries. But challenge is to identify the appropriate position of blockchain in current settings of IoT with minimal consequences. In this article we propose a blockchain-based DualFog-IoT architecture with three configuration filter of incoming requests at access level, namely: Real Time, Non-Real Time, and Delay Tolerant Blockchain applications. The DualFog-IoT segregate the Fog layer into two: Fog Cloud Cluster and Fog Mining Cluster. Fog Cloud Cluster and the main cloud datacenter work in a tandem similar to existing IoT architecture for real-time and non-real-time application requests, while the additional Fog Mining Cluster is dedicated to deal with only Delay Tolerant Blockchain application requests. The proposed DualFog-IoT is compared with existing centralized datacenter based IoT architecture. Along with the inherited features of blockchain, the proposed model decreases system drop rate, and further offload the cloud datacenter with minimal upgradation in existing IoT ecosystem. The reduced computing load from cloud datacenter doesn’t only help in saving the capital and operational expenses, but it is also a huge contribution for saving energy resources and minimizing carbon emission in environment. Furthermore, the proposed DualFog-IoT is also being analyzed for optimization of computing resources at cloud level, the results presented shows the feasibility of proposed architecture under various ratios of incoming RT and NRT requests. However, the integration of blockchain has its footprints in terms of latent response for delay tolerant blockchain applications, but real-time and non-real-time requests are gracefully satisfying the service level agreement.

A large number of IoT devices are connected via the Internet. However, most of these IoT devices are generally not perfect-by-design even have security weaknesses or vulnerabilities. Thus, it is essential to update these IoT devices securely, patching their vulnerabilities and protecting the safety of the involved users. Existing studies deliver secure and reliable updates based on blockchain network which serves as the transmission network. However, these approaches could compromise users privacy when updating the IoT devices. In this paper, we propose a new blockchain based privacy-preserving software updates protocol, which delivers secure and reliable updates with an incentive mechanism, as well protects the privacy of involved users. The vendor delivers the updates and it makes a commitment by using a smart contract to provide financial incentive to the transmission nodes who deliver the updates to the IoT devices. A transmission node gets financial incentive by providing a proof-ofdelivery. The transmission node uses double authentication preventing signature (DAPS) to carry out the fair exchange to obtain the proof-of-delivery. Specifically, the transmission node exchanges an attribute-based signature from a IoT device by using DAPS. Then, it uses the attribute-based signature as a proof-ofdelivery to receive financial incentives. Generally, the IoT device has to execute complex computation for an attribute-based signature (ABS). It is intolerable for resource limited devices. We propose a concrete outsourced attribute-based signature (OABS) scheme to resist the weakness. Then, we prove the security of the proposed OABS and the protocol as well. Finally, we implement smart contract in Solidity to demonstrate the validity of the proposed protocol.

In fact, the next wave in IoT will likely see leading companies break away from the pack—and in yet unforeseen ways. Businesses should therefore make a move right now to ensure that they have the foundational components in place— components that will allow them to imagine the “art of the possible” and reap the growing benefits of IoT.

Nowadays, Blockchain is not an enigmatic technical term rather a technology that holds promise as a way not only to record financial transactions but also to decentralize infrastructure and build a trust layer for business logic. Currently blockchain development is undoubtedly empowering many financial sectors. However non-financial application areas have incredibly grown complex due to the involvement of IoT. So, although they intend to reshape the model, still lots of uncertainty exist in terms of effectiveness. In convergence of blockchain and IoT, there is no definite design model. We have developed a blockchain based IoT platform to replace the traditional monolithic sales order management process. The design prototype is associated with the contract creation to enable automated fulfilment of orders from warehouse. This hybrid design represents the convergence of smart contract enabled private Ethereum Blockchain with IoT & also ensure IoT security and controls with combination of AWS-IoT cloud services.

The world has changed fundamentally in the last 20 years. With the advent of computers in everyday life many job profiles have changed and completely new jobs have been created. In recent years, this has been summarized under the ambiguous term of Digital Transformation. A parallel digital world, which is becoming more and more similar to our physical world, has been created. The term “Digital Twin”, the virtual representation of physical objects from the real, physical world, has now become established in industry.

In this world trust will have a crucial meaning. Trust in content, trust in identity, trust in ownership, trust in authenticity, and trust in truth. Blockchain technology can be used to enable and ensure this trust on a protocol level. Tokens will have an important role in this ecosystem since they represent physical assets in the digital world and enhance them with functionalities. Tokens will embody the aspect of identity and value in the protocol.

The underlying technology of Bitcoin is blockchain, which was initially designed for financial value transfer only. Nonetheless, due to its decentralized architecture, fault tolerance and cryptographic security benefits such as pseudonymous identities, data integrity and authentication, researchers and security analysts around the world are focusing on the blockchain to resolve security and privacy issues of IoT. However, presently, not much work has been done to assess blockchain’s viability for IoT and the associated challenges. Hence, to arrive at intelligible conclusions, this paper carries out a systematic study of the peculiarities of the IoT environment including its security and performance requirements and progression in blockchain technologies. We have identified the gaps by mapping the security and performance benefits inferred by the blockchain technologies and some of the blockchain-based IoT applications against the IoT requirements. We also discovered some practical issues involved in the integration of IoT devices with the blockchain. In the end, we propose a way forward to resolve some of the significant challenges to the blockchain’s adoption in IoT

The use of Internet of Things devices is an integral part of our modern society. Communication with internet of things devices is secured with asymmetric key encryption that is handled by the centralized certificate authority infrastructure. The emerging Blockchain technology now provides a safe way to change ownership of digital resources through a decentralized system that challenges the traditional centralized view of trust in digital systems. This project studies the security of building public key infrastructures and access communication protocols on Blockchain technology for IoT devices. An informal cryptographic analysis that used proof by contradiction showed that it is cryptographically safe to build Blockchain based Public Key Infrastructures. The analysed Blockchain based public key infrastructure was implemented with smart contracts and tested on the Ethereum platform along with a dynamic access control protocol ensuring dynamic authentication and distributed logging. The project also concluded that advancements in the software clients of nodes are required before Blockchain can be used in Internet of Things devices. This is due to the high storage demands required by currently available nodes.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the interconnection of smart devices to collect data and make intelligent decisions. However, a lack of intrinsic security measures makes IoT vulnerable to privacy and security threats. With its “security by design,” Blockchain (BC) can help in addressing major security requirements in IoT. BC capabilities like immutability, transparency, auditability, data encryption and operational resilience can help solve most architectural shortcomings of IoT. This article presents a comprehensive survey on BC and IoT integration. The objective of this paper is to analyze the current research trends on the usage of BC-related approaches and technologies in an IoT context. This paper presents the following novelties, with respect to related work: (i) it covers different application domains, organizing the available literature according to this categorization, (ii) it introduces two usage patterns, i.e., device manipulation and data management (open marketplace solution), and (iii) it reports on the development level of some of the presented solutions. We also analyze the main challenges faced by the research community in the smooth integration of BC and IoT, and point out the main open issues and future research directions. Last but not least, we also present a survey about novel uses of BC in the machine economy.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a recent revolution of the Internet which is increasingly adopted with great success in business, industry, healthcare, economic, and other sectors of modern information society. In particular, IoT supported by artificial intelligence enhances considerably the success in a large repertory of every-day applications with dominant one’s enterprise, transportation, robotics, industrial, and automation systems applications. Our aim in this article is to provide a global discussion of the main issues concerning the synergy of IoT and AI, including currently running and potential applications of great value for the society. Starting with an overview of the IoT and AI fields, the article describes what is meant by the concept of ‘IoT-AI synergy’, illustrates the factors that drive the development of ‘IoT enabled by AI’, and summarizes the concepts of ‘Industrial IoT’ (IIoT), ‘Internet of Robotic Things’ (IoRT), and ‘Industrial Automation IoT (IAIoT). Then, a number of case studies are outlined, and, finally, some IoT/AI-aided robotics and industrial automation applications are presented.

With the fast development and expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), billions of smart devices are being continuously connected, and smart homes, as a typical IoT application, are providing people with various convenient applications, but face security and privacy issues. The idea of Blockchain (BC) theory has brought about a potential solution to the IoT security problem. The emergence of blockchain technology has brought about a change of decentralized management, providing an effective solution for the protection of network security and privacy. On the other hand, the smart devices in IoT are always lightweight and have less energy and memory. This makes the application of blockchain difficult. Against this background, this paper proposes a blockchain model based on hypergraphs. The aims of this model are to reduce the storage consumption and to solve the additional security issues. In the model, we use the hyperedge as the organization of storage nodes and convert the entire networked data storage into part network storage. We discuss the design of the model and security strategy in detail, introducing some use cases in a smart home network and evaluating the storage performance of the model through simulation experiments and an evaluation of the network.

Cryptocurrency has been a trending topic over the past decade, pooling tremendous technological power and attracting investments valued over trillions of dollars on a global scale. The cryptocurrency technology and its network have been endowed with many superior features due to its unique architecture, which also determined its worldwide efficiency, applicability and data intensive characteristics. This paper introduces and summarises the interactions between two significant concepts in the digitalized world, i.e., cryptocurrency and Big Data. Both subjects are at the forefront of technological research, and this paper focuses on their convergence and comprehensively reviews the very recent applications and developments after 2016. Accordingly, we aim to present a systematic review of the interactions between Big Data and cryptocurrency and serve as the one stop reference directory for researchers with regard to identifying research gaps and directing future explorations.

Motivated by the recent explosion of interest around blockchains, we examine whether they make a good fit for the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. Blockchains allow us to have a distributed peer-to-peer network where non-trusting members can interact with each other without a trusted intermediary, in a verifiable manner. We review how this mechanism works and also look into smart contracts—scripts that reside on the blockchain that allow for the automation of multi-step processes. We then move into the IoT domain, and describe how a blockchain-IoT combination: 1) facilitates the sharing of services and resources leading to the creation of a marketplace of services between devices and 2) allows us to automate in a cryptographically verifiable manner several existing, time-consuming workflows. We also point out certain issues that should be considered before the deployment of a blockchain network in an IoT setting: from transactional privacy to the expected value of the digitized assets traded on the network. Wherever applicable, we identify solutions and workarounds. Our conclusion is that the blockchain-IoT combination is powerful and can cause significant transformations across several industries, paving the way for new business models and novel, distributed applications.

Pseudonymisation is increasingly becoming a key security technique and a way to implement data minimisation in various contexts, providing a means that can facilitate personal data processing, while offering strong safeguards for personal data protection. Complementing previous relevant ENISA’s work, in this report we analyse advanced pseudonymisation techniques and specific use cases that can help towards the definition of the state-of-the-art in this field.

From different network architectures to different consensus algorithms to different native token designs, there are hundreds of ways to construct a smart contract platform. Based on our analysis of just seven different platforms, the likelihood of a “one chain to rule them all outcome” appears all but impossible. Indeed, the more analytical rigor these platforms are assessed with, the more apparent it becomes that predicting which platform(s) will succeed over the long term is challenging. In many respects, they are very similar. In other respects, they could not be more different.

Today, there are hundreds of billions of dollars denominated in cryptocurrencies that rely on blockchain ledgers as well as the thousands of blockchain-based applications storing value in blockchain networks. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based applications require solutions that guarantee quantum resistance in order to preserve the integrity of data and assets in their public and immutable ledgers. We have designed and developed a layer-two solution to secure the exchange of information between blockchain nodes over the internet and introduced a second signature in transactions using post-quantum keys. Our versatile solution can be applied to any blockchain network. In our implementation, quantum entropy was provided via the IronBridge Platform from CQC and we used LACChain Besu as the blockchain network.

Increasing the transactional throughput of public blockchains is the primary focus of blockchain research today. Achieving this without compromising security or decentralization is the holy grail and will be pivotal for many broader economic use cases on public blockchains. This thesis provides a structured overview of potential scaling solutions before thoroughly introducing and comparing zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups. Both are promising layer 2 solutions that claim to scale public blockchains significantly in the near future. Furthermore, this thesis introduces fundamental concepts such as zero-knowledge proofs and examines potential attacks based on game-theoretic principles.

Popular distributed ledger technology (DLT) systems using proof-of-work (PoW) for Sybil attack resistance have extreme energy requirements, drawing stern criticism from academia, businesses, and the media. DLT systems building on alternative consensus mechanisms, foremost proof-of-stake (PoS), aim to address this downside. In this paper, we take a first step towards comparing the energy requirements of such systems to understand whether they achieve this goal equally well. While multiple studies have been undertaken that analyze the energy demands of individual Blockchains, little comparative work has been done. We approach this research question by formalizing a basic consumption model for PoS blockchains. Applying this model to six archetypal blockchains generates three main findings: First, we confirm the concerns around the energy footprint of PoW by showing that Bitcoin’s energy consumption exceeds the energy consumption of all PoS-based systems analyzed by at least three orders of magnitude. Second, we illustrate that there are significant differences in energy consumption among the PoSbased systems analyzed, with permissionless systems having an overall larger energy footprint. Third, we point out that the type of hardware that validators use has a considerable impact on whether PoS blockchains’ energy consumption is comparable with or considerably larger than that of centralized, non-DLT systems.

In this edition of The Bridge, we present an idea central to the design of any public blockchain: the blockchain trilemma. Trilemma refers to the fact that no blockchain has been able to optimise three qualities simultaneously, decentralisation, security, and scalability. We discuss the advantages of each of the qualities, why they are desirable and their trade-offs. We illustrate the trilemma with live blockchain examples.

Blockchain technology has often been proposed as a solution to the problems inherent with centralized systems. Blockchain projects are being developed to provide decentralized computing, storage, and a suite of applications to realize a decentralized future. However, these projects all continue to build atop the same underlying network infrastructure consisting of switches and routers connected by Ethernet, a foundation which remains fragile due to being insecure, difficult to manage, and centrally controlled. In this paper we describe a new protocol designed to address these challenges. Marconi is a networking and blockchain protocol that allows smart contracts for network packets. The protocol has been designed down to layer 2 of the OSI model and works with wired and wireless standards. Contributions covered in this paper include systems and methods for processing network packets using smart contracts, forming secure mesh networks with decentralized traffic auditing and metering, programmatically jump starting branch chains connected to a global blockchain, virtualizing and binding OSI layer 2 connections, ranking peer nodes, and performing decentralized distributed network routing.

Emerging technologies can introduce greater eciency and new capabilities to supply chains and trade finance. Josias Dewey, Robert Hill and Rebecca Plasencia of Holland & Knight LLP explore some of the most promising uses of blockchain, IoT and 5G technology as well as some obstacles for implementation.

Since the introduction of Bitcoin[Nak09] in 2009, and the multiple computer science and electronic cash innovations it brought, there has been great interest in the potential of decentralised cryptocurrencies. At the same time, implementation changes to the consensuscritical parts of Bitcoin must necessarily be handled very conservatively. As a result, Bitcoin has greater difficulty than other Internet protocols in adapting to new demands and accommodating new innovation. We propose a new technology, pegged sidechains, which enables bitcoins and other ledger assets to be transferred between multiple blockchains. This gives users access to new and innovative cryptocurrency systems using the assets they already own. By reusing Bitcoin’s currency, these systems can more easily interoperate with each other and with Bitcoin, avoiding the liquidity shortages and market fluctuations associated with new currencies. Since sidechains are separate systems, technical and economic innovation is not hindered. Despite bidirectional transferability between Bitcoin and pegged sidechains, they are isolated: in the case of a cryptographic break (or malicious design) in a sidechain, the damage is entirely confined to the sidechain itself.

In this paper, we provide a holistic survey of multimedia content protection applications in which blockchain technology is being used. A taxonomy is developed to classify these applications with reference to the technical aspects of blockchain technology, content protection techniques, namely, encryption, digital rights management, digital watermarking and fingerprinting (or transaction tracking), and performance criteria. The study of the literature reveals that there is currently no complete and systematic taxonomy dedicated to blockchain-based copyright protection applications. Moreover, the number of successfully developed blockchain-based content protection systems is very low. This points towards a research gap. To fill this gap, we propose a taxonomy that integrates technical aspects and application knowledge and can guide the researchers towards the development of blockchain-based multimedia copyright protection systems. Furthermore, the paper discusses some technical challenges and outlines future research directions.

BeatBind aims to become the long-awaited platform for music event organization, with BBND being the cryptocurrency token used for all its transactions. The current state of the music events industry is highly fragmented, everyone's individual networks limiting their reach. The Internet proved that's not how the world needs to operate - as other industries move toward open digital solutions, the music event industry is lagging heavily behind. Scalping and ticket forgery steal value from organizers, and a lack of data mining and collection in the industry makes revenue predictions inaccurate, which in turn makes events risky ventures - hurting artists, venues, and fans equally

This discussion paper is based on a unique methodology to assess the impact of new and emerging technologies on the infringement and enforcement landscape related to IP. The methodology has been developed by the Impact of Technology expert group of the European Observatory on Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights that was established in early 2019.

This article offers a normative analysis of key blockchain technology concepts from the perspective of copyright law. Some features of blockchain technologies—scarcity, trust, transparency, decentralized public records and smart contracts—seem to make this technology compatible with the fundamentals of copyright. Authors can publish works on blockchain creating a quasi-immutable record of initial ownership, and encode ‘smart’ contracts to license the use of works. Remuneration may happen on online distribution platforms where the smart contracts reside. In theory, such an automated setup allows for the private ordering of copyright. Blockchain technology, like Digital Rights Management 20 years ago, is thus presented as an opportunity to reduce market friction, and increase both licensing efficiency and the autonomy of creators. Yet, some of the old problems remain. The article examines the differences between new, smartcontract-based private ordering regime and the fundamental components of copyright law, such as exceptions and limitations, the doctrine of exhaustion, restrictions on formalities, the public domain and fair remuneration.

In conclusion, aircraft leasing is an industry which has grown massively in recent years, and is set to continue growing at such a pace. To sustain this growth however, the industry as a whole will have to innovate and use cutting edge technologies, of which blockchain is particularly suited to bolster its growth. In this article we have discussed how...

The air transport industry has been predominantly traditional, based on long-established business models and archaic IT systems. However, the advent of Low-Cost Airlines (LCC), with their simplified enterprise framework, based on unbundling of fares and ancillaries, has undermined the industry. Due to increased competition, legacy airlines had to adapt accordingly, allowing non-airline systems to become the norm, such as dynamic pricing, predictive analysis and revenue management, which require collaborative IT systems. Yet airlines failed to fully benefit from these enhancements, as they were being held back by the archaic technologies that dominated airline distribution. Industry visionaries then started to look at emerging technologies such as blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

The aim of this research is to determine whether blockchain has the potential to disrupt the traditional airline distribution system and whether this technology will expedite the required transformation of the industry.

Blockchain’s future in the airline industry is being written right now. With all paths open, now is the time to start small—and to think big. The examples here represent only some of the possibilities, and each airline should identify the opportunities that offer the right fit for its needs. From proofs of concept to pilot programs, there is room today to iterate, experiment, and refine. Before long, many airline CFOs will wonder how they did things the old way.

As a novel source of risk and return, Bitcoin deserves attention from managers seeking a diversifying alternative for inclusion into their portfolio. After a decade on the scene, sufficient data have been generated to validate its benefits. Despite high inherent volatility, prudent risk weighting within a portfolio can maximize gains from Bitcoin inclusion while limiting exposure to the truly dramatic swings. In a highly variable world where the diversification benefits of traditional assets may be weakening, Bitcoin differentiates itself as an asset class.

In this special edition of the Digital Investor, we have updated our bitcoin fair-value estimate. Due to institutional investors’ growing bitcoin adoption, the network’s size can no longer be measured accurately with the number addresses. A network of 50mio users seems plausible, implying a bitcoin fair value of USD 50,000. Our mining parity model shows that mining activities have moved in line with prices. We also show that mining activities for ETH and ETC decoupled from their prices when Ethereum 2.0 was launched on 1 December 2020.

New-generation mining equipment makes electricity cost signicantly lesser important for miners to keep operating post-halving. Aer analysing the behaviour of Bitcoin miners regarding past halving events and the recent March crash, we expect (with reasonable condence) that the hashrate will recover aer the initial dip. The recent jump in the price of Bitcoin and the fact that the Chinese government encouraged the use of its excess hydroelectric power for mining activities further bolsters the case for a healthy Bitcoin mining ecosystem post-halving. Our concern, however, is that post-coronavirus Bitcoin is still highly correlated with the broader nancial markets. If equities fall, we expect downward pressure on Bitcoin price as well. Moreover, this expectation, along with rewardhalving, may create problems for the mining ecosystem.

Bitcoin (BTC) [1] is a decentralised crypto currency where transactions are made by broadcasting the intention to transact to volunteer “miners” around the world. These miners then compete to create a cryptographic signature which proves the transaction (and others) is valid and was initiated by a party in control of the funds. This signature and the transactions are then permanently committed to history on the blockchain. These miners are rewarded for the work of creating the signature with a fixed quantity of Bitcoin, the amount of which halves approximately every four years. This called a “Halving” or “Halvening”. The next is predicted to occur in May 2020, and will result in the block reward reducing from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25 BTC. This could have significant impact on mining profitability, the price of Bitcoin, liquidity and global transaction volume as this event will reduce the global revenue of mining by $7.3M USD (equivalent) per day. Some experts, analysts, and popular commentators speculate this will result in a significant increase in the price of Bitcoin, possibly more than doubling it over 12 months. This could add $146.6B USD equivalent at the current Bitcoin market capitalization. The Bitcoin experiment has thus far been an interesting study into the viability of an unregulated, unbacked currency. The consequences of this Halving are likely to give hints about the long-term future of Bitcoin as this is the first Halving which puts a significant percentage of miners into a non-profitable state.

Participation in the Bitcoin blockchain validation process requires specialized hardware and vast amounts of electricity, which translates into a significant carbon footprint. Here, we demonstrate a methodology for estimating the power consumption associated with Bitcoin’s blockchain based on IPO filings of major hardware manufacturers, insights on mining facility operations, and mining pool compositions. We then translate our power consumption estimate into carbon emissions, using the localization of IP addresses. We determine the annual electricity consumption of Bitcoin, as of November 2018, to be 45.8 TWh and estimate that annual carbon emissions range from 22.0 to 22.9 MtCO2. This means that the emissions produced by Bitcoin sit between the levels produced by the nations of Jordan and Sri Lanka, which is comparable to the level of Kansas City. With this article, we aim to gauge the external costs of Bitcoin and inform the broader debate on the costs and benefits of cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that has gained significant attention and growth in recent years. Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin does not rely on a centralized authority to control the supply, distribution, and verification of the validity of transactions. Instead, Bitcoin relies on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network of volunteers to distribute pending transactions and confirmed blocks, to verify transactions, and to collectively implement a replicated ledger that everyone agrees on. This P2P network is at the heart of Bitcoin and many other blockchain technologies. In this paper, we present a comparative measurement study of nodes in the Bitcoin network. We measure and analyze how many the so-called ‘‘volunteers’’ are in the Bitcoin P2P network by scanning the live Bitcoin network for 37 days in 2018 and compare them with the data reported by prior work in 2013∼2016. This paper is motivated by the fact that Bitcoin has experienced explosive growth in terms of a number of users, transactions, value, and interest over a recent couple of years. Our investigation includes the IP addresses of Bitcoin nodes, size of the network, power law in the geographic distribution, protocol, and client versions, and network latencies and shows how today’s network is different from early days. In addition, based on the observations made from the measurement study, we propose a simple distance-based peer selection rule for improved connectivity and faster data propagation. The evaluation results show that our proposed lightweight and backward-compatible peer selection rule has the potential to reduce data dissemination latency

While gold has historically played a central role in economies driven by physical exchange, the world we live in today is digital. As our money and payment systems evolve, Bitcoin threatens to displace gold as the ultimate store-of-value asset. Our research and experience have reinforced that a steady allocation to Bitcoin, in place of or in addition to gold, may enhance the risk-adjusted returns of traditional investment portfolios.

This research report will identify and analyse the different methodologies for valuing Bitcoin. We will use each of these methodologies to better understand the different trends in relevant data points for the crypto asset over time. This report will focus on five unique metrics: the Network-Value-to-Transactions (NVT) Ratio, the Network-Value-to-Realized-Value (NVRV) Ratio, the Network-Value-to-Hash-Rate (NVHR) Ratio, the Active Addresses metric, and the Cost of Mining method.

The introduction of Bitcoin in 2009 marked a paradigm shift in the evolution of our global financial infrastructure, monetary systems, and the economic opportunities afforded by them. After all, Bitcoin represents the first currency that can be sent across borders at the speed of information, void of trusted intermediaries, and with complete security and reliability. It is also the first successful demonstration that economic properties once unique to physical assets, like gold, can be reflected by digital assets and adopted by the world.

To our friends in the environmental movement, know this: crypto is not your enemy. You know well what it is like to have mis-information used against you. Crypto is in its infancy. It does use up a lot of electricity, but nothing near what has been reported. Like all new technologies it will get better. I know both sides and I can say that, like you, the vast majority of people in the crypto community aspire to make the world a better place. Crypto’s carbon footprint is extremely moderate for being the world’s largest computer network. Its energy efficiency gets better every day. It isn’t perfect, but its goals are noble: greater wealth equality for all, the reduced impact of a deceitful banking system, and an opportunity for financial inclusion for the poorest amongst us. It doesn’t displace other users of renewable resources; it mainly draws from unutilized hydro capacity and it contributes to local communities. At its heart it is honest money and a force for good in the world. To those of you in the community, hold your head high when questioned about crypto’s environmental impact. Your work is important. There is no reason not to be proud of the system that Satoshi created.

This paper imagines a world in which countries are on the Bitcoin standard, a monetary system in which all media of exchange are Bitcoin or are backed by it. The paper explores the similarities and differences between the Bitcoin standard and the gold standard and describes the media of exchange that would exist under the Bitcoin standard. Because the Bitcoin standard would closely resemble the gold standard, the paper explores the lessons about how it would perform by examining the classical gold standard period, specifically 1880–1913. The paper argues that because there would be virtually no arbitrage costs for international transactions, countries could not follow independent interest rate policies under the Bitcoin standard. However, central banks would still have some limited ability to act as lenders of last resort. Based on the experience during the classical gold standard period, the paper conjectures that there would be mild deflation and constant exchange rates under the Bitcoin standard. The paper also conjectures how long the Bitcoin standard might last if it were to come into existence

Bitcoin technology began to enter the public discourse in 2011, largely through its association as an anonymous payment system used on illicit and underground websites. As with most innovations that are first described in tabloid format, the story mischaracterized the technology and failed to identify the most important and varied potentials of what Bitcoin and its associated “Blockchain” technology promise. This primer will attempt to reboot your introduction to Bitcoin and convey some of the reasons why many in the financial and technology sectors are excited about its promise. A glossary of common terms appears at the end of this primer.

Plans of block size increase are a subject of a heated debate in the Bitcoin community. The subject has gained increasing attention since the beginning of 2015, when the size of blocks started to approach the current hard limit of one megabyte. We study arguments for and against block size increase, and we analyze existing proposals by influential Bitcoin developers to increase the block size limit.

Code is the ultimate expression of design. It reflects the behavior of a software system as it is, and it reveals the inner-workings of the system in a plain and straightforward way. The Bitcoin source code is the ultimate answer to the question “how Bitcoin works”. Indeed, it is the ultimate answer to any question you can ever possibly ask about the Bitcoin system

There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of the Bitcoin network, with thisfascinating nascent technology facing several unsubstantiated claims by uninformed individuals that Bitcoin is highly unsustainable from a social, economic and environmental point of view. This paper aims to disprove or support these claims about the sustainability of the Bitcoin network, and provide an order-of-magnitude comparison of the relative sustainability of Bitcoin when compared with the incumbent banking industry, the gold production industry, and the process of printing and minting of physical currency.

Widely available public information strongly refutes claims that Bitcoin is unsustainable, and shows that the social, environmental and economic impacts are a minuscule fraction of the impacts that the legacy wealth and monetary systems have on our society and environment.

This report explains the technology underlying Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, identifies new applications, and explores the impact of potential future scenarios. If Bitcoin’s short history is an indicator, the future of this technology will be an exciting ride.

The first difficulty in communication is the strong association of block chain technology with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, so called because cryptography underpins the supply and tracking of the currency. Bitcoin creates suspicion amongst citizens and government policymakers because of its association with criminal transactions and ‘dark web’ trading sites, such as the now defunct Silk Road. But digital cryptocurrencies are of interest to central banks and government finance departments around the world which are studying them with great interest. This is because the electronic distribution of digital cash offers potential efficiencies and, unlike physical cash, it brings with it a ledger of transactions that is absent from physical cash. The second difficulty in communication is the bewildering array of terminology. This terminology is clarified by Simon Taylor who has provided a set of definitions at the end of this summary. A particular term that can cause confusion is ‘distributed’, which can lead to the misconception that because something is distributed there is therefore no overall controlling authority or owner. This may or may not be the case — it depends on the design of the ledger. In practice, there is a broad spectrum of distributed ledger models, with different degrees of centralisation and different types of access control, to suit different business needs. These may be ‘unpermissioned’ ledgers that are open to everyone to contribute data to the ledger and cannot be owned; or ‘permissioned’ ledgers that may have one or many owners and only they can add records and verify the contents of the ledger.

Key Takeaways

• The number of global crypto users reached 106 million in January 2021
• Strong growth in Bitcoin adoption was the main driver for January’s 15.7% increase in the global crypto population
• Likely events that drove crypto adoption was the huge growth of DeFi last summer, PayPal’s opening up crypto services, and massive institutional adoption and facilitation of cryptocurrencies.

No matter setbacks on the path, blockchain continues to inspire innovators to question unexamined systems and norms historically accepted as adequate. The technology is compelling a generation of new solutions specifically built to address perennial inequities and foundational frictions across geographies and industries.

In recent years there has been a significant growth of interest and investment in Blockchain technology with a many companies and government organisations, large and small, proposing applications of this technology across a range of social, financial, industrial, and governmental sectors. Blockchain technology is seen as providing opportunities to disrupt traditional products and services. This is mainly due to features such as the absence of a single trusted third party, the immutability of the blockchain record, the distributed, decentralised nature of blockchains, and the ability to run smart contracts.

Every time the development of technology enters a new epoch, big changes in the business and society will follow. Especially for the entrepreneurs, it signifies both opportunities and challenges at the same time. In the next decade, IoT, AI and blockchain will be the main driving forces in the upcoming technological revolution and demonstrate great synergic potential. There is an old saying, “In a strong wind even turkeys can fly”. The company who can seize this chance may become to the next GAFAs (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple); whereas those who completely ignores it may be rolled out of the market eventually. Business model canvas is a very popular method for startups to align the resources and formulate the strategy, which is also the framework used in our research. The main target of this thesis is to demonstrate a thinking method to converge these new technologies in the business models and evaluate the most significant elements in the business planning stage. It could help the future startups to take advantages of the opportunities and overcome the challenges in the new business environment.

Both the Internet of Things and digital twins have been around for some time and have become business realities in various industries, e.g. for predictive maintenance in the production environment.

Until recently, implementation faced high technical and economical limitations. As the number of IoT devices grew, these limitations became less relevant, yet for the digital twin paradigm, an underlying platform was still missing. Once this is established, use cases like proof of provenance, track and trace and identity management can be realized, new business models developed and the information value loop fully leveraged.

An IoT ecosystem further allows companies to share, use, buy and sell digital twins and data using provisioned IT components, middleware und analytics.

Collaboration between corporates and start-ups is a challenge for the mind-sets on both sides. Corporate employees are trained to follow standardized processes and are challenged by the creative behaviour of entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs start their companies with the intention of disrupting the status quo, and are challenged by the idea of working with the players they set out to topple.

“For collaboration, the following points are crucial: First, strategic alignment: If it is just a “nice to have” for the corporate, it will not work. Second, upper management commitment on both sides. Third, expectation management on both side, especially on resources and timing. Corporates are not as agile as start-ups, and start-ups tend to over-commit. Fourth, regular upper management steering committee meetings. This will help to rapidly address any variance, hurdles or new situation arising from the cooperation.”

Blockchain can enable greater trust and transparency through decentralization, cryptography, and the creation of new incentives. Best-known as the digital underpinning of Bitcoin, it has evolved into a foundational technology with promise in many areas and applications. The financial sector is investigating blockchain as a means to replace expensive and inefficient payment systems, and it could reshape supply chains - particularly in combination with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence - while boosting the practical, day-to-day use of smart contracts, digital currencies, and digital identities. However, blockchain is not a silver bullet. Many questions remain about the best use of the technology and its governance.

Oracle Blockchain Platform provides customers with a development platform for building their own networks. It can quickly integrate with Oracle SaaS and third-party apps, as well as other Oracle Cloud Platform services or other blockchain networks. Plus, it enables users to provision blockchain networks, join other organizations, and deploy and run smart contracts to update and query a shared ledger. Oracle’s blockchain platform leverages advanced technology, along with the company’s decades of experience across industries and its extensive partner ecosystem, to enable customers to conduct trusted transactions among suppliers, banks, and other trade partners