Author | Title | Year | Journal/Proceedings | Reftype | DOI/URL |
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Larue, L. | "A conceptual framework for classifying currencies". [BibTeX] |
2020 | International Journal of Community Currency Research Vol. 24(1), pp. 45-60 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{Larue2020, author = {Larue, Louis}, title = {"A conceptual framework for classifying currencies".}, journal = {International Journal of Community Currency Research}, year = {2020}, volume = {24}, number = {1}, pages = {45--60} } |
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Arjaliès, D.-L. | "At the Very Beginning, There'S This Dream." the Role of Utopia in the Workings of Local and Cryptocurrencies | 2020 | (February)Handbook of Alternative Finance | incollection | DOI URL |
Abstract: Since the 2008 financial crisis, the number of alternative currencies aiming at transforming global financial institutions, such as local and complementary currencies (LCC) and cryptocurrencies, has exploded. Yet the motivations and workings of such monies are relatively unknown. This chapter aims to fill this gap by providing a framework that uncovers the ideals pursued by alternative currencies, and the effects of those ideals on the production of money. To do so, I present a comparative analysis of the valuation infrastructure-the processes through which value(s) is produced-of one LCC, Sol Violette, and three cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ğ1 "June" and impak Coin. Throughout, I elaborate on the social meaning of money and the role played by alternative currencies in contemporary capitalism. I show that 1) despite targeting the same financial institutions, the utopia pursued by alternative currencies varies significantly and 2) this utopia is at least as important as the technology (e.g. blockchain) in shaping the workings of these monies. Based on these findings, I outline some implications for the social studies of financial technologies, their effects on our societies and their regulation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Arjalies2020, author = {Arjaliès, Diane-Laure}, title = {"At the Very Beginning, There'S This Dream." the Role of Utopia in the Workings of Local and Cryptocurrencies}, booktitle = {Handbook of Alternative Finance}, year = {2020}, number = {February}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333755384_AT_THE_VERY_BEGINNING_THERE'S_THIS_DREAM_THE_ROLE_OF_UTOPIA_IN_THE_WORKINGS_OF_LOCAL_AND_CRYPTOCURRENCIES}, doi = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333755384_AT_THE_VERY_BEGINNING_THERE'S_THIS_DREAM_THE_ROLE_OF_UTOPIA_IN_THE_WORKINGS_OF_LOCAL_AND_CRYPTOCURRENCIES} } |
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Canning, T. | "We Don't Want Hippy Money”: Contradiction and Exchange in a Local Currency System | 2018 | (August), pp. 415 | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dalhousie University. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Canning2018, author = {Canning, Tonya}, title = {"We Don't Want Hippy Money”: Contradiction and Exchange in a Local Currency System}, year = {2018}, number = {August}, pages = {415}, url = {https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/handle/10222/74190}, doi = {https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/handle/10222/74190} } |
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Maurer, B., Nelms, T.C. and Swartz, L. | "When perhaps the real problem is money itself!": The practical materiality of Bitcoin | 2013 | Social Semiotics Vol. 23(2), pp. 261-277 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper investigates the semiotics of Bitcoin, an electronic cash system that uses decentralized networking to enable irreversible payments. For enthusiasts, Bitcoin provides an alternative to currencies and payment systems that are seen to threaten users' privacy, limit personal liberty, and undermine the value of money through state and corporate oversight. Bitcoin's promise lies in its apparent capacity to resolve these concerns not through regulatory institutions or interpersonal trust, but through its cryptographic protocols. We characterize this semiotics as a "practical materialism" and suggest it replays debates about privacy, labor, and value. textcopyright 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{maurer2013perhaps, author = {Maurer, Bill and Nelms, Taylor C. and Swartz, Lana}, title = {"When perhaps the real problem is money itself!": The practical materiality of Bitcoin}, journal = {Social Semiotics}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2013}, volume = {23}, number = {2}, pages = {261--277}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2013.777594} } |
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Husain, S.O. | (De)coding a technopolity: tethering the civic blockchain to political transformation | 2020 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: IDEOLOGY; PROCESSED | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Husain, author = {Husain, Syed Omer}, title = {(De)coding a technopolity: tethering the civic blockchain to political transformation}, year = {2020}, url = {https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/ba734e46-afcb-4d7d-b0bb-2093696ba07c}, doi = {https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/decoding-a-technopolity-tethering-the-civic-blockchain-to-politic} } |
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Bonilla, C.M. | ¿Otro dinero es posible? Conexiones entre la mercancía dineraria dentro de la teoría del valor-trabajo de Das Kapital , el bitcoin y la descentralización de la economía Kapital ' s labor-value theory , bitcoin and the decentralization of the economy [BibTeX] |
2020 | Vol. 17(2), pp. 141-148 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{Bonilla2020, author = {Bonilla, Cristopher Morales}, title = {¿Otro dinero es posible? Conexiones entre la mercancía dineraria dentro de la teoría del valor-trabajo de Das Kapital , el bitcoin y la descentralización de la economía Kapital ' s labor-value theory , bitcoin and the decentralization of the economy}, year = {2020}, volume = {17}, number = {2}, pages = {141--148} } |
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Mazzei, M., Montgomery, T. and Dey, P. | ‘ Utopia ' failed ? Social enterprise , everyday practices and the closure of neoliberalism [BibTeX] |
2021 | EPC: Politics and Space Vol. 39(7), pp. 1625-1643 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{Mazzei2021, author = {Mazzei, Micaela and Montgomery, Tom and Dey, Pascal}, title = {‘ Utopia ' failed ? Social enterprise , everyday practices and the closure of neoliberalism}, journal = {EPC: Politics and Space}, year = {2021}, volume = {39}, number = {7}, pages = {1625--1643}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544211036466} } |
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Lorenzo-Dus, N. and Di Cristofaro, M. | ‘I know this whole market is based on the trust you put in me and I don't take that lightly': Trust, community and discourse in crypto-drug markets [BibTeX] |
2018 | Discourse & Communication Vol. 12(6), pp. 608-626 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{lorenzo2018know, author = {Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria and Di Cristofaro, Matteo}, title = {‘I know this whole market is based on the trust you put in me and I don't take that lightly': Trust, community and discourse in crypto-drug markets}, journal = {Discourse & Communication}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2018}, volume = {12}, number = {6}, pages = {608--626} } |
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van der Heide, A. and Želinský, D. | ‘Level up your money game': an analysis of gamification discourse in financial services | 2021 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 14(6), pp. 711-731 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The idea of gamification, or implementation of game-like elements and mechanisms in non-game contexts, has, throughout the past decade, swept the fields of healthcare and fitness as well as education. More recently, various tech writers, bloggers, and consultants have begun proposing gamification as a solution also in financial services, where gamification has already made headway, for instance, with day trading apps that simplify trading and turn it into a real-time game. In this paper, we examine the emerging discourse of finance gamification and situate it in the expectational dynamics and performative struggles that shape technological developments in finance and the FinTech industry. We argue that the discourse creates positional uncertainty among finance incumbents by linking the notion of a generational wealth transfer to narratives about generational change. Tech writers, consultants and journalists neutralize this uncertainty by propagating a model of human nature, which may be ‘tapped into' and harnessed with games to rationalize subjects' financial behavior. However, despite finance gamification's promises to democratize finance and empower small-time investors by extending access to financial markets, we argue that, in the end, the discourse on finance gamification reinforces the ‘observational boundaries' between finance and society. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{VanderHeide2021, author = {van der Heide, Arjen and Želinský, Dominik}, title = {‘Level up your money game': an analysis of gamification discourse in financial services}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {14}, number = {6}, pages = {711--731}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1882537}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1882537} } |
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Selmi, R., Bouoiyour, J. and Wohar, M.E. | “Digital Gold” and geopolitics | 2022 | Research in International Business and Finance Vol. 59, pp. 101512 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: There is a growing empirical literature on Bitcoin and gold safe haven properties with respect to financial risks and macroeconomic news but very scarce literature regarding geopolitical risks. This paper provides a fresh insight into the Bitcoin safe haven status, in comparison to gold. We, first, propose a geopolitical risk composite indicator based on various sources of geopolitical risks. A Principal Component Analysis is conducted to group the information on these indicators. Second, a dynamic Markov-switching copula model (which accommodates a dynamic link between the developed geopolitical risk index and Bitcoin and gold price dynamics within low and high risk regimes) is used. We show that both Bitcoin and gold respond positively to the composite geopolitical risk indicator when risk is high. This underscores that both Bitcoin and gold have the ability to act as safe havens for assets whose valuations plummet during times of violent geopolitical conflicts. But such properties seem to be conditional upon different categories of geopolitical risks. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{selmi2022digital, author = {Selmi, Refk and Bouoiyour, Jamal and Wohar, Mark E.}, title = {“Digital Gold” and geopolitics}, journal = {Research in International Business and Finance}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {59}, pages = {101512}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101512} } |
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Knittel, M., Pitts, S. and Wash, R. | “The most trustworthy coin”: How ideology builds and maintains trust in bitcoin | 2019 | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Vol. 3(CSCW), pp. 1-23 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Bitcoin is an innovative technological network, a new, non-governmental currency, and a worldwide group of users. In other words, Bitcoin is a complex sociotechnical system with a complex set of risks and challenges for anyone using it. We investigated how everyday users of Bitcoin develop trust in Bitcoin on one of the largest online communities devoted to Bitcoin: the Reddit.com r/bitcoin forum. Using qualitative content analysis, we examined how trust in Bitcoin develops based on contributions to this community. On r/bitcoin, trust in Bitcoin is driven by a pervasive ideology we call the “True Bitcoiner” ideology. This ideological viewpoint in centered on the interpretation of Bitcoin as functionally “trustless” and risk-free. Despite widespread evidence of emerging individual and system-level risks with using Bitcoin, participants continue to maintain this ideological perspective. This ideology consists of three primary beliefs: viewing Bitcoin's technology as more trustworthy than its people; rejecting ‘corrupt' social hierarchies related to money; and the importance of accumulating or ‘HODLing' quantities of Bitcoin as a strategy to create an ideal future. We conclude that this “True Bitcoiner” ideology is maintained despite contradictory evidence in the world because it allows participants to more easily interpret Bitcoin and make decisions by reducing perceived risk and uncertainty in the system. The role of this ideology on r/bitcoin demonstrates an expanded conceptualization of how trust is created and socially-mediated in socio-technical contexts. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{knittel2019most, author = {Knittel, Megan and Pitts, Shelby and Wash, Rick}, title = {“The most trustworthy coin”: How ideology builds and maintains trust in bitcoin}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, publisher = {ACM New York, NY, USA}, year = {2019}, volume = {3}, number = {CSCW}, pages = {1--23}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3359138} } |
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Frey, S., Krafft, P.M. and Keegan, B.C. | “This place does what it was built for”: Designing digital institutions for participatory change | 2019 | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Vol. 3(CSCW), pp. 1-31 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Whether we recognize it or not, the Internet is rife with exciting and original institutional forms that are transforming social organization on and offline. Governing these Internet platforms and other digital institutions has posed a challenge for engineers and managers, many of whom have little exposure to the relevant history or theory of institutional design. The dominant guiding practices for the design of digital institutions to date in human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, and the tech industry at large have been an incentive-focused behavioral engineering paradigm encompassing atheoretical approaches such as emulation, A/B-testing, engagement maximization, and piecemeal issue-driven engineering. One institutional analysis framework that has been useful in the study of traditional institutions comes from scholars of natural resource management, particularly that community of economists, anthropologists, and environmental and political scientists focused around the work of Elinor Ostrom, known collectively as the “Ostrom Workshop.” A key finding from this community that has yet to be broadly incorporated into the design of many digital institutions is the importance of including participatory change mechanisms in what is called a “constitutional layer” of institutional design. The institutional rules that compose a constitutional layer facilitate stakeholder participation in the ongoing process of institutional design change. We explore to what extent consideration of constitutional layers is met or could be better met in three varied cases of digital institutions: cryptocurrencies, cannabis informatics, and amateur Minecraft server governance. Examining such highly varied cases allows us to demonstrate the broad relevance of constitutional layers in many different types of digital institutions. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{frey2019place, author = {Frey, Seth and Krafft, P. M. and Keegan, Brian C.}, title = {“This place does what it was built for”: Designing digital institutions for participatory change}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, publisher = {ACM New York, NY, USA}, year = {2019}, volume = {3}, number = {CSCW}, pages = {1--31}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3359134} } |
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Javier García‑Corral, F., Cordero‑García, J.A., de Pablo‑Valenciano, J. and Uribe‑Toril, J. | A bibliometric review of cryptocurrencies: how have they grown? [BibTeX] |
2022 | Financial Innovation Vol. 8(1), pp. 1-31 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{garcia2022bibliometric, author = {Javier García‑Corral, Francisco and Cordero‑García, José Antonio and de Pablo‑Valenciano, Jaime and Uribe‑Toril, Juan}, title = {A bibliometric review of cryptocurrencies: how have they grown?}, journal = {Financial Innovation}, publisher = {SpringerOpen}, year = {2022}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, pages = {1--31}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40854021003065} } |
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Faqir-Rhazoui, Y., Arroyo, J. and Hassan, S. | A comparative analysis of the platforms for decentralized autonomous organizations in the Ethereum blockchain | 2021 | Journal of Internet Services and Applications Vol. 12(1) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology has enabled a new kind of distributed systems. Beyond its early applications in Finance, it has also allowed the emergence of novel new ways of governance and coordination. The most relevant of these are the so-called Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). DAOs typically implement decision-making systems to make it possible for their online community to reach agreements. As a result of these agreements, the DAO operates automatically by executing the appropriate portion of code on the blockchain network (e.g., hire people, delivers payments, invests in financial products, etc). In the last few years, several platforms such as Aragon, DAOstack and DAOhaus, have emerged to facilitate the creation of DAOs. As a result, hundreds of these new organizations have appeared, with their communities interacting mediated by blockchain. However, the literature has yet to appropriately explore empirically this phenomena. In this paper, we aim to shed light on the current state of the DAO ecosystem. We review the three main platforms nowadays (Aragon, DAOstack, DAOhaus) which facilitate the creation and management of DAOs. Thus, we introduce their main differences, and compare them using quantitative metrics. For such comparison, we retrieve data from both the main Ethereum network (mainnet) and a parallel Ethereum network (xDai). We analyze data from 72,320 users and 2,353 DAO communities in order to study the three ecosystems across four dimensions: growth, activity, voting system and funds. Our results show that there are notable differences among the DAO platforms in terms of growth and activity, and also in terms of voting results. Still, we consider that our work is only a first step and that further research is needed to better understand these communities, and evaluate their level of accomplishment in reaching decentralized governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Faqir-Rhazoui2021, author = {Faqir-Rhazoui, Youssef and Arroyo, Javier and Hassan, Samer}, title = {A comparative analysis of the platforms for decentralized autonomous organizations in the Ethereum blockchain}, journal = {Journal of Internet Services and Applications}, publisher = {Journal of Internet Services and Applications}, year = {2021}, volume = {12}, number = {1}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13174-021-00139-6} } |
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Teng, F., Zhang, Q., Wang, G., Liu, J. and Li, H. | A comprehensive review of energy blockchain: Application scenarios and development trends | 2021 | International Journal of Energy Research Vol. 45(12), pp. 17515-17531 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Summary The disruptive nature of blockchain technology has drawn considerable interest from different types of stakeholders. It is adopted in numerous sectors with the ability to openly and securely verify, track, and exchange data. The energy blockchain, a term used when blockchain technology is applied in the energy sector, is considered as having the potential to develop a decentralized, digitized, and decarbonized energy management system. The article presents an overview of the development progress from three perspectives, including academic research, the deployment of companies and pilot projects, and government support policies. Then a different taxonomy is developed to demonstrate and highlighted the different applications. Finally, the future trends and challenges hindering the effective implementation of energy blockchain are discussed. The results show that energy blockchain is an effective innovation technology to accelerate the transformation of global energy structure. Multinational cooperation and government-leading are the basis of large-scale deployment of energy blockchain. The improvement of regulatory mechanisms and standards is the key to the commercial application of energy blockchain. This study is a comprehensive analysis of energy blockchain applications, which is expected to support decision making for its future development. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{https://doi.org/10.1002/er.7109, author = {Teng, Fei and Zhang, Qi and Wang, Ge and Liu, Jiangfeng and Li, Hailong}, title = {A comprehensive review of energy blockchain: Application scenarios and development trends}, journal = {International Journal of Energy Research}, year = {2021}, volume = {45}, number = {12}, pages = {17515--17531}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/er.7109}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/er.7109} } |
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Rahman, A.A. | A Decentralized Central Bank Digital Currency | 2022 | article | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digitized fiat currency. As the nature of the central bank is centralized, the CBDC is also centralized. This paper proposes a decentralized CBDC that is controlled by many central banks together or countries in the world. It is only for international transactions between member countries. While domestic transactions continue to use the national currency of each country. A decentralized CBDC can explore the advantages of digital technologies more deeply than the centralized ones by making reconciliations between central banks in real-time. Furthermore, this system provides international liquidity for all (member) countries in the world sustainably and free of charge. This system eliminates global imbalances, makes the exchange rate more stable, and so makes the whole international monetary system naturally more stable. In doing so, the system does not require economic integration so that all countries in the world may join without many conditions. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{rahman2022decentralized, author = {Rahman, Abdurrahman Arum}, title = {A Decentralized Central Bank Digital Currency}, year = {2022}, url = {https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/111361}, doi = {https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/111361} } |
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Hockett, R.C. | A Democratic Digital Dollar: A Peer-to-Peer Savings & Payments Platform for Fully Inclusive State, Local, and National Money & Banking Systems | 2019 | SSRN Electronic Journal(19-37) | article | DOI |
Abstract: Many national and subnational units of government see a needfor more inclusive money, payment, and retail banking systems for the capture, storage, and transfer of spendable value among their constituents. Existing and still prolferating payments platforms … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hockett2019democratic, author = {Hockett, Robert C.}, title = {A Democratic Digital Dollar: A Peer-to-Peer Savings & Payments Platform for Fully Inclusive State, Local, and National Money & Banking Systems}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2019}, number = {19-37}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3470931} } |
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Aragão, M.A. | A Few Things You Wanted to Know about the Economics of CBDCs, but were Afraid to Model [BibTeX] |
2021 | School: Banco Central do Brasil | unpublished | URL |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Aragao, author = {Aragão, Marcelo A.T}, title = {A Few Things You Wanted to Know about the Economics of CBDCs, but were Afraid to Model}, school = {Banco Central do Brasil}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.bcb.gov.br/pec/wps/ingl/wps554.pdf} } |
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Amato, M. and Fantacci, L. | A Fistful of Bitcoins: The Risks and Opportunities of Virtual Currencies | 2020 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: “Bitcoin poses the right question, but gives the wrong answer,” write Luca Fantacci and Massimo Amato in this lucid and highly original treatment of the cryptocurrency phenomenon. A Fistful of Bitcoins uncovers the paradoxes of the first “digital cash” to achieve global attention: a disruptive payment infrastructure married to a dangerous and deflationary monetary system. From the cryptographic protocols to the quasi-religious ideologies and the retrograde monetary theories supporting Bitcoin, the authors reflect on what Bitcoin gets right and disastrously wrong about our current monetary predicament. With implications for monetary theory and policy, the prospect of central bank-issued digital currencies, and the future of blockchain-based applications, this book will be of interest beyond economics, political science and management for a general public concerned about not just what money is but what money might – and should – become. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Amato2020, author = {Amato, Massimo and Fantacci, Luca}, title = {A Fistful of Bitcoins: The Risks and Opportunities of Virtual Currencies}, publisher = {Bocconi University Press}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.egeaeditore.it/ita/prodotti/economia/a-fistful-of-bitcoins.aspx}, doi = {https://www.egeaeditore.it/ita/prodotti/economia/a-fistful-of-bitcoins.aspx} } |
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Buterin, V., Hitzig, Z. and Weyl, E.G. | A flexible design for funding public goods | 2019 | Management Science Vol. 65(11), pp. 5171-5187 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We propose a design for philanthropic or publicly funded seeding to allow (near) optimal provision of a decentralized, self-organizing ecosystem of public goods. The concept extends ideas from quadratic voting to a funding mechanism for endogenous community formation. Citizens make contributions to public goods of value to them. The amount received by the public good is (proportional to) the square of the sum of the square roots of contributions received. Under the “standard model,” this mechanism yields first best public goods provision. Variations can limit the cost, help protect against collusion, and aid coordination. We discuss applications to campaign finance and highlight directions for future analysis and experimentation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Buterin2019, author = {Buterin, Vitalik and Hitzig, Zoë and Weyl, E. Glen}, title = {A flexible design for funding public goods}, journal = {Management Science}, year = {2019}, volume = {65}, number = {11}, pages = {5171--5187}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3337} } |
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Lovett, M. and Thomas, L. | A fork in the road: Perspectives on sustainability and decentralised governance in digital institutions | 2021 | First Monday Vol. 26(11) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A digital institution is a set of computer-based rules that perform intermediating roles upon which one or more person's well-being depends. This article argues that governance, the processes and customs by which rules are agreed, is critical to the sustainability of the digital institution and therefore of society more broadly. The objective of this work was to interrogate whether emerging decentralised architectures (blockchain) can offer new perspectives on digital sustainability in the form of decentralised governance. Firstly, the literature on decentralised modes of governance was synthesised. Then, existing digital institutions were reviewed, categorised and mapped onto a multi-domain layered conceptual framework that draws out three distinct modes for enactment of changes to digital institution rules; direct, integrated, and fork-based. We concluded that the coupling of decentralised governance approaches with fork-based or integrated enactment stands to enhance digital sustainability through increased perception of trustworthiness afforded through independently verifiable and cryptographically secure audit trails. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lovett2021fork, author = {Lovett, Matthew and Thomas, Lee}, title = {A fork in the road: Perspectives on sustainability and decentralised governance in digital institutions}, journal = {First Monday}, publisher = {Public Knowledge Project}, year = {2021}, volume = {26}, number = {11}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i11.12357} } |
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Hellegren, Z.I. | A history of crypto-discourse: encryption as a site of struggles to define internet freedom | 2017 | Internet Histories Vol. 1(4), pp. 285-311 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper explores a history of “crypto” as a battlefield in a larger discursive struggle to define the meaning of Internet freedom. The term crypto is short for cryptography, which refers to the practice of encrypting, i.e. rendering information illegible to anyone but its intended recipient(s). Drawing on Laclau and Mouffe's theory of discourse, this study investigates how public-key cryptography advocates, and in particular Cypherpunks and technology journalists, have articulated “crypto-discourse”: a partially fixed construction of meaning that establishes a relationship between encryption software and a negative conception of Internet freedom, in relation to the state. I map events pertaining to the articulation of the empty signifier “crypto” among interrelated discourse communities of cryptographers, hackers, online rights activists, and technology journalists during a period of forty years (1975–2015). I present the Crypto-Discourse Timeline as comprised of three periods: the origins (1975–1990), crystallisation (1990–2000), and revitalisation of crypto-discourse (2000–2015). The timeline provides an overview of the complexity and contingency of crypto-discourse as a practice that shapes public policy over time. Crypto-discourse excludes other possible, positive meanings of Internet freedom, removing responsibility from democratic states to uphold privacy rights and freedom of speech online. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hellegren2017history, author = {Hellegren, Z. Isadora}, title = {A history of crypto-discourse: encryption as a site of struggles to define internet freedom}, journal = {Internet Histories}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2017}, volume = {1}, number = {4}, pages = {285--311}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2017.1387466} } |
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Okorie, D.I. | A network analysis of electricity demand and the cryptocurrency markets | 2021 | International Journal of Finance and Economics Vol. 26(2), pp. 3093-3108 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article examines the connectedness and information spillover in the Electricity-Crypto Network (ECN) system. The Bitcoin and Ethereum markets are studied due to the level of electricity demand for active trading and mining in the three leading crypto mining economies (United States, China, and Japan). Among other findings, the leading net transmitter of information is the return of the Bitcoin market while the demand for electricity in the U.S. and Japan are the leading net information receivers in the ECN system. In a nutshell, the return and trading volumes of the cryptocurrency markets are net information transmitters while the markets' volatility and the demand for electricity in the U.S., China, and Japan are net information receivers in the system. As a policy relevance, given the favourable developments in these crypto markets, greener sources of electrical energy are expedient to mitigate emissions while mining these coins. This will reduce the impact of human activities on the climate. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Okorie2020, author = {Okorie, David I.}, title = {A network analysis of electricity demand and the cryptocurrency markets}, journal = {International Journal of Finance and Economics}, year = {2021}, volume = {26}, number = {2}, pages = {3093--3108}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.1952} } |
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Sætra, H.S. | A shallow defence of a technocracy of artificial intelligence: Examining the political harms of algorithmic governance in the domain of government | 2020 | Technology in Society Vol. 62, pp. 101283 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven to be superior to human decision-making in certain areas. This is particularly the case whenever there is a need for advanced strategic reasoning and analysis of vast amounts of data in order to solve complex problems. Few human activities fit this description better than politics. In politics we deal with some of the most complex issues humans face, short-term and long-term consequences have to be balanced, and we make decisions knowing that we do not fully understand their consequences. I examine an extreme case of the application of AI in the domain of government, and use this case to examine a subset of the potential harms associated with algorithmic governance. I focus on five objections based on political theoretical considerations and the potential political harms of an AI technocracy. These are objections based on the ideas of ‘political man' and participation as a prerequisite for legitimacy, the non-morality of machines and the value of transparency and accountability. I conclude that these objections do not successfully derail AI technocracy, if we make sure that mechanisms for control and backup are in place, and if we design a system in which humans have control over the direction and fundamental goals of society. Such a technocracy, if the AI capabilities of policy formation here assumed becomes reality, may, in theory, provide us with better means of participation, legitimacy, and more efficient government. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{saetra2020shallow, author = {Sætra, Henrik Skaug}, title = {A shallow defence of a technocracy of artificial intelligence: Examining the political harms of algorithmic governance in the domain of government}, journal = {Technology in Society}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {62}, pages = {101283}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101283} } |
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Ferdous, M.S., Chowdhury, M.J.M. and Hoque, M.A. | A survey of consensus algorithms in public blockchain systems for crypto-currencies | 2021 | Journal of Network and Computer Applications Vol. 182, pp. 103035 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In recent years, crypto-currencies (a form of decentralised digital currencies) have been quite popular as an alternative form of payments. They are underpinned by a breakthrough technology called Blockchain which extensively use a number of cryptographic mechanisms and other advanced techniques from the domain of distributed computing. This blockchain technology has received unparalleled attention from academia, industry, and governments worldwide and is considered to have the potential to disrupt several application domains, other than currencies, touching all spheres of our lives. The sky-rocket anticipation of its potential has caused a wide-scale exploration of its usage in different application domains. This has resulted in a plethora of blockchain systems for various purposes. However, many of these blockchain systems suffer from serious shortcomings related to their performance and security, which need to be addressed before any wide-scale adoption can be achieved. A crucial component of any blockchain system is its underlying consensus algorithm, which determines its performance and security in many ways. Therefore, to address the limitations of different blockchain systems, several existing as well novel consensus algorithms have been introduced. A systematic analysis of these algorithms will help to understand how and why any particular blockchain performs the way it functions. Towards this aim, there are a number of existing works that have surveyed and reviewed a number of consensus algorithms. However, all these works have some major shortcomings. For example, the factors upon which the consensus algorithms have been analysed are not comprehensive. Importantly, a wide range of consensus algorithms utilised in public blockchain systems supporting mainly crypto-currencies have different variants. Such variants and their internal mechanisms utilised in many existing crypto-currencies have not been considered at all. This article fills these gaps by analysing a wide range of consensus algorithms leveraged in different public blockchain systems using a comprehensive taxonomy of properties. We have also analysed more than a hundred top crypto-currencies belonging to different categories of consensus algorithms to understand their properties and implicate different trends in these crypto-currencies. Finally, we have presented a decision tree of the reviewed algorithms to be used as a tool to test the suitability of consensus algorithms for a particular application under different criteria. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{ferdous2021survey, author = {Ferdous, Md Sadek and Chowdhury, Mohammad Jabed Morshed and Hoque, Mohammad A.}, title = {A survey of consensus algorithms in public blockchain systems for crypto-currencies}, journal = {Journal of Network and Computer Applications}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {182}, pages = {103035}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2021.103035} } |
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Wang, G., Zhang, S., Yu, T. and Ning, Y. | A systematic overview of blockchain research | 2021 | Journal of Systems Science and Information Vol. 9(3), pp. 205-238 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain has been receiving growing attention from both academia and practices. This paper aims to investigate the research status of blockchain-related studies and to analyze the development and evolution of this latest hot area via bibliometric analysis. We selected and explored 2451 papers published between 2013 and 2019 from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The analysis considers different dimensions, including annual publications and citation trends, author distribution, popular research themes, collaboration of countries (regions) and institutions, top papers, major publication journals (conferences), supportive funding agencies, and emerging research trends. The results show that the number of blockchain literature is still increasing, and the research priorities in blockchain-related research shift during the observation period from bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain, smart contract, internet of thing, to the distributed ledger, and challenge and the inefficiency of blockchain. The findings of this research deliver a holistic picture of blockchain research, which illuminates the future direction of research, and provides implications for both academic research and enterprise practice. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{wang2021systematic, author = {Wang, Guizhou and Zhang, Si and Yu, Tao and Ning, Yu}, title = {A systematic overview of blockchain research}, journal = {Journal of Systems Science and Information}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, year = {2021}, volume = {9}, number = {3}, pages = {205--238}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.21078/JSSI-2021-205-34} } |
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Quamara, S. and Singh, A.K. | A systematic survey on security concerns in cryptocurrencies: State-of-the-art and perspectives | 2022 | Computers & Security Vol. 113, pp. 102548 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Cryptocurrencies are emerging as virtual financial systems based on their innovative decentralized and distributed strategy in order to provide astonishing capabilities across a range of applications. In contrast to the conventional currencies that exacerbate security threats, these threats have been implicitly addressed by the notion of cryptocurrencies, which have a distinguished impact on their adoption rate among stakeholders. However, this potential adoption bubble may get diminished by the uncontrolled fragility in market conditions and persuasive increase in potential contemporary security concerns. In this survey, we systematically examine the state-of-the-art associated with security concerns in cryptocurrencies from various perspectives. Firstly, we investigate state-of-the-art consensus mechanisms, as they are one of the primary underlying concepts of cryptocurrencies. Thereafter, we thoroughly investigate various applications of cryptocurrencies. Subsequently, we present a detailed examination of various contributions from the literature addressing security aspects in cryptocurrencies. We also shed light on some of the well-known ongoing cryptocurrency-related projects across the globe. Furthermore, we outline open challenges and draw insights for perspective directions of research in the domain. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{quamara2022systematic, author = {Quamara, Sidharth and Singh, Awadhesh Kumar}, title = {A systematic survey on security concerns in cryptocurrencies: State-of-the-art and perspectives}, journal = {Computers & Security}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {113}, pages = {102548}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102548} } |
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Gallersdörfer, U., Klaaßen, L. and Stoll, C. | Accounting for carbon emissions caused by cryptocurrency and token systems [BibTeX] |
2021 | (November) | unpublished | URL |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Gallersdorfer2021, author = {Gallersdörfer, Ulrich and Klaaßen, Lena and Stoll, Christian}, title = {Accounting for carbon emissions caused by cryptocurrency and token systems}, year = {2021}, number = {November}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.06477} } |
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Büscher, B. and Fletcher, R. | Accumulation by Conservation | 2015 | New Political Economy Vol. 20(2), pp. 273-298 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Following the financial crisis and its aftermath, it is clear that the inherent contradictions of capitalist accumulation have become even more intense and plunged the global economy into unprecedented turmoil and urgency. Governments, business leaders and other elite agents are frantically searching for a new, more stable mode of accumulation. Arguably the most promising is what we call ‘Accumulation by Conservation' (AbC): a mode of accumulation that takes the negative environmental contradictions of contemporary capitalism as its departure for a newfound ‘sustainable' model of accumulation for the future. Under slogans such as payments for environmental services, the Green Economy, and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, public, private and non-governmental sectors seek ways to turn the non-material use of nature into capital that can simultaneously ‘save' the environment and establish long-term modes of capital accumulation. In the paper, we conceptualise and interrogate the grand claim of AbC and argue that it should be seen as a denial of the negative environmental impacts of ‘business as usual' capitalism. We evaluate AbC's attempt to compel nature to pay for itself and conclude by speculating whether this dynamic signals the impending end of the current global cycle of accumulation altogether. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Buscher2015, author = {Büscher, Bram and Fletcher, Robert}, title = {Accumulation by Conservation}, journal = {New Political Economy}, year = {2015}, volume = {20}, number = {2}, pages = {273--298}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2014.923824} } |
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Frye, B.L. | After Copyright: Pwning NFTs in a Clout Economy [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{frye2021after, author = {Frye, Brian L.}, title = {After Copyright: Pwning NFTs in a Clout Economy}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3971240} } |
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Beltramini, E. | Against technocratic authoritarianism. A short intellectual history of the cypherpunk movement | 2021 | Internet Histories Vol. 5(2), pp. 101-118 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This essay aims to correct the established idea that the cypherpunk movement was organically embracing libertarianism. By addressing the cypherpunk movement, the intellectual roots of many of the concerns about freedom and about a surveillance society that dominate this internet age come to light. The cypherpunks, a heterogenic group of entrepreneurs, engineers, and activists in the San Francisco Bay Area, argued in the nineties that the Internet would make more pervasive the phenomenon of surveillance of individuals. In the context of this increasing process of surveillance, individual autonomy would be dismissed as an obsolete fiction and social engineering would be elevated to totalitarianism. This article frames the cypherpunks as a movement in opposition to an emerging technocratic authoritarian order. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{beltramini2021against, author = {Beltramini, Enrico}, title = {Against technocratic authoritarianism. A short intellectual history of the cypherpunk movement}, journal = {Internet Histories}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {101--118}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2020.1731249} } |
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Srivastava, S. | Algorithmic Governance and the International Politics of Big Tech [BibTeX] |
2021 | Perspectives on Politics, pp. 1-12 | article | |
BibTeX:
@article{srivastava2021algorithmic, author = {Srivastava, Swati}, title = {Algorithmic Governance and the International Politics of Big Tech}, journal = {Perspectives on Politics}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--12} } |
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Danaher, J., Hogan, M.J., Noone, C., Kennedy, R., Behan, A., De Paor, A., Felzmann, H., Haklay, M., Khoo, S.-M., Morison, J. and Others | Algorithmic governance: Developing a research agenda through the power of collective intelligence [BibTeX] |
2017 | Big data & society Vol. 4(2), pp. 2053951717726554 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{danaher2017algorithmic, author = {Danaher, John and Hogan, Michael J and Noone, Chris and Kennedy, Rónán and Behan, Anthony and De Paor, Aisling and Felzmann, Heike and Haklay, Muki and Khoo, Su-Ming and Morison, John and Others}, title = {Algorithmic governance: Developing a research agenda through the power of collective intelligence}, journal = {Big data & society}, publisher = {Sage Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2017}, volume = {4}, number = {2}, pages = {2053951717726554} } |
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Yeung, Karen; Lodge, M. | Algorithmic regulation | 2019 | book | DOI | |
Abstract: As the power and sophistication of of "big data" and predictive analytics has continued to expand, so too has policy and public concern about the use of algorithms in contemporary life. This is hardly surprising given our increasing reliance on algorithms in daily life, touching policy sectorsfrom healthcare, transport, finance, consumer retail, manufacturing education, and employment through to public service provision and the operation of the criminal justice system. This has prompted concerns about the need and importance of holding algorithmic power to account, yet it is far fromclear that existing legal and other oversight mechanisms are up to the task.This collection of essays, edited by two leading regulatory governance scholars, offers a critical exploration of "algorithmic regulation", understood both as a means for co-ordinating and regulating social action and decision-making, as well as the need for institutional mechanisms through whichthe power of algorithms and algorithmic systems might themselves be regulated. It offers a unique perspective that is likely to become a significant reference point for the ever-growing debates about the power of algorithms in daily life in the worlds of research, policy and practice. The range ofcontributors are drawn from a broad range of disciplinary perspectives including law, public administration, applied philosophy, data science and artificial intelligence. Taken together, they highlight the rise of algorithmic power, the potential benefits and risks associated with this power, theway in which Sheila Jasanoff's long-standing claim that "technology is politics" has been thrown into sharp relief by the speed and scale at which algorithmic systems are proliferating, and the urgent need for wider public debate and engagement of their underlying values and value trade-offs, theway in which they affect individual and collective decision-making and action, and effective and legitimate mechanisms by and through which algorithmic power is held to account. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{YeungKaren;Lodge2019, author = {Yeung, Karen; Lodge, Martin;}, title = {Algorithmic regulation}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2019}, doi = {9780198838494} } |
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Hildebrandt, M. | Algorithmic regulation and the rule of law | 2018 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences Vol. 376(2128), pp. 20170355 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In this brief contribution, I distinguish between code-driven and data-driven regulation as novel instantiations of legal regulation. Before moving deeper into data-driven regulation, I explain the difference between law and regulation, and the relevance of such a difference for the rule of law. I discuss artificial legal intelligence (ALI) as a means to enable quantified legal prediction and argumentation mining which are both based on machine learning. This raises the question of whether the implementation of such technologies should count as law or as regulation, and what this means for their further development. Finally, I propose the concept of 'agonistic machine learning' as a means to bring data-driven regulation under the rule of law. This entails obligating developers, lawyers and those subject to the decisions of ALI to reintroduce adversarial interrogation at the level of its computational architecture. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The growing ubiquity of algorithms in society: implications, impacts and innovations'. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Hildebrandt2018, author = {Hildebrandt, Mireille}, title = {Algorithmic regulation and the rule of law}, journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences}, publisher = {The Royal Society Publishing}, year = {2018}, volume = {376}, number = {2128}, pages = {20170355}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2017.0355} } |
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Yeung, K. | Algorithmic regulation: A critical interrogation | 2018 | Regulation and Governance Vol. 12(4), pp. 505-523 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Innovations in networked digital communications technologies, including the rise of “Big Data,” ubiquitous computing, and cloud storage systems, may be giving rise to a new system of social ordering known as algorithmic regulation. Algorithmic regulation refers to decisionmaking systems that regulate a domain of activity in order to manage risk or alter behavior through continual computational generation of knowledge by systematically collecting data (in real time on a continuous basis) emitted directly from numerous dynamic components pertaining to the regulated environment in order to identify and, if necessary, automatically refine (or prompt refinement of) the system's operations to attain a pre-specified goal. This study provides a descriptive analysis of algorithmic regulation, classifying these decisionmaking systems as either reactive or pre-emptive, and offers a taxonomy that identifies eight different forms of algorithmic regulation based on their configuration at each of the three stages of the cybernetic process: notably, at the level of standard setting (adaptive vs. fixed behavioral standards), information-gathering and monitoring (historic data vs. predictions based on inferred data), and at the level of sanction and behavioral change (automatic execution vs. recommender systems). It maps the contours of several emerging debates surrounding algorithmic regulation, drawing upon insights from regulatory governance studies, legal critiques, surveillance studies, and critical data studies to highlight various concerns about the legitimacy of algorithmic regulation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{yeung2018algorithmic, author = {Yeung, Karen}, title = {Algorithmic regulation: A critical interrogation}, journal = {Regulation and Governance}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2018}, volume = {12}, number = {4}, pages = {505--523}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12158} } |
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Ulbricht, L. and Yeung, K. | Algorithmic regulation: A maturing concept for investigating regulation of and through algorithms | 2021 | Regulation and Governance | article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper offers a critical synthesis of the articles in this Special Issue with a view to assessing the concept of “algorithmic regulation” as a mode of social coordination and control articulated by Yeung in 2017. We highlight significant changes in public debate about the role of algorithms in society occurring in the last five years. We also highlight prominent themes that emerge from the contributions, illuminating what is distinctive about the concept of algorithmic regulation, reflecting upon some of its strengths, limitations, and its relationship with the broader research field. In closing, we argue that the core concept is valuable and maturing. It has evolved into an analytical bridge that fosters cross-disciplinary development and analysis in ways that enrich its early “skeletal” form, thereby enabling careful and context-sensitive analysis of algorithmic regulation in concrete settings while facilitating critical reflection concerning the legitimacy of existing and proposed regulatory regimes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Ulbricht2021, author = {Ulbricht, Lena and Yeung, Karen}, title = {Algorithmic regulation: A maturing concept for investigating regulation of and through algorithms}, journal = {Regulation and Governance}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12437} } |
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Coglianese, C. | Algorithmic regulation: Machine learning as a governance tool [BibTeX] |
2020 | The Algorithmic Society, pp. 35-52 | incollection | |
BibTeX:
@incollection{coglianese2020algorithmic, author = {Coglianese, Cary}, title = {Algorithmic regulation: Machine learning as a governance tool}, booktitle = {The Algorithmic Society}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, pages = {35--52} } |
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Aitken, R. | 'All data is credit data': Constituting the unbanked | 2017 | Competition and Change Vol. 21(4), pp. 274-300 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Global financial and data capitalism has constituted new forms of knowledge, novel inscriptions which make that knowledge tangible and new ways of visualizing sources of value and profit. This paper examines a cluster of new practices designed to make visible - and extract value from - those without formal credit scores in contemporary financial markets. Many 'financial inclusion' projects now attempt to score the 'credit invisible' by drawing on a range of alternative data - non-financial payment streams, academic records, behavioural signals gleaned from online or social media footprints and results generated via digitized psychometric testing - and by assessing that data in relation to models of risk assessment based on the analysis of big data. I argue in this paper that these experiments in alternative credit scoring constitute the unbanked as an important, and dubious, category of knowledge and intervention. I also argue that attempts to score the unbanked offer a revealing glimpse of many of the social and political limitations associated with projects of 'inclusion'. Although often imagined as forms of pristine incorporation, inclusion projects often constitute troubling new kinds of social sorting and segmentation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{aitken2017all, author = {Aitken, Rob}, title = {'All data is credit data': Constituting the unbanked}, journal = {Competition and Change}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2017}, volume = {21}, number = {4}, pages = {274--300}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529417712830} } |
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Lee, L.-H., Braud, T., Zhou, P., Wang, L., Xu, D., Lin, Z., Kumar, A., Bermejo, C. and Hui, P. | All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda | 2021 | arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.05352 | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Since the popularisation of the Internet in the 1990s, the cyberspace has kept evolving. We have created various computer-mediated virtual environments including social networks, video conferencing, virtual 3D worlds (e.g., VR Chat), augmented reality applications (e.g., Pokemon Go), and Non-Fungible Token Games (e.g., Upland). Such virtual environments, albeit non-perpetual and unconnected, have bought us various degrees of digital transformation. The term `metaverse' has been coined to further facilitate the digital transformation in every aspect of our physical lives. At the core of the metaverse stands the vision of an immersive Internet as a gigantic, unified, persistent, and shared realm. While the metaverse may seem futuristic, catalysed by emerging technologies such as Extended Reality, 5G, and Artificial Intelligence, the digital `big bang' of our cyberspace is not far away. This survey paper presents the first effort to offer a comprehensive framework that examines the latest metaverse development under the dimensions of state-of-the-art technologies and metaverse ecosystems, and illustrates the possibility of the digital `big bang'. First, technologies are the enablers that drive the transition from the current Internet to the metaverse. We thus examine eight enabling technologies rigorously - Extended Reality, User Interactivity (Human-Computer Interaction), Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Computer Vision, IoT and Robotics, Edge and Cloud computing, and Future Mobile Networks. In terms of applications, the metaverse ecosystem allows human users to live and play within a self-sustaining, persistent, and shared realm. Therefore, we discuss six user-centric factors -- Avatar, Content Creation, Virtual Economy, Social Acceptability, Security and Privacy, and Trust and Accountability. Finally, we propose a concrete research agenda for the development of the metaverse. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lee2021all, author = {Lee, Lik-Hang and Braud, Tristan and Zhou, Pengyuan and Wang, Lin and Xu, Dianlei and Lin, Zijun and Kumar, Abhishek and Bermejo, Carlos and Hui, Pan}, title = {All One Needs to Know about Metaverse: A Complete Survey on Technological Singularity, Virtual Ecosystem, and Research Agenda}, journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.05352}, year = {2021}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05352}, doi = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05352} } |
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Guadamuz, A. | All watched over by machines of loving grace: A critical look at smart contracts | 2019 | Computer Law and Security Review Vol. 35(6), pp. 105338 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Smart contracts are coded parameters written into an immutable distributed ledger called a blockchain. There has been increasing legal interest in the application of these self-executing programs to conduct transactions. Most of the scholarly and practical analysis so far has been taken the claims of this technology being akin to a contract at face value, with legal analysis of contract formation, performance, and enforcement at the forefront of the debate. This article discusses that while smart contracts may pose some interesting legal questions, most of these are irrelevant, and smart contracts should be understood almost strictly from a technical perspective, and that any legal response is entirely dependent on the technical capabilities of the smart contract. The article proposes that smart contracts are not contracts for all practical purposes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{guadamuz2019all, author = {Guadamuz, Andres}, title = {All watched over by machines of loving grace: A critical look at smart contracts}, journal = {Computer Law and Security Review}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {35}, number = {6}, pages = {105338}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2019.105338} } |
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Hileman, G. | Alternative Currencies: A Historical Survey and Taxonomy | 2017 | SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-37 | unpublished | DOI |
Abstract: Alternative currencies have appeared regularly for at least the last half-millennia, often arising out of similar socio-economic circumstances and ceasing to circulate within a relatively short time period. While regulatory shifts and technology shocks account for some of the challenges alternative currencies have faced in gaining wider adoption, the most common observed explanation for why alternative currencies decline is insufficient demand due to relatively high transaction costs, low institutional support, inconsistent social motivation, and other factors. Present-day alternative currencies, such as the Brixton pound, are similar to past alternative currencies, while bitcoin features several radical differences. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Hileman2017, author = {Hileman, Garrick}, title = {Alternative Currencies: A Historical Survey and Taxonomy}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2017}, pages = {1--37}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2747975} } |
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Kong, D.-R. and Lin, T.-C. | Alternative investments in the Fintech era: The risk and return of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: We utilize one of the earliest and largest NFT collections to investigate the pricing and the risk-return profile of NFTs. In general, we find that NFTs have higher returns than traditional financial assets. Yet, investing in NFTs comes along with extremely high volatility. The average monthly returns on NFTs range from 6.10% to 44.11%. But their standard deviations fluctuate between 44.35% and 74.57%, leading to a Sharpe ratio comparable to the NASDAQ index. NFT prices surge when there is a drastic increase in demand for alternative investments and a search for yield, especially in a low interest rate environment. We also find that the pricing of NFT largely depends on a token's scarceness and an investor's aesthetic preference. Hence, conventional asset-pricing models are unlikely to explain NFT returns. Overall, we provide the first comprehensive analysis that NFTs serve as a novel investment vessel in this Fintech era. JEL Classifications: C43, D44, G11, G12, Z11 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{kong2021alternative, author = {Kong, De-Rong and Lin, Tse-Chun}, title = {Alternative investments in the Fintech era: The risk and return of Non-Fungible Token (NFT)}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3914085} } |
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Lothian, T. | American Finance and American Democracy: Towards an Institutionalist 'Law and Economics' | 2012 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: This article reconsiders the financial and economic crisis of 2007-2009 and the present debate about the regulation of finance in the light of a vision of how finance can better serve the American economy and American democracy. The central claim is that regulation as conventionally understood cannot adequately redress the problems, and seize the opportunities, revealed by the crisis. We should approach financial regulation as the first step in a series of institutional innovations designed to put finance more effectively at the service of the real economy (financial deepening) while broadening economic opportunity in the country (financial democratization). I develop and defend this thesis by arguing for four subsidiary claims. A first subsidiary claim is that a major part of the causal background to the crisis was an inconclusive hollowing out of the New Deal regime for the governance of finance. That regime failed to be replaced by an alternative coherent scheme. Instead, it gave way to a ramshackle compromise -- powerful, opaque, recalcitrant, and damaging. Such a situation -- I argue -- represents the rule rather than the exception in the history of law and institutions. The outcome of the hollowing out in the United States was a weakening of the links of finance to the real economy, paradoxically accompanied by the hypertrophy of the financial sector. A second subsidiary claim is that the New Deal critics and reformers of finance, such as Louis Brandeis and William Douglas, were right in their intuition that a strong link exists between the legal and institutional requirements of financial deepening and of financial democratization. A third subsidiary claim is that to make good on this intuition in today's circumstances we need a new agenda of reform with an explicit and ambitious institutional content. Such an agenda includes the transfer of sophisticated financial capabilities to the country's remarkable network of local banks as well as a vast expansion and popularization of financial services, channeling long-term saving into long-term productive investment. A fourth subsidiary claim is that law and legal thought provide the chief storehouse of the ideas and methods needed to conceive and to implement such innovations. Prevailing styles of economic theory, including those underlying the dominant practice of “law and economics,” remain largely bereft of institutional imagination. This article illustrates how a revised practice of legal and institutional analysis can help fill this lacuna. In so doing, this piece takes "law and economics" in another direction. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lothian2012, author = {Lothian, Tamara}, title = {American Finance and American Democracy: Towards an Institutionalist 'Law and Economics'}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2012}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1996653} } |
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To, U. | An Alternative Monetary System Reimagined: the Case for Central Bank Digital Currency. | 2021 | California Western International Law Journal Vol. 51(2), pp. 1-31 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Thanks to technological advances, central bank digital currency (" CBDC") is receiving more attention than ever before. One theory predicts that the development of blockchain and other internet application technologies will cause digital currencies to replace cash. This theory … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hsu2021alternative, author = {To, Uide}, title = {An Alternative Monetary System Reimagined: the Case for Central Bank Digital Currency.}, journal = {California Western International Law Journal}, year = {2021}, volume = {51}, number = {2}, pages = {1--31}, doi = {https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1589&context=cwilj} } |
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DuPont, I.Q. | An Archeology of Cryptography: Rewriting Plaintext, Encryption, and Ciphertext | 2017 | ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, pp. 333School: University of Toronto (Canada) | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: This dissertation is an archeological study of cryptography. It questions the validity of thinking about cryptography in familiar, instrumentalist terms, and instead reveals the ways that cryptography can been understood as writing, media, and computation. In this dissertation, I offer a critique of the prevailing views of cryptography by tracing a number of long overlooked themes in its history, including the development of artificial languages, machine translation, media, code, notation, silence, and order. Using an archeological method, I detail historical conditions of possibility and the technical a priori of cryptography. The conditions of possibility are explored in three parts, where I rhetorically rewrite the conventional terms of art, namely, plaintext, encryption, and ciphertext. I argue that plaintext has historically been understood as kind of inscription or form of writing, and has been associated with the development of artificial languages, and used to analyze and investigate the natural world. I argue that the technical a priori of plaintext, encryption, and ciphertext is constitutive of the syntactic and semantic properties detailed in Nelson Goodman's theory of notation, as described in his Languages of Art. I argue that encryption (and its reverse, decryption) are deterministic modes of transcription, which have historically been thought of as the medium between plaintext and ciphertext. By developing a new understanding of encryption as standing between two agents, I characterize the process in terms of media. As media, encryption technologies participate in historical desires for commodious and even “angelic” transmission, popular until the twentieth century. I identify how cryptanalysis, or “code-breaking,” is distinct from cryptography, and instead relates to language, being associated with the history of machine translation. Finally, I argue that ciphertext is the perspectival, ordered result of encryption—similar to computation—and resists attempts to be spoken. Since ciphertext resists being spoken, its application problematizes the category of language, and has, at least once in antiquity, been considered a means of creating silence. This dissertation is the first of its kind to offer a historically-rich, ontological analysis of cryptography, which therefore opens the topic to new fields of scholarship and humanistic forms of inquiry. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{dupont2017archeology, author = {DuPont, Isaac Quinn}, title = {An Archeology of Cryptography: Rewriting Plaintext, Encryption, and Ciphertext}, booktitle = {ProQuest Dissertations and Theses}, school = {University of Toronto (Canada)}, year = {2017}, pages = {333}, url = {https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/78958}, doi = {https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/78958} } |
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El Faqir, Y., Arroyo, J. and Hassan, S. | An overview of decentralized autonomous organizations on the blockchain | 2020 | PervasiveHealth: Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare | article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology has emerged as a new paradigm to build decentralized systems which do not require a central authority. It is most popular for enabling Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. However, blockchain applications span beyond Finance, and recently it has been applied to decentralized governance. Blockchain-enabled "Decentralized Autonomous Organizations"(DAOs) have emerged as a new form of collective governance, in which communities may organize themselves relying on decentralized infrastructure. In this article, we introduce the concept of DAO and review the main software platforms that offer DAO creation as a service, which simplifies the use of DAOs to non-blockchain experts; namely: Aragon, DAOstack, DAOhaus and Colony. These platforms will be compared by showing their key features. Finally, we will review the available visualisation tools for DAOs, and we will introduce our open-source tool to plot DAOs activity, DAO-Analyzer. We will illustrate its potential with the case of the DAO Genesis Alpha, which is the main DAO of the DAOstack project. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{ElFaqir2020, author = {El Faqir, Youssef and Arroyo, Javier and Hassan, Samer}, title = {An overview of decentralized autonomous organizations on the blockchain}, journal = {PervasiveHealth: Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare}, publisher = {ICST}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3412569.3412579} } |
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Kosmarski, A. and Gordiychuk, N. | Anthropology and blockchain | 2021 | Vol. 37(6)Anthropology Today, pp. 1-3 |
misc | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain and its related technologies break away from the contemporary dystopian imaginaries of control and exploitation endemic in IT. This editorial considers the relevance of blockchain for anthropologists, why they should care, and what the technology brings. After sketching the evolution of blockchain, we draw attention to its potential as a playground – a plethora of projects reimagining and remaking the basic stuff of political economy, including the meaning of money, collectivities, exchange and voting. Blockchain's utility for rethinking the basic rules of the game in academia also deserves attention. | |||||
BibTeX:
@misc{kosmarski2021anthropology, author = {Kosmarski, Artyom and Gordiychuk, Nikolay}, title = {Anthropology and blockchain}, booktitle = {Anthropology Today}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2021}, volume = {37}, number = {6}, pages = {1--3}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12683} } |
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Buttigieg, C.P., Efthymiopoulos, C., Attard, A. and Cuyle, S. | Anti-money laundering regulation of crypto assets in Europe's smallest member state | 2019 | Law and Financial Markets Review Vol. 13(4), pp. 211-227 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The paper critically examines the framework for the regulation of crypto assets in Malta, with a particular focus on anti-money laundering and funding of terrorism. It identifies the risks relating to crypto assets, and how these are addressed through Malta's Virtual Financial Assets Framework. To this end, the paper argues that the Maltese framework goes beyond the EU's fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. In this connection, the paper also argues that the Maltese framework could possibly be a model for a more extensive EU regime in this context. Finally, the paper sets forth recommendations towards action which may be taken at an EU level in order to address the money laundering and terrorism financing threats associated with crypto assets. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{buttigieg2019anti, author = {Buttigieg, Christopher P. and Efthymiopoulos, Christos and Attard, Abigail and Cuyle, Samantha}, title = {Anti-money laundering regulation of crypto assets in Europe's smallest member state}, journal = {Law and Financial Markets Review}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {13}, number = {4}, pages = {211--227}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17521440.2019.1663996} } |
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Wanat, E. | Are Crypto-Assets Green Enough? – An analysis of draft EU Regulation on markets in crypto assets from the perspective of the European Green Deal | 2021 | Osteuropa Recht Vol. 67(2), pp. 237-250 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In 2019 European Commission announced “The European Green Deal” a “a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use”. The digital sector must also participate in the Green Deal effort. This articles analyzes questions of sustainability in the context of crypto assets, with particular emphasis on the question of whether Bitcon acutally represent a crypto asset, energy consumption, energy drain, the proof-of-work consensus protocol, the environmental footprint of crypto assets. The article concludes that Bitcoin's current effect on environment remains controversial at best. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{wanat2021crypto, author = {Wanat, Emanuel}, title = {Are Crypto-Assets Green Enough? – An analysis of draft EU Regulation on markets in crypto assets from the perspective of the European Green Deal}, journal = {Osteuropa Recht}, publisher = {Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG}, year = {2021}, volume = {67}, number = {2}, pages = {237--250}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5771/0030-6444-2021-2-237} } |
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Pele, D.T., Wesselhöfft, N., Härdle, W.K., Kolossiatis, M. and Yatracos, Y.G. | Are cryptos becoming alternative assets? | 2021 | European Journal of Finance, pp. 1-42 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This research provides insights for the separation of cryptocurrencies from other assets. Using dimensionality reduction techniques, we show that most of the variation among cryptocurrencies, stocks, exchange rates, commodities, bonds, and real estate indexes can be explained by the tail, memory and moment factors of their log-returns. By applying various classification methods, cryptocurrencies are categorized as a separate asset class, mainly due to the tail factor. The main result is the complete separation of cryptocurrencies from the other asset types, using the Maximum Variance Components Split method. Additionally, we show that cryptocurrencies tend to exhibit similar characteristics over time and become more distinguished from other asset classes (synchronic evolution). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{pele2021cryptos, author = {Pele, Daniel Traian and Wesselhöfft, Niels and Härdle, Wolfgang Karl and Kolossiatis, Michalis and Yatracos, Yannis G.}, title = {Are cryptos becoming alternative assets?}, journal = {European Journal of Finance}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--42}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2021.1960403} } |
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Whitaker, A. | Art and Blockchain: A Primer, History, and Taxonomy of Blockchain Use Cases in the Arts | 2019 | Artivate: A Journal of Enterprise in the Arts Vol. 8(2), pp. 21-47 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: ABSTRACT: Blockchain technology, while commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, stands to bring radical structural change to the arts and creative industries. This paper presents a history, primer, and taxonomy of blockchain use cases in the arts and then explores the implications of blockchain in three regards: the blurring of the for-profit / nonprofit distinction, changes in the ownership structure of art, and potential for new structures of public and private support and related policy changes. These developments raise important questions of governance of a technology which requires expertise in cryptography, coding, and securities law for implementation. Ultimately, blockchain holds the potential to tip the role of the arts toward democratic availability through collective ownership structures or toward further commodification of cultural assets. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{whitaker2019art, author = {Whitaker, Amy}, title = {Art and Blockchain: A Primer, History, and Taxonomy of Blockchain Use Cases in the Arts}, journal = {Artivate: A Journal of Enterprise in the Arts}, publisher = {JSTOR}, year = {2019}, volume = {8}, number = {2}, pages = {21--47}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.34053/artivate.8.2.2} } |
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Whitaker, A., Bracegirdle, A., de Menil, S., Gitlitz, M.A. and Saltos, L. | Art, antiquities, and blockchain: new approaches to the restitution of cultural heritage | 2021 | International Journal of Cultural Policy Vol. 27(3), pp. 312-329 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Objects of cultural heritage present a unique and important opportunity for the use of blockchain technology. Specifically, blockchain, a distributed ledger technology, can be used to disincentivize the sale of looted objects and to manage shared stewardship, ownership, and exhibition of these contested artifacts taken though war or colonialism. We offer background on repatriation of antiquities using the Byzantine Fresco Foundation as a core case study; introduce a working model of stakeholders in antiquities markets in both contemporary and historical context; and propose a blockchain solution using four different cases. The paper draws on newly sourced archival documents, game-theory interpretations of stakeholder behavior and application of this new technology in regulatory context. These blockchain applications are especially timely with the publication of the Sarr Savoy Report and the Arts Council England's rewriting of its restitution guidelines for museums and galleries. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{whitaker2021art, author = {Whitaker, Amy and Bracegirdle, Anne and de Menil, Susan and Gitlitz, Michelle Ann and Saltos, Lena}, title = {Art, antiquities, and blockchain: new approaches to the restitution of cultural heritage}, journal = {International Journal of Cultural Policy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {27}, number = {3}, pages = {312--329}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2020.1765163} } |
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Tripathy, A. | Assembling Green Bonds: Data, Narrative, Time, Work, and People in Climate Finance | 2021 | ProQuest Dissertations and Theses(February) | article | URL |
Abstract: Financial markets occupy a privileged place in the global economy and wield a large and growing influence on public policy and collective decision-making. The developing finance subfields of climate and sustainable finance situate financial markets as both the principal problem and solution to the climate crisis and environmental degradation. The financial industry continues to fund fossil fuels, resource extraction, and social inequalities that produce and exacerbate current environmental, social, and climate crises. In this dissertation, I explore the tension created as climate finance practitioners distinguish the green bond market and climate finance from mainstream finance, while simultaneously attempting to shift mainstream finance towards sustainable investment. I analyze the work and activity through which climate finance and the green bond market have come to exist. This work produces green bonds and the green bond market through its components of data, market narrative, time, work, and climate finance people. Anthropologists of finance and markets highlight and trace the embeddedness of market dynamics in politics, society, and history. The anthropology of contemporary financial markets employs two dominant forms of analysis. Science and Technology Studies scholars meticulously document devices and tools used by market participants, while sociocultural anthropologists focus on lived experiences and cultural worlds. In my analysis of the green bond market, I combine both approaches and further the study of financial market mechanisms and market cultural ethos. I breakdown my study of the green bond market into distinct components while connecting these components together through the larger societal dynamics of climate finance and the green bond market. The composite of data, narrative, time, work, and people in the green bond market produces a new ethical field that is contested through explicit discussion on the purpose of financial markets. This ethical field shows financial markets to be a contested and diverse space. Given the outsized role of finance in society, identifying the fissures made possible by climate finance may grow in importance as the climate crisis intensifies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Tripathy2021, author = {Tripathy, Aneil}, title = {Assembling Green Bonds: Data, Narrative, Time, Work, and People in Climate Finance}, journal = {ProQuest Dissertations and Theses}, year = {2021}, number = {February}, url = {http://cyber.usask.ca/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2491196322?accountid=14739&bdid=6472&_bd=g2MHecv5XW%2BZK7esap2pdksoDgU%3D} } |
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Haberly, D., MacDonald-Korth, D., Urban, M. and Wójcik, D. | Asset Management as a Digital Platform Industry: A Global Financial Network Perspective | 2019 | Geoforum Vol. 106(March), pp. 167-181 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: While contemporary technological disruption is increasingly conceptualized in terms of the logic and paradoxes of the digital platform economy, discussions of “FinTech” have only engaged to a limited extent with these debates—particularly from an economic geographic standpoint. Here we fill this gap by proposing an adapted Global Financial Network (GFN) framework for conceptualizing the organizational and geographic logic of the digital platform economy in finance, and applying it to examine the impact of the digital platform model on asset management. As we will show, asset management is being profoundly disrupted by what we dub digital asset management platforms—or DAMPs—which encompass services including index fund and ETF provision, robo-advising, and analytics and trading support. Like other digital platforms, DAMPs do not so much leverage technology to enhance their competitiveness within markets, as to radically restructure the market itself. Also, like other platforms, their rise has produced a winner-take-all paradox of centralization through democratization that defies predictions of technology-enabled industry decentralization. However, the logic and implications of the rise of DAMPs diverges, in other respects, from non-financial digital platforms, as finance has long possessed an informational intensity and regulatory and organizational fluidity characteristic of the digital platform economy. Consequently, the digital platform model has mostly developed endogenously in asset management through incremental innovation by major financial firms—in a process that has reinforced the position of leading incumbent asset management centers, and above all New York—rather than being introduced from the outside by upstart technology firms and clusters. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Haberly2019, author = {Haberly, Daniel and MacDonald-Korth, Duncan and Urban, Michael and Wójcik, Dariusz}, title = {Asset Management as a Digital Platform Industry: A Global Financial Network Perspective}, journal = {Geoforum}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {106}, number = {March}, pages = {167--181}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.08.009}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.08.009} } |
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Sazandrishvili, G. | Asset tokenization in plain English | 2020 | Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance Vol. 31(2), pp. 68-73 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Asset tokenization is an expansion of blockchain technology that allows digital assets to be bought, sold, and traded on blockchains. Digitizing real assets will help create universally accessible, fast, liquid, and transparent investment and financial systems. However, blockchain and related asset tokenization are still in their infancy, and there are obstacles that need to be overcome before widespread adoption occurs. This article describes what it means to tokenize an asset on a blockchain, how tokenization is accomplished, and why it has the potential to disrupt a variety of industries, particularly the financial and real estate industries. Challenges that are associated with implementing asset tokenization are also explored. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{sazandrishvili2020asset, author = {Sazandrishvili, George}, title = {Asset tokenization in plain English}, journal = {Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2020}, volume = {31}, number = {2}, pages = {68--73}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22432} } |
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Tian, Y., Adriaens, P., Minchin, R.E., Chang, C., Lu, Z. and Qi, C. | Asset Tokenization: A blockchain Solution to Financing Infrastructure in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: … Municipal, Sub- sovereign bonds Green Bonds, Sukuk Subordinated Bonds … Unlisted Infrastructure Funds Page 4. Since the emergence of blockchain technology, its application to solve problems for industries across multiple sectors has rapidly grown (Sharma et al. 2019) … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Tian, author = {Tian, Yifeng and Adriaens, Peter and Minchin, R. Edward and Chang, Charles and Lu, Zheng and Qi, Chaoying}, title = {Asset Tokenization: A blockchain Solution to Financing Infrastructure in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3837703} } |
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Langley, P. | Assets and assetization in financialized capitalism | 2020 | Review of International Political Economy Vol. 28(2), pp. 382-393 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2007–09, political economists have typically identified and interrogated speculative logics and credit-debt relations as the markers of financialized capitalism. This paper argues that assets, and the contingent processes which turn all manner of things into assets (i.e. ‘assetization'), can also be usefully foregrounded to understand the character and movement of financialized capitalism in the contemporary conjuncture, particularly in its Anglo-American heartlands. Centred on assets and assetization, research is refocused on the constitution of political economies of rent and investment, especially as the frontiers of financialized capitalism are extended to further incorporate nature and society. Research into financialized capitalism is also connected more explicitly to wider political debates over intensified inequalities, as the production and distribution of assets is key to wealth disparities and shapes fundamental stratifications across society. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Langley2020, author = {Langley, Paul}, title = {Assets and assetization in financialized capitalism}, journal = {Review of International Political Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, volume = {28}, number = {2}, pages = {382--393}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1830828}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1830828} } |
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Birch, K. | Automated Neoliberalism? The Digital Organisation of Markets In Technoscientific Capitalism | 2020 | New Formations Vol. 100(100), pp. 10-27 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The core contradiction in neoliberalism (studies) is that markets are organised and require significant bureaucratic coordination and governance. In light of the increasingly technoscientific nature of contemporary capitalism, it is important to examine exactly how markets are organised and their governance configured by digital processes. In this article, I argue that the entanglement of digital technoscience and capitalism has led to an 'automated neoliberalism' in which markets are configured by digital platforms, personal lives are transformed through the accumulation of personal data, and social relations are automated through algorithms, distributed electronic ledgers, and rating systems. Two issues arise as a result of these changes: first, are markets being automated away, in that market exchange no longer underpins social organisation? And second, does individual and social reflexivity problematise techno-economic automation, in that new platforms, data assets, ranking algorithms, etc. are all dependent on individuals telling the 'truth'? My aim in this article is to answer these questions and to consider the political implications of automated neoliberalism and our reflexive enrolment in it. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Rafajlovski2020, author = {Birch, Kean}, title = {Automated Neoliberalism? The Digital Organisation of Markets In Technoscientific Capitalism}, journal = {New Formations}, year = {2020}, volume = {100}, number = {100}, pages = {10--27}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3898/newf:100-101.02.2020} } |
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Pardo-Guerra, J.P. | Automating Finance | 2019 | book | DOI | |
Abstract: Predicting the binding mode of flexible polypeptides to proteins is an important task that falls outside the domain of applicability of most small molecule and protein−protein docking tools. Here, we test the small molecule flexible ligand docking program Glide on a set of 19 non-α-helical peptides and systematically improve pose prediction accuracy by enhancing Glide sampling for flexible polypeptides. In addition, scoring of the poses was improved by post-processing with physics-based implicit solvent MM- GBSA calculations. Using the best RMSD among the top 10 scoring poses as a metric, the success rate (RMSD ≤ 2.0 Å for the interface backbone atoms) increased from 21% with default Glide SP settings to 58% with the enhanced peptide sampling and scoring protocol in the case of redocking to the native protein structure. This approaches the accuracy of the recently developed Rosetta FlexPepDock method (63% success for these 19 peptides) while being over 100 times faster. Cross-docking was performed for a subset of cases where an unbound receptor structure was available, and in that case, 40% of peptides were docked successfully. We analyze the results and find that the optimized polypeptide protocol is most accurate for extended peptides of limited size and number of formal charges, defining a domain of applicability for this approach. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Pardo-Guerra2019, author = {Pardo-Guerra, Juan Pablo}, title = {Automating Finance}, year = {2019}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108677585} } |
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Semenzin, S. and Gandini, A. | Automating Trust with the Blockchain? A Critical Investigation of “Blockchain 2.0” Cultures | 2021 | Global Perspectives Vol. 2(1), pp. 24912 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article discusses the cultural conceptions of trust underpinning the experimentation of blockchain startup applications beyond the financial sector. Based on qualitative research undertaken in the context of the so-called “Blockchain 2.0” scene, we show how a peculiar conception of trust, which blends the libertarian views of blockchain inventors with the neoliberal culture of competition and meritocracy that is typical of the startup world, underpins these implementations. As a result, we argue that “Blockchain 2.0” entrepreneurs ultimately fail to recognize the eminently social nature of the trust-building process. They emerge from our observation as unable to comprehend the extent to which the implementation of blockchain in a societal (i.e., not purely financial) context cannot do away with considerations about what kind of “social” the technology intervenes within, and find difficult to effectively conceive of how this technology embeds in existing social relations and power structures. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Semenzin2021, author = {Semenzin, Silvia and Gandini, Alessandro}, title = {Automating Trust with the Blockchain? A Critical Investigation of “Blockchain 2.0” Cultures}, journal = {Global Perspectives}, year = {2021}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {24912}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.24912}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.24912} } |
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Bayern, S. | Autonomous Organizations [BibTeX] |
2021 | book | DOI | |
BibTeX:
@book{bayern2021autonomous, author = {Bayern, Shawn}, title = {Autonomous Organizations}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108878203} } |
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Grey, R. | Banking in a Digital Fiat Currency Regime | 2019 | Regulating Blockchain, pp. 169-180 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This Chapter explores the future of banking in a digital fiat currency ('DFC') regime, defined as a monetary regime in which retail and wholesale consumers have direct access to public digital checking and payments services, independent of the existing bank-centric depository system. I argue that in such a regime, existing banks will continue to perform the valuable social function of underwriting loans and evaluating collateral, even as their checking and payments processing functions will be rendered obsolete. Such a system would improve payments system resiliency, while addressing the safe asset shortage issues associated with insurance caps on bank deposit accounts. At the same time, a DFC regime would necessarily clarify the public nature of the existing credit system, wherein commercial banks are (inherently) entrusted to underwrite loans and subjectively evaluate collateral. Thus, digital fiat currency technology represents more than a mere improvement in payment system efficiency-it has the potential to transform the banking industry, simplify financial regulation and recast our collective understanding of how money and banking work in the modern economy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{grey2019banking, author = {Grey, Rohan}, title = {Banking in a Digital Fiat Currency Regime}, journal = {Regulating Blockchain}, year = {2019}, pages = {169--180}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198842187.003.0009} } |
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Sullivan, S. | Banking Nature? The Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental Conservation | 2013 | Antipode Vol. 45(1), pp. 198-217 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Abstract: In this paper I emphasise the financialisation of environmental conservation as 1. the turning of financiers to conservation parameters as a new frontier for investment, and 2. the rewriting of conservation practice and nonhuman worlds in terms of banking and financial categories. I introduce financialisation as a broadly controlling impetus with relevance for environmental conservation. I then note ways in which a spectacular investment frontier in conservation is being opened. I highlight the draw of assertions of lucrative gains, combined with notions of geographical substitutability, in creating tradable indicators of environmental health and harm. I disaggregate financialisation strategies into four categories—nature finance, nature work, nature banking and nature derivatives—and assess their implications. The concluding section embraces Marx and Foucault as complementary thinkers in understanding the transforming intensifications of late capitalism in environmental conservation, and diagnosing their associated effects and costs. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00989.x, author = {Sullivan, Sian}, title = {Banking Nature? The Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental Conservation}, journal = {Antipode}, year = {2013}, volume = {45}, number = {1}, pages = {198--217}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00989.x}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00989.x} } |
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Peebles, G. | Banking on Digital Money: Swedish Cashlessness and the Fraying Currency Tether | 2020 | Cultural Anthropology Vol. 36(1), pp. 1-24 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: As cash has suddenly gone missing from Swedish life, a growing range of citizens and institutions have sounded the alarm that cash enabled a space of egalitarian access now under threat. But because commercial bank currency is gradually displacing public central bank currency, cashlessness in Sweden is not only threatening its egalitarian ethos but also the Swedish Central Bank's capacity to provide a guaranteed state payment mechanism. The consequences of Sweden's battles over cash-issuance may presage the future of our global banking system in a digital age, while also illuminating what is here called currency's “tethering mechanism.” Because bank-issued currencies represent chains of credit/debt, exchanging and storing different currencies can tether and de-tether their users to different institutions, thereby offering anthropologists the possibility of mapping the waxing and waning of various dominant social institutions. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{peebles2021banking, author = {Peebles, Gustav}, title = {Banking on Digital Money: Swedish Cashlessness and the Fraying Currency Tether}, journal = {Cultural Anthropology}, year = {2020}, volume = {36}, number = {1}, pages = {1--24}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14506/ca36.1.01} } |
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Bhagat, A. and Roderick, L. | Banking on refugees: Racialized expropriation in the fintech era | 2020 | Environment and Planning A Vol. 52(8), pp. 1498-1515 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Fintech and digital financial services involve the delivery of financial products and services through technology. Fintech companies are part of a financial lending infrastructure claiming to offer an alternative to ‘big banks', and are often touted as digitally disruptive technology that is rapidly reshaping financial inclusion agendas and improving the lives of the poor. For many refugees living in camps and informal settlements in Kenya, fintech is often the only viable option for credit or microfinance aid. While refugees are often excluded from credit, the spread of fintech as a solution for direct peer-to-peer aid transfers from the Global North to refugees has resulted in the uneven distribution of credit access and livelihood support. Through fintech, private citizens and groups in the Global North are able to disrupt and subvert refugee assistance, deeming some worthy of aid while others face ongoing exclusion. While fintech remains a hopeful source of greater efficiency and empowerment, the direct transfer of aid money masks profit and corporate power by only extending assistance to those refugees who are appropriately entrepreneurial, that is to say those who will start small businesses and pay back their loans. This paper argues that processes of financial inclusion carried out by and through fintech are still distinguished largely by exclusion. In so doing, this paper highlights a theoretical position that refugee governance is embedded in racial forms of capital accumulation and expropriation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bhagat2020banking, author = {Bhagat, Ali and Roderick, Leanne}, title = {Banking on refugees: Racialized expropriation in the fintech era}, journal = {Environment and Planning A}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2020}, volume = {52}, number = {8}, pages = {1498--1515}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X20904070} } |
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Fitzpatrick, S.M. and McKeon, S. | Banking on Stone Money: Ancient Antecedents to Bitcoin | 2020 | Economic Anthropology Vol. 7(1), pp. 7-21 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Centuries ago in western Micronesia, Yapese islanders sailed to the Palauan archipelago 250 miles away to carve their famous stonemoney disks (rai) from limestone and then transported them back for use as exchange valuables in various social transactions. While rai were not strictly currency, their value is similar to other traditional and modern objects where worth is arbitrarily based on both real and perceived attributes. Recently, corollaries have been made between rai and newly established electronic cryptocurrencies that use blockchain technology — essentially, digital ledgers that track financial transactions in real time across a computer network to ensure that they are seamless and incorruptible. In this study, we examine the sociophysical similarities and differences between stone money and cryptocurrencies that rely on blockchain, both of which demand a unified and continuous chain of information to ensure that the value is known and ownership indisputable. This research suggests that stone money: (a) is an exemplary ancient analog to blockchain that used oral ledgers solidified through social networks to create accurate and unbroken lines of communication so that economic relationships involving rai could be established, maintained, exchanged, and rectified, and (b) may have been a progenitor that inspired the development of Bitcoin. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fitzpatrick2020, author = {Fitzpatrick, Scott M. and McKeon, Stephen}, title = {Banking on Stone Money: Ancient Antecedents to Bitcoin}, journal = {Economic Anthropology}, year = {2020}, volume = {7}, number = {1}, pages = {7--21}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12154} } |
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Babu, A. | Behind the Veil of Decentralization: Analyzing Blockchain Frames and Sponsors in US News | 2020 | SSRN Electronic Journal | unpublished | DOI |
Abstract: In recent years, “blockchain” has emerged as an industry buzzword, a technology that can solve pressing problems in economic inclusion, democracy, humanitarian aid, sustainability, and supply chain management among other things. Whether effective or not, this little-understood technology is championed as a way to change socio-economic power structures and democratize and decentralize established institutions like the financial system and government. However, these claims are often unsupported. The hype generated in the news and popular discourse about this technology often obscures questions of whether power relations are actually changing and how. Understanding the visible media frames as a proxy for the power contests that went into shaping discourse, this paper critically examines US news media coverage of blockchain between 2013 - 2018. It examines the news frames used to talk about blockchain, the sponsors of these frames, and how these factors have changed over the five-year period. The paper finds that blockchain-related news coverage is framed in six general ways: Disruptive, Harnessing, Skepticism, Community, Understanding, Menace. These frames, especially the disruptive and harnessing frames are mainly sponsored by big banks (like J.P. Morgan), big technology (like IBM and Microsoft), and Silicon Valley investors. Using this data, the paper argues that the narrative of blockchain as a democratizing/decentralizing technology is mainly pushed by these established institutions and that it is a smokescreen to prevent a critical examination of the use of the technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Babu2020, author = {Babu, Asvatha}, title = {Behind the Veil of Decentralization: Analyzing Blockchain Frames and Sponsors in US News}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3749482} } |
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Zhang, N. | Being An Artist Is Hard: Navigating the Dynamics of Money and Power [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{zhang2021being, author = {Zhang, Niuniu}, title = {Being An Artist Is Hard: Navigating the Dynamics of Money and Power}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3848647} } |
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Kahn, C.M., van Oordt, M.R., Aligishiev, Z., Arora, R., Chiu, J., Jiang, J., Kosse, A., Li, J., Minwalla, C., Rivadeneyra, F. and Shah, D. | Best Before? Expiring Central Bank Digital Currency and Loss Recovery * | 2021 | School: Bank of Canada | techreport | DOI URL |
Abstract: Many central banks are considering issuing digital cash substitutes. An important property of physical cash payments is resilience—for example, imperviousness to power outages and independence of electronic/network coverage. These properties also make cash payments … | |||||
BibTeX:
@techreport{kahn2021best, author = {Kahn, Charles M and van Oordt, Maarten RC and Aligishiev, Zamid and Arora, Rakesh and Chiu, Jonathan and Jiang, Janet and Kosse, Anneke and Li, Jiaqi and Minwalla, Cyrus and Rivadeneyra, Francisco and Shah, Dinesh}, title = {Best Before? Expiring Central Bank Digital Currency and Loss Recovery *}, school = {Bank of Canada}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2021/12/staff-working-paper-2021-67/%0A}, doi = {https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2021/12/staff-working-paper-2021-67/} } |
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Breidbach, C.F. and Tana, S. | Betting on Bitcoin: How social collectives shape cryptocurrency markets | 2021 | Journal of Business Research Vol. 122, pp. 311-320 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Market-shaping research assumes that firms are the primary actor to lead, manage, and respond to the formation of markets. This viewpoint is increasingly being challenged, but empirical insights explaining the roles, resources and actions of actors other than firms shaping markets remain limited. We address this gap in knowledge by drawing on insights from an in-depth ethnography of market-shaping in the context of cryptocurrency communities. Our theoretical and empirical contributions consist of a typology that highlights four distinct roles performed by individuals shaping cryptocurrency markets. We furthermore identify six micro-level market actions, and delineate a novel theoretical model and propositions outlining the pathways with which these actions impact market size, market offerings, as well as market functioning. This study thereby establishes an important avenue for future research, and offers managerial guidelines enabling practitioners attempting to benefit from cryptocurrencies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{breidbach2021betting, author = {Breidbach, Christoph F. and Tana, Silviana}, title = {Betting on Bitcoin: How social collectives shape cryptocurrency markets}, journal = {Journal of Business Research}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {122}, pages = {311--320}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.017} } |
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Schüßler, E., Attwood-Charles, W., Kirchner, S. and Schor, J.B. | Between mutuality, autonomy and domination: rethinking digital platforms as contested relational structures | 2021 | Socio-Economic Review Vol. 19(4), pp. 1217-1243 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This Special Issue advances a new understanding of digital platforms as dynamic and relational. An archetypal transaction platform, we argue, is comprised of three canonical social relationships which exist in tension with each other. The first is mutuality—the practices of sharing and reciprocity which animated the early days of the ‘sharing economy'. The second is autonomy—representing the desire for freedom and independence attracting many earners to platforms. The third is domination—the exercise of power and control which drives many platform owners and managers. As we argue below, these three social relationships are present in varying degrees on all platforms. By conceptualizing platforms as contested relational structures, we aim to bridge prior attempts to classify ‘what platforms are' with diverse empirical studies of ‘what platforms do' in different contexts. In our view, platforms can do different things at the same time because they are different things at the same time. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Schußler2021, author = {Schüßler, Elke and Attwood-Charles, Will and Kirchner, Stefan and Schor, Juliet B}, title = {Between mutuality, autonomy and domination: rethinking digital platforms as contested relational structures}, journal = {Socio-Economic Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {19}, number = {4}, pages = {1217--1243}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwab038} } |
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Cuccuru, P. | Beyond bitcoin: An early overview on smart contracts | 2017 | International Journal of Law and Information Technology Vol. 25(3), pp. 179-195 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The technology underpinning Bitcoin-the blockchain-is acknowledged to offer security, stability and efficiency to online transactions. After a brief introduction to Bitcoin system, I touch upon the most innovative implementation of blockchain technology: the so-called smart contracts, ie programmable computer protocols that are able to self-enforce the terms therein encoded upon certain triggering conditions. First, I sketch their core functioning and benefits for digital relationships. Secondly, I stress their structural constraints and the issues of regulability fully decentralized blockchains pose. The elements underlined highlight the reasons why the financial and banking sectors represent smart contracts most immediate testing ground. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{cuccuru2017beyond, author = {Cuccuru, Pierluigi}, title = {Beyond bitcoin: An early overview on smart contracts}, journal = {International Journal of Law and Information Technology}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2017}, volume = {25}, number = {3}, pages = {179--195}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eax003} } |
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Romano, D. and Schmid, G. | Beyond Bitcoin: Recent Trends and Perspectives in Distributed Ledger Technology | 2021 | Cryptography Vol. 5(4), pp. 36 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: sible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecom-mons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Abstract: In the last four years, the evolution and adoption of blockchain and, more generally, 1 distributed ledger systems have shown the affirmation of many concepts and models with sig-2 nificant differences in system governance and suitable applications. This work aims to update 3 the critical analysis of blockchain technologies carried out by our previous contribution to this 4 journal, extending the focus to distributed ledger components and systems. Starting from the 5 topical concept of decentralization, we introduce concepts and building blocks currently adopted 6 in the available systems centering on their functional aspects and impact on possible applications. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{romano2021beyond, author = {Romano, Diego and Schmid, Giovanni}, title = {Beyond Bitcoin: Recent Trends and Perspectives in Distributed Ledger Technology}, journal = {Cryptography}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}, year = {2021}, volume = {5}, number = {4}, pages = {36}, url = {https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202110.0259/v1}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/cryptography5040036} } |
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Campbell-Verduyn, M. and Hütten, M. | Beyond scandal? Blockchain technologies and the legitimacy of post-2008 finance | 2019 | Finance and Society Vol. 5(2), pp. 126-44 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: How do applications of emergent technologies contribute to the social legitimacy of finance? To address this question, we examine a set of technologies that have received increasing industry, media, and scholarly attention over the past decade: blockchains. Harnessing the concepts of ‘moral economy' and ‘scandal', we identify both possibilities and limits for blockchain applications to legitimate a range of monetary and investment activities. However, we also find that a persistent individualisation of responsibility for failures and shortcomings with ‘live' blockchain experimentation has undermined the potentially legitimating aspects of this technology. Combining a reliance on technological fixes with a persistent individualist moral economy, we conclude, works against efforts to confront head-on the tensions underpinning the on-going legitimacy crises facing finance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{campbell2019beyond, author = {Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm and Hütten, Moritz}, title = {Beyond scandal? Blockchain technologies and the legitimacy of post-2008 finance}, journal = {Finance and Society}, year = {2019}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {126--44}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v5i2.4137} } |
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Fletcher, R. and Cortes-Vazquez, J.A. | Beyond the green panopticon: New directions in research exploring environmental governmentality | 2020 | Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space Vol. 3(2), pp. 289-299 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This introduction to the special collection explores how a revised or expanded understanding of ‘environmentality' can further our analysis of the evermore complex terrain of environmental politics today. We offer an outline of the literature from which the discussion emerges and how the subsequent articles both engage with and depart from it. We describe the origin of the ‘green governmentality' discussion following the rise of global sustainable development discourse. We then explain how this initial exploration was subsequently complicated by introduction of two further lines of investigation: (1) attention to the micropolitics of community-based natural resource management; and (2) extrapolation from this to describe the different forms of green governmentality within which such local practices are situated as well as the multiple scales at which environmental governance is exercised. Following this, we outline a range of critiques to which this burgeoning research has also been subject and the fruitful lines of future research to which they point. We finish by describing how the various contributions to this collection engage with different aspects of this multifaceted discussion as the basis for further engagement by other researchers in the years ahead. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fletcher2020b, author = {Fletcher, Robert and Cortes-Vazquez, Jose A}, title = {Beyond the green panopticon: New directions in research exploring environmental governmentality}, journal = {Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, pages = {289--299}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620920743} } |
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Schroeder, R.F.H. | Beyond the veil of money: Boundaries as constitutive elements of complementary currencies | 2020 | The Japanese Political Economy Vol. 46(1), pp. 17-41 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article sheds new light on the development of complementary currencies. Based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, the study questions conventional interpretations of these social innovations. The article challenges the view that money is the only feature that complementary currencies have in common. The author argues that in addition to the ways in which connectivity takes place, a characteristic feature of these systems is that they operate within boundaries. Territoriality, limits to convertibility and other features distinguish them from other unofficial currencies such as Bitcoin. Short case studies illustrate that these boundaries are interdependent. This theoretical framework offers a tool for the analysis of complementary currencies and a perspective on the creation of new types of such systems. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Schroeder2020, author = {Schroeder, Rolf F. H.}, title = {Beyond the veil of money: Boundaries as constitutive elements of complementary currencies}, journal = {The Japanese Political Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, volume = {46}, number = {1}, pages = {17--41}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/2329194X.2020.1762499}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/2329194x.2020.1762499} } |
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Campbell-Verduyn, M., Goguen, M. and Porter, T. | Big Data and algorithmic governance: the case of financial practices | 2017 | New Political Economy Vol. 22(2), pp. 219-236 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Big Data and algorithmic governance are transforming traditional institutions and media of transnational governance in manners that hold important implications for power, accountability and effectiveness. Drawing on actor-network theory, this paper contrasts utopian or dystopian views on the increasing presence of Big Data in contemporary financial practices. We scrutinise the emerging impacts of Big Data in the public governance of private banks in the Basel III arrangements, private governance of individual actors in credit scoring and anarchic competitive governance of markets in high-frequency trading. Our findings reveal varied and emergent forms of governance through, with and by algorithms. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{campbell2017big, author = {Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm and Goguen, Marcel and Porter, Tony}, title = {Big Data and algorithmic governance: the case of financial practices}, journal = {New Political Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2017}, volume = {22}, number = {2}, pages = {219--236}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2016.1216533} } |
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Langevin, M. | Big data for (not so) small loans: technological infrastructures and the massification of fringe finance | 2019 | Review of International Political Economy Vol. 26(5), pp. 790-814 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article examines the evolution of the sociotechnical systems that is leading to a massive increase in the overall indebtedness of marginalized populations in the Global South. I analyze the processes through which Big Data (or alternative data) technologies are transforming the infrastructure of fringe finance, the nature of its power relations, and its capacities. The article identifies the consequences of these technological transformations on financial practices and illustrates the qualitative nature of the changes involved. I propose that while these innovations have increased the power of this market to capture value, they have also increased risks to indebted populations and the infrastructure's stability. I argue that these financial practices, enhanced by the power of Big Data, have made the infrastructure of fringe finance dangerously hermetic to careful consideration of the productive capacities of those being targeted for inclusion into the formal financial system, thereby making it potentially dysfunctional. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{langevin2019big, author = {Langevin, Marie}, title = {Big data for (not so) small loans: technological infrastructures and the massification of fringe finance}, journal = {Review of International Political Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {26}, number = {5}, pages = {790--814}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2019.1616597} } |
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Marple, T. | Bigger than Bitcoin: A theoretical typology and research agenda for digital currencies | 2021 | Business and Politics Vol. 23(4), pp. 439-455 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Currency is the fundamental economic technology that makes promises credible among actors within and across societies. From shells, to metals, to paper, the technology of money has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of human society. The twenty-first century is witnessing yet another evolution in the technology of money: digital currencies. Although political economy scholarship has begun to focus on digital currencies, this research has largely focused on single early examples like Bitcoin. I argue that this generally narrow focus has obscured important degrees of variation among digital currencies and, by extension, has omitted important lines of research on digital currencies as a familiar evolution in the technology of money. In this article, I revisit the history of digital currencies with explicit attention to not only economic inefficiencies but also political power structures and offer a new typology for theoretically organizing digital currencies along dimensions relevant to practitioners of political economy. I illustrate that variation along these typological dimensions produces important differences among different digital currencies and, relatedly, I explore the implications this has for digital currencies' externalities and governance demands. Drawing on this typology, I conclude with a proposed research agenda for the political economy of digital currencies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{marple2021bigger, author = {Marple, Tim}, title = {Bigger than Bitcoin: A theoretical typology and research agenda for digital currencies}, journal = {Business and Politics}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, volume = {23}, number = {4}, pages = {439--455}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2021.12} } |
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Verduyn, M.C. | BITCOIN AND BEYOND [BibTeX] |
2018 | , pp. 223 | book | URL |
BibTeX:
@book{Verduyn2018, author = {Verduyn, Malcolm Campbell-}, title = {BITCOIN AND BEYOND}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2018}, pages = {223}, url = {https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/29557/1000376.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y} } |
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Tremčinský, M. | Bitcoin and its spheres of consumption: Transactional orders of consuming money in the Czech and Slovak Bitcoin community | 2022 | Economic Anthropology Vol. 9(1), pp. 35-46 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: With the recent proliferation of modes of payment, anthropology must increasingly pay closer attention to innovative designs and uses of money in Western societies. Money has started to be perceived as a consumable service with multiple providers from which to choose. In such an environment, the question of how people consume money—instead of how they consume with money—grows in importance. This article is based on ethnographic research of Bitcoin communities in Prague and Bratislava. It examines how users variously consume Bitcoin and what consequences these diverse ways of consumption can have for the Bitcoin economy. The article identifies two discrete spheres of consumption that closely correlate with “transactional orders” or spheres of exchange as described in classical works of economic anthropology, for example, by Parry and Bloch. One of the spheres is concerned with the reproduction of social order, while the other considers the personal gain of individual consumers. The article also examines the tension between these two spheres and how it is dialectically resolved through strategies of conversion. In the final discussion, the case of Bitcoin is compared with other anthropological accounts of spheres of exchange, with special attention oriented to their dissimilarities. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Tremcinsky2020, author = {Tremčinský, Martin}, title = {Bitcoin and its spheres of consumption: Transactional orders of consuming money in the Czech and Slovak Bitcoin community}, journal = {Economic Anthropology}, year = {2022}, volume = {9}, number = {1}, pages = {35--46}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12189} } |
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Zimmer, Z. | Bitcoin and potosí silver: Historical perspectives on cryptocurrency | 2017 | Technology and Culture Vol. 58(2), pp. 307-334 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Bitcoin, the digital cryptocurrency, has been celebrated as the future of money on the Internet. Although Bitcoin does present several forward- looking innovations, it also integrates a very old concept into its digital architecture: the mining of precious metals. Even though Bitcoin explicitly invokes mining as a metaphor and gold as an example for understanding the cryptocurrency, there has been little critical work on the connections between Bitcoin and previous metalist currency regimes. The following essay proposes a historical comparison with colonial South American silver mining and the global currency regime based on the New World silver peso it created as a way to interrogate Bitcoin. The comparison with colonial South America, and specifically the silver mining economy around the Cerro Rico de Potosí, will help to develop a historical and political understanding of Bitcoin's stakes, including questions of resources, labor, energy, and ecology. Mining and the extractive apparatus that accompanies it always imply massive- scale earthworks that reshape the planet itself, a process known as terraforming. The Potosí comparison will reveal Bitcoin to form part of a similar process of digital primitive accumulation we can provisionally name cryptoforming. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Zimmer2017, author = {Zimmer, Zac}, title = {Bitcoin and potosí silver: Historical perspectives on cryptocurrency}, journal = {Technology and Culture}, year = {2017}, volume = {58}, number = {2}, pages = {307--334}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2017.0038} } |
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Walton, J. | Bitcoin and Stone Money: Anglophone Use of Yapese Economic Cultures 1910-2020 | 2021 | School: Cambridge Engage | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Recently parallels have been drawn between Bitcoin and Yapese stone money. The analogy between Bitcoin and Yapese stone money is based on proposed commonalities that are inaccurate, ill-defined, and/or trivial. However, this does not signal a need to refine the comparison, but rather a need to reconsider the rationale for attempting it in the first place. Recent attempts to redescribe Yapese stone money using the vocabulary and concepts from the field of cryptocurrency participate in a longer textual history, whereby Anglophone writers have misrepresented Yap for pedagogic or polemic convenience. This history features frequent colonialist troping of Yap and the erasure of histories of colonial violence and power. This paper uses desk research to provide an overview of this textual history. It celebrates broad scholarly exploration of more-than-capitalist practices, but recommends greater caution in the study and pedagogic representation of Yapese economies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{walton2021bitcoin, author = {Walton, Jo}, title = {Bitcoin and Stone Money: Anglophone Use of Yapese Economic Cultures 1910-2020}, school = {Cambridge Engage}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/engage/coe/article-details/61a50db0c481c319a2fd07a1}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2021-gnb6d} } |
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Miscione, G. and Kavanagh, D. | Bitcoin and the Blockchain: A Coup d'Etat in Digital Heterotopia? | 2015 | SSRN Electronic Journal(2006), pp. 1-27 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This conference invites us to explore new organisational forms and practices that might be alternatives to “neoliberal market managerialism” and “financial capitalism”. Our starting point is that the latter two phenomena cannot be separated off analytically from powerful actors — such as the state — that have co-emerged with and played a key role in the evolutionary process through which capitalism has come to be (Graeber 2011). Specifically, this paper takes its move from Hobbes's (1651/2005) idea of the Leviathan, which has provided a foundational intellectual basis for the nation-state form, which is today ubiquitous, and on which both neoliberalism and financial capitalism are reliant. Hobbes rooted his construct in a pessimistic view of humankind that is naturally inclined towards the ‘war of all against all'. He argued that people must recognize that such a ‘state of nature' is destructive, and must accept, on the basis of utilitarian reasoning, the necessity of a social contract to constitute a supreme actor whose power is absolute and enforced by a monopoly on violence. Hence, the Leviathan and the body politic are constituted at once and are irreversible. No exit is allowed; no ethical, moral or religious limit can be posed in front of this power. The Leviathan is total because there is no room for any other rationality, and finite because all people are tied to the social contract. Hobbes's idea of the Leviathan has proved to be enduring and alluring, and provides a primary focus for this paper. What is especially interesting for us is that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have emerged from a similar ‘thought experiment' beginning with a ‘state of nature' not unlike Hobbes's depiction. Here, the seminal contribution is by the mysterious individual or individuals known as Satoshi Nakamoto who, in 2008, published a paper that set out the basis for the ‘blockchain technology' on which cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and other services, are based (Nakamoto 2008). Not unlike Hobbes's ‘state of nature', Nakamoto begins with an imaginary world populated by trustless individuals. The problem he addresses is how to enable trustworthy transactions on the internet without recourse to a ‘trusted third party', such as a state-regulated (and state-supported) bank. Indeed, in line with libertarian ideology, one of Nakamoto's key objectives was to preclude the possibility of any single and all-encompassing ruling authority emerging. His elegant solution is Bitcoin, a purely digital cryptocurrency that is not administered by any constituted organization and is not circumscribed within any consistent jurisdiction. The ‘blockchain', on which Bitcoin is based, is a public ledger of transactions maintained by a dispersed and open-ended number of ‘miners' who provide computing power to maintain and guarantee the integrity of the ledger. While the Bitcoin economy is tiny compared to official currencies — but remarkable compared to alternative and local currencies — it plants the seeds of a currency (intended as a mode of regulating transactions) that could threaten many of the quasi-monopoly powers that the state currently exercises through the central bank, viz: surveying and collecting data on citizens and corporations, setting credit rates and monetary policy, deciding on and implementing exchange rate policies, assuring the robustness of the payment infrastructure, protecting the interests of consumers, controlling money-laundering, and regulating/supporting existing financial service providers (Murphy 2014). Nakamoto's attempt to create a money system without a central authority is best seen at the intersection of diachronic and synchronic issues. Historically, the blockchain is one of a long string of information technologies that, since the 1960s, have avoided centralization, partly as a defence against possible Soviet nuclear attack, and partly in sympathy with the Western open culture of the 1960s and 1970s. In relation to contemporary phenomena, Bitcoin entangles with the state's power and jurisdiction, which is simultaenously being challenged by the shadow economy, by individuals and corporations choosing where they wish to pay tax, by the free flow of information within trans-national information infrastructures, and by global internet services and commerce. While Hobbes and Nakamoto start from similar positions, they end up in quite different destinations, and, since theory can be performative (Austin 1970), this means that very different worlds come to be. Analytically, each provides a lens through which one can examine the other, in theory and in practice. Together, the lenses provide a framing device for reimagining key concepts and practices that underpin the contemporary nation-state and, by extension, financial capitalism. The full paper will report on this comparative analysis. The Bitcoin phenomenon raises interesting methodological and theoretical points that we will also explore in the paper. Methodologically, the actor-network injunction to ‘follow the actors' — i.e. focus on performance — is practically impossible due to the sheer scale, technical intricacies, global dispersion and far-fetched effects of currency-related phenomena. Focusing on visible performance is also misleading theoretically because it fails to distinguish between what does not happen, those “influences which operate behind the back of agents, and which therefore cannot be found in micro-situations” (Knorr-Cetina 1981: 28), and what is purposefully avoided (Law and Singleton 2005). Indeed, Bitcoin is a manifestation of a totem of digital cultures: there is always an elsewhere, beyond the control of organizations. Creating an elsewhere free from Leviathan's constraints (which resonates with Foucault's notion of heterotopia) disrupts the body politic by exceeding or overflowing its framings (Callon 1998). The peculiarity of Bitcoin is not in any frontal clash with authority but rather in its strategy of avoidance, which we might interpret as a form of différance or the playing of an alternative game. What Bitcoin also illustrates is that the link between the micro and the macro is neither based on an immutable social contract nor maintained by an unbounded power. Rather, scalable and publicly accessible computing resources coordinate trustless macro actions without necessarily constituting actors and identities (Czarniawska 2008/2014). The paper will further examine the paradox where the supplement of the age of visibility is action without actors and the emergence of new boundaries between frontstage and backstage, public and secret. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Miscione2015, author = {Miscione, Gianluca and Kavanagh, Donncha}, title = {Bitcoin and the Blockchain: A Coup d'Etat in Digital Heterotopia?}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2015}, number = {2006}, pages = {1--27}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2624922} } |
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Weber, B. | Bitcoin and the legitimacy crisis of money | 2015 | Cambridge Journal of Economics Vol. 40(1), pp. 17-41 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The virtual currency and payment project Bitcoin intends to challenge the current monetary and payment system that finds itself in a legitimacy crisis in the aftermath of the financial market turmoil of 2008. In examining the governance of the Bitcoin system, I try to assess its potential to create input and output legitimacy as a payment system and as a monetary system in comparison with current practice. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{weber2016bitcoin, author = {Weber, Beat}, title = {Bitcoin and the legitimacy crisis of money}, journal = {Cambridge Journal of Economics}, publisher = {Oxford University Press UK}, year = {2015}, volume = {40}, number = {1}, pages = {17--41}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/beu067} } |
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Hsieh, Y.Y., Vergne, J.P., Anderson, P., Lakhani, K. and Reitzig, M. | Bitcoin and the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations | 2018 | Journal of Organization Design Vol. 7(1), pp. 1-16 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Bitcoin represents the first real-world implementation of a “decentralized autonomous organization” (DAO) and offers a new paradigm for organization design. Imagine working for a global business organization whose routine tasks are powered by a software protocol instead of being governed by managers and employees. Task assignments and rewards are randomized by the algorithm. Information is not channeled through a hierarchy but recorded transparently and securely on an immutable public ledger called “blockchain.” Further, the organization decides on design and strategy changes through a democratic voting process involving a previously unseen class of stakeholders called “miners.” Agreements need to be reached at the organizational level for any proposed protocol changes to be approved and activated. How do DAOs solve the universal problem of organizing with such novel solutions? What are the implications? We use Bitcoin as an example to shed light on how a DAO works in the cryptocurrency industry, where it provides a peer-to-peer, decentralized, and disintermediated payment system that can compete against traditional financial institutions. We also invited commentaries from renowned organization scholars to share their views on this intriguing phenomenon. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hsieh2018bitcoin, author = {Hsieh, Ying Ying and Vergne, Jean Philippe and Anderson, Philip and Lakhani, Karim and Reitzig, Markus}, title = {Bitcoin and the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations}, journal = {Journal of Organization Design}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2018}, volume = {7}, number = {1}, pages = {1--16}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s41469-018-0038-1} } |
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Redshaw, T. | Bitcoin beyond ambivalence: Popular rationalization and Feenberg's technical politics | 2017 | Thesis Eleven Vol. 138(1), pp. 46-64 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Bitcoin emerged as an alternative monetary system that could circumvent political and financial authorities. A practice in libertarian prefigurative politics, Bitcoin demonstrates the capacity for online subgroups to creatively appropriate internet-based technologies to enact alternative futures. Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology clarifies this capacity and outlines the significance of agency in technical action. As technology mediates many social relations, it has a significant role in the reproduction of social power. Technological agency is therefore a crucial site of resistance in which users can form alternative, democratic rationalizations of technology. Yet are such instances of agency intrinsically democratic? In analysing this aspect of Feenberg's theory, this article argues that Bitcoin represents a 'popular rationalization' of technology - a creative appropriation of technology that empowers some groups while lacking the ethical justification necessary to be considered democratic. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{redshaw2017bitcoin, author = {Redshaw, Tom}, title = {Bitcoin beyond ambivalence: Popular rationalization and Feenberg's technical politics}, journal = {Thesis Eleven}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2017}, volume = {138}, number = {1}, pages = {46--64}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513616689390} } |
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Scharnowski, S. and Shi, Y. | Bitcoin Blackout: Proof-of-Work and the Centralization of Mining | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-2 | unpublished | DOI URL |
Abstract: Electricity constitutes the main input factor for miners of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, so they gravitate towards countries with cheap energy. We analyze risks associated with this geographical centralization of mining by exploiting an exogenous shock to electricity supply in a relatively small region with heavy Bitcoin mining activity. We first document a drop of about 25% in the total computing power of the Bitcoin network during a blackout that lasts several days. Compared to a control group consisting of a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency, we find evidence of blockchain congestion as fees increase substantially while the number and value of transactions decrease. We also document an impact on exchange trading activity. Trading volume and especially exchange rate volatility increase while liquidity deteriorates during the blackout, even though returns are mostly unaffected. Additionally, market integration drops as price differences between exchanges increase considerably. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Scharnowski2021, author = {Scharnowski, Stefan and Shi, Yanghua}, title = {Bitcoin Blackout: Proof-of-Work and the Centralization of Mining}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--2}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3936787}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3936787} } |
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de Vries, A. | Bitcoin boom: what rising prices mean for the network's energy consumption [BibTeX] |
2021 | Joule, pp. 1-5 | article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{DeVries2021, author = {de Vries, Alex}, title = {Bitcoin boom: what rising prices mean for the network's energy consumption}, journal = {Joule}, publisher = {Elsevier Inc.}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--5}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.02.006}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.02.006} } |
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ElBahrawy, A., Alessandretti, L., Kandler, A., Pastor-Satorras, R. and Baronchelli, A. | Bitcoin ecology: Quantifying and modelling the longterm dynamics of the cryptocurrency market [BibTeX] |
2017 | arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.05334 | article | |
BibTeX:
@article{elbahrawy2017bitcoin, author = {ElBahrawy, Abeer and Alessandretti, Laura and Kandler, Anne and Pastor-Satorras, Romualdo and Baronchelli, Andrea}, title = {Bitcoin ecology: Quantifying and modelling the longterm dynamics of the cryptocurrency market}, journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.05334}, year = {2017} } |
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Vasselin, F. | Bitcoin et souveraineté monétaire [BibTeX] |
2020 | La vie des idees | misc | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@misc{Vasselin2020, author = {Vasselin, Francoise}, title = {Bitcoin et souveraineté monétaire}, booktitle = {La vie des idees}, year = {2020}, url = {https://laviedesidees.fr/Bitcoin-et-souverainete-monetaire.html#:∼:text=Le développement de monnaies digitales,de la crise des subprimes.}, doi = {https://laviedesidees.fr/Bitcoin-et-souverainete-monetaire.html#:~:text=Le%20d%C3%A9veloppement%20de%20monnaies%20digitales,de%20la%20crise%20des%20subprimes.} } |
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Nabilou, H. | Bitcoin Governance as a Decentralized Financial Market Infrastructure | 2020 | SSRN Electronic Journal(November), pp. 1-36 | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Bitcoin is the oldest and most widely established cryptocurrency network with the highest market capitalization among all cryptocurrencies. Although bitcoin (with lowercase b) is increasingly viewed as a digital asset belonging to a new asset class, the Bitcoin network (with uppercase B) is a decentralized financial market infrastructure (dFMI) that clears and settles transactions in its native asset without relying on the conventional financial market infrastructures (FMIs). To be a reliable asset class as well as a dFMI, however, Bitcoin needs to have robust governance arrangements; whether such arrangements are built into the protocol (i.e., on-chain governance mechanisms) or relegated to the participants in the Bitcoin network (i.e., off-chain governance mechanisms), or are composed of a combination of both mechanisms (i.e., hybrid form of governance). This paper studies Bitcoin governance with a focus on its alleged shortcomings. In so doing, after defining Bitcoin governance and its objectives, the paper puts forward an idiosyncratic governance model whose main objective is to preserve and maximize the main value proposition of Bitcoin, i.e., its censorship-resistant property, which allows participants to transact in an environment with minimum social trust. Therefore, Bitcoin governance, including the processes through which Bitcoin governance crises have been resolved and the standards against which the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) are examined, should be analyzed in light of the prevailing narrative of Bitcoin as a censorship-resistant store of value and payment infrastructure. Within such a special governance model, this paper seeks to identify the potential shortcomings in Bitcoin governance by reference to the major governance crises that posed serious threats to Bitcoin in the last decade. It concludes that the existing governance arrangements in the Bitcoin network have been largely successful in dealing with Bitcoin's major crises that would have otherwise become existential threats to the Bitcoin network. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Nabilou, author = {Nabilou, Hossein}, title = {Bitcoin Governance as a Decentralized Financial Market Infrastructure}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2020}, number = {November}, pages = {1--36}, url = {https://stanford-jblp.pubpub.org/pub/bitcoin-governance/release/2#:∼:text=Although bitcoin (with lowercase b,on the conventional financial market}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3555042} } |
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Blaazer, D. | Bitcoin in the Longue Durée: Money, the State and Cryptocurrency [BibTeX] |
2020 | Australian Humanities Review Vol. 66 |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{blaazer2020bitcoin, author = {Blaazer, David}, title = {Bitcoin in the Longue Durée: Money, the State and Cryptocurrency}, journal = {Australian Humanities Review}, year = {2020}, volume = {66}, url = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/bitcoin-in-the-longue-duree-money-the-state-and-cryptocurrency/}, doi = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/bitcoin-in-the-longue-duree-money-the-state-and-cryptocurrency/} } |
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Küfeoğlu, S. and Özkuran, M. | Bitcoin mining: A global review of energy and power demand | 2019 | Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 58, pp. 101273 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: After its introduction in 2008, increasing Bitcoin prices and a booming number of other cryptocurrencies lead to a growing discussion of how much energy is consumed during the production of these currencies. Being the most expensive and the most popular cryptocurrency, both the business world and the research community have started to question the energy intensity of Bitcoin mining. This paper only focuses on computational power demand during the proof-of-work process rather than estimating the whole energy intensity of mining. We make use of 160GB of Bitcoin blockchain data to estimate the energy consumption and power demand of Bitcoin mining. We considered the performance of 269 different hardware models (CPU, GPU, FPGA, and ASIC). For estimations, we defined two metrics, namely; minimum consumption and maximum consumption. The targeted time span for the analysis was from 3 January 2009 to 5 June 2018. We show that the historical peak of power consumption of Bitcoin mining took place during the bi-weekly period commencing on 18 December 2017 with a demand of between 1.3 and 14.8 GW. This maximum demand figure was between the installed capacities of Finland (∼16 GW) and Denmark (∼14 GW). We also show that, during June 2018, energy consumption of Bitcoin mining from difficulty recalculation was between 15.47 and 50.24 TWh per year. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{kufeouglu2019bitcoin, author = {Küfeoğlu, Sinan and Özkuran, Mahmut}, title = {Bitcoin mining: A global review of energy and power demand}, journal = {Energy Research and Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {58}, pages = {101273}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101273} } |
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Campbell-Verduyn, M. | Bitcoin, crypto-coins, and global anti-money laundering governance [BibTeX] |
2018 | Crime, Law and Social Change Vol. 69(2), pp. 283-305 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{campbell2018bitcoin, author = {Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm}, title = {Bitcoin, crypto-coins, and global anti-money laundering governance}, journal = {Crime, Law and Social Change}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2018}, volume = {69}, number = {2}, pages = {283--305} } |
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Roio, D.J. | Bitcoin, the End of the Taboo on Money [BibTeX] |
2013 | Dyne.orgSchool: Dyne.org | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{roio2013bitcoin, author = {Roio, Denis Jaromil}, title = {Bitcoin, the End of the Taboo on Money}, journal = {Dyne.org}, school = {Dyne.org}, year = {2013}, doi = {https://files.dyne.org/books/Bitcoin_end_of_taboo_on_money.pdf} } |
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Tomasson, K. | Bitcoin: Bauble or Bullion? [BibTeX] |
2018 | Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics Vol. 13(1), pp. 2 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{tomasson2018bitcoin, author = {Tomasson, Kristjan}, title = {Bitcoin: Bauble or Bullion?}, journal = {Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics}, year = {2018}, volume = {13}, number = {1}, pages = {2}, doi = {https://repository.upenn.edu/spice/vol13/iss1/2/} } |
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Caferra, R., Tedeschi, G. and Morone, A. | Bitcoin: Bubble that bursts or Gold that glitters? | 2021 | Economics Letters Vol. 205, pp. 109942 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This paper aims to shed light on the 2017 Bitcoin bubble. Firstly, by applying the dynamic time warping algorithm, we identify among several financial instruments a subsample of five assets with similar characteristics to the cryptocurrency bubble. Interestingly, among the fluctuations characterizing these assets, the algorithm shows a close affinity between the Bitcoin bubble and the 2000 NASDAQ Dotcom one. Once the subsample is identified, we study the (de)synchronization among these assets via the wavelet coherence approach. Although Bitcoin is poorly correlated with the other indices, given its scarce connection with the real economy, we observe switching phenomena among these instruments. A more careful study on these portfolio reallocations, conducted via an event study analysis, reveals that traders seem to redirect capital from stock markets and gold to Bitcoin in case of positive events of the cryptocurrency. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{caferra2021bitcoin, author = {Caferra, Rocco and Tedeschi, Gabriele and Morone, Andrea}, title = {Bitcoin: Bubble that bursts or Gold that glitters?}, journal = {Economics Letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {205}, pages = {109942}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176521002196%0A}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109942} } |
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Narayanan, A. and Clark, J. | Bitcoin's academic pedigree | 2017 | Vol. 60(12)Communications of the ACM, pp. 36-45 |
misc | DOI URL |
Abstract: IF YOU HAVE read about bitcoin in the press and have some familiarity with academic research in the field of cryptography, you might reasonably come away with the following impression: Several decades' worth of research on digital cash, beginning with David Chaum,10,12 did not lead to commercial success because it required a centralized, bank-like server controlling the system, and no banks wanted to sign on. Along came bitcoin, a radically different proposal for a decentralized cryptocurrency that did not need the banks, and digital cash finally succeeded. Its inventor, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, was an academic outsider, and bitcoin bears no resemblance to earlier academic proposals. | |||||
BibTeX:
@misc{Narayanan2017, author = {Narayanan, Arvind and Clark, Jeremy}, title = {Bitcoin's academic pedigree}, booktitle = {Communications of the ACM}, year = {2017}, volume = {60}, number = {12}, pages = {36--45}, url = {https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3136559}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3132259} } |
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Vries, A.D. | Bitcoin's energy consumption is underestimated : A market dynamics approach [BibTeX] |
2020 | Energy Research & Social Science Vol. 70(July), pp. 101721 |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Vries2020, author = {Vries, Alex De}, title = {Bitcoin's energy consumption is underestimated : A market dynamics approach}, journal = {Energy Research & Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {70}, number = {July}, pages = {101721}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101721}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101721} } |
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Qin, S., Klaaßen, L., Gallersdörfer, U., Stoll, C. and Zhang, D. | Bitcoin's future carbon footprint | 2020 | unpublished | DOI URL | |
Abstract: The carbon footprint of Bitcoin has drawn wide attention, but Bitcoin's long-term impact on the climate remains uncertain. Here we present a framework to overcome uncertainties in previous estimates and project Bitcoin's electricity consumption and carbon footprint in the long term. If we assume Bitcoin's market capitalization grows in line with the one of gold, we find that the annual electricity consumption of Bitcoin may increase from 60 to 400 TWh between 2020 and 2100. The future carbon footprint of Bitcoin strongly depends on the decarbonization pathway of the electricity sector. If the electricity sector achieves carbon neutrality by 2050, Bitcoin's carbon footprint has peaked already. However, in the business-as-usual scenario, emissions sum up to 2 gigatons until 2100, an amount comparable to 7% of global emissions in 2019. The Bitcoin price spike at the end of 2020 shows, however, that progressive development of market capitalization could yield an electricity consumption of more than 100 TWh already in 2021, and lead to cumulative emissions of over 5 gigatons by 2100. Therefore, we also discuss policy instruments to reduce Bitcoin's future carbon footprint. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Qin2020, author = {Qin, Shize and Klaaßen, Lena and Gallersdörfer, Ulrich and Stoll, Christian and Zhang, Da}, title = {Bitcoin's future carbon footprint}, year = {2020}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2011.02612}, doi = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2011.02612} } |
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de Vries, A. | Bitcoin's Growing Energy Problem | 2018 | Joule Vol. 2(5), pp. 801-805 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: [Figure presented] The electricity that is expended in the process of mining Bitcoin has become a topic of heavy debate over the past few years. It is a process that makes Bitcoin extremely energy-hungry by design, as the currency requires a huge amount of hash calculations for its ultimate goal of processing financial transactions without intermediaries (peer-to-peer). The primary fuel for each of these calculations is electricity. The Bitcoin network can be estimated to consume at least 2.55 gigawatts of electricity currently, and potentially 7.67 gigawatts in the future, making it comparable with countries such as Ireland (3.1 gigawatts) and Austria (8.2 gigawatts). Economic models tell us that Bitcoin's electricity consumption will gravitate toward the latter number. A look at Bitcoin miner production estimates suggests that this number could already be reached in 2018. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{de2018bitcoin, author = {de Vries, Alex}, title = {Bitcoin's Growing Energy Problem}, journal = {Joule}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2018}, volume = {2}, number = {5}, pages = {801--805}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.016} } |
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de Vries, A. and Stoll, C. | Bitcoin's growing e-waste problem | 2021 | Resources, Conservation and Recycling Vol. 175(September), pp. 105901 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Bitcoin's increasing energy consumption has triggered a passionate debate about the sustainability of the digital currency. And yet, most studies have thus far ignored that Bitcoin miners cycle through a growing amount of short-lived hardware that could exacerbate the growth in global electronic waste. E-waste represents a growing threat to our environment, from toxic chemicals and heavy metals leaching into soils, to air and water pollutions caused by improper recycling. Here we present a methodology to estimate Bitcoin's e-waste and find that it adds up to 30.7 metric kilotons annually, per May 2021. This number is comparable to the amount of small IT and telecommunication equipment waste produced by a country like the Netherlands. At peak Bitcoin price levels seen early in 2021, the annual amount of e-waste may grow beyond 64.4 metric kilotons in the midterm, which highlights the dynamic trend if the Bitcoin price rises further. Moreover, the demand for mining hardware already today disrupts the global semiconductor supply chain. The strategies we present may help to mitigate Bitcoin's growing e-waste problem. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Vries2021, author = {de Vries, Alex and Stoll, Christian}, title = {Bitcoin's growing e-waste problem}, journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling}, publisher = {Elsevier B.V.}, year = {2021}, volume = {175}, number = {September}, pages = {105901}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105901}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105901} } |
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Abbate, T., Vecco, M., Vermiglio, C., Zarone, V. and Perano, M. | Blockchain and art market: resistance or adoption? | 2022 | Consumption Markets & Culture, pp. 1-19 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology is currently stimulating a broader process of social and industrial transformation impacting several potential areas of adoption (e.g. transactions, tracking and tracing solutions, authenticity, etc …). The acceptance of this technology represents a major challenge for the art ecosystem. The literature around relations and applications of blockchain in the art market is fragmented and fails to provide an understanding of the current/potential opportunities of this application. This paper explores how blockchain is being adopted in the art sector. By using a perspective of mobilizing organizational and institutional field theory, this study performs an explorative qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews with 15 experts from the art market. The findings underline the complexity of effective implementation of this technology, the contradictory positions regarding the benefits and business opportunities it offers, as well as the market players' resistance to change and trust. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{abbate2022blockchain, author = {Abbate, Tindara and Vecco, Marilena and Vermiglio, Carlo and Zarone, Vincenzo and Perano, Mirko}, title = {Blockchain and art market: resistance or adoption?}, journal = {Consumption Markets & Culture}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2022}, pages = {1--19}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2021.2019026} } |
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Ante, L., Steinmetz, F. and Fiedler, I. | Blockchain and energy: A bibliometric analysis and review | 2021 | Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Vol. 137(October 2020), pp. 110597 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Blockchain technology provides an immutable ledger for secure value transactions in a network. This base layer technology has the potential to boost the efficiency of various processes in the energy sector. In this article, the intersection of blockchain and energy is analyzed based on the underlying references of 166 publications via co-citation analysis. Using exploratory factor analysis, six distinct research streams are identified: I. energy market innovation and transformation (through blockchain technology), II. blockchain for data sharing and security, III. energy management in smart grids and scalable systems, IV. information transmission across networks and its applications, V. peer-to-peer energy microgrids, and VI. potential of blockchain technology. For each of these streams, the highest-impact articles are reviewed. In addition, social network analysis allows to reveal the relationships and dependencies between the streams. The results indicate a high degree of homogeneity in this field of research, as the six streams explain more than 71% of variance. The degree to which the streams are centered on blockchain technology varies. While the two most established discourses and the least established one focus at least in part on blockchain, the other three streams prioritize energy issues. It is postulated that specific research fields on this topic are only beginning to emerge, implications are discussed and areas for future research are derived. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Ante2021, author = {Ante, L. and Steinmetz, F. and Fiedler, I.}, title = {Blockchain and energy: A bibliometric analysis and review}, journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2021}, volume = {137}, number = {October 2020}, pages = {110597}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110597}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110597} } |
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Frolov, D. | Blockchain and institutional complexity: An extended institutional approach | 2020 | Journal of Institutional Economics Vol. 17(1), pp. 21-36 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: From a modern institutional economics viewpoint, blockchain is an institutional technology that minimizes transaction costs and greatly reduces intermediation. Through an analysis of blockchain, I demonstrate the possibilities of extended institutional approach - a new generation of complexity-focused methodologies and theories of institutional analysis that complement and expand the standard institutional paradigm. By using the theory of transaction value, I argue blockchain technologies not only will lead to a significant reduction in transaction costs but will also reorient intermediaries toward improving the quality of transactions and expanding the offer of additional transaction services. The theory of institutional assemblages indicates it is impossible to form a homogeneous system of blockchain-based institutions associated exclusively with the principles of decentralization, transparency, and openness. Blockchain-based institutions will be of a hybrid and conflicting nature, combining elements of opposing institutional logics - regulatory and algorithmic law, Ricardian and smart contracts, private and public systems, and uncontrollability and arbitration. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{frolov2021blockchain, author = {Frolov, Daniil}, title = {Blockchain and institutional complexity: An extended institutional approach}, journal = {Journal of Institutional Economics}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2020}, volume = {17}, number = {1}, pages = {21--36}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137420000272} } |
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Gietzmann, M. and Grossetti, F. | Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies: Where is the accounting? | 2021 | Journal of Accounting and Public Policy Vol. 40(5), pp. 106881 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: In a recent survey of academic research, Fintech related topics, broadly classified as crypto-currency studies, were by far the most researched topics in the social sciences. However, we have observed that, perhaps surprisingly, even though crypto-currencies rely on a distributed accounting ledger technology, relatively few of those studies were conducted by accounting academics. While some of the features of a system like Bitcoin do not necessarily rely on a traditional accounting knowledge, this knowledge is key in designing effective real-world distributed systems. Building on a foundational framework developed by Risius and Spohrer (2017), we provide support for their hypothesis that to date, research in this area has been predominantly of a somewhat narrow focus (i.e., based upon exploiting existing programming solutions without adequately considering the fundamental needs of users). This is particularly reflected by the abundance of Bitcoin-like crypto-currency code-bases with little or no place for business applications. We suggest that this may severely limit an appreciation of the relevance and applicability of decentralized systems, and how they may support value creation and improved governance. We provide supporting arguments for this statement by considering four applied classes of problems where a blockchain/distributed ledger can add value without requiring a crypto-currency to be an integral part of the functioning system. We note that each class of problem has been viewed previously as part of accounting issues within the legacy centralized ledger systems paradigm. We show how accounting knowledge is still relevant in the shift from centralized to decentralized ledger systems. We advance the debate on the development of (crypto-currency free) value-creating distributed ledger systems by showing that applying accounting knowledge in this area has potentially a much wider impact than that currently being applied in areas limited to auditing and operations management. We develop a typology for general distributed ledger design which assists potential users to understand the wide range of choices when developing such systems. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{GIETZMANN2021106881, author = {Gietzmann, Miles and Grossetti, Francesco}, title = {Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies: Where is the accounting?}, journal = {Journal of Accounting and Public Policy}, year = {2021}, volume = {40}, number = {5}, pages = {106881}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278425421000648}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2021.106881} } |
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Ryan, M.D., Macrossan, P., Wright, S. and Adams, M. | Blockchain and publishing: towards a publisher-centred distributed ledger for the book publishing industry | 2021 | Creative Industries Journal, pp. 1-20 | article | DOI |
Abstract: There is a small but growing volume of scholarly research and technological experiments in relation to blockchain and book publishing. However, to date, appropriate and feasible blockchain models for rights management and copyright exploitation remain largely untested. Furthermore, extant research has focussed on author-centred models of intellectual property and royalty management, with limited focus on publisher-centred models. Consequently, there are few practical prototypes and little understanding of blockchain models that are mutually beneficial for both writers and publishers. This article presents the findings of a two-year research project, No Point in Stopping, that explores a publisher-centred model of blockchain publishing that creates value for micro-publishers. The project developed a custom blockchain prototype and digital ledger to manage intellectual property agreements, royalty payments, and the tracking of both physical in-store and online purchases. The authors argue that for publishers, blockchain can create and monetise new digital publishing products from the drafting and editing process, thereby using intellectual property that would normally be an input into the publishing process rather than a commercial output. Blockchain can also create a new contract and revenue system that disrupts the current fee-for-service model by paying royalties to all creative professionals involved in this publishing process. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{ryan2021blockchain, author = {Ryan, Mark David and Macrossan, Phoebe and Wright, Sue and Adams, Michael}, title = {Blockchain and publishing: towards a publisher-centred distributed ledger for the book publishing industry}, journal = {Creative Industries Journal}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--20}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2021.1939541} } |
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Yildizbasi, A. | Blockchain and renewable energy: Integration challenges in circular economy era | 2021 | Renewable Energy Vol. 176, pp. 183-197 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Renewable energy technologies play a crucial role in reducing the energy consumption by exploiting natural energy resources. With the increase in the trend towards the use of renewable energy resources energy distribution networks have become more complex. As such, it is envisioned that efficient distribution of the generated energy, illegal energy use, unfair pricing, and individual energy producers' entry into the market will be the key issues that need be tackled in near future. In this study, we discuss in order to eliminate the problems experienced in the energy grid management process, the blockchain concept, and its integration with renewable energy systems. First, we develop a novel integration process of blockchain with the renewable energy systems under the circular economy perspective in order to ensure the sustainability of energy grid management systems, followed by discussions on the advantages of the proposed integration process for energy policy makers. Second, the challenges of blockchain faced during the integration to a circular economy are presented. In order to prioritize the challenges encountered in the integration process, a numerical analysis is conducted using the Pythagorean Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process method based on expert opinions, and corresponding managerial implications are included. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{YILDIZBASI2021183, author = {Yildizbasi, Abdullah}, title = {Blockchain and renewable energy: Integration challenges in circular economy era}, journal = {Renewable Energy}, year = {2021}, volume = {176}, pages = {183--197}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148121007291}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.053} } |
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Bodó, B., Gervais, D. and Quintais, J.P. | Blockchain and smart contracts: The missing link in copyright licensing? | 2018 | International Journal of Law and Information Technology Vol. 26(4), pp. 311-336 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: 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. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bodo2018blockchain, author = {Bodó, Balázs and Gervais, Daniel and Quintais, João Pedro}, title = {Blockchain and smart contracts: The missing link in copyright licensing?}, journal = {International Journal of Law and Information Technology}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2018}, volume = {26}, number = {4}, pages = {311--336}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eay014} } |
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Martin-Bariteau, F. | Blockchain and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation: The CNIL's Perspective | 2018 | SSRN Electronic Journal Vol. 1 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertes (CNIL), has published “Blockchain: Premiers elements d'analyse de la CNIL”, a document on blockchain and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This document was released by the French Data Protection Authority (DPA) as a working policy paper and offers an overview of its initial reflection on the Blockchain technology and its compliance with the GDPR. The CNIL notes the GDPR has been created to regulate data use, rather than any particular form of technology. As such, and without surprise to anyone familiar with privacy law, the CNIL states the GDPR applies to the use of blockchain in any instance where personal data is handled. However, this working paper is a very raw analysis. In our opinion, the document raises more questions than it answers – and highlights some legal uncertainty with respect to the qualifications of different actors on a blockchain under the GDPR taxonomy. In several areas, the CNIL highlights that more reflection is needed on its end, and that this reflection needs to be undertaken at the European level. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{martin2018blockchain, author = {Martin-Bariteau, Florian}, title = {Blockchain and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation: The CNIL's Perspective}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2018}, volume = {1}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3275783} } |
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Brilliantova, V. and Thurner, T.W. | Blockchain and the future of energy | 2019 | Technology in Society Vol. 57, pp. 38-45 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This paper discusses the emergence of blockchain technology in the energy sector in the light of ongoing energy market transformation. The study builds on literature research and expert interviews, and provides insights into the future energy landscape in the context of the blockchain advent. While the interviewees acknowledge the great, though disruptive, potential of blockchain technology for the primary activities in the electricity sector, there is agreement that inflexible regulatory frameworks impose the biggest challenge. The widest impact which blockchain technology will have in the short-term will be in electric vehicle integration, while in the long-term blockchain will enable peer-to-peer microgrids. The role that the blockchain will play, though, relies mainly on the business model innovation in energy. While a growing body of literature discusses specific blockchain applications and solutions in an advanced technological set-up, this paper presents a holistic picture of the blockchain applicability in the energy sector and thematises this very powerful and versatile technology against the background of two emerging economies: South Africa and Russia. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{BRILLIANTOVA201938, author = {Brilliantova, Vlada and Thurner, Thomas Wolfgang}, title = {Blockchain and the future of energy}, journal = {Technology in Society}, year = {2019}, volume = {57}, pages = {38--45}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X1830188X}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.11.001} } |
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Wilson, B. | Blockchain and the law of the cat: What Cryptokitties might teach [BibTeX] |
2019 | UMKC Law Review Vol. 88(2), pp. 365-396 |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Wilson2019, author = {Wilson, Bryan}, title = {Blockchain and the law of the cat: What Cryptokitties might teach}, journal = {UMKC Law Review}, year = {2019}, volume = {88}, number = {2}, pages = {365--396}, url = {https://umkclawreview.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/wilson.pdf}, doi = {https://umkclawreview.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/wilson.pdf} } |
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Bodó, B., Giannopoulou, A. and Ferrari, V. | Blockchain and the Law: A Critical Evaluation | 2019 | Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy Vol. 2(1), pp. 86-112 |
article | |
Abstract: Suggested citation: Quintais, João and Bodó, Balázs and Giannopoulou, Alexandra and Ferrari, Valeria, Blockchain and the Law: A Critical Evaluation (January 17, 2019). Pedro Quintais, B. Bodó, A. Giannopoulou, & A. Ferrari (2019). Blockchain and the Law: A Critical Evaluation. Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy (2)1, Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2019-03, Institute for Information Law Research Paper No. 2019-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3317404 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bodo2019, author = {Bodó, B. and Giannopoulou, A. and Ferrari, V.}, title = {Blockchain and the Law: A Critical Evaluation}, journal = {Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy}, year = {2019}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {86--112} } |
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Becker, M. | Blockchain and the Promise (s) of Decentralisation : A Sociological Investigation of the Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Blockchain [BibTeX] |
2019 | Proceedings of the STS Conference Graz 2019, pp. 6-30 | inproceedings | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{Becker2019, author = {Becker, Moritz}, title = {Blockchain and the Promise (s) of Decentralisation : A Sociological Investigation of the Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Blockchain}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the STS Conference Graz 2019}, year = {2019}, pages = {6--30}, url = {https://diglib.tugraz.at/download.php?id=5e2997b7bb322&location=browse}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3217/978-3-85125-668-0-02} } |
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Morrow, M.J. and Zarrebini, M. | Blockchain and the tokenization of the individual: Societal implications | 2019 | Future Internet Vol. 11(10), pp. 220 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We are living in a world where the very systems upon which trust is based are being challenged by new and exciting paradigm shifts. Centralization whether in the form of governments, financial institutions, enterprises and organizations is simply being challenged because of the lack of trust associated with data governance often experienced in the form of data breaches or simply a monetization of our data without our permission and/or incentives to participate in this emerging decentralization of structures. We see this trust deficit challenging the very institutions we have depended on including but not limited to financial institutions, private enterprises or government bodies. A new "social contract" is required as we continuously evolve into more decentralized and self-governing (or semi self-governing) entities. We will see more development in digital sovereignty with the caveat that a governance model will need to be defined. This position paper will present evidence that supports the premise that blockchain and individual tokenization could provide a new social contract. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{morrow2019blockchain, author = {Morrow, Monique J. and Zarrebini, Mehran}, title = {Blockchain and the tokenization of the individual: Societal implications}, journal = {Future Internet}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}, year = {2019}, volume = {11}, number = {10}, pages = {220}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/FI11100220} } |
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Dorfleitner, G., Muck, F. and Scheckenbach, I. | Blockchain applications for climate protection: A global empirical investigation | 2021 | Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Vol. 149(June), pp. 111378 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Our research consolidates the actual environment of blockchain applications that contribute in a certain way to climate protection. In view of the growing interest in climate change and the need to act on a global scale, knowledge about these applications enables investors, politicians, and citizens to drive this development forward through diverse support opportunities. This article provides an extensive overview of existing mitigation and adaptation measures based on blockchain technology. We collect data on 85 such applications and describe the empirical distributions of different attributes of these applications. In a logit regression, we analyze which application-specific and blockchain-specific characteristics determine the success of an application in the sense of an advanced operational status. We find evidence that applications of the type “energy trading” exhibit reduced chances of success, while green blockchain-based applications implementing a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism are more likely to become operational. Moreover, pursuing an initial coin offering has no significant effect on the success of an application. Our work provides the basis for a better understanding of the success factors of this new technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Dorfleitner2021, author = {Dorfleitner, Gregor and Muck, Franziska and Scheckenbach, Isabel}, title = {Blockchain applications for climate protection: A global empirical investigation}, journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2021}, volume = {149}, number = {June}, pages = {111378}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111378}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111378} } |
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Woodall, A. and Ringel, S. | Blockchain archival discourse: Trust and the imaginaries of digital preservation | 2020 | New Media and Society Vol. 22(12), pp. 2200-2217 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: From its origins in virtual financial transactions, emerging initiatives are seeking to acquire a new identity for blockchain as capable of addressing anxieties over the capacity of digital media to permanently and accurately store information. In this article, we explore the ensuing mediation between blockchain enterprises and new professional communities to which they are catering. Drawing on thematic analysis, we analyze how this process is being carried out through the discursive construction of trust, leveraged rhetorically in academic, trade, and news publications to extend an application for financial transactions to cultural institutions. We describe how trust is used not only to mediate the introduction of an application that prioritizes decentralization and cryptography, but is the turf on which traditional institutions are staking a claim as the trustworthy managers of digital records through their use of blockchain. The concept of the archival imaginary—a vision of what archives and blockchain should be and mean that pivots on imagined needs and technological capacities based on the current information ecology, institutional control, and expert systems—offers a way to illuminate this process. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Woodall2019, author = {Woodall, Angela and Ringel, Sharon}, title = {Blockchain archival discourse: Trust and the imaginaries of digital preservation}, journal = {New Media and Society}, year = {2020}, volume = {22}, number = {12}, pages = {2200--2217}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819888756} } |
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De Filippi, P., Mannan, M. and Reijers, W. | Blockchain as a confidence machine: The problem of trust & challenges of governance | 2020 | Technology in Society Vol. 62(June), pp. 101284 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Blockchain technology was created as a response to the trust crisis that swept the world in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Bitcoin and other blockchain-based systems were presented as a “trustless” alternative to existing financial institutions and even governments. Yet, while the trustless nature of blockchain technology has been heavily questioned, little research has been done as to what blockchain technologies actually bring to the table in place of trust. This article draws from the extensive academic discussion on the concepts of “trust” and “confidence” to argue that blockchain technology is not a ‘trustless technology' but rather a ‘confidence machine'. First, the article provides a review of the multifaceted conceptualisations of trust and confidence, and the relationship between these two concepts. Second, the claim is made that blockchain technology relies on cryptographic rules, mathematics, and game-theoretical incentives in order to increase confidence in the operations of a computational system. Yet, such an increase in confidence ultimately relies on the proper operation and governance of the underlying blockchain-based network, which requires trusting a variety of actors. Third, the article turns to legal, constitutional and polycentric governance theory to explore the governance challenges of blockchain-based systems, in light of the tension between procedural confidence and trust. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{DeFilippi2020, author = {De Filippi, Primavera and Mannan, Morshed and Reijers, Wessel}, title = {Blockchain as a confidence machine: The problem of trust & challenges of governance}, journal = {Technology in Society}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2020}, volume = {62}, number = {June}, pages = {101284}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101284}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101284} } |
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Rantala, J. | Blockchain as a medium for transindividual collective | 2019 | Culture, Theory and Critique Vol. 60(3-4), pp. 250-263 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Today, digitalisation is penetrating every corner of our mundane life, thus affecting our being in manifold ways. In spite of this, digital technologies provide us with paths towards advancing humanity. One way to model the possibilities of the new technologies in a sustainable way is to frame them in light of Gilbert Simondon's philosophy and especially his understanding of ‘transindividuality', which is the foundation for a robust, evolving collective. The transindividual relation, mediated by technical objects, is the possibility of a concurrent problem-solving at the collective and individual level. One of these new technologies, blockchain, a decentralised peer-to-peer database, practically demonstrates a complex system that can cultivate this transindividuality. Although not without its flaws, blockchain nonetheless presents a serious innovation for collective being. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{rantala2019blockchain, author = {Rantala, Juho}, title = {Blockchain as a medium for transindividual collective}, journal = {Culture, Theory and Critique}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {60}, number = {3-4}, pages = {250--263}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2019.1694213} } |
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Wang, X. | Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China's Countryside | 2020 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: In Blockchain Chicken Farm, the technologist and writer Xiaowei Wang explores the political and social entanglements of technology in rural China. Their discoveries force them to challenge the standard idea that rural culture and people are backward, conservative, and intolerant. Instead, they find that rural China has not only adapted to rapid globalization but has actually innovated the technology we all use today. From pork farmers using AI to produce the perfect pig, to disruptive luxury counterfeits and the political intersections of e-commerce villages, Wang unravels the ties between globalization, technology, agriculture, and commerce in unprecedented fashion. Accompanied by humorous “Sinofuturist” recipes that frame meals as they transform under new technology, Blockchain Chicken Farm is an original and probing look into innovation, connectivity, and collaboration in the digitized rural world. FSG Originals × Logic dissects the way technology functions in everyday lives. The titans of Silicon Valley, for all their utopian imaginings, never really had our best interests at heart: recent threats to democracy, truth, privacy, and safety, as a result of tech's reckless pursuit of progress, have shown as much. We present an alternate story, one that delights in capturing technology in all its contradictions and innovation, across borders and socioeconomic divisions, from history through the future, beyond platitudes and PR hype, and past doom and gloom. Our collaboration features four brief but provocative forays into the tech industry's many worlds, and aspires to incite fresh conversations about technology focused on nuanced and accessible explorations of the emerging tools that reorganize and redefine life today. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Wang2020, author = {Wang, Xiaowei}, title = {Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China's Countryside}, publisher = {Farrar, Straus and Giroux}, year = {2020}, url = {https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374538668/blockchainchickenfarm}, doi = {https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374538668/blockchainchickenfarm} } |
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Käll, J. | Blockchain Control | 2018 | Law and Critique Vol. 29(2), pp. 133-140 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology is often discussed and theorized in relation to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Its quality as a technology that produces advanced encryption keys between objects, however, also makes it interesting to those who seek to connect physical objects to digital elements. The reason for this is that the link between objects needs to be ‘secure' from undesired external interference. In relation to such interests, blockchain has been identified as a highly attractive technology to support the general digitalization of society towards the Internet of Things, smart cities etc. In extension, the implementation of blockchain technology implies that it may work as a tool that has the capacity to direct which objects may/may not interact with each other. The ‘ledger of everything' that blockchain may possibly produce as regards the ‘Internet of Everything' is even suggested to make humans and other intermediary technologies redundant. In this essay, I argue that in order to sustain legal critique when the world moves into the next era of digitalization, we need to understand - and question - how technological control operates through e.g. blockchain technology by locking physical and digital elements to each other. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kall2018, author = {Käll, Jannice}, title = {Blockchain Control}, journal = {Law and Critique}, year = {2018}, volume = {29}, number = {2}, pages = {133--140}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-018-9227-x} } |
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Chen, Y. and Bellavitis, C. | Blockchain disruption and decentralized finance: The rise of decentralized business models | 2020 | Journal of Business Venturing Insights Vol. 13 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology can reduce transaction costs, generate distributed trust, and empower decentralized platforms, potentially becoming a new foundation for decentralized business models. In the financial industry, blockchain technology allows for the rise of decentralized financial services, which tend to be more decentralized, innovative, interoperable, borderless, and transparent. Empowered by blockchain technology, decentralized financial services have the potential to broaden financial inclusion, facilitate open access, encourage permissionless innovation, and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators. In this article, we assess the benefits of decentralized finance, identify existing business models, and evaluate potential challenges and limits. As a new area of financial technology, decentralized finance may reshape the structure of modern finance and create a new landscape for entrepreneurship and innovation, showcasing the promises and challenges of decentralized business models. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Chen2020, author = {Chen, Yan and Bellavitis, Cristiano}, title = {Blockchain disruption and decentralized finance: The rise of decentralized business models}, journal = {Journal of Business Venturing Insights}, year = {2020}, volume = {13}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00151} } |
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Swartz, L. | Blockchain Dreams: Imagining Techno-Economic Alternatives After Bitcoin | 2017 | Another Economy is Possible: Culture and Economy in a Time of Crisis Vol. 1, pp. 82-105 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: NA | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{swartz2017blockchain, author = {Swartz, Lana}, title = {Blockchain Dreams: Imagining Techno-Economic Alternatives After Bitcoin}, journal = {Another Economy is Possible: Culture and Economy in a Time of Crisis}, publisher = {Polity Cambridge, UK}, year = {2017}, volume = {1}, pages = {82--105}, url = {http://llaannaa.com/papers/Swartz_Blockchain_Dreams.pdf}, doi = {http://llaannaa.com/papers/Swartz_Blockchain_Dreams.pdf} } |
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Teufel, B., Sentic, A. and Barmet, M. | Blockchain energy: Blockchain in future energy systems | 2019 | Journal of Electronic Science and Technology Vol. 17(4), pp. 100011 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The ongoing, in-depth transformation of the electricity sector towards increased use of alternative, renewable energy sources extends beyond a simple decentralisation drive in the electricity market. The transformation process is characterised by the interplay of old and new technologies from the energy sector as well as structural coupling with other sectors, such as the information and communications technology (ICT), enabling the technology transfer as well as market entry by information technology (IT) actors. Blockchain-based technologies have the potential to play a key role in this transition by offering decentralised interfaces and systems as well as an alternative approach to the current organisation form of the energy market. This paper discusses the applicability and prospects for blockchain-based technologies in the energy sector, which are described using the term “blockchain energy”. For the purposes of this study, blockchain energy encompasses all socio-technical and organisational configurations in the energy sector based on the utilisation of the blockchain principle for energy trading, information storage, and/or increased transparency of energy flows and energy services. In the following chapters, the authors present and discuss the current transformation in the electricity market, followed by a review of the different utilisation possibilities for blockchain technologies in the energy sector and a discussion of the barriers and potential for blockchain energy using a transition studies perspective. Finally, the opportunities and risks of blockchain energy are discussed. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{TEUFEL2019100011, author = {Teufel, Bernd and Sentic, Anton and Barmet, Mathias}, title = {Blockchain energy: Blockchain in future energy systems}, journal = {Journal of Electronic Science and Technology}, year = {2019}, volume = {17}, number = {4}, pages = {100011}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674862X20300057}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnlest.2020.100011} } |
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De Filippi, P. | Blockchain Et Cryptomonnaies | 2022 | , pp. 128 | book | DOI URL |
Abstract: La blockchain : une révolution équivalente à l'invention d'Internet ? C'est du moins ce qu'on en dit parfois. Mais en quoi consiste exactement cette nouvelle technologie et quelles sont ses répercussions réelles ? Popularisée par l'explosion du cours de Bitcoin, une cryptomonnaie permettant d'échanger de la valeur de façon décentralisée et sécurisée, la blockchain s'étend à des champs bien plus larges, comme la certification et l'authentification de documents, ou encore l'automatisation des transactions. Une promesse à la clé : désintermédier en passant d'un système fondé sur la confiance à un système fondé sur la preuve. Donnant un aperçu des applications encore en développement, Primavera De Filippi n'examine rien de moins que les implications politiques et sociales de cette nouvelle technologie qui n'a pas fini de faire parler d'elle. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{de2022blockchain, author = {De Filippi, Primavera}, title = {Blockchain Et Cryptomonnaies}, publisher = {Que sais-je}, year = {2022}, pages = {128}, url = {https://www.puf.com/content/Blockchain_et_cryptomonnaies}, doi = {https://www.puf.com/content/Blockchain_et_cryptomonnaies} } |
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Petri, I., Barati, M., Rezgui, Y. and Rana, O.F. | Blockchain for energy sharing and trading in distributed prosumer communities | 2020 | Computers in Industry Vol. 123, pp. 103282 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The decentralisation of energy supply and demand can contribute decisively to protecting the environment and climate of the planet by consuming electricity in the proximity of the generation source and avoiding losses in transmission and distribution. Supporting energy transactions with emerging intelligent technologies can advance the development of energy communities and accelerate the integration of renewable sources. Distributed energy solutions play an essential role as they are explicitly designed to produce, store and deliver green energy. Profiting with these benefits is essential, especially in the context of the current debate on stopping climate change. Several technologies such as waste heat recovery with intelligent algorithms can improve the energy distribution and provide significant resource savings. On the other hand, the usage of Blockchain technology in energy markets promises to incentivise the use of renewables and provide a reliable framework to monitor real-time information of energy production and consumption. Blockchain can also enable trading between independent agents and lead to the formation of more secured energy communities. In this paper, we demonstrate how Blockchain can be utilised to support the formation and use of energy communities. We propose a Blockchain-based energy framework as a mean to support energy exchanges in a community of prosumers. We demonstrate how smart contracts can manage energy transactions and enable a more secured trading environment between consumers and producers. We utilise data and models from a real fish processing industrial site in Milford Haven Port, South Wales, based on which we validate our research hypothesis. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{PETRI2020103282, author = {Petri, Ioan and Barati, Masoud and Rezgui, Yacine and Rana, Omer F}, title = {Blockchain for energy sharing and trading in distributed prosumer communities}, journal = {Computers in Industry}, year = {2020}, volume = {123}, pages = {103282}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166361520305169}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2020.103282} } |
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Mollah, M.B., Zhao, J., Niyato, D., Lam, K.Y., Zhang, X., Ghias, A.M., Koh, L.H. and Yang, L. | Blockchain for Future Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Survey | 2021 | IEEE Internet of Things Journal Vol. 8(1), pp. 18-43 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The concept of smart grid has been introduced as a new vision of the conventional power grid to figure out an efficient way of integrating green and renewable energy technologies. In this way, Internet-connected smart grid, also called energy Internet, is also emerging as an innovative approach to ensure the energy from anywhere at any time. The ultimate goal of these developments is to build a sustainable society. However, integrating and coordinating a large number of growing connections can be a challenging issue for the traditional centralized grid system. Consequently, the smart grid is undergoing a transformation to the decentralized topology from its centralized form. On the other hand, blockchain has some excellent features which make it a promising application for the smart grid paradigm. In this article, we aim to provide a comprehensive survey on the application of blockchain in smart grid. As such, we identify the significant security challenges of smart grid scenarios that can be addressed by blockchain. Then, we present a number of blockchain-based recent research works presented in different literature addressing security issues in the area of smart grid. We also summarize several related practical projects, trials, and products that have emerged recently. Finally, we discuss essential research challenges and future directions of applying blockchain to smart grid security issues. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Mollah2021, author = {Mollah, Muhammad Baqer and Zhao, Jun and Niyato, Dusit and Lam, Kwok Yan and Zhang, Xin and Ghias, Amer M.Y.M. and Koh, Leong Hai and Yang, Lei}, title = {Blockchain for Future Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Survey}, journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal}, year = {2021}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, pages = {18--43}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2020.2993601} } |
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Miglani, A., Kumar, N., Chamola, V. and Zeadally, S. | Blockchain for Internet of Energy management: Review, solutions, and challenges | 2020 | Computer Communications Vol. 151, pp. 395-418 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: After smart grid, Internet of Energy (IoE) has emerged as a popular technology in the energy sector by integrating different forms of energy. IoE uses Internet to collect, organize, optimize and manage the networks energy information from different edge devices in order to develop a distributed smart energy infrastructure. Sensors and communication technologies are used to collect data and to predict demand and supply by consumers and suppliers respectively. However, with the development of renewable energy resources, Electric Vehicles (EVs), smart grid and Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, the existing energy sector started shifting towards distributed and decentralized solutions. Moreover, the security and privacy issues because of centralization is another major concern for IoE technology. In this context, Blockchain technology with the features of automation, immutability, public ledger facility, irreversibility, decentralization, consensus and security has been adopted in the literature for solving the prevailing problems of centralized IoE architecture. By leveraging smart contracts, blockchain technology enables automated data exchange, complex energy transactions, demand response management and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading etc. Blockchain will play vital role in the evolution of the IoE market as distributed renewable resources and smart grid network are being deployed and used. We discuss the potential and applications of blockchain in the IoE field. This article is build on the literature research and it provides insight to the end-user regarding the future IoE scenario in the context of blockchain technology. Lastly this article discusses the different consensus algorithm for IoE technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{MIGLANI2020395, author = {Miglani, Arzoo and Kumar, Neeraj and Chamola, Vinay and Zeadally, Sherali}, title = {Blockchain for Internet of Energy management: Review, solutions, and challenges}, journal = {Computer Communications}, year = {2020}, volume = {151}, pages = {395--418}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140366419314951}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2020.01.014} } |
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Min, T., Wang, H., Guo, Y. and Cai, W. | Blockchain games: A survey [BibTeX] |
2019 | 2019 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), pp. 1-8 | inproceedings | DOI |
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{min2019blockchain, author = {Min, Tian and Wang, Hanyi and Guo, Yaoze and Cai, Wei}, title = {Blockchain games: A survey}, booktitle = {2019 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG)}, year = {2019}, pages = {1--8}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/CIG.2019.8848111} } |
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Korhonen, O. and Rantala, J. | Blockchain Governance Challenges: Beyond Libertarianism | 2021 | AJIL Unbound Vol. 115, pp. 408-412 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This essay considers the ideological context of blockchain technology. This technology is often celebrated for its potential for decentralization, distribution, privacy, and a lack of intermediaries and coordinators for transactions and general governance. Because of these features, blockchain technology, and, in particular, its most famous inauguration - the bitcoin blockchain - is frequently identified with libertarianism. In this essay, we argue that the ideological context of blockchain technology is much more complicated. In addition to unraveling a number of background ideologies and their role in this technology, we raise the ontological issue concerning the relationship of ideology to technology. These matters have implications for, among other things, the approach that should be taken to blockchain's governance, as well as how international lawyers may approach this foreign-seeming phenomenon that has its proponents from the European Central Bank to the United Nations (not, however, forgetting the private sector nor the digital underground). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{korhonen2021blockchain, author = {Korhonen, Outi and Rantala, Juho}, title = {Blockchain Governance Challenges: Beyond Libertarianism}, journal = {AJIL Unbound}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, volume = {115}, pages = {408--412}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/aju.2021.65} } |
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Tan, E., Mahula, S. and Crompvoets, J. | Blockchain governance in the public sector: A conceptual framework for public management | 2021 | Government Information Quarterly, pp. 101625 | article | DOI |
Abstract: A key challenge behind the adoption of blockchain in the public sector is understanding the dynamics of blockchain governance. Based on a systematic literature review, this article analyzes different approaches to blockchain governance across disciplines and develops a comprehensive conceptual framework for the study of blockchain governance decisions in the public sector. The framework clusters nine types of governance decisions (infrastructure architecture, application architecture, interoperability, decision-making mechanism, incentive mechanism, consensus mechanism, organization of governance, accountability of governance, and control of governance) into three levels of analysis (micro, meso, and macro-levels). Drawing on public management theories and concepts, the article elucidates the implications of various governance choices in each level of governance and provides a primer for researchers and policy practitioners on the design of blockchain-based systems in the public sector. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{tan2021blockchain, author = {Tan, Evrim and Mahula, Stanislav and Crompvoets, Joep}, title = {Blockchain governance in the public sector: A conceptual framework for public management}, journal = {Government Information Quarterly}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, pages = {101625}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2021.101625} } |
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Hofman, D., DuPont, Q., Walch, A. and Beschastnikh, I. | Blockchain Governance: De Facto (x)or Designed? | 2021 | (x)Building Decentralized Trust, pp. 21-33 | incollection | DOI |
Abstract: Governance of blockchain technologies has not been historically prioritized beyond technological dimensions, and relatively little literature exists on the prescriptive governance of blockchain platforms. Existing governance frameworks, such as IT governance, may not be suitable or easily applied to the novel context of blockchain; instead, the authors of this chapter argue it may be more appropriate to adopt a grounded approach to the development of governance theory for blockchains. Situating their discussion of blockchain governance within existing, external power structures—legal, political, economic, environmental, and social—the authors outline an internal governance framework for the blockchain system itself. Taking an inclusive, question-led approach, this internal governance framework aims to ensure that areas of risk are identified, and determine how conflict and crisis related to blockchain technology—and blockchain-enabled forms of organization and interactions—can be handled. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Hofman2021, author = {Hofman, Darra and DuPont, Quinn and Walch, Angela and Beschastnikh, Ivan}, title = {Blockchain Governance: De Facto (x)or Designed?}, booktitle = {Building Decentralized Trust}, year = {2021}, number = {x}, pages = {21--33}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54414-0_2} } |
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Allen, D. | Blockchain Governance: What We Can Learn from the Economics of Corporate Governance | 2020 | The Journal of The British Blockchain Association Vol. 3(1), pp. 1-10 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Understanding the considerations and complexities of blockchain governance is urgent. The aim of this paper is to draw on institutional governance theory-including corporate governance-to provide insights into the core considerations in designing blockchain governance mechanisms. We define blockchain governance are the processes by which stakeholders (those who are affected by and can affect the network) exercise bargaining power over the network. The main considerations include how we define stakeholders in blockchain governance, how the consensus mechanism itself distributes endogenous bargaining power between those stakeholders, the role of exogenous governance mechanisms and institutional frameworks, and the needs for bootstrapping. While we can learn from corporate and internet governance, blockchain governance should be understood as being an institutionally distinct organisational form with distinct governance systems. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Allen2020, author = {Allen, Darcy}, title = {Blockchain Governance: What We Can Learn from the Economics of Corporate Governance}, journal = {The Journal of The British Blockchain Association}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, number = {1}, pages = {1--10}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.31585/jbba-3-1-(8)2020} } |
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Lumineau, F., Wang, W. and Schilke, O. | Blockchain governance-A new way of organizing collaborations? | 2021 | Organization Science Vol. 32(2), pp. 500-521 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The recent emergence of blockchains may be considered a critical turning point in organizing collaborations. We outline the historical background and the fundamental features of blockchains and present an analysis with a focus on their role as governance mechanisms. Specifically, we argue that blockchains offer a way to enforce agreements and achieve cooperation and coordination that is distinct from both traditional contractual and relational governance as well as from other information technology solutions. We also examine the scope of blockchains as efficient governance mechanisms and highlight the tacitness of the transaction as a key boundary condition. We then discuss how blockchain governance interacts with traditional governance mechanisms in both substitutive and complementary ways. We pay particular attention to blockchains' social implications as well as their inherent challenges and limitations. Our analysis culminates in a research agenda that explores how blockchains may change the way to organize collaborations, including issues of what different types of blockchains may emerge, who is involved and impacted by blockchain governance, why actors may want blockchains, when and where blockchains can be more (versus less) effective, and how blockchains influence a number of important organizational outcomes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lumineau2021blockchain, author = {Lumineau, Fabrice and Wang, Wenqian and Schilke, Oliver}, title = {Blockchain governance-A new way of organizing collaborations?}, journal = {Organization Science}, publisher = {INFORMS}, year = {2021}, volume = {32}, number = {2}, pages = {500--521}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2020.1379} } |
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Jutel, O. | Blockchain humanitarianism and crypto-colonialism | 2022 | Patterns Vol. 3(1), pp. 100422 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Summary The humanitarian sector has emerged as a powerful mechanism of legitimation for blockchain technology. Platform developers in the aid sector have been eager to showcase the promise of decentralization and encrypted blockchain data as the inheritance of the world's poor and developing nations. This article claims that humanitarian blockchain projects are inextricably linked to the politics of the crypto-economy, proprietary platforms, and a class of solutionists championing Silicon Valley's cultural values. Blockchain humanitarianism has emerged through a private-public partnership (PPP) model in the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector that embraces tech disruption and innovation. Ethically sound blockchain humanitarian projects are precluded by the inherent obscurantism of the technology, the inability to transpose blockchain's governance logic in the social realm, and inextricable ties to the political economy of cryptocurrencies. Projects in the developing world have thus embodied a colonial logic of techno-experimentation for platform developers and imbricate the NGO sector into the PR logic of blockchain solutionism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{JUTEL2022100422, author = {Jutel, Olivier}, title = {Blockchain humanitarianism and crypto-colonialism}, journal = {Patterns}, year = {2022}, volume = {3}, number = {1}, pages = {100422}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666389921003056}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2021.100422} } |
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Dupont, Q. | Blockchain Identities: Notational Technologies for Control and Management of Abstracted Entities | 2017 | Metaphilosophy Vol. 48(5), pp. 634-653 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper argues that many so-called digital technologies can be construed as notational technologies, explored through the example of Monegraph, an art and digital asset management platform built on top of the blockchain system originally developed for the cryptocurrency bitcoin. As the paper characterizes it, a notational technology is the performance of syntactic notation within a field of reference, a technologized version of what Nelson Goodman called a “notational system.” Notational technologies produce abstracted entities through positive and reliable, or constitutive, tests of socially acceptable meaning. Accordingly, this account deviates from typical narratives of blockchains (usually characterized as Turing or state machines), instead demonstrating that blockchain technologies are effective at managing digital assets because they produce abstracted identities through the performance of notation. Since notational technologies rely on configurations of socially acceptable meaning, this paper also provides a philosophical account of how blockchain technologies are socially embedded. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{dupont2017blockchain, author = {Dupont, Quinn}, title = {Blockchain Identities: Notational Technologies for Control and Management of Abstracted Entities}, journal = {Metaphilosophy}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2017}, volume = {48}, number = {5}, pages = {634--653}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12267} } |
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Jutel, O. | Blockchain imperialism in the Pacific | 2021 | Big Data and Society Vol. 8(1), pp. 1-14 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The rise of blockchain as a techno-solution in the development sector underscores the critical imbalances of data power under ‘computational capitalism' (Beller, 2018). This article will consider the political economy of techno-solutionist and blockchain discourses in the developing world, using as its object of study blockchain projects in Pacific Island nations. Backed by US State Department soft power initiatives such as Tech Camp, these projects inculcate tech-driven notions of economic and political development, or ICT4D, while opening up new terrains for data accumulation and platform control. Blockchain developers in search of proof of concept have found the development sector a fecund space for tech experimentation as they leverage a desire for tech-development and exploit regulatory weakness. The material implications of blockchain projects and discourse have been to create governance solutions which bypass the developing world state as a largely corrupting intermediary. In the Pacific, this has meant blockchain supply-chain management systems, proprietary financial innovation in humanitarian relief and an Asian Development Bank project to manage indigenous Fijian lands exclusively on the blockchain. In all these instances, discourses of solutionism, innovation and data empowerment have been deployed in aid of blockchain cartographies of control. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Jutel2021, author = {Jutel, Olivier}, title = {Blockchain imperialism in the Pacific}, journal = {Big Data and Society}, year = {2021}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, pages = {1--14}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951720985249} } |
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Lohmann, L. | Blockchain Machines, Earth Beings and the Labour of Trust | 2019 | The Corner House(May) | article | |
Abstract: The last decade's developments in computation are major topics of debate among business, policymakers, and social movements alike. Blockchain, Bitcoin, smart contracts, the Internet of Things, machine translation, image recognition, the Earth Bank of Codes-all are understood to be not only business opportunities but also political and environmental issues. Seldom mentioned, however, is the extent to which these innovations are part of an ecological history that goes back to the early 19 th century and before. A strategic understanding their dynamics and contradictions requires looking again at long-standing pictures of labour, mechanization, commons, and capital accumulation. Different ways of thinking about Marx's categories of living and dead labour inspired by the work of the later Wittgenstein can help. 1 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lohmann2019, author = {Lohmann, Larry}, title = {Blockchain Machines, Earth Beings and the Labour of Trust}, journal = {The Corner House}, year = {2019}, number = {May} } |
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Becker, K. | Blockchain Matters—Lex Cryptographia and the Displacement of Legal Symbolics and Imaginaries | 2022 | Law and Critique | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article focusses on the social and legal implications that blockchain technology brings about, not only due to its ideological framework, but also, and especially, due to the concept of law it inaugurates. Thus, this article claims, that, by interlocking technological and legal structures, blockchain technology initiates a profound displacement of legal symbolics and imaginaries. It shows how blockchain law, by emancipating itself from three essential dimensions of law—language, territory, and the body—implies a profound disruption of how we perceive law and its legitimacy. Starting with an overview of the technological details of blockchain, the paper then addresses its ideological context and traces the underlying ideas, values and functions and their relation with—and impact on—the general perception of law and legal issues. By critically assessing the claim that blockchain will liberate the subject from any heteronymic constraints, this paper analyses to what extent this technology has social and legal implications that reach far beyond its virtual, purely blockchain-related scope of applications—and why this technology should matter to us all. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Becker2022, author = {Becker, Katrin}, title = {Blockchain Matters—Lex Cryptographia and the Displacement of Legal Symbolics and Imaginaries}, journal = {Law and Critique}, year = {2022}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10978-021-09317-8}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-021-09317-8} } |
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Alston, E., Law, W., Murtazashvili, I. and Weiss, M.B.H. | Blockchain Networks as Constitutional and Competitive Polycentric Orders | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-17 | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Institutional economists have analyzed permissionless blockchains as a novel institutional building block for voluntary economic exchange and distributed governance, with their unique protocol features such as automated contract execution, high levels of network and process transparency, and uniquely distributed governance. But such institutional analysis needs to be complemented by polycentric analysis of how blockchains change. We characterize such change as resulting from internal sources and external sources. Internal sources include constitutional (protocol) design and collective-choice processes for updating protocols, which help coordinate network participants and users. External sources include competitive pressure from other cryptocurrency networks. By studying two leading networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum, we illustrate how conceptualizing blockchains as competing and constitutional polycentric enterprises clarifies their processes of change. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{alston2021blockchain, author = {Alston, Eric and Law, Wilson and Murtazashvili, Ilia and Weiss, Martin B. H.}, title = {Blockchain Networks as Constitutional and Competitive Polycentric Orders}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--17}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3887701}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3887701} } |
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Finck, M. | Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe | 2018 | Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe | book | DOI |
Abstract: "In Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe, Michèle Finck examines the relationship between blockchain technology and EU law and introduces the theme of blockchain governance. The book provides a general introduction to blockchains as both a regulatable and a regulatory technology and outlines the interaction between Distributed Ledger Technology and specific areas of EU law, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. It should be read by anyone interested in EU law, the relationship between law, innovation and technology, and technology governance" | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{finck2018blockchain, author = {Finck, Michèle}, title = {Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe}, booktitle = {Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2018}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108609708} } |
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Barbosa, L.P. | Blockchain Smart Contracts: A Socio-Legal Approach [BibTeX] |
2021 | European Business Law Review Vol. 32(2) |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{barbosa2021blockchain, author = {Barbosa, Leonardo Peixoto}, title = {Blockchain Smart Contracts: A Socio-Legal Approach}, journal = {European Business Law Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {32}, number = {2}, url = {https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/European+Business+Law+Review/32.2/EULR2021010%0A}, doi = {https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/European+Business+Law+Review/32.2/EULR2021010} } |
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Six, N., Herbaut, N. and Salinesi, C. | Blockchain software patterns for the design of decentralized applications: A systematic literature review [BibTeX] |
2022 | Blockchain: Research and Applications, pp. 100061 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{six2022blockchain, author = {Six, Nicolas and Herbaut, Nicolas and Salinesi, Camille}, title = {Blockchain software patterns for the design of decentralized applications: A systematic literature review}, journal = {Blockchain: Research and Applications}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, pages = {100061}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcra.2022.100061} } |
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Boreiko, D., Ferrarini, G. and Giudici, P. | Blockchain Startups and Prospectus Regulation | 2019 | European Business Organization Law Review Vol. 20(4), pp. 665-694 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Initial coin offerings are a new way for blockchain startups to finance project development by issuing coins or tokens in exchange for fiat money or Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. In this article, we start from the current distinction between different types of tokens and argue that it can create confusion and should be at least partially abandoned. We believe that the conceptual difference between a currency token and a tradable utility token is just the dimension of the crypto environment in which the token is spent. More specifically, ‘utility tokens' combine the customer payment mechanism with the utility component and, when tradable on a secondary market, the investment one. We argue that they blur the traditional distinctions between currencies, financial assets and consumption goods. Moreover, we stress the increasing importance of online crypto exchanges. Recently some exchanges have also taken up the role of trusted intermediaries and staked their reputation on token offerings, which are termed initial exchange offerings and have gained in popularity. We therefore argue that the crypto market increasingly looks like a segment of the capital market and behaves as such. Given that tokens have a clear investment component, we show that they are tradable securities under the Prospectus Regulation. We compare the European securities regulation with its US counterpart and focus on prospectus exemptions, highlighting the great differences between Europe and the US which make Europe less amicable to blockchain startups. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{boreiko2019blockchain, author = {Boreiko, Dmitri and Ferrarini, Guido and Giudici, Paolo}, title = {Blockchain Startups and Prospectus Regulation}, journal = {European Business Organization Law Review}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2019}, volume = {20}, number = {4}, pages = {665--694}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s40804-019-00168-6} } |
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Chevet, S. | Blockchain Technology and Non-Fungible Tokens: Reshaping Value Chains in Creative Industries | 2018 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper offers an analysis of cryptocurrencies and blockchain's technical underpinnings, specifically of Non-Fungible tokens and “cryptocollectibles”, and the changes these innovations can bring about in the art market and creative industries at large. The paper is based on a resource-based analysis of creative industries, their value chains and the various bargaining powers and revenue sharing of the industries' agents. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{chevet2018blockchain, author = {Chevet, Sylve}, title = {Blockchain Technology and Non-Fungible Tokens: Reshaping Value Chains in Creative Industries}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2018}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3212662} } |
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De Filippi, P. and Hassan, S. | Blockchain technology as a regulatory technology: From code is law to law is code | 2016 | First Monday Vol. 21(12) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: "Code is law" refers to the idea that, with the advent of digital technology, code has progressively established itself as the predominant way to regulate the behavior of Internet users. Yet, while computer code can enforce rules more efficiently than legal code, it also comes with a series of limitations, mostly because it is difficult to transpose the ambiguity and flexibility of legal rules into a formalized language which can be interpreted by a machine. With the advent of blockchain technology and associated smart contracts, code is assuming an even stronger role in regulating people's interactions over the Internet, as many contractual transactions get transposed into smart contract code. In this paper, we describe the shift from the traditional notion of "code is law" (i.e., code having the effect of law) to the new conception of "law is code" (i.e., law being defined as code). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{de2018blockchain, author = {De Filippi, Primavera and Hassan, Samer}, title = {Blockchain technology as a regulatory technology: From code is law to law is code}, journal = {First Monday}, year = {2016}, volume = {21}, number = {12}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i12.7113} } |
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Ishmaev, G. | Blockchain Technology as an Institution of Property | 2017 | Metaphilosophy Vol. 48(5), pp. 666-686 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper argues that the practical implementation of blockchain technology can be considered an institution of property similar to legal institutions. Invoking Penner's theory of property and Hegel's system of property rights, and using the example of bitcoin, it is possible to demonstrate that blockchain effectively implements all necessary and sufficient criteria for property without reliance on legal means. Blockchains eliminate the need for a third-party authority to enforce exclusion rights, and provide a system of universal access to knowledge and discoverability about the property rights of all participants and how the system functions. The implications of these findings are that traditional property relations in society could be replaced by or supplemented with blockchain models, and implemented in new domains. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Ishmaev2017, author = {Ishmaev, G.}, title = {Blockchain Technology as an Institution of Property}, journal = {Metaphilosophy}, year = {2017}, volume = {48}, number = {5}, pages = {666--686}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12277} } |
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Berg, C., Davidson, S. and Potts, J. | Blockchain Technology as Economic Infrastructure: Revisiting the Electronic Markets Hypothesis | 2019 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 2, pp. 22 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the electronic markets hypothesis offered a prediction about effect of information technology on industrial organization, and many business writers forecast significant changes to the shape and nature of the firm. However, these changes did not come to pass. This paper provides an economic analysis of why, using the transaction cost economic framework of Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson. Non-hierarchical corporate organization struggled against contracting problems in the presence of possible opportunistic behavior. Technologies of trust offer an institutional mechanism that acts on the margin of trust, suppressing opportunism. The paper concludes that blockchain technology provides an economic infrastructure for the coordination of economic activity and the possible realization of the electronic markets hypothesis. |
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BibTeX:
@article{berg2019blockchain, author = {Berg, Chris and Davidson, Sinclair and Potts, Jason}, title = {Blockchain Technology as Economic Infrastructure: Revisiting the Electronic Markets Hypothesis}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, publisher = {Frontiers}, year = {2019}, volume = {2}, pages = {22}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2019.00022} } |
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Zannini, A. | Blockchain technology as the digital enabler to scale up renewable energy communities and cooperatives in Spain | 2020 | , pp. 1-91 | phdthesis | |
Abstract: Universiteit Utrecht | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Zannini2020, author = {Zannini, Alice}, title = {Blockchain technology as the digital enabler to scale up renewable energy communities and cooperatives in Spain}, year = {2020}, pages = {1--91} } |
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Kooreman, Y. | Blockchain Technology with Chinese Characteristics | 2019 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Over the past years China has been able to rapidly develop in to a power to be reckoned with. While great strides have been made in terms of financial decentralization, political decentralization appears to lack behind. For this reason it came as quite the surprise when China released its 13th Five Year Plan in 2016, stating an explicit interest in Blockchain Technology. Following from a desire to become a global center of science and innovation the government believes that its' development and adoption will build strategic technological advantages on the world stage. However, Blockchain Technology was initially designed as a strongly decentralizing force. It was first launched under the guise of ‘Bitcoin' in the aftermath of the economic crisis, as a decentrally organized digital currency that removes the need for trust in third parties such as banks and instead relies on verification of transactions via a peer-to-peer network. While the country was quick to ban all activities even remotely relating to Bitcoin, the underlying technology appears to be of great interest. This is puzzling because Blockchain, in any form, has the ability to pull discretionary powers away from government. Why would a politically centralized country such as China be interested in the implementation of such a technology? This thesis used a New Materialist framework to shed light on these developments. It enabled the analysis of technology as an agent and how it affected (and continues to affect) China's political assemblage and division of power within this context. The historical explanatory narrative points out that Blockchain Technology has the agentic capacities to change how is governed in China. This however does not imply a shift in discretionary powers, as China's political assemblage results in an environment where Blockchain's decentralizing capacities might actually be transformed into a centralizing force instead. [hide] | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Kooreman2019, author = {Kooreman, Y}, title = {Blockchain Technology with Chinese Characteristics}, year = {2019}, url = {https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/7512}, doi = {https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/7512} } |
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De Filippi, P. and Lavayssière, X. | Blockchain Technology: Toward a Decentralized Governance of Digital Platforms? | 2021 | The Great Awakening: New Modes of Life amidst Capitalist Ruins, Punctum Book | article | URL |
Abstract: Despite its promise to establish a more decentralized society with a novel economic order, 5 many of the blockchain-based networks or applications implemented thus far ultimately rely on market dynamics and economic incentives for distributed coordination. Indeed … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{DeFilippi2021, author = {De Filippi, Primavera and Lavayssière, Xavier}, title = {Blockchain Technology: Toward a Decentralized Governance of Digital Platforms?}, journal = {The Great Awakening: New Modes of Life amidst Capitalist Ruins, Punctum Book}, year = {2021}, url = {https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03098502} } |
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Heudebert, P. and Leveneur, C. | Blockchain, Disintermediation and the Future of the Legal Professions | 2020 | Cardozo Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. Vol. 4, pp. 275-319 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Will the 2020s herald the death warrant of the legal professions? If we listen to blockchain technology's most devout advocates, the answer is a resounding yes. Blockchain is often proclaimed as the ultimate tool for allowing unrestrained exchanges between contracting parties with no preexisting relationships, and thus suppressing the need for intermediaries. In other words, blockchain could be a “trust machine,” which could open up the possibility of conducting transactions in full confidence, without the risk of non-performance or misguidance. However, it is utopian idealism to assume that blockchain technology could enable pure and total disintermediation. All trusted third parties cannot disappear in one fell swoop - especially legal professions. This Article problematizes blockchain's apparent objective of disintermediation and argues that, in reality, blockchain leads to a form of reintermediation. Of course, the role of the legal professions in the face of the advance blockchain technology is inextricable to the role of the law in blockchain. While advocates have detailed the diminishing role of law and regulation in the application of blockchain technology, we adopt a comparison of the French and the American jurisdiction's to blockchain technology, to demonstrate that, in fact, the law cannot be extricated from blockchain's advance. This Article explores a new angle on blockchain's place in the legal professions and offers new perspectives for lawyers to anticipate a future defined by “known unknowns,” and the “unknown unknowns” of blockchain technology . | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Heudebert2020, author = {Heudebert, Paola and Leveneur, Claire}, title = {Blockchain, Disintermediation and the Future of the Legal Professions}, journal = {Cardozo Int'l & Comp. L. Rev.}, year = {2020}, volume = {4}, pages = {275--319}, url = {https://ssrn.com/abstract=3781504}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3781504} } |
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Herian, R. | Blockchain, GDPR, and fantasies of data sovereignty | 2020 | Law, Innovation and Technology Vol. 12(1), pp. 156-174 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the broader, mainstream emergence of blockchain technology in the present moment of, what I call, data dysphoria is no accident. It is in part reaction to data dysphoria, and in part exploitation of it, a duality underpinned by the tantalising promise of the prosumer ‘taking control' of their data and establishing sovereignty over it. Blockchain and GDPR alike aim to resolve ‘problem'/'solution' matrices with deep roots in a wide variety of global economic, political, social, legal and cultural contexts. This article explores the problem of achieving resolution based on innovation and technology by offering an account of the rise of blockchain and implementation of GDPR within a psycho-political framework, one in which fantasies of taking control are predominant yet highly contestable actualities in the lives of technology users. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Herian2020, author = {Herian, Robert}, title = {Blockchain, GDPR, and fantasies of data sovereignty}, journal = {Law, Innovation and Technology}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {12}, number = {1}, pages = {156--174}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2020.1727094}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2020.1727094} } |
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González, P.V. and Tkacz, N. | Blockchain, or, Peer Production Without Guarantees | 2020 | The Handbook of Peer Production, pp. 238-253 | incollection | DOI URL |
Abstract: Summary Blockchains are aggregated and distributed databases: shared, chained, and immutable registries that conflate the production of digital tokens with their circulation. At their most basic level, they are technologies for keeping account, or records, of some form of activity, hence they are part of a long lineage of storing data, from clay tablets to bookkeeping. On a technical level, blockchains are peer-to-peer (P2P) structures for distributing and storing data. This chapter begins with a historical consideration of the emergence of peer production, including a reevaluation of the work of Yochai Benkler. It shows that peer production was given coherence as a model of production by being contrasted with two other modes (hierarchies and markets) and through the lens of Benkler's economic liberalism. The chapter distinguishes between four moments or aspects of blockchain initiatives that configure peers in different ways: peer production, peer development, peer governance, and peer exchange. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119537151.ch18, author = {González, Pablo Velasco and Tkacz, Nathaniel}, title = {Blockchain, or, Peer Production Without Guarantees}, booktitle = {The Handbook of Peer Production}, publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd}, year = {2020}, pages = {238--253}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119537151.ch18}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119537151.ch18} } |
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Zheng, Y. | Blockchain, Privacy, and Artwork Registries: Consensus between Constraints | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Canada adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2011. We investigate the impact and consequences of this mandatory change by examining whether value relevance and non-market-based accounting information changed for a comprehensive set of Canadian companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Our findings reveal the effects of IFRS adoption are not consistent across all firms as demonstrated by a minimal change in value relevance for large firms, but a significant increase for small firms. These differences are primarily attributed to the weakening (strengthening) relationship of book value to stock price for large (small) firms and a strengthening (weakening) relationship of earnings to stock price for large (small) firms. This suggests the goal of IFRS in providing improvement to the balance sheet is only achieved for small firms in Canada. For the non-market-based accounting quality measures of earnings persistence, earnings smoothing, earnings discretion, and the frequency of small profits to losses, the findings are mixed for large firms, but improve for small firms after IFRS adoption. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Zheng2021, author = {Zheng, Yujia}, title = {Blockchain, Privacy, and Artwork Registries: Consensus between Constraints}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, url = {https://emea.mitsubishielectric.com/ar/products-solutions/factory-automation/index.html}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3857241} } |
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Gjelstad-Ditlevsen, P.E., Mydske, M. and Skånlund, A.H. | Blockchain-based Finance: How Asset Tokenization can transform the Financial [BibTeX] |
2021 | (April) | phdthesis | |
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Gjelstad-Ditlevsen2021, author = {Gjelstad-Ditlevsen, Philip Emil and Mydske, Mathias and Skånlund, Albert Holten}, title = {Blockchain-based Finance: How Asset Tokenization can transform the Financial}, year = {2021}, number = {April} } |
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Himeur, Y., Sayed, A., Alsalemi, A., Bensaali, F., Amira, A., Varlamis, I., Eirinaki, M., Sardianos, C. and Dimitrakopoulos, G. | Blockchain-based recommender systems: Applications, challenges and future opportunities | 2022 | Computer Science Review Vol. 43, pp. 100439 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Recommender systems have been widely used in different application domains including energy-preservation, e-commerce, healthcare, social media, etc. Such applications require the analysis and mining of massive amounts of various types of user data, including demographics, preferences, social interactions, etc. in order to develop accurate and precise recommender systems. Such datasets often include sensitive information, yet most recommender systems are focusing on the models' accuracy and ignore issues related to security and the users' privacy. Despite the efforts to overcome these problems using different risk reduction techniques, none of them has been completely successful in ensuring cryptographic security and protection of the users' private information. To bridge this gap, the blockchain technology is presented as a promising strategy to promote security and privacy preservation in recommender systems, not only because of its security and privacy salient features, but also due to its resilience, adaptability, fault tolerance and trust characteristics. This paper presents a holistic review of blockchain-based recommender systems covering challenges, open issues and solutions. Accordingly, a well-designed taxonomy is introduced to describe the security and privacy challenges, overview existing frameworks and discuss their applications and benefits when using blockchain before indicating opportunities for future research. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{himeur2022blockchain, author = {Himeur, Yassine and Sayed, Aya and Alsalemi, Abdullah and Bensaali, Faycal and Amira, Abbes and Varlamis, Iraklis and Eirinaki, Magdalini and Sardianos, Christos and Dimitrakopoulos, George}, title = {Blockchain-based recommender systems: Applications, challenges and future opportunities}, journal = {Computer Science Review}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {43}, pages = {100439}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosrev.2021.100439} } |
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Guadamuz, A. and Marsden, C. | Blockchains and Bitcoin: Regulatory responses to cryptocurrencies | 2015 | First Monday Vol. 20(12) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper examines Bitcoin from a legal and regulatory perspective, answering several important questions. We begin by explaining what Bitcoin is, and why it matters. We describe problems with Bitcoin as a method of implementing a cryptocurrency. This introduction to cryptocurrencies allows us eventually to ask the inevitable question: Is it legal? What are the regulatory responses to the currency? Can it be regulated? We make clear why virtual currencies are of interest, how self-regulation has failed, and what useful lessons can be learned. Finally, we produce useful and semi-permanent findings into the usefulness of virtual currencies in general, blockchains as a means of mining currency, and the profundity of Bitcoin as compared with the development of block chain technologies. We conclude that though Bitcoin may be the equivalent of Second Life a decade later, so blockchains may be the equivalent of Web 2.0 social networks, a truly transformative social technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{guadamuz2015blockchains, author = {Guadamuz, Andres and Marsden, Chris}, title = {Blockchains and Bitcoin: Regulatory responses to cryptocurrencies}, journal = {First Monday}, year = {2015}, volume = {20}, number = {12}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i12.6198} } |
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Crandall, J. | Blockchains and the “Chains of Empire”: Contextualizing Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Neoliberalism in Puerto Rico | 2019 | Design and Culture Vol. 11(3), pp. 279-300 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Although blockchain is often posed as a revolutionary and disruptive technology, its politics and socio-technical configurations often align with aims to maintain the status quo, and/or aims to concentrate wealth and to make existing powers more efficient. I empirically describe how colonial-contingent, neoliberal economic policies in Puerto Rico have incentivized the techno-capitalist industries of cryptocurrency and blockchain. Portions of the archipelago are being re-made into a so-called “crypto-utopia” to satisfy the desires of new settlers in a new form of crypto-colonialism. Puerto Rican government organizations, institutions, and businesses are also engaging blockchain technology with differing intents, all using rhetoric as a covert design tool. In this paper I will focus on blockchain and cryptocurrency as neoliberal and libertarian technologies adopted by governmental agencies, businesses, organizations, and individuals, as well as efforts of resistance through alternative, decolonial design. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Crandall2019, author = {Crandall, Jillian}, title = {Blockchains and the “Chains of Empire”: Contextualizing Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Neoliberalism in Puerto Rico}, journal = {Design and Culture}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2019}, volume = {11}, number = {3}, pages = {279--300}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2019.1673989}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2019.1673989} } |
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Goorha, P. | Blockchains as Implementable Mechanisms: Crypto-Ricardian Rent and a Crypto-Coase Theorem [BibTeX] |
2018 | The Journal of the British Blockchain Association Vol. 1(2), pp. 1-10 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{goorha2018blockchains, author = {Goorha, Prateek}, title = {Blockchains as Implementable Mechanisms: Crypto-Ricardian Rent and a Crypto-Coase Theorem}, journal = {The Journal of the British Blockchain Association}, publisher = {The British Blockchain Association}, year = {2018}, volume = {1}, number = {2}, pages = {1--10}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.31585/jbba-1-2-(4)2018} } |
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Kraus, D., Obrist, T. and Hari, O. | Blockchains, smart contracts, decentralised autonomous organisations and the law | 2019 | , pp. 1-365 | book | DOI |
Abstract: The growth of Blockchain technology presents a number of legal questions for lawyers, regulators and industry participants alike. Primarily, regulators must allow Blockchain technology to develop whilst also ensuring it is not being abused. This book addresses the challenges posed by various applications of Blockchain technology, such as cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and initial coin offerings, across different fields of law. Contributors explore whether the problems posed by Blockchain and its applications can be addressed within the present legal system or whether significant rethinking is required. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{kraus2019blockchains, author = {Kraus, Daniel and Obrist, Thierry and Hari, Olivier}, title = {Blockchains, smart contracts, decentralised autonomous organisations and the law}, publisher = {Edward Elgar Publishing}, year = {2019}, pages = {1--365}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788115131} } |
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Campbell-Verduyn, M. and Goguen, M. | Blockchains, trust and action nets: extending the pathologies of financial globalization | 2019 | Global Networks Vol. 19(3), pp. 308-328 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchains combine digital encryption and time stamping technologies to enable digital exchange to occur in manners celebrated by proponents as ‘trust-free'. Yet, an increasing range of scholars argue that actual applications of the peer-to-peer technology shifts, rather than eliminates, trust. In this article, we draw on organizational theory to argue that efforts to remove trust reorganize the action nets that underpin payment systems in manners that extend rather than eliminate longstanding pathologies afflicting financial globalization. Our analysis supports and extends the critiques that blockchain applications are far from ‘trust-free'. By tracing how efforts to reconfigure the socio-technical composition of the humans and objects that underpin payment systems, we illustrate how blockchain applications shift the location and character of the technical vulnerabilities that create market instabilities and concentration, as well as elite-led governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{campbell2019blockchains, author = {Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm and Goguen, Marcel}, title = {Blockchains, trust and action nets: extending the pathologies of financial globalization}, journal = {Global Networks}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2019}, volume = {19}, number = {3}, pages = {308--328}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12214} } |
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Schneider, N. | Broad-Based Stakeholder Ownership in Journalism: Co-ops, ESOPs, Blockchains | 2021 | Media Industries Journal Vol. 7(2) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article presents a survey of broad-based stakeholder-ownership models for journalism. The models considered are forms of ownership by employees, associations, audiences, and blends of these. Some of the examples are so new that they have not been, and cannot yet be, comprehensively studied. Yet they bear unique promise for addressing the dual challenges of economic sustainability and perceived accountability that bedevil news media today. Such promise, however, does not guarantee success. While broad-based stakeholder ownership in the news business shows capacity for public accountability, as well as some promise for business sustainability, it is ill-equipped to compete in markets organized to favor investor-owners with far greater capital access. Such ownership models, therefore, will likely require additional policy support to gain and maintain significant market share. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{schneider2020broad, author = {Schneider, Nathan}, title = {Broad-Based Stakeholder Ownership in Journalism: Co-ops, ESOPs, Blockchains}, journal = {Media Industries Journal}, publisher = {Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library}, year = {2021}, volume = {7}, number = {2}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3998/mij.15031809.0007.203} } |
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Howson, P. | Building trust and equity in marine conservation and fisheries supply chain management with blockchain | 2020 | Marine Policy Vol. 115, pp. 103873 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This commentary explores how blockchain technology is being leveraged to improve marine conservation and fisheries supply chain management globally. In doing so, the paper considers the technical and political challenges of building trust and equity for various stakeholders. A blockchain is a smart electronic database, distributed to all users, immutably tracking every transaction that has ever taken place on the network. The blockchain is very difficult to hack, with no single point of authority to make mistakes and collapse the system. Automated consensus protocols enable data transmitted on the network to be verified and stored immutably, minimising the risk of data corruption to near-zero. Blockchain is being increasingly hyped for a range of services and industries, including transparent resourcing for marine conservation, reducing pollution from plastics, reducing slavery at sea, and sustainable fisheries management. Public distrust in some conservation operations, as well as in the provenance of seafood, is growing. Although some global marine conservation organisations and seafood producers have found practical solutions in disruptive technologies like blockchain, riding this wave will only prove worthwhile if coastal communities and artisanal fishers are on board and stand a chance of landing a fair share of the benefits. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Howson2020a, author = {Howson, Peter}, title = {Building trust and equity in marine conservation and fisheries supply chain management with blockchain}, journal = {Marine Policy}, publisher = {Pergamon}, year = {2020}, volume = {115}, pages = {103873}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MARPOL.2020.103873} } |
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Clements, R. | Built to Fail: The Inherent Fragility of Algorithmic Stablecoins [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal Vol. 11, pp. 131 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{clements2021built, author = {Clements, Ryan}, title = {Built to Fail: The Inherent Fragility of Algorithmic Stablecoins}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {HeinOnline}, year = {2021}, volume = {11}, pages = {131}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3952045} } |
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Kavanagh, D. and Ennis, P.J. | Bureaucracy, Blockocracy and Power | 2019 | , pp. 23 | unpublished | DOI URL |
Abstract: Algorithmic authority is a distinctive and novel mode of domination. Akin to other modes described by Weber, it has associated organisational forms. This paper identifies and analyses one such form, blockocracy, which occurs in the context of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies. Taking a processual approach, we describe how blockocracy emerged historically out of an anti-bureaucracy ideology, a control revolution, a recognition that computer code can regulate conduct, and the increasing adoption of algorithms. Taking a shorter time-horizon, we identify four layers of algorithmic authority, and, focusing on the blockchain layer, we distinguish between off-chain and on-chain governance, with the latter having two types of off-chain rules. While the fashionable rhetoric is that the blockchain is immutable, we see the blockchain as a dynamic quasi-object, defining and mutating identities and possibilities. We conclude the paper by comparing blockocracy with Weber's depiction of bureaucracy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Kavanagh2019, author = {Kavanagh, Donncha and Ennis, P J}, title = {Bureaucracy, Blockocracy and Power}, year = {2019}, pages = {23}, url = {https://www.egosnet.org/2019_edinburgh/colloquium}, doi = {https://www.egos} } |
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O'Dwyer, R. | Cache society: transactional records, electronic money, and cultural resistance | 2019 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 12(2), pp. 133-153 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Money is an ‘instrument of collective memory' before it is a means of exchange, a unit of account or a store of value. Money's status as a memory technology is particularly significant in light of the role that information and communication technologies now play in economic transactions. Many of the new channels and infrastructures for payments, such as magnetic cards, mobile phones, the wired Internet, social media platforms, and RFID technologies, record detailed transactional data alongside a range of other identifying data. We now have extremely detailed records of the many ways that money circulates, is transferred and is spent. This paper concerns this previously latent transactional data and how it is currently recorded, monetised, and used to inform action. What has been recorded in and about money at different moments in time and how are these categories breaking down? Who has access to and ownership over this collectively produced record and how is it driving new data practices and business models based on the monetisation and application of monetary records? And how might re-engaging with money's mnemonic status help to foreground a politics and ethics of transactional data?. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{o2019cache, author = {O'Dwyer, Rachel}, title = {Cache society: transactional records, electronic money, and cultural resistance}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {12}, number = {2}, pages = {133--153}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1545243} } |
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Yapa, C., de Alwis, C. and Liyanage, M. | Can Blockchain Strengthen the Energy Internet? | 2021 | Network Vol. 1(2), pp. 95-115 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Emergence of the Energy Internet (EI) demands restructuring of traditional electricity grids to integrate heterogeneous energy sources, distribution network management with grid intelligence and big data management. This paradigm shift is considered to be a breakthrough in the energy industry towards facilitating autonomous and decentralized grid operations while maximizing the utilization of Distributed Generation (DG). Blockchain has been identified as a disruptive technology enabler for the realization of EI to facilitate reliable, self-operated energy delivery. In this paper, we highlight six key directions towards utilizing blockchain capabilities to realize the envisaged EI. We elaborate the challenges in each direction and highlight the role of blockchain in addressing them. Furthermore, we summarize the future research directive in achieving fully autonomous and decentralized electricity distribution networks, which will be known as Energy Internet. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{network1020007, author = {Yapa, Charithri and de Alwis, Chamitha and Liyanage, Madhusanka}, title = {Can Blockchain Strengthen the Energy Internet?}, journal = {Network}, year = {2021}, volume = {1}, number = {2}, pages = {95--115}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8732/1/2/7}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/network1020007} } |
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Pilkington, M. | Can Global Elites Pave the Way for a New Transnational Unit of Account? A Reflection on the Numerical Nature of Money | 2017 | World Review of Political Economy Vol. 8(4) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the issue of the Dollar-based international monetary system. We start by listing the reasons why money has essentially become a numerical form in the contemporary world economy. After reviewing the salient characteristics of the flawed international monetary and financial architecture of the world economy, we assess whether a transnational unit of account could constitute a viable political alternative to the current international payments system. The latter scenario is envisaged both with regard to the field of international relations, and with the help of a revisited definition of the transnational capitalist class. Finally, we conclude. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Pilkington2017, author = {Pilkington, Marc}, title = {Can Global Elites Pave the Way for a New Transnational Unit of Account? A Reflection on the Numerical Nature of Money}, journal = {World Review of Political Economy}, year = {2017}, volume = {8}, number = {4}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2339678} } |
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Lohmann, L. | Carbon trading, climate justice and the production of ignorance: Ten examples | 2008 | Development Vol. 51(3), pp. 359-365 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Larry Lohmann briefly sketches ten processes of ignorance-creation facilitated by the new carbon markets, focusing particularly on the Kyoto Protocol and the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. He queries what the quest for climate justice becomes once it is incorporated into a development or carbon market framework. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lohmann2008, author = {Lohmann, Larry}, title = {Carbon trading, climate justice and the production of ignorance: Ten examples}, journal = {Development}, year = {2008}, volume = {51}, number = {3}, pages = {359--365}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.27} } |
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Mader, P. | Card crusaders, cash infidels and the holy grails of digital financial inclusion [BibTeX] |
2016 | Behemoth-A Journal on Civilisation Vol. 9(2), pp. 59-81 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{mader2016card, author = {Mader, Philip}, title = {Card crusaders, cash infidels and the holy grails of digital financial inclusion}, journal = {Behemoth-A Journal on Civilisation}, year = {2016}, volume = {9}, number = {2}, pages = {59--81} } |
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Kavanagh, D. and Miscione, G. | Carnival in the global village: Re-imagining information infrastructures | 2019 | Information Society Vol. 35(5), pp. 299-313 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Infrastructures are typically seen as boring and serious, and are routinely depicted using metaphors from transportation. We argue that the carnival is a fruitful metaphor for understanding emerging information infrastructures, as the information age is also the age of the carnival. We distinguish between the ubiquitous or distal carnival and its particular manifestations–the proximate carnival–both of which are characterized by play, anarchy, dissimulation, vulgar language, and excessive consumption. The article focuses on Bitcoin, which we see as a nascent information infrastructure and an exemplary instance of a proximate carnival. It also considers how the carnival metaphor might help us reimagine our study of the information age. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{kavanagh2019carnival, author = {Kavanagh, Donncha and Miscione, Gianluca}, title = {Carnival in the global village: Re-imagining information infrastructures}, journal = {Information Society}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {35}, number = {5}, pages = {299--313}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2019.1647321} } |
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Scott, B. | Cash in the Era of the Digital Payments Cash in the Era of the Digital [BibTeX] |
2018 | MoneyLab Reader 2: Overcoming the Hype Vol. 11, pp. 146-158 |
article | URL |
BibTeX:
@article{scott2018cash, author = {Scott, Brett}, title = {Cash in the Era of the Digital Payments Cash in the Era of the Digital}, journal = {MoneyLab Reader 2: Overcoming the Hype}, year = {2018}, volume = {11}, pages = {146--158}, url = {http://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/14-brettscott.pdf} } |
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Auer, R., Boar, C., Cornelli, G., Frost, J., Holden, H. and Wehrli, A. | CBDC Beyond Borders - results from a survey of central bankers | 2021 | Bank For International Settlements(June), pp. 105-106 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could ease current frictions in cross-border payments – and particularly so if central banks factor an international dimension into CBDC design from the outset. Based on a survey of 50 central banks in the first quarter of 2021, this paper explores initial thinking on the cross-border use of CBDCs. While most central banks have yet to take a firm decision on issuing a CBDC, the survey responses show a tentative inclination towards allowing use of a future CBDC by tourists and other non-residents domestically. They have a cautious approach to allowing use of a CBDC beyond their own jurisdiction. Concerns about the economic and monetary implications of cross-border CBDC use and about private sector global stablecoins are taken seriously. At the wholesale level, 28% of surveyed central banks are considering options to make CBDCs interoperable by forming multi-CBDC arrangements. This involves arrangements that enhance compatibility, interlink or even integrate multiple CBDCs into a single payments system. Finally, almost 14% of respondents are considering an active role for the central bank in FX conversion. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{auer2021cbdcs, author = {Auer, Raphael and Boar, Codruta and Cornelli, Giulio and Frost, Jon and Holden, Henry and Wehrli, Andreas}, title = {CBDC Beyond Borders - results from a survey of central bankers}, journal = {Bank For International Settlements}, publisher = {Bank for International Settlements}, year = {2021}, number = {June}, pages = {105--106}, doi = {https://ideas.repec.org/b/bis/bisbps/116.html} } |
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Bilotta, N. | CBDCs and Stablecoins: The Scramble for (Controllable) Anonymity [BibTeX] |
book | |||
BibTeX:
@book{bilottacbdcs, author = {Bilotta, Nicola}, title = {CBDCs and Stablecoins: The Scramble for (Controllable) Anonymity}, publisher = {Instituto AffariInternazionali} } |
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Qin, K., Zhou, L., Afonin, Y., Lazzaretti, L. and Gervais, A. | CeFi vs. DeFi -- Comparing Centralized to Decentralized Finance | 2021 | arXiv preprint arXiv:2106.08157 | article | URL |
Abstract: To non-experts, the traditional Centralized Finance (CeFi) ecosystem may seem obscure, because users are typically not aware of the underlying rules or agreements of financial assets and products. Decentralized Finance (DeFi), however, is making its debut as an ecosystem claiming to offer transparency and control, which are partially attributable to the underlying integrity-protected blockchain, as well as currently higher financial asset yields than CeFi. Yet, the boundaries between CeFi and DeFi may not be always so clear cut. In this work, we systematically analyze the differences between CeFi and DeFi, covering legal, economic, security, privacy and market manipulation. We provide a structured methodology to differentiate between a CeFi and a DeFi service. Our findings show that certain DeFi assets (such as USDC or USDT stablecoins) do not necessarily classify as DeFi assets, and may endanger the economic security of intertwined DeFi protocols. We conclude this work with the exploration of possible synergies between CeFi and DeFi. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{qin2021cefi, author = {Qin, Kaihua and Zhou, Liyi and Afonin, Yaroslav and Lazzaretti, Ludovico and Gervais, Arthur}, title = {CeFi vs. DeFi -- Comparing Centralized to Decentralized Finance}, journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2106.08157}, year = {2021}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2106.08157} } |
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Auer, R., Frost, J., Gambacorta, L., Monnet, C., Rice, T. and Shin, H.S. | Central bank digital currencies: motives, economic implications and the research frontier | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal(97) | article | DOI |
Abstract: In only a few years, central banks have rapidly ramped up research and development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). A growing body of economic research is informing central banks' efforts, often focusing on the "reserves for all" aspect of CBDCs for retail use. However, CBDCs should be considered in the full context of the digital economy and the centrality of data, which raises concerns around competition, payment system integrity and privacy. This paper gives a guided tour of the growing literature on CBDCs around the microeconomic considerations on operational architectures, technologies and privacy, and the macroeconomic implications for the financial system, financial stability and monetary policy. A set of questions, particularly on the cross-border dimensions of CBDCs, remains unresolved, and calls for further work to expand the research frontier. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Auer2021, author = {Auer, Raphael and Frost, Jon and Gambacorta, Leonardo and Monnet, Cyril and Rice, Tara and Shin, Hyun Song}, title = {Central bank digital currencies: motives, economic implications and the research frontier}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, number = {97}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3922836} } |
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Virtanen, P. | Central Bank Digital Currency : Cases of Sweden and Great Britain [BibTeX] |
2021 | article | DOI | |
BibTeX:
@article{virtanen2021central, author = {Virtanen, Petteri}, title = {Central Bank Digital Currency : Cases of Sweden and Great Britain}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75245} } |
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Siklos, P.L. | Central Bank Digital Currency and Governance: Fit for Purpose? [BibTeX] |
2021 | (250) | unpublished | URL |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Siklos2021, author = {Siklos, Pierre L}, title = {Central Bank Digital Currency and Governance: Fit for Purpose?}, year = {2021}, number = {250}, url = {https://www.cigionline.org/publications/central-bank-digital-currency-and-governance-fit-purpose/} } |
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Chiu, I.H.-Y. | Central Bank Digital Currency for the Crypto-Economy: An Experimental Proposal Based on the European Single Market and Institution-Building [BibTeX] |
2021 | California Western International Law Journal(June), pp. 253-326 | article | |
BibTeX:
@article{Chiu2012, author = {Chiu, Iris H-Y}, title = {Central Bank Digital Currency for the Crypto-Economy: An Experimental Proposal Based on the European Single Market and Institution-Building}, journal = {California Western International Law Journal}, year = {2021}, number = {June}, pages = {253--326} } |
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Bordo, M.D. | Central Bank Digital Currency in Historical Perspective: Another Crossroad in Monetary History | 2021 | Ssrn | unpublished | DOI |
Abstract: Digitalization of Money is a crossroad in monetary history. Advances in technology has led to the development of new forms of money: virtual (crypto) currencies like bitcoin; stable coins like libra/diem; and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) like the Bahamian sand dollar. These innovations in money and finance have resonance to earlier shifts in monetary history: 1) The shift in the eighteenth and nineteenth century from commodity money (gold and silver coins) to convertible fiduciary money and inconvertible fiat money; 2) the shift in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from central bank notes to a central bank monopoly; 3) Then evolution since the seventeenth century of central banks and the tools of monetary policy. This paper analyzes the arguments for a CBDC through the lens of monetary history. The bottom line is that the history of transformations in monetary systems suggests that technical change in money is inevitably driven by the financial incentives of a market economy. Government has always had a key role in the provision of outside money, which is a public good. Government has also regulated inside money provided by the private sector. This held for fiduciary money and will likely hold for digital money. CBDC could make monetary policy more efficient, and it could transform the international monetary and payments systems. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Bordo2021, author = {Bordo, Michael D.}, title = {Central Bank Digital Currency in Historical Perspective: Another Crossroad in Monetary History}, booktitle = {Ssrn}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3386/w29171} } |
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Ozili, P.K. | Central bank digital currency research around the World: a review of literature [BibTeX] |
2022 | Journal of Money Laundering Control | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{ozili2022central, author = {Ozili, Peterson K}, title = {Central bank digital currency research around the World: a review of literature}, journal = {Journal of Money Laundering Control}, publisher = {Emerald Publishing Limited}, year = {2022}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-11-2021-0126} } |
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Anonymous | Central bank digital currency: A solution in search of a problem? [BibTeX] |
2022 | the House of LordsSchool: House of Lords | article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{waller2021central, author = {Anonymous}, title = {Central bank digital currency: A solution in search of a problem?}, journal = {the House of Lords}, school = {House of Lords}, year = {2022}, url = {https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8443/documents/85604/default/}, doi = {https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8443/documents/85604/default/} } |
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Fernández-Villaverde, J., Sanches, D., Schilling, L. and Uhlig, H. | Central bank digital currency: Central banking for all? | 2021 | Review of Economic Dynamics Vol. 41, pp. 225-242 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) allows the central bank to engage in large-scale intermediation by competing with private financial intermediaries for deposits. Yet, since a central bank is not an investment expert, it cannot invest in long-term projects itself, but relies on investment banks to do so. We derive an equivalence result that shows that absent a banking panic, the set of allocations achieved with private financial intermediation will also be achieved with a CBDC. During a panic, however, we show that the rigidity of the central bank's contract with the investment banks has the capacity to deter runs. Thus, the central bank is more stable than the commercial banking sector. Consumers internalize this feature ex-ante, and the central bank arises as a deposit monopolist, attracting all deposits away from the commercial banking sector. This monopoly might endanger maturity transformation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{fernandez2021central, author = {Fernández-Villaverde, Jesús and Sanches, Daniel and Schilling, Linda and Uhlig, Harald}, title = {Central bank digital currency: Central banking for all?}, journal = {Review of Economic Dynamics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {41}, pages = {225--242}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2020.12.004} } |
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Bindseil, U. | Central Bank Digital Currency: Financial System Implications and Control | 2019 | International Journal of Political Economy Vol. 48(4), pp. 303-335 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: IT progress and its application to the financial industry have inspired central banks and academics to reflect about the merits of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) accessible to the broad public. This paper first briefly recalls the advantages that have been associated with CBDC and reviews some relevant background from the history of the issuance of different forms of central bank money. It then discusses two key arguments against CBDC, namely (i) risk of structural disintermediation of banks and centralization of the credit allocation process within the central bank and (ii) risk of facilitation systemic runs on banks in crisis situations. The paper proposes as solution a two-tier remuneration of CBDC, as a tested and simple tool to control the quantity of CBDC both in normal and crisis times. It is, however, also acknowledged that controlling the quantity of CBDC is not necessarily sufficient to control its impact on the financial system. Finally, the paper compares the financial account implications of CBDC with the one of crypto assets, stable coins, and narrow bank digital money, noting the similarity and differences in terms of implications on the financial system. It is concluded that well-controlled CBDC seems feasible, without this implying that CBDC would not catalyze change in the financial system. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bindseil2019central, author = {Bindseil, Ulrich}, title = {Central Bank Digital Currency: Financial System Implications and Control}, journal = {International Journal of Political Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {48}, number = {4}, pages = {303--335}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1693160} } |
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Braun, B. and Gabor, D. | Central banking, shadow banking, and infrastructural power [BibTeX] |
2019 | article | DOI | |
BibTeX:
@article{Braun2019, author = {Braun, Benjamin and Gabor, Daniela}, title = {Central banking, shadow banking, and infrastructural power}, year = {2019}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/nf9ms} } |
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Wigger, A. | Centralised Regulation of Decentralised Money [BibTeX] |
2018 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Wigger2018, author = {Wigger, A}, title = {Centralised Regulation of Decentralised Money}, year = {2018}, url = {https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/6571/Vaart_van_de%2C_S_1.pdf?sequence=1}, doi = {https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/123456789/6571/Vaart_van_de%2C_S_1.pdf?sequence=1} } |
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Sun, X. | Centralized Governance in Decentralized Finance (DeFi): A Case Study of MakerDAO | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: Based on Ethereum blockchain, Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) provides a possible solution to decentralized governance, and many Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications adopt the novel governance mechanism. However, by analyzing governance in Maker protocol, we find that centralized governance still exists. Measurements are established in three categories, namely voting participation, centralized voting power, and efficiency of decision-making. Furthermore, governance centralization has influence on both Maker protocol and Ethereum blockchain, and the results imply that DeFi investors are faced with a trade-off between efficiency and decentralization. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{sun2021centralized, author = {Sun, Xiaotong}, title = {Centralized Governance in Decentralized Finance (DeFi): A Case Study of MakerDAO}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3971791} } |
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Limata, P. | CERBE Blockchain and Institutions (II): The Realm of Law [BibTeX] |
2020 | techreport | URL | |
BibTeX:
@techreport{Limata2020a, author = {Limata, Plinio}, title = {CERBE Blockchain and Institutions (II): The Realm of Law}, year = {2020}, url = {https://sites.google.com/site/cerbelumsa/home} } |
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Rodrigues, J. | Chaining and Unchaining Democratic Sovereignty: (Supra)National Institutions in, and Beyond, Neoliberalism | 2020 | Journal of Economic Issues Vol. 54(4), pp. 1055-1070 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Abstract: This article examines neoliberal political economy as a relatively consistent theoretical practice that, from its intellectual origins, aimed at creating supranational institutions to limit democratic sovereignty. It pursues this line of inquiry through a detailed account of Hayek's main intellectual contribution to the political construction of supranational institutions and through a comparison between his work and Robbins' take on the same subject. This opens the terrain for the valorization of national sovereignty, a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to unchain democracy beyond neoliberalism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Rodrigues2020, author = {Rodrigues, João}, title = {Chaining and Unchaining Democratic Sovereignty: (Supra)National Institutions in, and Beyond, Neoliberalism}, journal = {Journal of Economic Issues}, year = {2020}, volume = {54}, number = {4}, pages = {1055--1070}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2020.1828728} } |
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Fritsch, F., Emmett, J., Friedman, E., Kranjc, R., Manski, S., Zargham, M. and Bauwens, M. | Challenges and Approaches to Scaling the Global Commons | 2021 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 4(April), pp. 1-16 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The re-emergence of commoning over the last decades is not incidental, but rather indicative of a large-scale transition to a more “generative” organization of society that is oriented toward the planet's global carrying capacity. Digital commons governance frameworks are of particular importance for a new global paradigm of cooperation, one that can scale the organization of communities around common goals and resources to unprecedented levels of size, complexity and granularity. Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) such as blockchain have lately given new impetus to the emergence of a new generation of authentic “sharing economy,” protected from capture by thorough distribution of power over infrastructure, that spans not only digital but also physical production of common value. The exploration of the frontiers of DLT-based commoning at the heart of this article considers three exemplary cases for this new generation of commons-oriented community frameworks: the Commons Stack, Holochain and the Commons Engine, and the Economic Space Agency. While these projects differ in their scope as well as in their relation to physical common-pool resources (CPRs), they all share the task of redefining markets so as to be more conducive to the production and sustainment of common value(s). After introducing each of them with regards to their specificities and commonalities, we analyze their capacity to foster commons-oriented economies and “money for the commons” that limit speculation, emphasize use-value over exchange-value, favor equity in human relations, and promote responsibility for the preservation of natural habitats. Our findings highlight the strengths of DLTs for a federated scaling of CPR governance frameworks that accommodates rather than obliterates cultural differences and creates webs of fractal belonging among nested communities. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fritsch2021, author = {Fritsch, Felix and Emmett, Jeff and Friedman, Emaline and Kranjc, Rok and Manski, Sarah and Zargham, Michael and Bauwens, Michel}, title = {Challenges and Approaches to Scaling the Global Commons}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, year = {2021}, volume = {4}, number = {April}, pages = {1--16}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2021.578721} } |
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de Andrés, P., Arroyo, D., Correia, R. and Rezola, A. | Challenges of the market for initial coin offerings | 2022 | International Review of Financial Analysis Vol. 79, pp. 101966 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article analyzes the main problems and the solutions adopted in the market for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), to anticipate the future of this market and determine implications for issuers, investors and regulators. ICOs represent an alternative and innovative financing solution that has experienced spectacular growth and notoriety in recent years. ICOs rely on Blockchain protocols and the ICO market is, therefore, characterized as decentralized, disintermediated and unregulated. Our results show that although the ICO market is innovative, it already displays many of the problems of traditional financial markets, and that these problems were at the genesis of the last financial crisis. Our analysis of the problems and solutions adopted shows a tension between what the Blockchain technology offers, and the problems associated with the financing of innovation. Considering the problems and solutions adopted, we no longer expect the ICO market to be characterized as disintermediated, unregulated or even decentralized in the near future. Furthermore, it is a real possibility that ICOs may end up being a progressor model eventually replaced by similar but more specialized financing models, some of which may already exist. With respect to the particular solutions of the ICO market, while some represent the realization of the potential of Blockchain, others such as forks have important Governance implications with the potential to create as many problems as the ones they address. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{de2022challenges, author = {de Andrés, Pablo and Arroyo, David and Correia, Ricardo and Rezola, Alvaro}, title = {Challenges of the market for initial coin offerings}, journal = {International Review of Financial Analysis}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {79}, pages = {101966}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101966} } |
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Sai, A.R., Buckley, J. and Le Gear, A. | Characterizing Wealth Inequality in Cryptocurrencies | 2021 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 4, pp. 38 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Cryptocurrencies often tend to maintain a publically accessible ledger of all transactions. This open nature of the transactional ledger allows us to gain macroeconomic insight into the USD 1 Trillion crypto economy. In this paper, we explore the free market-based economy of eight major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Litecoin, ZCash, Dogecoin, and Ethereum Classic. We specifically focus on the aspect of wealth distribution within these cryptocurrencies as understanding wealth concentration allows us to highlight potential information security implications associated with wealth concentration. We also draw a parallel between the crypto economies and real-world economies. To adequately address these two points, we devise a generic econometric analysis schema for cryptocurrencies. Through this schema, we report on two primary econometric measures: Gini value and Nakamoto Index which report on wealth inequality and 51% wealth concentration respectively. Our analysis reports that, despite the heavy emphasis on decentralization in cryptocurrencies, the wealth distribution remains in-line with the real-world economies, with the exception of Dash. We also report that 3 of the observed cryptocurrencies (Dogecoin, ZCash, and Ethereum Classic) violate the honest majority assumption with less than 100 participants controlling over 51% wealth in the ecosystem, potentially indicating a security threat. This suggests that the free-market fundamentalism doctrine may be inadequate in countering wealth inequality within a crypto-economic context: Algorithmically driven free-market implementation of these cryptocurrencies may eventually lead to wealth inequality similar to those observed in real-world economies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{sai2021characterizing, author = {Sai, Ashish Rajendra and Buckley, Jim and Le Gear, Andrew}, title = {Characterizing Wealth Inequality in Cryptocurrencies}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, publisher = {Frontiers}, year = {2021}, volume = {4}, pages = {38}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2021.730122} } |
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Akyildirim, E., Corbet, S. and Lucey, B.M. | China, Coal, Calamities and Cryptos [BibTeX] |
2021 | (December 2020)SSRN Electronic Journal | unpublished | DOI |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Akyildirim2021, author = {Akyildirim, Erdinc and Corbet, Shaen and Lucey, Brian M.}, title = {China, Coal, Calamities and Cryptos}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, number = {December 2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3851253} } |
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Chorzempa, M. | China, the United States, and central bank digital currencies: how important is it to be first? | 2021 | China Economic Journal Vol. 14(1), pp. 102-115 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In only a few years, central bank digital currencies (CBDC) have gone from a fringe idea promoted by cryptocurrency bloggers to an idea being seriously explored by 80% of the world's major central banks, including the People's Bank of China and the United States Federal Reserve. This paper gives an overview of the drive at the world's central banks to evaluate CBDCs and examines the reasons behind the world's two leading economies' stark divergence in central bank digital currency development. China committed much earlier to launching a CBDC, doing so in early 2016, and has since taken more concrete steps towards piloting and issuing a CBDC than the Fed, which has yet to commit to ever issuing one. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{chorzempa2021china, author = {Chorzempa, Martin}, title = {China, the United States, and central bank digital currencies: how important is it to be first?}, journal = {China Economic Journal}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {14}, number = {1}, pages = {102--115}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17538963.2020.1870278} } |
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Howson, P. | Climate Crises and Crypto-Colonialism: Conjuring Value on the Blockchain Frontiers of the Global South | 2020 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 3(May) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In this commentary we explore how international development, disaster relief and climate change mitigation credentials are being called upon to justify ‘crypto-colonialism', whereby blockchain technology is used to extract economic benefits from those suffering the scars of colonial expansionism in the Global South. These benefits include land, labour and resources needed to facilitate local ‘crypto-utopian' developments, or a ‘green economy' elsewhere. As with past neoliberal development agendas imposing structural economic reforms, the contemporary crypto-colonial exercises discussed here are driven in pursuit of a common good – to protect the global commons and improve people's lives. Within spaces where crypto-colonialism manifests, the governance frameworks of the associated technology is heavily entangled with social-spatial relations in multiple ways. We argue that despite being distributed, techno-ecological fixes are never placeless. How people engage with, resist or reconfigure a crypto-economy is geographically contingent. This commentary argues for more situated critical analysis of actually existing case-studies to reveal the inequitable terrain of project benefit distributions, and to expose the likely winners and losers within each. The success or failure of use-cases is less dependent on technical viability, but rather mediated through reactions to colonial contexts and historical experiences of various economic and climate crises. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Howson2020, author = {Howson, Peter}, title = {Climate Crises and Crypto-Colonialism: Conjuring Value on the Blockchain Frontiers of the Global South}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, number = {May}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00022} } |
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Sarah, B. | Climate Finance and the Promise of Fake Solutions to Climate Change | 2021 | Climate Finance and the Promise of Fake Solutions to Climate Change | incollection | DOI |
Abstract: This essay explores how promises of money from global institutions and governments have financialised people's hopes and expectations of government action to adapt to climate change and slow the emission of greenhouse gases. Because of the cultural power of money in our understanding of the world, climate finance has had the particular job of signifying action while delivering very little. In order to move forward with the actual material changes to energy, infrastructure, production and income distribution that lie at the heart of an effective response to climate change, we need to accept that largely fictional promises of money that ‘can change things' are a phantasmagorical expression of meaning—a firewall that prevents real change. In making this point, the essay traces the small disbursement figures for the main pots of climate finance and in doing so offers a stringent critique of the obfuscating power of the language of finance. textcopyright | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Sarah2021, author = {Sarah, Bracking}, title = {Climate Finance and the Promise of Fake Solutions to Climate Change}, booktitle = {Climate Finance and the Promise of Fake Solutions to Climate Change}, publisher = {Open Book Publishers}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0265} } |
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Bracking, S. and Leffel, B. | Climate finance governance: Fit for purpose? | 2021 | Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change Vol. 12(4), pp. 1-18 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article consists of a critical review of the conceptual scholarship on the governance of climate finance and includes an overview of the institutional arrangements and governance logics that provide climate finance. New decentralized, polycentric structures allow for climate finance to more effectively reach the sub- and non-state actors most directly implementing climate change governance. However, the expansion of climate finance into market-inflected forms of blended finance, as well as debt-based financing, express a neoliberal logic that shifts power to market actors. This may challenge the efficacy of climate finance. We suggest that further research is needed on polycentric systems in climate finance, since an apparent expansion in the diversity of providers is also accompanied by a counter-intuitive concentration of decision-making power with financial fund managers. We join others in suggesting that the weight of scholarship advocates for a strong return to public authored finance and governance, under the auspices of Green New Deal programs and more widely. This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bracking2021, author = {Bracking, Sarah and Leffel, Benjamin}, title = {Climate finance governance: Fit for purpose?}, journal = {Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change}, year = {2021}, volume = {12}, number = {4}, pages = {1--18}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.709} } |
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Schuster, E. | Cloud Crypto Land | 2021 | The Modern Law Review Vol. 84(5), pp. 974-1004 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Abstract The supposed disruptive and transformational potential of blockchain technology has received widespread attention in the media, from legislators, and from academics across disciplines. While much of this attention has revolved around cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, many see the true promise of blockchain technology in its potential use for transactions in traditional assets, as well as for facilitating self-executing ‘smart contracts', which replace vague and imprecise natural language with unambiguous computer code. This article presents a simple legal argument against the feasibility of a meaningful blockchain-based economic system. Blockchain-based systems are shown to be unsuitable for transactions in traditional assets, unless design choices are made which render the use of the technology pointless. The same argument is shown to apply to smart contracts. Legal and practical obstacles therefore mean that, outside its original realm of cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology is highly unlikely to transform economic interactions in the real world. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12603, author = {Schuster, Edmund}, title = {Cloud Crypto Land}, journal = {The Modern Law Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {84}, number = {5}, pages = {974--1004}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2230.12603}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12603} } |
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Scott, B. | Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto, and the War for Our Wallets | 2022 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: The reach of corporations into our lives via cards and apps has never been greater; many of us rarely use cash these days. But what we're told is a natural and inevitable move is the work of powerful interests. And the great battle of our time is the battle for ownership of the digital footprints that make up our lives. In Cloudmoney, Brett Scott tells an urgent and revelatory story about how the fusion of big finance and tech requires 'cloudmoney'—digital money underpinned by the banking sector—to replace physical cash. He dives beneath the surface of the global financial system to uncover a long-established lobbying infrastructure: an alliance of partners waging a covert war on cash. He explains the technical, political, and cultural differences between our different forms of money, and shows how the cash system has been under attack for decades, as banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress. Cloudmoney takes us to the frontlines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom. From marketing strategies against cash, to the weaponization of Covid-19 to push fintech platforms, and the rise of the cryptocurrency rebels and fringe groups pushing back. It asks the most pressing questions: Who benefits from a cashless society and who gets left behind? Is the end of cash the end of true privacy? And is our cloudmoney future closer than we think it is? | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Scott2022, author = {Scott, Brett}, title = {Cloudmoney: Cash, Cards, Crypto, and the War for Our Wallets}, publisher = {Harper Business}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780062936325/cloudmoney/}, doi = {https://www.harperacademic.com/book/9780062936325/cloudmoney/} } |
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Oster, J. | Code is code and law is law - The law of digitalization and the digitalization of law | 2021 | International Journal of Law and Information Technology Vol. 29(2), pp. 101-117 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The article argues for a sharp analytical distinction between the realms of technology and of law. The question to what extent the law 'can' be digitalized relates to technology, whereas the question to what extent it 'may' be digitalized falls within the realm of the law. Against this backdrop, it is argued that digital technology does not challenge the law fundamentally. Instead, the crucial questions on the relationship between law and digitalization lie in the details. The article raises those questions and provides an analytical framework for the law of digitalization and the digitalization of law. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{oster2021code, author = {Oster, Jan}, title = {Code is code and law is law - The law of digitalization and the digitalization of law}, journal = {International Journal of Law and Information Technology}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2021}, volume = {29}, number = {2}, pages = {101--117}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eaab004} } |
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Hildebrandt, M. | Code-driven Law: Freezing the Future and Scaling the Past [BibTeX] |
2020 | Is Law Computable?, pp. 67 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{hildebrandt2020code, author = {Hildebrandt, Mireille}, title = {Code-driven Law: Freezing the Future and Scaling the Past}, journal = {Is Law Computable?}, publisher = {Bloomsbury Publishing}, year = {2020}, pages = {67}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509937097.ch-003} } |
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Cohney, S., Hoffman, D., Sklaroff, J. and Wishnick, D. | Coin-operated capitalism | 2019 | Columbia Law Review Vol. 119(3), pp. 591-676 |
article | |
Abstract: This Article presents the legal literature's first detailed analysis of the inner workings of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). We characterize the ICO as an example of financial innovation, placing it in kinship with venture capital contracting, asset securitization, and (obviously) the IPO. We also take the form seriously as an example of technological innovation, in which promoters are beginning to effectuate their promises to investors through computer code, rather than traditional contract. To understand the dynamics of this shift, we first collect contracts, “whitepapers,” and other disclosures for the fifty top-grossing ICOs of 2017. We then analyze how the software code controlling the projects' ICOs reflected (or failed to reflect) their disclosures. Our inquiry reveals that many ICOs failed even to promise that they would protect investors against insider self-dealing. Fewer still manifested such promises in code. Surprisingly, in a community known for espousing a technolibertarian belief in the power of “trustless trust” built with carefully designed code, a significant fraction of issuers retained centralized control through *previously undisclosed code permitting modification of the entities' governing structures. These findings offer valuable lessons to legal scholars, economists, and policymakers about the roles played by gatekeepers, the value of regulation, and the possibilities for socially valuable private ordering in a relatively anonymous, decentralized environment. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{cohney2019coin, author = {Cohney, Shaanan and Hoffman, David and Sklaroff, Jeremy and Wishnick, David}, title = {Coin-operated capitalism}, journal = {Columbia Law Review}, publisher = {JSTOR}, year = {2019}, volume = {119}, number = {3}, pages = {591--676} } |
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Macartney, H., Wood, J. and Dubrova, K. | Collaboration, Adaptation, or Disruption? Wall Street, Fintech and Corporate Bond Trading | 2021 | New Political Economy Vol. 0(0), pp. 1-20 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Fixed-income corporate bond markets were the last bastion of non-electronic trading activity. For most of the twentieth century these markets were also dominated by the largest Wall Street dealer-banks. These banks had long argued that corporate bonds were too complex and illiquid to be electronified. In reality though, opaque Over-The-Counter trading in these bonds allowed Wall Street to monopolise highly uncompetitive markets; this market environment had changed very little over the decades, despite the financial services revolutions that had gripped other markets. By the 2010s however, Wall Street banks had finally begun to lose their stranglehold. This paper tracks the two explanatory factors, the emergence of new financial technology and the decisive intervention of state managers and post-crisis regulation–in the form of the Volcker Rule and Basel III. Recent accounts have become increasingly sceptical of the disruptive, pro-competitive impact of fintech. We argue that–at least in markets for US corporate bonds–there is evidence of a more competitive, democratic market environment emerging as a direct result of new financial technologies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Macartney2021, author = {Macartney, Huw and Wood, Jessica and Dubrova, Katarina}, title = {Collaboration, Adaptation, or Disruption? Wall Street, Fintech and Corporate Bond Trading}, journal = {New Political Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {1--20}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1952556}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1952556} } |
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Sachy, M. | Commoncoin: The Digital Complementary Currency Open Source Toolkit for the Commonfare Platform [BibTeX] |
2020 | (3) | book | |
BibTeX:
@book{Sachy2020, author = {Sachy, Marco}, title = {Commoncoin: The Digital Complementary Currency Open Source Toolkit for the Commonfare Platform}, year = {2020}, number = {3} } |
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Seyfang, G. | Community currencies: Small change for a green economy | 2001 | Environment and Planning A Vol. 33(6), pp. 975-996 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The author critically evaluates the impact and potential of a community currency-or local money system-known as the 'local exchange trading scheme' (LETS), to contribute to sustainable local development (SLD). Two distinct and contrasting models for sustainable development are described: a mainstream approach, focused on local regeneration [termed here the 'local economic development' (LED) approach]; and a radical 'green' or 'new economics' strategy (referred to as 'sustainable local development' or SLD). In the elaboration of these models the functions of community currencies within each perspective are outlined, and the basis for an evaluate framework is provided. Most previous analysis of LETS has used a broadly LED perspective; this paper focuses on an evaluation for SLD, as this has not previously been comprehensively done. For SLD, community currencies should enable people to: meet local needs through informal employment; revalue and redefine 'work'; promote localisation and self-reliance; shift consumption patterns towards sharing, recycling, reuse, and reducing resource use; and build green social networks. Findings from a case-study LETS indicate that this community currency is successful in allowing participants to make small changes in their lifestyles, consumption, and employment patterns towards SLD, but there are limitations of size, scope, funding and management to be overcome before this could be achieved more effectively with LETS. However, following the LED-relevant prescriptions for upscaling and mainstreaming would undermine the qualities which align LETS with SLD perspective, and this highlights the importance of choosing appropriate evaluative frameworks, particularly when appraising sustainable-development initiatives. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Seyfang2001, author = {Seyfang, G.}, title = {Community currencies: Small change for a green economy}, journal = {Environment and Planning A}, year = {2001}, volume = {33}, number = {6}, pages = {975--996}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1068/a33216} } |
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Schneiders, A. and Shipworth, D. | Community Energy Groups: Can They Shield Consumers from the Risks of Using Blockchain for Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading? | 2021 | Energies Vol. 14(12) |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is emerging as a new mechanism for settling the exchange of energy between renewable energy generators and consumers. P2P provides a mechanism for local balancing when it is facilitated through distributed ledgers (‘blockchains'). Energy communities across Europe have uncovered the potential of this technology and are currently running pilots to test its applicability in P2P energy trading. The aim of this paper is to assess, using legal literature and legislation, whether the legal forms available to energy communities in the United Kingdom (UK) can help resolve some of the uncertainties around the individual use of blockchain for P2P energy trading. This includes the legal recognition of ‘prosumers', the protection of their personal data, as well as the validity of ‘smart contracts' programmed to trade energy on the blockchain network. The analysis has shown that legal entities, such as Limited Liability Partnerships and Co-operative Societies, can play a crucial role in providing the necessary framework to protect consumers engaging in these transactions. This is particularly the case for co-operatives, given that they can hold members liable for not respecting the rules set out in their (compulsory) governing document. These findings are relevant to other European countries, where the energy co-operative model is also used. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{en14123569, author = {Schneiders, Alexandra and Shipworth, David}, title = {Community Energy Groups: Can They Shield Consumers from the Risks of Using Blockchain for Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading?}, journal = {Energies}, year = {2021}, volume = {14}, number = {12}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3569}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/en14123569} } |
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Lally, N., Kay, K. and Thatcher, J. | Computational parasites and hydropower: A political ecology of Bitcoin mining on the Columbia River | 2019 | Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space Vol. 0(0), pp. 251484861986760 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Over the past three years, the dams of Chelan County, Washington, its watershed and fish, the electrical grid and the laborers who maintain it, and cleared land with warehouses filled with computers, have all been enrolled as part of the decentralized digital infrastructure of Bitcoin. While popular accounts of the Bitcoin network correctly report the massive scale of energy it consumes and its potential environmental ramifications, in practice, the material geographies of Bitcoin are highly uneven and intertwined with specific infrastructural, ecological, and economic systems. In this article, we examine Bitcoin's impacts on Chelan County, untangling the processes that occur as the distributed, digital infrastructure consumes the very real material resources of one place to produce digital goods used in another. In so doing, we examine not only the material costs of networks like Bitcoin, but also their historical ties to older processes of accumulation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lally2019, author = {Lally, Nick and Kay, Kelly and Thatcher, Jim}, title = {Computational parasites and hydropower: A political ecology of Bitcoin mining on the Columbia River}, journal = {Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space}, year = {2019}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {251484861986760}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619867608} } |
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Campbell-Verduyn, M. | Conjuring a Cooler World? Blockchains, Imaginaries and the Legitimacy of Climate Governance | 2021 | Global Cooperation Research Papers Vol. 28 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Meeting on the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement signing in 2017, the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat founded the Climate Chain Coalition (CCC). Backed by a number of multi-stakeholder groups like the Blockchain for Climate Foundation, the Ottawa-based CCC promotes the 'blockchainization' of the Paris Agreement. What kind of 'cooler' world do blockchain-based climate governance projects conjure? This paper scrutinizes the shared visions materializing across climate finance experiments, locating them largely within existing individualistic imaginaries rather than more collectivistic alternatives. It finds the imaginaries of 'cool' technological experimentation to fall short in materializing broader input and more effective output required to overcome the legitimacy crisis facing market-led climate governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Campbell-Verduyn2021, author = {Campbell-Verduyn, Malcolm}, title = {Conjuring a Cooler World? Blockchains, Imaginaries and the Legitimacy of Climate Governance}, journal = {Global Cooperation Research Papers}, year = {2021}, volume = {28}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.14282/2198-0411-GCRP-28}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14282/2198-0411-GCRP-28} } |
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Valdivia, A.D. and Balcell, M.P. | Connecting the grids: A review of blockchain governance in distributed energy transitions | 2022 | Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 84, pp. 102383 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Critical effects of global climate change urgently call for socio-technical transitions towards more efficient, flexible and cleaner energy systems. However, adequate regulatory frameworks and policy incentives are lagging behind. This paper focuses on the governance dynamics shaping technology-enabled transitions towards distributed energy systems. The purpose of this review is to assess the potential role of blockchain technology in enhancing the governance of sociotechnical energy transitions. For this, the paper reviews: (1) the governance arrangements shaping distributed energy transitions, (2) the emergence of blockchain-based solutions in the energy sector (focusing on P2P energy trading platforms) and, (3) the role of the blockchain in overcoming the governance limitations of distributed energy transitions. The study addresses emerging but interrelated niches of academic study from an integral conceptualization and synthesis of the literature. Rather than extensively covering these fields of research, the purpose is to connect these areas of academic knowledge and expand the theoretical understanding stemming from this convergence. The findings show the potential of blockchain-based governance to overcome institutional barriers related to trust-building and enhanced coordination for community-based energy transitions. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{VALDIVIA2022102383, author = {Valdivia, A. Diaz and Balcell, M. Poblet}, title = {Connecting the grids: A review of blockchain governance in distributed energy transitions}, journal = {Energy Research and Social Science}, year = {2022}, volume = {84}, pages = {102383}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621004710}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102383} } |
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Maddox, A., Barratt, M.J., Allen, M. and Lenton, S. | Constructive activism in the dark web: cryptomarkets and illicit drugs in the digital ‘demimonde' | 2016 | Information Communication and Society Vol. 19(1), pp. 111-126 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper explores activism enacted through Silk Road, a now defunct cryptomarket where illicit drugs were sold in the dark web. Drawing on a digital ethnography of Silk Road, we develop the notion of constructive activism to extend the lexicon of concepts available to discuss forms of online activism. Monitoring of the cryptomarket took place between June 2011 and its closure in October 2013. Just before and after the closure of the marketplace we conducted anonymous online interviews with 17 people who reported buying drugs on Silk Road (1.0). These interviews were conducted synchronously and interactively through encrypted instant messaging. Participants discussed harnessing and developing the technological tools needed to access Silk Road and engage within the Silk Road community. For participants Silk Road was not just a market for trading drugs: it facilitated a shared experience of personal freedom within a libertarian philosophical framework, where open discussions about stigmatized behaviours were encouraged and supported. Tensions between public activism against drug prohibition and the need to hide one's identity as a drug user from public scrutiny were partially resolved through community actions that internalized these politics, rather than engaging in forms of online activism that are intended to have real-world political effects. Most aptly described through van de Sande's (2015) concept of prefigurative politics, they sought to transform their values into built environments that were designed to socially engineer a more permissive digital reality, which we refer to as constructive activism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{maddox2016constructive, author = {Maddox, Alexia and Barratt, Monica J. and Allen, Matthew and Lenton, Simon}, title = {Constructive activism in the dark web: cryptomarkets and illicit drugs in the digital ‘demimonde'}, journal = {Information Communication and Society}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2016}, volume = {19}, number = {1}, pages = {111--126}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1093531} } |
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Lotti, L. | Contemporary art, capitalization and the blockchain: On the autonomy and automation of art's value | 2016 | Finance and Society Vol. 2(2), pp. 96-110 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article addresses contemporary art as a means to investigate how, and to what extent, financial logic impacts upon the socio-cultural sphere. Its contribution is twofold: on the one hand, the article shows that contemporary art's valuation practices increasingly reflect the logic of capitalization; on the other hand, it assesses the emancipatory potential of blockchain technology for the cultural sphere. In relation to the latter I argue that, in spite of the technological novelty of blockchain-based art projects, these nonetheless fail to challenge a received logic of finance. This exposes the limitations to technological determinism as a means of countering financial power in the socio-cultural sphere, and points to new problems for art's valuation methods in relation to the liquid logic of algorithmic finance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lotti2016contemporary, author = {Lotti, Laura}, title = {Contemporary art, capitalization and the blockchain: On the autonomy and automation of art's value}, journal = {Finance and Society}, year = {2016}, volume = {2}, number = {2}, pages = {96--110}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v2i2.1724} } |
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Savelyev, A. | Contract law 2.0: ‘Smart' contracts as the beginning of the end of classic contract law | 2017 | Information and Communications Technology Law Vol. 26(2), pp. 116-134 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The paper analyzes legal issues associated with the application of existing contract law provisions to so-called Smart contracts, defined in the paper as ‘agreements existing in the form of software code implemented on the Blockchain platform, which ensures the autonomy and self-executive nature of Smart contract terms based on a predetermined set of factors'. The paper consists of several sections. In the second section, the paper outlines the peculiarities of Blockchain technology, as currently implemented in Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which forms the core of Smart contracts. In the third section, the main characteristic features of Smart contracts are described. Finally, the paper outlines key tensions between classic contract law and Smart contracts. The concluding section sets the core question for analysis of the perspectives of implementation of this technology by governments: ‘How to align the powers of the government with Blockchain if there is no central authority but only distributed technologies'. The author suggests two solutions, neither of which is optimal: (1) providing the state authorities with the status of a Superuser with extra powers; and (2) relying on traditional remedies and enforcement practices, by pursuing specific individuals–parties to a Smart contract–in offline mode. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{savelyev2017contract, author = {Savelyev, Alexander}, title = {Contract law 2.0: ‘Smart' contracts as the beginning of the end of classic contract law}, journal = {Information and Communications Technology Law}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2017}, volume = {26}, number = {2}, pages = {116--134}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13600834.2017.1301036} } |
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Ghodoosi, F. | Contracting in the age of smart contracts | 2021 | Washington Law Review Vol. 96(1), pp. 51-92 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Smart contracts lie at the heart of blockchain technology. There are two principal problems, however, with existing smart contracts: First, the enforceability of smart contracts remains ambiguous. Second, smart contracts are limited in scope and capability barring more complex contracts from being executed via blockchain technology. Drawing from the existing literature on contracts and smart contracting, this Article suggests new approaches to address these two problems. First, it proposes a framework based on reliance-based contracting to analyze smart contracts. Second, the Article analyzes the seismic shifts in contractual disputes, and offers new insights into its features including decentralized decision-making, network-based dispute resolution, and extrajudicial enforcement of decisions. The Article concludes that users' reliance should be the basis for analysis of smart contracts and its associated dispute resolution mechanism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{ghodoosi2021contracting, author = {Ghodoosi, Farshad}, title = {Contracting in the age of smart contracts}, journal = {Washington Law Review}, publisher = {HeinOnline}, year = {2021}, volume = {96}, number = {1}, pages = {51--92}, url = {https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol96/iss1/2/}, doi = {https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol96/iss1/2/} } |
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Baym, N., Swartz, L. and Alarcon, A. | Convening technologies: Blockchain and the music industry | 2019 | International Journal of Communication Vol. 13, pp. 402-421 |
article | |
Abstract: This article traces the debates occurring in the music industry where blockchain technology surged as an ideal solution for long-standing disagreements over distribution, publishing, licensing, sales, streaming, and listening. The projections (in conferences, media, opinion pieces, and academic reports) started as techno-utopian, but over time the discourse shifted from "radical" to "incorporative" goals. The technological dreams were scaled back as the scope of social challenges to technological solutions became clearer. Borrowing from Clive Barnett's theory of convening publics, we argue that the role of the blockchain in this environment was not necessarily as a technological solution, but rather as a "convening" force that brought disparate actors together. Nonetheless, we still have to ask, who is invited to convene, and who is left out?. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Baym2019, author = {Baym, Nancy and Swartz, Lana and Alarcon, Andrea}, title = {Convening technologies: Blockchain and the music industry}, journal = {International Journal of Communication}, year = {2019}, volume = {13}, pages = {402--421} } |
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Fletcher, E., Larkin, C. and Corbet, S. | Countering money laundering and terrorist financing: A case for bitcoin regulation | 2021 | Research in International Business and Finance Vol. 56(January), pp. 101387 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Bitcoin was created in 2008 to serve as an alternative payment mechanism for both the under-banked and un-banked, or those in regions where the formal financial system suffers from broad corruption and efficient regulation. However, criminals and terrorists quickly exploited Bitcoin's unique properties, namely its peer-to-peer nature and pseudo-anonymity, to facilitate extensive terrorist financing and money laundering schemes. Government reactions to safeguard national security interests have been extremely varied, ranging from outright bans to passive tolerance. This inconsistency stems from how to effectively classify Bitcoin. On one side are those who argue Bitcoin is a currency, and on the other are those who claim it is a type of asset. In the US alone, these discrepancies have led to a bureaucratic turf war between different regulatory bodies, namely the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Commodity Futures Trading Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service. This study seeks to move beyond the existing legal frameworks, arguing that Bitcoin should be classified as a technology and regulation should rest with private sector technology companies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fletcher2021, author = {Fletcher, Emily and Larkin, Charles and Corbet, Shaen}, title = {Countering money laundering and terrorist financing: A case for bitcoin regulation}, journal = {Research in International Business and Finance}, publisher = {Elsevier B.V.}, year = {2021}, volume = {56}, number = {January}, pages = {101387}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101387}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101387} } |
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Finucane, B.P. | Creating With Blockchain Technology: the “Provably Rare” Possibilities of Crypto Art | 2018 | School: University of British Columbia | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: My thesis examines crypto art from several different vantage points. This is a budding artistic phenomenon which, can be broadly defined as art that takes place on the blockchain (also called a distributed digital ledger). Investigating this movement can aid in illuminating alternative forms of contemporary artistic practice, the direction of the blockchain, and a better understanding of cryptocurrency. Crypto art facilitates an efficient form of economic value creation for both artists and collectors, enabled by the blockchain's capacities around tracing provenance and authenticity as well as implementing mechanisms to ensure artists receive compensation at the point of sale and resale. These outcomes would not have been possible in a pre-blockchain world. However, many of the approaches and philosophies are shared between the makers and functions of crypto art and conceptual art. Several aspects of blockchain technology are “new,” but the problems and questions that crypto art addresses, including its association with larger financial forces, have tremendous art historical precedent. Much of the modern art system is even built upon these connections, and paralleling this movement to conceptual art can help expose these affiliations. Looking at blockchain through the legacy of conceptual art also demonstrates the need for this technology and its capabilities, most notably, the built-in payment structure for artists. With this in mind, the central questions in my thesis are: how has crypto art challenged the relationship to authorship, ownership, dematerialization and distribution that were fundamental to conceptual art? And what relevance does this have for blockchain technology today? In attempting to address these questions, this paper will argue that crypto art reveals and critiques the framework of the art market. I will focus on Rare Pepes (2016-present) for my primary case study but will also survey other crypto art works to support my argument. The majority of my research engages directly with crypto art. For supplementary material, I have relied upon the work of Jason Bailey and Hito Steyerl as well as Oliver Roeder. I will also employ the writings of Lucy Lippard, Benjamin Buchloh and Joseph Kosuth to think through the theoretical side of conceptual art. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{finucane2018creating, author = {Finucane, Blake Patricia}, title = {Creating With Blockchain Technology: the “Provably Rare” Possibilities of Crypto Art}, school = {University of British Columbia}, year = {2018}, url = {https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0370991}, doi = {https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0370991} } |
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Humayun, S.M. | Creation and resilience of decentralized brands: Bitcoin & the blockchain | 2019 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: This dissertation is based on a longitudinal ethnographic and netnographic study of the Bitcoin and broader Blockchain community. The data is drawn from 38 in-depth interviews and 200+ informal interviews, plus archival news media sources, netnography, and participant observation conducted in multiple cities: Toronto, Amsterdam, Berlin, Miami, New York, Prague, San Francisco, Cancun, Boston/Cambridge, and Tokyo. Participation at Bitcoin/Blockchain conferences included: Consensus Conference New York, North American Bitcoin Conference, Satoshi Roundtable Cancun, MIT Business of Blockchain, and Scaling Bitcoin Tokyo. The research fieldwork was conducted between 2014-2018. The dissertation is structured as three papers: - Satoshi is Dead. Long Live Satoshi. The Curious Case of Bitcoin: This paper focuses on the myth of anonymity and how by remaining anonymous, Satoshi Nakamoto, was able to leave his creation open to widespread adoption. - Tracing the United Nodes of Bitcoin: This paper examines the intersection of religiosity, technology, and money in the Bitcoin community. - Our Brand Is Crisis: Creation and Resilience of Decentralized Brands Bitcoin & the Blockchain: Drawing on ecological resilience framework as a conceptual metaphor this paper maps how various stabilizing and destabilizing forces in the Bitcoin ecosystem helped in the evolution of a decentralized brand and promulgated more mainstreaming of the Bitcoin brand. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Humayun2019, author = {Humayun, Syeda Mariam}, title = {Creation and resilience of decentralized brands: Bitcoin & the blockchain}, year = {2019}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10315/37662%0A}, doi = {http://hdl.handle.net/10315/37662} } |
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Gilbertson, T. and Reyes, O. | Critical Currents: Carbon Trading - How it works and why it fails [BibTeX] |
2009 | (7), pp. 1-104 | book | |
BibTeX:
@book{Gilbertson2009, author = {Gilbertson, Tamra and Reyes, Oscar}, title = {Critical Currents: Carbon Trading - How it works and why it fails}, year = {2009}, number = {7}, pages = {1--104} } |
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Davis, M. and DavisBruce | Crowdfunding and the Democratization of Finance | 2021 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Do you know where your money is? More importantly, do you know what your money is doing? Most of us feel confident that we know what money is. But few of us feel confident in taking responsibility for what our money does. We hand over the power of money to banks and mainstream finance with real, often damaging, consequences for people and planet. A unique collaboration between an academic and a practitioner, this book tells the story of money, from ancient Athens to the Bitcoin revolution, to explain how crowdfunding is the way for people to reclaim the power of their money in pursuit of a fairer and greener society. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{davis2021crowdfunding, author = {Davis, Mark and DavisBruce}, title = {Crowdfunding and the Democratization of Finance}, publisher = {Policy Press}, year = {2021}, url = {https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/crowdfunding-and-the-democratization-of-finance}, doi = {https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/crowdfunding-and-the-democratization-of-finance} } |
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Gürses, S., Kundnani, A. and Van Hoboken, J. | Crypto and empire: the contradictions of counter-surveillance advocacy | 2016 | Media, Culture and Society Vol. 38(4), pp. 576-590 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Since Edward Snowden's revelations of US and UK surveillance programs, privacy advocates, progressive security engineers, and policy makers have been seeking to win majority support for countering surveillance. The problem is framed as the replacement of targeted surveillance with mass surveillance programs, and the solutions put forward are predominantly technical and involve the use of encryption – or ‘crypto' – as a defense mechanism. The counter-surveillance movement is timely and deserves widespread support. However, as this article will argue and illustrate, raising the specter of an Orwellian system of mass surveillance, shifting the discussion to the technical domain, and couching that shift in economic terms undermine a political reading that would attend to the racial, gendered, classed, and colonial aspects of the surveillance programs. Our question is as follows: how can this specific discursive framing of counter-surveillance be re-politicized and broadened to enable a wider societal debate informed by the experiences of those subjected to targeted surveillance and associated state violence? | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{gurses2016crypto, author = {Gürses, Seda and Kundnani, Arun and Van Hoboken, Joris}, title = {Crypto and empire: the contradictions of counter-surveillance advocacy}, journal = {Media, Culture and Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2016}, volume = {38}, number = {4}, pages = {576--590}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443716643006} } |
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Franceschet, M., Colavizza, G., Smith, T., Finucane, B., Ostachowski, M.L., Scalet, S., Perkins, J., Morgan, J. and Hernández, S. | Crypto art: A decentralized view | 2021 | Leonardo Vol. 54(4), pp. 402-405 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Crypto art is limited-edition digital art, cryptographically registered with a token on a blockchain. Tokens represent a transparent, auditable origin and provenance for a piece of digital art. Blockchain technology allows tokens to be held and securely traded without the involvement of third parties. Crypto art draws its origins from conceptual art—sharing the immaterial and distributive nature of artworks, the tight blending of artworks with currency and the rejection of conventional art markets and institutions. The authors propose a collection of viewpoints on crypto art from different actors within the system: Artists, collectors, gallerists, art historians and data scientists. A set of emerging themes and open challenges surfaces. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{franceschet2021crypto, author = {Franceschet, Massimo and Colavizza, Giovanni and Smith, T'Ai and Finucane, Blake and Ostachowski, Martin Lukas and Scalet, Sergio and Perkins, Jonathan and Morgan, James and Hernández, Sebastián}, title = {Crypto art: A decentralized view}, journal = {Leonardo}, publisher = {MIT Press One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209, USA journals-info∼…}, year = {2021}, volume = {54}, number = {4}, pages = {402--405}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02003} } |
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Rae, S.W. and Mastersmith, L. | Crypto Asset Trading in Canada: Entering a New Era of Regulation | 2019 | Banking & Finance Law Review Vol. 35(1), pp. 153-185 |
article | URL |
Abstract: [...]the factors under consideration by the regulators in making these assessments include:55 * whether the platform is structured so that there is intended to be and is delivery of crypto assets to investors; * if there is delivery, when that occurs, and whether it is to an investor's wallet over which the platform does not have control or custody; * whether investors' crypto assets are pooled together with those of other investors and with the assets of the platform; * whether the platform or a related party holds or controls the investors' assets; * if the platform holds or stores assets for its participants, how the platform makes use of those assets; * whether the investor can trade, or rollover positions held by the platform, and having regard to the legal arrangements between the platform and its participants, the actual functions of the platform and the manner in which transactions occur on it; * who has control or custody of crypto assets; * who is the legal owner of such crypto assets; and * what rights investors will have in the event of the platform's insolvency. (b) The Proposed Regulatory Framework (i) Overview The proposed framework is based on the existing regulatory framework applicable to marketplaces in Canada. [...]it is worth noting that in instances where a platform does not take custody of digital-assets on behalf of its users, insurance may not even be necessary.145 The idea was also proposed to devise an insurance scheme similar to the CDIC, in which crypto asset platforms would be required to participate, with reasonable premiums and strict parameters.146 If not a long-term solution, this approach could nonetheless be useful in the short term to provide insurance to these platforms while the market for insurance adjusts to this industry. [...]the CDCC "is concerned that the Proposed Platform Framework may stifle these innovations, which are designed to protect personal information and reduce transaction costs, by imposing a traditional model of financial regulation onto Platforms. "158 Specific tools have yet to be developed, but the commentary suggests that all the pieces are there to build them. Because there are significant differences in the risks that exist between traditional and decentralized clearing, it was suggested that decentralized exchanges should be subject to KYC and AML compliance measures that appropriately reflect their business models.159 The CDCC recommends using new models for digital identity and digital transaction security that have the potential to dramatically enhance the security for these types of trades, rather than following the usual KYC and AML protocol.160 Coincidentally, and as we are about to discuss, traditional KYC and AML protocol in Canada just went through an upgrade. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{rae2019crypto, author = {Rae, Shaela W and Mastersmith, Lorraine}, title = {Crypto Asset Trading in Canada: Entering a New Era of Regulation}, journal = {Banking & Finance Law Review}, publisher = {HAB Press Limited}, year = {2019}, volume = {35}, number = {1}, pages = {153--185}, url = {https://search.proquest.com/docview/2322612081?accountid=13031%0Ahttp://sfx.nelliportaali.fi/nelli28b?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&genre=article&sid=ProQ:ProQ%3Aabiglobal&atitle=Crypto+Asset+Trading+in+Canada%3A+Entering+a+} } |
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Valeonti, F., Bikakis, A., Terras, M., Speed, C., Hudson-Smith, A. and Chalkias, K. | Crypto collectibles, museum funding and openGLAM: Challenges, opportunities and the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) | 2021 | Applied Sciences (Switzerland) Vol. 11(21), pp. 9931 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) make it technically possible for digital assets to be owned and traded, introducing the concept of scarcity in the digital realm for the first time. Resulting from this technical development, this paper asks the question, do they provide an opportunity for fundraising for galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM), by selling ownership of digital copies of their collections? Although NFTs in their current format were first invented in 2017 as a means for game players to trade virtual goods, they reached the mainstream in 2021, when the auction house Christie's held their first-ever sale exclusively for an NFT of a digital image, that was eventually sold for a record 69 million USD. The potential of NFTs to generate significant revenue for artists and museums by selling effectively a cryptographically signed copy of a digital image (similar to real-world limited editions, which are signed and numbered copies of a given artwork), has sparked the interest of the financially deprived museum and heritage sector with world-renowned institutions such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Hermitage Museum, having already employed NFTs in order to raise funds. Concerns surrounding the environmental impact of blockchain technology and the rise of malicious projects, exploiting previously digitised heritage content made available through OpenGLAM licensing, have attracted criticism over the speculative use of the technology. In this paper, we present the current state of affairs in relation to NFTs and the cultural heritage sector, identifying challenges, whilst highlighting opportunities that they create for revenue generation, in order to help address the ever-increasing financial challenges of galleries and museums. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{valeonti2021crypto, author = {Valeonti, Foteini and Bikakis, Antonis and Terras, Melissa and Speed, Chris and Hudson-Smith, Andrew and Chalkias, Konstantinos}, title = {Crypto collectibles, museum funding and openGLAM: Challenges, opportunities and the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs)}, journal = {Applied Sciences (Switzerland)}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}, year = {2021}, volume = {11}, number = {21}, pages = {9931}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/app11219931} } |
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Groos, J. | Crypto Politics: Notes on Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Governance in Blockchain Based Technologies | 2021 | Vol. 1Data Loam, pp. 148-170 |
incollection | DOI |
Abstract: Crypto Politics: Notes on Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Governance in Blockchain Based Technologies was published in Data Loam on page 148. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Groos2019, author = {Groos, Jan}, title = {Crypto Politics: Notes on Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Governance in Blockchain Based Technologies}, booktitle = {Data Loam}, year = {2021}, volume = {1}, pages = {148--170}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110697841-009} } |
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Jarvis, C. | Crypto Wars The Fight for Privacy in the Digital Age: A Political History of Digital Encryption | 2021 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: The crypto wars have raged for half a century. In the 1970s, digital privacy activists prophesied the emergence of an Orwellian State, made possible by computer-mediated mass surveillance. The antidote: digital encryption. The U.S. government warned encryption would not only prevent surveillance of law-abiding citizens, but of criminals, terrorists, and foreign spies, ushering in a rival dystopian future. Both parties fought to defend the citizenry from what they believed the most perilous threats. The government tried to control encryption to preserve its surveillance capabilities; privacy activists armed citizens with cryptographic tools and challenged encryption regulations in the courts. No clear victor has emerged from the crypto wars. Governments have failed to forge a framework to govern the, at times conflicting, civil liberties of privacy and security in the digital age—an age when such liberties have an outsized influence on the citizen–State power balance. Solving this problem is more urgent than ever. Digital privacy will be one of the most important factors in how we architect twenty-first century societies—its management is paramount to our stewardship of democracy for future generations. We must elevate the quality of debate on cryptography, on how we govern security and privacy in our technology-infused world. Failure to end the crypto wars will result in societies sleepwalking into a future where the citizen–State power balance is determined by a twentieth-century status quo unfit for this century, endangering both our privacy and security. This book provides a history of the crypto wars, with the hope its chronicling sets a foundation for peace. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Jarvis2021, author = {Jarvis, Craig}, title = {Crypto Wars The Fight for Privacy in the Digital Age: A Political History of Digital Encryption}, publisher = {CBC PRESS}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.routledge.com/Crypto-Wars-The-Fight-for-Privacy-in-the-Digital-Age-A-Political-History/Jarvis/p/book/9780367642488}, doi = {https://www.routledge.com/Crypto-Wars-The-Fight-for-Privacy-in-the-Digital-Age-A-Political-History/Jarvis/p/book/9780367642488} } |
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Fridmanski, E. and Hachen, D. | Crypto-Capital: the Political Economy of Cryptocurrencies | 2021 | (April)School: Notre Dame | phdthesis | DOI |
Abstract: Technology and capitalism are intertwined in an historical and dialectical relation- ship. One aspect of technological advancement is that it allowed for more efficient and distant trade networks which ultimately allowed for the exchange of value to go beyond city walls–and eventually national borders. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology represent a new phase of this historical process. Cryptocurrency systems and their technical details are complex as well as unintuitive. A higher level un- derstanding of these systems assists in deconstructing the particulars. Features and protocols underlying cryptocurrencies obscure and obfuscate an individual entity's transaction behavior and real life identity. This obfuscation makes these systems difficult to study. In this study I deanonymize key actors in two cryptocurrency systems–bitcoin and litecoin. Using this deanonymized network I study the evolution of the transac- tion networks in both systems. Ultimately I argue that cryptocurrencies, counter to popular rhetoric employed by advocates, are not a decentralizing or democratizing force. I show that consolidation is occurring within these systems' infrastructural and organizational contexts and that this consolidation is deeply intertwined with changes in the underlying social structure as well as the external and abstract mar- ket surrounding these systems | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Fridmanski2021, author = {Fridmanski, Ethan and Hachen, David}, title = {Crypto-Capital: the Political Economy of Cryptocurrencies}, school = {Notre Dame}, year = {2021}, number = {April}, doi = {https://curate.nd.edu/show/02870v86418} } |
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Howson, P., Oakes, S., Baynham-Herd, Z. and Swords, J. | Cryptocarbon: The promises and pitfalls of forest protection on a blockchain | 2019 | Geoforum Vol. 100(February 2019), pp. 1-9 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: In this commentary, we explore how blockchain is being leveraged to address the fundamental problems with market-based forest protection globally. In doing so, we consider the ways ‘cryptocarbon' initiatives are creating new challenges that have so far escaped critical scrutiny. A blockchain is a distributed and immutable electronic database – a ledger of every transaction that has ever taken place on a network, stored as cryptographically secured blocks, strung together in a chain. The technology is being increasingly hyped as applicable for a whole range of industries, social service provisions, and environmental management concerns. This includes the facilitation of natural asset market mechanisms, like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The original aim of REDD+ was to incentivise conservation, making tropical forests more valuable standing than cut down. Multiple factors, including lack of consumer interest, created an oversupply of carbon commodities. Ninety-five percent of the world's avoided deforestation credits, representing millions of hectares of conserved forest, were stuck without a buyer. Several flagging REDD+ projects are now hoping that blockchain technology can carry them to new heights of market capitalisation. However, like with any powerful new technology, the benefits remain ambiguous. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Howson2019, author = {Howson, Peter and Oakes, Sarah and Baynham-Herd, Zachary and Swords, Jon}, title = {Cryptocarbon: The promises and pitfalls of forest protection on a blockchain}, journal = {Geoforum}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {100}, number = {February 2019}, pages = {1--9}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.02.011}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.02.011} } |
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Malherbe, L., Montalban, M., Bédu, N. and Granier, C. | Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Opportunities and Limits of a New Monetary Regime | 2019 | International Journal of Political Economy Vol. 48(2), pp. 127-152 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Cryptocurrency innovations such as Bitcoin raise the question of the possible transformation of the monetary regime and how it would operate. The blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin is said to be “trustless” because it has been designed to avoid a “trusted third party.” Drawing on the institutionalist approach of Aglietta and Orléan emphasizing the importance of trust in money and the monetary system, we show that Bitcoin is characterized by: (1) methodical trust through the existence of an objective proof of payment; (2) hierarchical trust due to the concentration in the mining process; and (3) ethical trust organized around the rejection of banks and the state, although the early ethical commitment is unstable. In other words, trust is now materialized in a form of technical institution, the blockchain. However, Bitcoin cannot be used as everyday money as it would bring about a deflationist and dysfunctional monetary regime, as well as high transaction costs. Some other cryptocurrencies could lead to interesting transformations of the monetary regime if they were to provide new forms of sovereignty, avoid a design based on a fixed monetary supply, or if central banks decided to back them. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{doi:10.1080/08911916.2019.1624320, author = {Malherbe, Léo and Montalban, Matthieu and Bédu, Nicolas and Granier, Caroline}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Opportunities and Limits of a New Monetary Regime}, journal = {International Journal of Political Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2019}, volume = {48}, number = {2}, pages = {127--152}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624320}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624320} } |
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Tozze, A., Kamps, J., Arda Akartuna, E., Davies, T., Hetzel, F. and Johnson, S.D. | Cryptocurrencies and future crime | 2021 | Crime Science Vol. 11(1), pp. 4 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Cryptocurrency fraud has become a growing global concern, with various governments reporting an increase in the frequency of and losses from cryptocurrency scams. Despite increasing fraudulent activity involving cryptocurrencies, research on the potential of cryptocurrencies for fraud has not been examined in a systematic study. This review examines the current state of knowledge about what kinds of cryptocurrency fraud currently exist, or are expected to exist in the future, and provides comprehensive definitions of the frauds identified. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{trozze2022cryptocurrencies, author = {Tozze, Arianna and Kamps, Josh and Arda Akartuna, Eray and Davies, Toby and Hetzel, Florian and Johnson, Shane D.}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and future crime}, journal = {Crime Science}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2021}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, pages = {4}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-021-00163-8} } |
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Estecahandy, H. and Limonier, K. | Cryptocurrencies and processing power in Russia: a new strategic territory in eastern Siberia? | 2021 | Journal of Cyber Policy Vol. 6(1), pp. 68-80 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: … frontier psychology' among the settlers, who had fiercely independent attitudes toward the authorities … greatly influenced by the Decembrists who were forcibly exiled to the territory … identity – built on a representation of independence and critical attitudes towards the government … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{estecahandy2021cryptocurrencies, author = {Estecahandy, Hugo and Limonier, Kevin}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and processing power in Russia: a new strategic territory in eastern Siberia?}, journal = {Journal of Cyber Policy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {6}, number = {1}, pages = {68--80}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/23738871.2021.1939746} } |
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Fantacci, L. | Cryptocurrencies and the Denationalization of Money | 2019 | International Journal of Political Economy Vol. 48(2), pp. 105-126 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The theoretical foundations of bitcoin have been frequently traced back to the Austrian school of economics. To the extent that cryptocurrencies are not issued by a centralized authority and do not rely on an official legal tender status for their acceptance, they may indeed appear as a dramatic departure from the historical trend that has led, over the past few centuries, to the making of national money and as a decisive step toward the “denationalization of money” advocated by F. A. von Hayek. This article investigates to what extent bitcoin truly embodies the principles of stable money prescribed by Hayek and whether the proliferation of cryptocurrencies constitutes a Hayekian monetary competition. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fantacci2019, author = {Fantacci, Luca}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and the Denationalization of Money}, journal = {International Journal of Political Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2019}, volume = {48}, number = {2}, pages = {105--126}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624319}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624319} } |
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Kavanagh, D. and Ennis, P.J. | Cryptocurrencies and the emergence of blockocracy | 2020 | The Information Society Vol. 36(5), pp. 290-300 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: AbstractBlockocracies are a coherent, distinctive and novel organizational form bound by a collective ledger and a cryptocurrency. We frame our analysis of blockocracies against Weber's enduring description of bureaucracy, identifying those features of Weberian bureaucracies that are present, absent or marginalized in blockocracies. In contrast to bureaucracy's monocratic authority structure, authority in blockocracies is centered on four distinct layers. In each layer, there is governance of the code and governance by the code, and in the latter we distinguish between endogenous and exogenous rules. We also compare the “blockocrat” with Weber's depiction of the bureaucrat. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{doi:10.1080/01972243.2020.1795958, author = {Kavanagh, Donncha and Ennis, Paul John}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and the emergence of blockocracy}, journal = {The Information Society}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, volume = {36}, number = {5}, pages = {290--300}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2020.1795958}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2020.1795958} } |
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Geva, B. | Cryptocurrencies and the Evolution of Banking, Money, and Payments | 2019 | Cryptoassets, pp. 11-38 | article | DOI |
Abstract: We study how attempts to regulate cryptocurrencies, or at least to mit- igate the harm they do, are misdirected. We started by looking at how one might blacklist stolen bitcoin, and find that two established legal principles – the nemo dat rule and the Clayton's case precedent – make tracing crime proceeds much simpler than researchers previously thought; they support a first-in first-out rule for taint tracking, which turns out to be much more effi- cient. However once we published initial results and were approached by theft victims, we discovered a more serious problem. Many bitcoin exchanges do not now give their customers actual bitcoin, but rather do off-chain transac- tions with other exchange customers or transact on customers' behalf with outsiders. Except where customers withdraw cryptocurrency into self-hosted wallets, the ownership of these assets is unclear. The number of off-blockchain transactions has increased enormously in the last eighteen months; we can't find good figures but the volume is sufficient to raise serious concerns and the practice falls under e-money regulations that are not being enforced. In short, the security, economics and regulatory problems of cryptocurrencies in 2018 turn out to be rather different from those described in the academic literature. The real problem is that we are seeing the emergence of a shadow banking sys- tem. Cryptocurrencies do not solve the underlying problems that made bank regulation necessary, and we sadly predict that many of the familiar second- order problems will also reappear. We discuss the implications for regulating cryptocurrencies and smart contracts more generally, and suggest eight things that regulators and central banks might usefully do. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Geva2019, author = {Geva, Benjamin}, title = {Cryptocurrencies and the Evolution of Banking, Money, and Payments}, journal = {Cryptoassets}, year = {2019}, pages = {11--38}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190077310.003.0002} } |
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Dallyn, S. | Cryptocurrencies as market singularities: the strange case of Bitcoin | 2017 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 10(5), pp. 462-473 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Since its creation in 2009, the electronic currency Bitcoin has generated volumes of online debate in the business press. While there have been plenty of economic arguments situating it as a financial bubble about to collapse including from Nobel Prize winning economists, its price value has proven to be more durable than many have predicted. To explain this durability, Karpik's conception of market singularities is used to understand the Bitcoin phenomenon by outlining the beliefs that maintain Bitcoin's status as a volatile financial asset. Market singularities are markets for particular kinds of goods and services that are of uncertain and incommensurable value. Singularities markets have communities of followers and a distinctive belief system that ascribes value to a particular product, service, or asset. Developing Karpik's conception, the paper explores the libertarian political belief system that surrounds Bitcoin's status as a financial asset. I also outline some political tensions within the electronic currency community concerning governance and centralisation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{dallyn2017cryptocurrencies, author = {Dallyn, Sam}, title = {Cryptocurrencies as market singularities: the strange case of Bitcoin}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2017}, volume = {10}, number = {5}, pages = {462--473}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2017.1315541} } |
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Fama, M., Fumagalli, A. and Lucarelli, S. | Cryptocurrencies, Monetary Policy, and New Forms of Monetary Sovereignty | 2019 | International Journal of Political Economy Vol. 48(2), pp. 174-194 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The article aims to bring to light the limits and contradictions of cryptocurrencies, as well as to investigate possible alternative uses of them. Particularly focusing on Bitcoin, understood as a benchmark for the entire sector, the authors seek to answer the following questions: Should Bitcoin be considered a currency, an investment vehicle, or a speculative asset? On which factors does Bitcoin volatility depend? Do Central Banks effectively have no power to influence/stabilize Bitcoin volatility? Following the empirical strategy proposed by Baek and Elbeck, the article shows that Bitcoin returns merely depend on financial conventions and that the cryptocurrency is acting as a highly speculative asset. Sociotechnical innovations introduced by Bitcoin, the authors argue, have concretely opened the possibility of deeply rethinking money. However, several factors are currently negatively affecting the possibility of the cryptocurrency to function as an effective means of payment. Whether this experience can pave the way for the birth of new and more democratic monetary instruments, as the article discusses, is an issue that calls into question a whole combination of political, technical and social elements. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Fama2019, author = {Fama, Marco and Fumagalli, Andrea and Lucarelli, Stefano}, title = {Cryptocurrencies, Monetary Policy, and New Forms of Monetary Sovereignty}, journal = {International Journal of Political Economy}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2019}, volume = {48}, number = {2}, pages = {174--194}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624318}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08911916.2019.1624318} } |
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Malabou, C. | Cryptocurrencies: Anarchist Turn or Strengthening of Surveillance Capitalism? From Bitcoin to Libra [BibTeX] |
2020 | Australian Humanities Review Vol. 66(May 2020) |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Malabou2020, author = {Malabou, Catherine}, title = {Cryptocurrencies: Anarchist Turn or Strengthening of Surveillance Capitalism? From Bitcoin to Libra}, journal = {Australian Humanities Review}, year = {2020}, volume = {66}, number = {May 2020}, url = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/cryptocurrencies-anarchist-turn-or-strengthening-of-surveillance-capitalism-from-bitcoin-to-libra/}, doi = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/cryptocurrencies-anarchist-turn-or-strengthening-of-surveillance-capitalism-from-bitcoin-to-libra/} } |
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Corbet, S., Andrew, U. and Larisa, Y. | Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology | 2020 | Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology | book | DOI |
Abstract: … note you've written down is as good as the money you're going to pay … voter-turnout-bitcoin-may- be-the-answer/#5574d79e7c7f 4. “West Virginia to introduce mobile phone voting for … https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/06/technology/mobile-voting- west-virginia-voatz/index.html 17 … | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Corbet2020, author = {Corbet, Shaen and Andrew, Urquhart and Larisa, Yarovaya}, title = {Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology}, booktitle = {Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110660807} } |
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Bratspies, R.M. | Cryptocurrency and the Myth of the Trustless Transaction | 2018 | Mich. Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev Vol. 1 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: True cryptocurrency believers posit a world with virtually limitless applications for the block chain. They tout the prospect of a globally accepted currency that works with lightning speed, costs virtually nothing, and guarantees 100% security and anonymity while eliminating the need to trust third parties. So far, the reality of cryptocurrency has not lived up to its hype. It turns out that cryptocurrency transactions can be slow, and expensive, because the blockchain, scales poorly. However, the really interesting divergence between pitch and reality has to do with the purported consequences of decentralization — the claim that bitcoin obviates the need for trust. This article interrogates the claim that trust can be replaced with blockchain technology. It tests the claims that Bitcoin eliminates the need for trust against real world experiences of Bitcoin holders and markets. It documents the many points at which cryptocurrencies shifts the locus of embedded trust, rather than eliminating the need for such trust. Finally, the article concludes that rather than replacing trust, cryptocurrencies instead require users to repose their trust in less transparent, less reliable and less accountable parties. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bratspies2018, author = {Bratspies, Rebecca M.}, title = {Cryptocurrency and the Myth of the Trustless Transaction}, journal = {Mich. Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev}, year = {2018}, volume = {1}, url = {https://repository.law.umich.edu/mttlr/vol25/iss1/2/}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3141605} } |
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Reiners, L. | Cryptocurrency and the State: an Unholly Alliance | 2021 | USC Gould School of Law Interdisciplinary Law Journal Vol. 31 |
article | URL |
Abstract: This article contextualizes the rise of cryptocurrency within the historical relationship between money and the state. It begins by asking two simple yet critical questions: What is money and where did it come from? Armed with the answers, the article proceeds by taking a fresh look at cryptocurrency through the lens of the credit theory of money. It finds that cryptocurrency, by using new technologies and incentive-based design, attempts to overcome the previous geographic limitations that hindered broad adoption of private currencies. Even with these innovations, cryptocurrency appeared unlikely to challenge the supremacy of sovereign money until Facebook announced the Libra project. Policymakers around the world instantly recognized the threat and opportunity Libra posed given Facebook's scale. Facebook may not be a sovereign entity, but its power rivals that of most countries. Libra compelled a flurry of new proposals in the U.S. to address the fragmented nature of cryptocurrency regulation. In choosing next steps, Congress and regulators must be careful to ensure that regulatory clarity does not come at the expense of sovereign authority. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Reiners2021, author = {Reiners, Lee}, title = {Cryptocurrency and the State: an Unholly Alliance}, journal = {USC Gould School of Law Interdisciplinary Law Journal}, year = {2021}, volume = {31}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3682724} } |
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Náñez Alonso, S.L., Jorge‐vázquez, J., Echarte Fernández, M.Á. and Reier Forradellas, R.F. | Cryptocurrency mining from an economic and environmental perspective. Analysis of the most and least sustainable countries | 2021 | Energies Vol. 14(14) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: There are different studies that point out that the price of electricity is a fundamental factor that will influence the mining decision, due to the cost it represents. There is also an ongoing debate about the pollution generated by cryptocurrency mining, and whether or not the use of renewable energies will solve the problem of its sustainability. In our study, starting from the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), we have considered several determinants of cryptocurrency mining: energy price, how that energy is generated, temperature, legal constraints, human capital, and R&D&I. From this, via linear regression, we recalculated this EPI by including the above factors that affect cryptocurrency mining in a sustainable way. The study determines, once the EPI has been readjusted, that the most sustainable countries to perform cryptocurrency mining are Denmark and Germany. In fact, of the top ten countries eight of them are European (Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, and the United Kingdom); and the remaining two are Asian (South Korea and Japan). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Alonso2021, author = {Náñez Alonso, Sergio Luis and Jorge‐vázquez, Javier and Echarte Fernández, Miguel Ángel and Reier Forradellas, Ricardo Francisco}, title = {Cryptocurrency mining from an economic and environmental perspective. Analysis of the most and least sustainable countries}, journal = {Energies}, year = {2021}, volume = {14}, number = {14}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144254} } |
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Eich, S. | Cryptocurrency, Financialization, and the Political Theory of Money [BibTeX] |
2019 | misc | URL | |
BibTeX:
@misc{Eich2019a, author = {Eich, Stefan}, title = {Cryptocurrency, Financialization, and the Political Theory of Money}, publisher = {Policy Punchline}, year = {2019}, url = {https://soundcloud.com/policypunchline/cryptocurrency-financialization-and-the-political-theory-of-money} } |
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Goodkind, A.L., Jones, B.A. and Berrens, R.P. | Cryptodamages: Monetary value estimates of the air pollution and human health impacts of cryptocurrency mining | 2020 | Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 59(March 2019), pp. 101281 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Cryptocurrency mining uses significant amounts of energy as part of the proof-of-work time-stamping scheme to add new blocks to the chain. Expanding upon previously calculated energy use patterns for mining four prominent cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero), we estimate the per coin economic damages of air pollution emissions and associated human mortality and climate impacts of mining these cryptocurrencies in the US and China. Results indicate that in 2018, each 1 of Bitcoin value created was responsible for 0.49 in health and climate damages in the US and 0.37 in China. The similar value in China relative to the US occurs despite the extremely large disparity between the value of a statistical life estimate for the US relative to that of China. Further, with each cryptocurrency, the rising electricity requirements to produce a single coin can lead to an almost inevitable cliff of negative net social benefits, absent perpetual price increases. For example, in December 2018, our results illustrate a case (for Bitcoin) where the health and climate change “cryptodamages” roughly match each 1 of coin value created. We close with discussion of policy implications. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Goodkind2020, author = {Goodkind, Andrew L. and Jones, Benjamin A. and Berrens, Robert P.}, title = {Cryptodamages: Monetary value estimates of the air pollution and human health impacts of cryptocurrency mining}, journal = {Energy Research and Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {59}, number = {March 2019}, pages = {101281}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101281}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101281} } |
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Hellegren, I. | Crypto-Discourse, Internet Freedom, and the State [BibTeX] |
2020 | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication | incollection | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@incollection{hellegren2020crypto, author = {Hellegren, Isadora}, title = {Crypto-Discourse, Internet Freedom, and the State}, booktitle = {Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication}, year = {2020}, url = {https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-887%0A}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-887} } |
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Crandall, J. | Cryptoeconomic Geographies and Contestation in Puerto Rico | 2019 | (May)Thesis | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: This thesis is about how the new techno-capitalist industries oriented around blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are further marginalizing already marginalized groups in Puerto Rico. These industries are forming new distributed cryptoeconomic geographies with highly local impacts. While socio-technical relationships with crypto and blockchain are forming all over the globe, the scenario in Puerto Rico has the most the most at stake for residents who do not have a stake in cryptocurrency. Specifically, a group of crypto-proponents (primarily male-dominated US expats) is looking to establish a new “crypto-utopia” in San Juan. These transactionary publics, as I define them, are groups with certain discourses, ideologies, and rhetorics centered around individual transactions, goals, and gains. They work through vastly different power structures that allow them to act more autonomously and anonymously via digital technology. However – there are local, native Puerto Ricans, government organizations, and institutions engaging as well on the basis of economic development. From a feminist perspective, this thesis challenges the assertion that blockchain technology has emancipatory potential, particularly for Puerto Rico. I discuss the resistance and contestation against crypto-colonialism and economic injustice in Puerto Rico, and highlight strategies both with and without digital technology. Specifically, I question if the politics of blockchain technology are compatible with those of platform cooperativism. I conclude with a number of speculative future scenarios for how alternate techno-economic strategies may play out in Puerto Rico, and what their consequences may be. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Crandall2019a, author = {Crandall, Jillian}, title = {Cryptoeconomic Geographies and Contestation in Puerto Rico}, booktitle = {Thesis}, year = {2019}, number = {May}, url = {http://jilliancrandall.net/cryptoeconomic-geographies-and-contestation-in-pr/}, doi = {http://jilliancrandall.net/cryptoeconomic-geographies-and-contestation-in-pr/} } |
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Schneider, N. | Cryptoeconomics as a Limitation on Governance | , pp. 1-33 | unpublished | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Governance practices in distributed-ledger systems have grownincreasingly diverse and diffuse, while retaining a commitmentto cryptoeconomics—the use of economic incentives to guideuser behavior, in tandem with cryptographic technology. In thespace of a few years, cryptoeconomics has introduced advances intechniques for self-governance. But reliance on cryptoeconomicsalso introduces limitations on governance possibilities. Drawingon earlier critiques of how economic logics can erode democracy,this paper identifies specific limitations that cryptoeconomicgovernance faces. It contends that, to overcome these limitations,designers should envelop cryptoeconomics within a logic of politicscapable of seeing beyond economic metrics for human flourishingand the common good. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Schneider, author = {Schneider, Nathan}, title = {Cryptoeconomics as a Limitation on Governance}, pages = {1--33}, url = {https://osf.io/wzf85/?view_only=a10581ae9a804aa197ac39ebbba05766}, doi = {https://osf.io/wzf85/?view_only=a10581ae9a804aa197ac39ebbba05766} } |
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Lee, J. | Crypto-Finance, Law and Regulation: Governing an Emerging Ecosystem | 2022 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Crypto-Finance, Law and Regulation investigates whether crypto-finance will cause a paradigm shift in regulation from a centralised model to a model based on distributed consensus. This book explores the emergence of a decentralised and disintermediated crypto-market and investigates the way in which it can transform the financial markets. It examines three components of the financial market – technology, finance, and the law – and shows how their interrelationship dictates the structure of a crypto-market. It focuses on regulators' enforcement policies and their jurisdiction over crypto-finance operators and participants. The book also discusses the latest developments in crypto-finance, and the advantages and disadvantages of crypto-currency as an alternative payment product. It also investigates how such a decentralised crypto-finance system can provide access to finance, promote a shared economy, and allow access to justice. By exploring the law, regulation and governance of crypto-finance from a national, regional and global viewpoint, the book provides a fascinating and comprehensive overview of this important topic and will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners interested in regulation, finance and the law. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Lee2022, author = {Lee, Joseph}, title = {Crypto-Finance, Law and Regulation: Governing an Emerging Ecosystem}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.routledge.com/Crypto-Finance-Law-and-Regulation-Governing-an-Emerging-Ecosystem/Lee/p/book/9780367086619}, doi = {https://www.routledge.com/Crypto-Finance-Law-and-Regulation-Governing-an-Emerging-Ecosystem/Lee/p/book/9780367086619} } |
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Howson, P. | Crypto-giving and surveillance philanthropy: Exploring the trade-offs in blockchain innovation for nonprofits | 2021 | Nonprofit Management and Leadership Vol. 31(4), pp. 805-820 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A blockchain is a smart electronic database, distributed to all users, immutably tracking every transaction that has ever taken place between nodes on a network. The technology is being used by some nonprofits to address various operational challenges, including attaching automated conditions to charitable donations facilitated by programmable “crypto-giving” platforms. Drawing from analysis of technical documents provided by active crypto-giving projects, this review considers how these platforms enable radical shifts in sectoral power relations through “surveillance philanthropy”. This algorithmic surveillance ensures project funding fully reflects the interests of donors, while potentially restricting nonprofits in meeting the dynamic and complex needs of project beneficiaries. The paper considers the benefit trade-offs from crypto-giving platforms in three areas of utilization: (a) new forms of donor engagement and fundraising, (b) new tools for organizational governance, and (c) novel provision of development assistance. Despite the possible efficiency and transparency benefits of crypto-giving platforms, more research and practitioner engagement is required to ensure the sector's funding is secure and sustainable, without entailing significant risks for proposed beneficiaries. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Howson2021, author = {Howson, Peter}, title = {Crypto-giving and surveillance philanthropy: Exploring the trade-offs in blockchain innovation for nonprofits}, journal = {Nonprofit Management and Leadership}, publisher = {Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers}, year = {2021}, volume = {31}, number = {4}, pages = {805--820}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21452} } |
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West, S.M. | Cryptographic imaginaries and the networked public | 2018 | Internet Policy Review Vol. 7(2), pp. 1-16 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper interrogates discourses associated with encryption in contemporary policy debates. It traces through three distinct cryptographic imaginaries – the occult, the state, and democratic values – and how each conceptualises what encryption is, what it does, and what it should do. Situating each imaginary in time through historical research, I consider how they foreground distinct configurations of power and authority. It concludes by describing the development of a new cryptographic imaginary, one which sees encryption as a necessary precondition for the formation of networked publics. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{myers2018cryptographic, author = {West, Sarah Myers}, title = {Cryptographic imaginaries and the networked public}, journal = {Internet Policy Review}, publisher = {Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society}, year = {2018}, volume = {7}, number = {2}, pages = {1--16}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14763/2018.2.792} } |
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Dover, R. and Aldrich, R.J. | Cryptography and the Global South: secrecy, signals and information imperialism | 2020 | Third World Quarterly Vol. 41(11), pp. 1900-1917 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: For decades, espionage during the Cold War was often presented as a competition between East and West. The extent to which the Global South constituted the main battleground for this conflict is now being appreciated, together with the way coups and covert regime change represented a continuation of colonialism by other means. Recent revelations about the nature of technical surveillance and signals intelligence during this period paint an even more alarming picture. New research materials released in Germany show the ways in which Washington, London and even Moscow conspired to systematically attack the secure communications of the Global South. For almost half a century, less advanced countries were persuaded to invest significant sums in encryption machines that were adapted to perform poorly. This was a deceptive system of non-secrecy that opened the sensitive communications of the Global South to an elite group of nations, that included former colonial rulers, and emergent neo-imperial powers. Moreover, the nature of this technical espionage, which involved commercial communications providers, is an early and instructive example of digital global information inequality. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Dover2020, author = {Dover, Robert and Aldrich, Richard J.}, title = {Cryptography and the Global South: secrecy, signals and information imperialism}, journal = {Third World Quarterly}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, volume = {41}, number = {11}, pages = {1900--1917}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1793665}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1793665} } |
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Serada, A., Sihvonen, T. and Harviainen, J.T. | CryptoKitties and the New Ludic Economy: How Blockchain Introduces Value, Ownership, and Scarcity in Digital Gaming | 2021 | Games and Culture Vol. 16(4), pp. 457-480 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article analyzes specific characteristics of value created through digital scarcity and blockchain-proven ownership in cryptogames. Our object of study is CryptoKitties, the first instance of a blockchain-based game that has garnered media recognition and financial interest. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the limits of scarcity in value construction for owners of CryptoKitties tokens, manifested as breedable virtual cats. Our work extends the trends set out by earlier cryptocurrency studies from the perspective of cultural studies. For the purpose of this article, we rely on open blockchain analytics such as DappRadar and Etherscan, as well as player-created analytics, backed by a one-year-long participant observation period in the said game for research material. Combining theoretical cryptocurrency and Bitcoin studies, open data analysis, and virtual ethnography enables a grounded discussion on blockchain-based game design and play. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Serada2021a, author = {Serada, Alesja and Sihvonen, Tanja and Harviainen, J. Tuomas}, title = {CryptoKitties and the New Ludic Economy: How Blockchain Introduces Value, Ownership, and Scarcity in Digital Gaming}, journal = {Games and Culture}, year = {2021}, volume = {16}, number = {4}, pages = {457--480}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019898305} } |
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Jiang, X.J. and Liu, X.F. | CryptoKitties Transaction Network Analysis: The Rise and Fall of the First Blockchain Game Mania | 2021 | Frontiers in Physics Vol. 9, pp. 57 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: CryptoKitties was the first widely recognized blockchain game. Players could own, breed, and trade kitties, which are the only prop in the game. The game gained explosive growth upon its release but quickly collapsed in a short time. This study analyzes its entire player activity history for the first time in literature and tries to find the reasons for the rise and fall of this first blockchain game mania. First, we extracted the five million transaction records among 100 thousand addresses involved in CryptoKitties in the past three years. Based on the numbers of addresses involved in the game each day, we divide the game progress into four stages: the primer, the rise, the fall, and the serenity. We construct a temporal kitty ownership transfer network and analyze the varying network parameters in the four stages. We find that a large number of players poured in during the 10th and 18th days since the game release and quickly exited in the following month. Since then, a few big players have gradually dominated the game, concentrating the game resources. Through further analysis, we find that the main reason for the rapid increase in the game popularity was the increase of public attention by media outlets, while the reasons for the rapid decline in the game popularity include the oversupply of kitties, the decreasing of player income, a widening gap between the rich and poor players, and the limitations of blockchain systems. Based on these observations, we advise on the further blockchain game design: (1) to finely control the production of props and avoid an oversupply, (2) to balance the gaming cost and revenue and protect the enjoyment of players, (3) to narrow down the gap between rich and poor and create an equal gaming community, (4) to consider the limitations of blockchain systems in their game designs. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{jiang2021cryptokitties, author = {Jiang, Xin Jian and Liu, Xiao Fan}, title = {CryptoKitties Transaction Network Analysis: The Rise and Fall of the First Blockchain Game Mania}, journal = {Frontiers in Physics}, publisher = {Frontiers}, year = {2021}, volume = {9}, pages = {57}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2021.631665} } |
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Evans, T.M. | Cryptokitties, cryptography, and copyright | 2019 | AIPLA QJ Vol. 47, pp. 219 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: GAMES | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{evans2019cryptokitties, author = {Evans, Tonya M}, title = {Cryptokitties, cryptography, and copyright}, journal = {AIPLA QJ}, publisher = {HeinOnline}, year = {2019}, volume = {47}, pages = {219}, url = {https://www.readkong.com/page/cryptokitties-cryptography-and-copyright-1257924}, doi = {https://www.readkong.com/page/cryptokitties-cryptography-and-copyright-1257924} } |
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Calvão, F. | Crypto-miners: Digital labor and the power of blockchain technology | 2019 | Economic Anthropology Vol. 6(1), pp. 123-134 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article examines the labor power of digital miners. Though an obscure and still incipient facet of the digital economy, crypto-mining powers and secures transactions across blockchains, or public distributed digital ledgers. Drawing from interviews with cryptocurrency enthusiasts, blockchain advocates, and developers; participation in online and offline discussions; and a survey with small-scale crypto-miners, this article takes on the material and technoscientific valuation of crypto-mining to understand how a future of open, decentralized accountability implicates human labor alongside automated processes. The work of digital mining, performed in the work of inscribing, registering, and politically organizing mining operations, enables the formation of democratic communities in the digital economy and remains inevitably embedded in social relations as a mode of productive, meaningful action. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Calvao2019, author = {Calvão, Filipe}, title = {Crypto-miners: Digital labor and the power of blockchain technology}, journal = {Economic Anthropology}, year = {2019}, volume = {6}, number = {1}, pages = {123--134}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12136} } |
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Moore, D. and Rid, T. | Cryptopolitik and the darknet [BibTeX] |
2016 | Survival Vol. 58(1), pp. 7-38 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{moore2016cryptopolitik, author = {Moore, Daniel and Rid, Thomas}, title = {Cryptopolitik and the darknet}, journal = {Survival}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2016}, volume = {58}, number = {1}, pages = {7--38}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2016.1142085} } |
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Papadopoulos, G. | Currency and the Collective Representations of Authority, Nationality, and Value | 2015 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 8(4), pp. 521-534 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Mainstream economics has consistently ignored the iconography of currency, describing money ‘just' as a commodity. The paper is going to investigate the economic and political significance of the representations of authority and nationality in currency describing how these representation support its acceptability. The aim of the analysis is double: to decipher the visual identity of currency and its contribution to the acceptance of money in day-to-day transactions, as well as to discuss the operational principles of the monetary system as they are uncovered in the iconography of money. By answering these questions, the paper is going to trace the theoretical presuppositions and the cultural stereotypes that inform the representation of economic value and national identity as they are articulated in banknotes and coins with a specific emphasis on the European Monetary Union and the recent financial crisis that is still affecting its periphery. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{papadopoulos2015currency, author = {Papadopoulos, Georgios}, title = {Currency and the Collective Representations of Authority, Nationality, and Value}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2015}, volume = {8}, number = {4}, pages = {521--534}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2014.989884} } |
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Fletcher, J. | Currency in Transition: An Ethnographic Inquiry of Bitcoin Adherents | 2013 | article | DOI | |
Abstract: The Internet and other telecommunications systems have reshaped the means by which markets are accessed, generated, and transformed. Recent innovations in computer science have led to the development of a virtually bound, decentralized, encrypted currency system known as bitcoin. Unlike conventional currency systems, the Bitcoin protocol is cryptologically defined with a virtual structure that allows it to simultaneously operate as currency, commodity, and market shaping socio-political force. Its decentralized design permits it to function as a free-market response to fiat currencies vulnerable to inflation, regulation, and manipulation. Given the cultural significance anthropologists and other social scientists have assigned to various modes and mediums of exchange over the years, the socio-economic impact of this novel currency system warrants particular consideration. This research describes the Bitcoin community that has emerged alongside the currency, including the entrepreneurs, developers, and consumers who are dedicated to bitcoin's perpetuation and acceptance as an internationally recognized medium of exchange. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were utilized to collect information from users in the Central Florida area, detailing their experiences and interactions with the Bitcoin protocol and its associated community. This research provides new levels of anthropological insight into currency development, market interaction, and economically embodied social commentary. Moreover, its exploratory nature helps create a viable framework around which qualitative inquiry of virtual crypto-currencies may be designed in future studies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{fletcher2013currency, author = {Fletcher, Justin}, title = {Currency in Transition: An Ethnographic Inquiry of Bitcoin Adherents}, year = {2013}, doi = {https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2748/} } |
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Tischer, D. | Cutting the network? Facebook's Libra currency as a problem of organisation | 2020 | Finance and Society Vol. 6(1), pp. 19-33 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This essay explores the organisational character of Facebook's Libra currency by undertaking a critical reading of documents published by the Libra Association. Drawing on the conceptual work of Marilyn Strathern and Michel Serres, it illustrates how ownership cuts the network and encourages parasitism as a means of driving future profit. Central to this is the claim that Libra is not an exercise in democratising money, but rather, the opposite: Libra is run as a club, for the benefit of club members. The conceptual theme of 'cutting' is used to organise the argument. Rather than a cutting-edge technology, Libra's true innovation is organisational and consists in overturning the decentralised character of blockchain, such that distributed ledger technology is re-centralised by big tech firms. Outsiders are thus cut-off from Libra; only those inside the club have the right to participate in Libra and its governance. This position also affords members an exclusive capacity to take a cut of the profits generated through Libra. As a private organisation, members have sole rights to future profits generated from the Libra ecosystem and are in this way incentivised to create new product opportunities over time. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Tischer2020, author = {Tischer, Daniel}, title = {Cutting the network? Facebook's Libra currency as a problem of organisation}, journal = {Finance and Society}, year = {2020}, volume = {6}, number = {1}, pages = {19--33}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v6i1.4406} } |
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Butler, S. | Cyber 9/11 Will Not Take Place: A User Perspective of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies from Underground and Dark Net Forums | 2021 | Vol. 12812 LNCSLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), pp. 135-153 |
inproceedings | DOI |
Abstract: Background. There is a historical narrative of fear surrounding cybercrime. This has extended to cryptocurrencies (CCs), which are often viewed as a criminal tool. Aim. To carry out the first user study of CCs for illicit activity, from the perspective of underground and dark net forums. Method. We conducted a qualitative study, using a content analysis method, of 16,405 underground and dark net forum posts selected from CrimeBB, a dataset of 100 million posts curated by the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre. Results. Firstly, finality of payments emerged as a major motivator for the use of CCs. Second, we propose an Operational Security Taxonomy for Illicit Internet Activity to show that CCs are only one part of several considerations that combine to form security in illicit internet transactions. Third, the dark net is hard to use and requires significant study, specialist equipment and advanced knowledge to achieve relative security. Conclusion. We argue that finality is the main advantage of CCs for this user group, not anonymity as widely thought. The taxonomy shows that banning CCs is unlikely to be effective. Finally, we contend that the dark net is a niche for criminal activity and fears over cybercrime cause the threat to be exaggerated. | |||||
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{butler2020cyber, author = {Butler, Simon}, title = {Cyber 9/11 Will Not Take Place: A User Perspective of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies from Underground and Dark Net Forums}, booktitle = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)}, year = {2021}, volume = {12812 LNCS}, pages = {135--153}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79318-0_8} } |
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Jarvis, C. | Cypherpunk ideology: objectives, profiles, and influences (1992–1998) | 2021 | Internet Histories, pp. 1-27 | article | DOI |
Abstract: The cypherpunks were 1990s digital activists who challenged White House policies aiming to prevent the emergence of unregulated digital cryptography, an online privacy technology capable of frustrating government surveillance. Whilst the cypherpunk's ideology, which is predominantly the output of Timothy C. May, is well understood, less is known about the composition of the cypherpunk's community. This article builds on past studies by Rid and Beltramini by using the cypherpunk's mail list archive to profile the most active and influential cypherpunks. This study confirms the May-derived ideology is broadly, though not entirely, representative of the cypherpunk community. This article assesses the cypherpunks were a highly educated, mostly libertarian community permeated by aspects of anarchism which arose from a societal disaffiliation inherited from the counterculture. This article further argues that the cypherpunks were also influenced by the hacker ethic and dystopian science fiction. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{jarvis2021cypherpunk, author = {Jarvis, Craig}, title = {Cypherpunk ideology: objectives, profiles, and influences (1992–1998)}, journal = {Internet Histories}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--27}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2021.1935547} } |
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Johns, F. and Compton, C. | Data jurisdictions and rival regimes of algorithmic regulation | 2019 | Regulation and Governance | article | DOI |
Abstract: This article aims to characterize and compare some approaches to regulation manifest in distinct yet intersecting domains of data assemblage and algorithmic development and to explore some implications of their operating in concert. We focus on three such types of domain, each oriented toward different purposes: market jurisdictions, public science jurisdictions, and jurisdictions of humanitarianism. These domains we characterize as data jurisdictions because they tend to propagate distinct normative claims and concerns, and authorize particular types of speech and action, through algorithmic operations and data formatting. In this article, we focus on the intersection of these archetypal data jurisdictions in two related initiatives of the United Nations (UN): Haze Gazer and CycloMon. In the context of these projects, the market domain is represented by their incorporation of Twitter and social media data; the public science domain by their use of NASA Earth Observatory data, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data, and Air Quality Index China (AQICN) air quality data; and the humanitarian domain by their status as UN projects designed to serve the aims and enlarge the capacities of development and humanitarian professionals. We analyze how, and with what ramifications, these domains of algorithmic regulation intersect in Haze Gazer and CycloMon. In so doing, we advance two main arguments. First, we argue that certain normative commitments regarding data, data use, and data users circulate and gain ground through their embeddedness in seemingly benign infrastructures and formats of data handling and representation. Particular (contentious) norms are prioritized, spread, and imbibed as much through day-to-day data usage as through explicit argument or endorsement. Second, we argue that blind spots tend to emerge from the intersection of different jurisdictions over, or approaches to, the challenge of responsible algorithmic regulation. The data jurisdictions that we analyze in this article demand quite divergent normative commitments, but the conflicts among these are hard for users to discern in day-to-day interactions with the platforms that we describe. We contend that jurisdictional analysis of projects in operation may help data contributors and users take account of, and potentially take a stand on, these important differences. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{johns2019data, author = {Johns, Fleur and Compton, Caroline}, title = {Data jurisdictions and rival regimes of algorithmic regulation}, journal = {Regulation and Governance}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2019}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12296} } |
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Caliskan, K. | Data money: The socio-technical infrastructure of cryptocurrency blockchains | 2020 | Economy and Society Vol. 49(4), pp. 540-561 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Drawing on an empirical study of cryptocurrency white papers, this paper proposes an actor-based taxonomy of cryptocurrency blockchains. First, it describes the evolution of blockchain architecture with reference to the economic services that blockchains supply. Second, it discusses the socio-technical platform of blockchains as proposed in cryptocurrency white papers. Third, it analyses the socio-economic consequences of these technically diverse blockchain platforms, by proposing a taxonomy of their digital architectures in reference to two groups of actors that maintain blockchain infrastructure: transactioners and accountants. Defining cryptocurrency as data money, and locating cryptocurrency ownership as the possession of an exclusive right to move data privately in a public or private space, the paper describes a blockchain as a digital actor-network platform that makes it possible to define and distribute these data transfer rights. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Caliskan2020, author = {Caliskan, Koray}, title = {Data money: The socio-technical infrastructure of cryptocurrency blockchains}, journal = {Economy and Society}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {49}, number = {4}, pages = {540--561}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2020.1774258}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2020.1774258} } |
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Herian, R. | Data: New trajectories in law | 2021 | , pp. 1-132 | book | DOI |
Abstract: This book explores the phenomenon of data – big and small – in the contemporary digital, informatic and legal-bureaucratic context. Challenging the way in which legal interest in data has focused on rights and privacy concerns, this book examines the contestable, multivocal and multifaceted figure of the contemporary data subject. The book analyses "data" and "personal data" as contemporary phenomena, addressing the data realms, such as stores, institutions, systems and networks, out of which they emerge. It interrogates the role of law, regulation and governance in structuring both formal and informal definitions of the data subject, and disciplining data subjects through compliance with normative standards of conduct. Focusing on the ‘personal' in and of data, the book pursues a re-evaluation of the nature, role and place of the data subject qua legal subject in on and offline societies: One that does not begin and end with the inviolability of individual rights but returns to more fundamental legal principles suited to considerations of personhood, such as stewardship, trust, property and contract. The book's concern with the production, use, abuse and alienation of personal data within the context of contemporary communicative capitalism will appeal to scholars and students of law, science and technology studies, and sociology; as well as those with broader political interests in this area. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{herian2021data, author = {Herian, Robert}, title = {Data: New trajectories in law}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--132}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003162001} } |
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Laurent-Bonne, N. | De la technologie des algorithmes à la technique juridique [BibTeX] |
misc | URL | ||
BibTeX:
@misc{Laurent-Bonne, author = {Laurent-Bonne, Nicolas}, title = {De la technologie des algorithmes à la technique juridique}, url = {https://vimeo.com/317259679} } |
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Various | De la technologie des algorithmes à la technique juridique Introduction au cycle "Entre mystères et fantasmes : quel avenir pour les blockchains ?" [BibTeX] |
misc | URL | ||
BibTeX:
@misc{Various, author = {Various}, title = {De la technologie des algorithmes à la technique juridique Introduction au cycle "Entre mystères et fantasmes : quel avenir pour les blockchains ?"}, url = {https://www.courdecassation.fr/agenda-evenementiel/de-la-technologie-des-algorithmes-la-technique-juridique} } |
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Truby, J. | Decarbonizing Bitcoin: Law and policy choices for reducing the energy consumption of Blockchain technologies and digital currencies | 2018 | Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 44(June), pp. 399-410 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The vast transactional, trust and security advantages of Bitcoin are dwarfed by the intentionally resource-intensive design in its transaction verification process which now threatens the climate we depend upon for survival. Indeed Bitcoin mining and transactions are an application of Blockchain technology employing an inefficient use of scarce energy resources for a financial activity at a point in human development where world governments are scrambling to reduce energy consumption through their Paris Agreement climate change commitments and beyond to mitigate future climate change implications. Without encouraging more sustainable development of the potential applications of Blockchain technologies which can have significant social and economic benefits, their resource-intensive design combined now pose a serious threat to the global commitment to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The article examines government intervention choices to desocialise negative environmental externalities caused by high-energy consuming Blockchain technology designs. The research question explores how to promote the environmentally sustainable development of applications of Blockchain without damaging this valuable sector. It studies existing regulatory and fiscal policy approaches towards digital currencies in order to provide a basis for further legal and policy tools targeted at mitigating energy consumption of Blockchain technologies. The article concludes by identifying appropriate fiscal policy options for this purpose, as well as further considerations on the potential for Blockchain technology in climate change mitigation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Truby2018, author = {Truby, Jon}, title = {Decarbonizing Bitcoin: Law and policy choices for reducing the energy consumption of Blockchain technologies and digital currencies}, journal = {Energy Research and Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2018}, volume = {44}, number = {June}, pages = {399--410}, url = {10.1016/j.erss.2018.06.009}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.06.009} } |
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Langley, P., Bridge, G., Bulkeley, H. and van Veelen, B. | Decarbonizing capital: Investment, divestment and the qualification of carbon assets | 2021 | Economy and Society Vol. 50(3), pp. 494-516 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Private investment capital is now widely regarded as strategically significant to the governance of climate change. A dedicated and dynamic carbon finance sector has emerged that features techniques and practices for decarbonizing capital, facilitating investment in low-carbon projects and enterprises or enabling divestment from high-carbon firms and sectors. We bring together and develop the concepts of ‘qualification' and ‘assetization' to analyse how decarbonizing capital is proceeding. With specific reference to green bonds and the equities of fossil fuel corporations, we show how investment and divestment entail the qualification of things as assets with more-or-less specific carbon properties. But the qualification of assets as ‘low-' or ‘high-carbon' is also shown to be contingent, contested and compromised, featuring contrasting modalities of qualification that are decarbonizing capital in uncertain and incomplete ways. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Langley2021, author = {Langley, Paul and Bridge, Gavin and Bulkeley, Harriet and van Veelen, Bregje}, title = {Decarbonizing capital: Investment, divestment and the qualification of carbon assets}, journal = {Economy and Society}, year = {2021}, volume = {50}, number = {3}, pages = {494--516}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2021.1860335} } |
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Cunningham, A. | Decentralisation, Distrust & Fear of the Body – The Worrying Rise of Crypto-Law | 2016 | SCRIPTed Vol. 13(3), pp. 235-257 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The increasing collective use of distributed application software platforms, programming languages and crypto-currencies around the blockchain concept for general transactions may have radical implications for the way in which society conceptualises and applies trust and trust-based social systems such as law. By exploring one iteration of such generalised blockchain systems - Ethereum - and the historical lineage of such systems, it will be argued that indeed their ideological basis is largely one of distrust, decentralisation and, ultimately, via increasing disassociation of identity, a fear of the body itself. This ideological basis can be reframed as a crypto-legal approach to the problems of human interaction, one whereby the purely technological solutions outlined above are considered adequate for reconciling many of the problems of our collective existence. The article concludes, however, by re-iterating a perspective of law more so as an entirely embodied and trust dependent notion. These aspects go some way to explaining the necessarily centralised role it takes on within societies. They also explain why the crypto-legal approaches advanced by systems like Ethereum - or even the co-opting of blockchain technology by law firms themselves - will only ever be at best efficiency exercises concerned with the processing of data relating to legal affairs, and not the more radical, ambiguous and difficult process of actual legal thought or, indeed, engagement with trust. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Cunningham2016, author = {Cunningham, Alan}, title = {Decentralisation, Distrust & Fear of the Body – The Worrying Rise of Crypto-Law}, journal = {SCRIPTed}, year = {2016}, volume = {13}, number = {3}, pages = {235--257}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2966/scrip.130316.235} } |
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Bodó, B., Brekke, J.K. and Hoepman, J.H. | Decentralisation: A multidisciplinary perspective | 2021 | Internet Policy Review Vol. 10(2), pp. 0-21 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Decentralisation as a concept is attracting a lot of interest, not least with the rise of decentralised and distributed techno-social systems like Bitcoin, and distributed ledgers more generally. In this paper, we first define decentralisation as it is implemented for technical architectures and then discuss the technical, social, political and economic ideas that drive the development of decentralised, and in particular, distributed systems. We argue that technical efforts towards decentralisation tend to go hand-in-hand with ambitions for rearranging power dynamics. We caution, however, against simplistic understandings of power in relation to the decentralisation-centralisation spectrum, and argue that in practice, decentralisation might very well be served by and produce centralising effects. The paper then goes on to discuss the critical literature that highlights some of the common assumptions and critiques made about decentralisation and the pros and cons of a decentralised approach. Finally, we propose some of the missing parts to current debates about decentralisation, and argue for a more nuanced and grounded approach to the centralisation/decentralisation dichotomy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bodo2021a, author = {Bodó, Balázs and Brekke, Jaya Klara and Hoepman, Jaap Henk}, title = {Decentralisation: A multidisciplinary perspective}, journal = {Internet Policy Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {10}, number = {2}, pages = {0--21}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.2.1563} } |
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Tse, N. | Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the Corporate Form | 2020 | Victoria University of Wellington Law Review Vol. 51(2), pp. 313 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: It has been suggested that the development of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) will lead to a paradigm shift in the way we perceive businesses. DAOs ostensibly eliminate agency costs due to the absence of a board of directors, automated governance mechanisms and transparency provided by the blockchain upon which the DAO is launched. This article undertakes a comparative analysis between DAOs and corporations and questions whether DAOs really do improve the corporate form. Using a corporate governance and legal realist lens, this article suggests that a number of the purported benefits of DAOs are overly simplified. Moreover, there are several practical and legal obstacles that technological advancements and improved engineering must overcome before DAOs become a viable, mainstream organisational structure. Balancing the inevitable improvement in technology against these significant obstacles, this article predicts an incremental integration of DAOs into society through a hybrid approach, involving interim legal solutions and varying degrees of automation and decentralisation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{tse2020decentralised, author = {Tse, Nathan}, title = {Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the Corporate Form}, journal = {Victoria University of Wellington Law Review}, publisher = {HeinOnline}, year = {2020}, volume = {51}, number = {2}, pages = {313}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.26686/vuwlr.v51i2.6573} } |
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Barbereau, T., Smethurst, R., Papageorgiou, O., Sedlmeir, J. and Fridgen, G. | Decentralised Finance's Unregulated Governance: Minority Rule in the Digital Wild West [BibTeX] |
2022 | Available at SSRN | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{barbereau2022decentralised, author = {Barbereau, Tom and Smethurst, Reilly and Papageorgiou, Orestis and Sedlmeir, Johannes and Fridgen, Gilbert}, title = {Decentralised Finance's Unregulated Governance: Minority Rule in the Digital Wild West}, journal = {Available at SSRN}, year = {2022}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4001891} } |
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Schneider, N. | Decentralization: an incomplete ambition | 2019 | Vol. 12(4)Journal of Cultural Economy, pp. 265-285 |
unpublished | DOI |
Abstract: Decentralization is a term widely used in a variety of contexts, particularly in political science and discourses surrounding the Internet. It is popular today among advocates of blockchain technology. While frequently employed as if it were a technical term, decentralization more reliably appears to operate as a rhetorical strategy that directs attention toward some aspects of a proposed social order and away from others. It is called for far more than it is theorized or consistently defined. This non-specificity has served to draw diverse participants into common political and technological projects. Yet even the most apparently decentralized systems have shown the capacity to produce economically and structurally centralized outcomes. The rhetoric of decentralization thus obscures other aspects of the re-ordering it claims to describe. It steers attention from where concentrations of power are operating, deferring worthwhile debate about how such power should operate. For decentralization to be a reliable concept in formulating future social arrangements and related technologies, it should come with high standards of specificity. It also cannot substitute for anticipating centralization with appropriate mechanisms of accountability. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Schneider2019, author = {Schneider, Nathan}, title = {Decentralization: an incomplete ambition}, booktitle = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, year = {2019}, volume = {12}, number = {4}, pages = {265--285}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2019.1589553} } |
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Hassan, S. and De Filippi, P. | Decentralized autonomous organization | 2021 | Internet Policy Review Vol. 10(2), pp. 1-10 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A DAO is a blockchain-based system that enables people to coordinate and govern themselves mediated by a set of self-executing rules deployed on a public blockchain, and whose governance is decentralised (i.e., independent from central control). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hassan2021decentralized, author = {Hassan, Samer and De Filippi, Primavera}, title = {Decentralized autonomous organization}, journal = {Internet Policy Review}, publisher = {Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society}, year = {2021}, volume = {10}, number = {2}, pages = {1--10}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.2.1556} } |
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Wright, A. and De Filippi, P. | Decentralized Blockchain Technology and the Rise of Lex Cryptographia | 2015 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: Just as decentralization communication systems lead to the creation of the Internet, today a new technology — the blockchain — has the potential to decentralize the way we store data and manage information, potentially leading to a reduced role for one of the most important regulatory actors in our society: the middleman. Blockchain technology enables the creation of decentralized currencies, self-executing digital contracts (smart contracts) and intelligent assets that can be controlled over the Internet (smart property). The blockchain also enables the development of new governance systems with more democratic or participatory decision-making, and decentralized (autonomous) organizations that can operate over a network of computers without any human intervention. These applications have led many to compare the blockchain to the Internet, with accompanying predictions that this technology will shift the balance of power away from centralized authorities in the field of communications, business, and even politics or law. In this Article, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of this emerging decentralized technology and argue that its widespread deployment will lead to expansion of a new subset of law, which we term Lex Cryptographia: rules administered through self-executing smart contracts and decentralized (autonomous) organizations. As blockchain technology becomes widely adopted, centralized authorities, such as governmental agencies and large multinational corporations, could lose the ability to control and shape the activities of disparate people through existing means. As a result, there will be an increasing need to focus on how to regulate blockchain technology and how to shape the creation and deployment of these emerging decentralized organizations in ways that have yet to be explored under current legal theory. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Wright2015, author = {Wright, Aaron and De Filippi, Primavera}, title = {Decentralized Blockchain Technology and the Rise of Lex Cryptographia}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2015}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2580664} } |
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Zetzsche, D.A., Arner, D.W. and Buckley, R.P. | Decentralized finance | 2020 | Journal of Financial Regulation Vol. 6(2), pp. 172-203 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: DeFi (‘decentralized finance') has joined FinTech (‘financial technology'), RegTech (‘regulatory technology'), cryptocurrencies, and digital assets as one of the most discussed emerging technological evolutions in global finance. Yet little is really understood about its meaning, legal implications, and policy consequences. In this article we introduce DeFi, put DeFi in the context of the traditional financial economy, connect DeFi to open banking, and end with some policy considerations. We suggest that decentralization has the potential to undermine traditional forms of accountability and erode the effectiveness of traditional financial regulation and enforcement. At the same time, we find that where parts of the financial services value chain are decentralized, there will be a reconcentration in a different (but possibly less regulated, less visible, and less transparent) part of the value chain. DeFi regulation could, and should, focus on this reconcentrated portion of the value chain to ensure effective oversight and risk control. Rather than eliminating the need for regulation, in fact DeFi requires regulation in order to achieve its core objective of decentralization. Furthermore, DeFi potentially offers an opportunity for the development of an entirely new way to design regulation: the idea of ‘embedded regulation'. Regulatory approaches could be built into the design of DeFi, thus potentially decentralizing both finance and its regulation, in the ultimate expression of RegTech. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Zetzsche2020, author = {Zetzsche, Dirk A. and Arner, Douglas W. and Buckley, Ross P.}, title = {Decentralized finance}, journal = {Journal of Financial Regulation}, year = {2020}, volume = {6}, number = {2}, pages = {172--203}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jfr/fjaa010} } |
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Schär, F. | Decentralized finance: on blockchain-and smart contract-based financial markets | 2021 | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review Vol. 103(2), pp. 153-174 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The term decentralized finance (DeFi) refers to an alternative financial infrastructure built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. DeFi uses smart contracts to create protocols that replicate existing financial services in a more open, interoperable, and transparent way. This article highlights opportunities and potential risks of the DeFi ecosystem. I propose a multi-layered framework to analyze the implicit architecture and the various DeFi building blocks, including token standards, decentralized exchanges, decentralized debt markets, blockchain derivatives, and on-chain asset management protocols. I con-clude that DeFi still is a niche market with certain risks but that it also has interesting properties in terms of efficiency, transparency, accessibility, and composability. As such, DeFi may potentially contribute to a more robust and transparent financial infrastructure. (JEL G15, G23, E59). | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Schar2021, author = {Schär, Fabian}, title = {Decentralized finance: on blockchain-and smart contract-based financial markets}, journal = {Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {103}, number = {2}, pages = {153--174}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.20955/r.103.153-74} } |
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Johnson, K.N. | Decentralized Finance: Regulating Cryptocurrency Exchanges | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: Global financial markets are in the midst of a transformative movement. The creation of Bitcoin and Facebook's proposed distribution of Diem mark a watershed moment in the evolution of the financial markets ecosystem. Purportedly, peer-to-peer distributed digital ledger technology eliminates legacy financial market intermediaries such as investment banks, depository banks, exchanges, clearinghouses, and broker-dealers. Yet careful examination reveals that cryptocurrency issuers and the firms that offer secondary market cryptocurrency trading services have not quite lived up to their promise. Notwithstanding crypto-enthusiasts' calls for disintermediation, evidence reveals that platforms that facilitate cryptocurrency trading frequently employ the long-adopted intermediation practices of their traditional counterparts. In fact, when emerging technologies fail, cryptocoin and token trading platforms partner with and rely on traditional financial services firms. As a result, these platforms face many of the | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Johnson2021, author = {Johnson, Kristin N.}, title = {Decentralized Finance: Regulating Cryptocurrency Exchanges}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3831439} } |
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Cong, L.W., He, Z. and Li, J. | Decentralized Mining in Centralized Pools | 2021 | Review of Financial Studies Vol. 34(3), pp. 1191-1235 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The rise of centralized mining pools for risk sharing does not necessarily undermine the decentralization required for blockchains: because of miners' cross-pool diversification and pool managers' endogenous fee setting, larger pools better internalize their externality on global hash rates, charge higher fees, attract disproportionately fewer miners, and grow more slowly. Instead, mining pools as a financial innovation escalate miners' arms race and significantly increase the energy consumption of proof-of-work-based blockchains. Empirical evidence from Bitcoin mining supports our model's predictions. The economic insights inform other consensus protocols and the industrial organization of mainstream sectors with similar characteristics but ambiguous prior findings. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Cong2021, author = {Cong, Lin William and He, Zhiguo and Li, Jiasun}, title = {Decentralized Mining in Centralized Pools}, journal = {Review of Financial Studies}, year = {2021}, volume = {34}, number = {3}, pages = {1191--1235}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhaa040} } |
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Vergne, J. | Decentralized vs. Distributed Organization: Blockchain, Machine Learning and the Future of the Digital Platform | 2020 | Organization Theory Vol. 1(4), pp. 263178772097705 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: 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 21 st 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. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{vergne2020decentralized, author = {Vergne, JP}, title = {Decentralized vs. Distributed Organization: Blockchain, Machine Learning and the Future of the Digital Platform}, journal = {Organization Theory}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2020}, volume = {1}, number = {4}, pages = {263178772097705}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787720977052} } |
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Exploration, D., Technology, E.B., Politics, I.C., Hull, J. and Gupta, A. | Deciphering Climate Cryptogovernance [BibTeX] |
2018 | Vol. 80436 |
phdthesis | |
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Exploration2018, author = {Exploration, Discursive and Technology, Early Blockchain and Politics, International Climate and Hull, Jed and Gupta, Aarti}, title = {Deciphering Climate Cryptogovernance}, year = {2018}, volume = {80436} } |
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Gronow, J. | Deciphering Markets and Money | 2020 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: "During the last two decades, economic sociology has experienced a remarkable revival and has become one of the most innovative fields of sociological research. Shifts in economic policy worldwide have led to the increasing interest in the sociological analysis of economic phenomena and institutions by challenging traditional research questions and demonstrating the limits and problems inherent in standard economic thinking and reasoning. Jukka Gronow's book Deciphering Markets and Money solves the problem of the specific social conditions of an economic order based on money and the equal exchange of commodities. Gronow scrutinizes the relation of sociology to neoclassical economics and reflects on how sociology can contribute to the analyses of the major economic institutions. The question of the comparability and commensuration of economic objects runs through the chapters of the book. The author shows that due to the multidimensionality and principal quality uncertainty of products, markets would collapse without market devices that are either procedural, consisting of technical standards and measuring instruments, or aesthetic, relying on the judgements of taste, or both. In his book, Gronow demonstrates that in this respect, financial markets share the same problem as the markets of, wines, movies, or PCs and mobile phones, and hence offer a highly actual case to study their social constitution in the process of coming into being. Jukka Gronow is professor emeritus of sociology at Uppsala University, Sweden, and docent at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has published on sociology of consumption, history of sociology and social theory." | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Gronow2020, author = {Gronow, Jukka}, title = {Deciphering Markets and Money}, year = {2020}, url = {https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22394}, doi = {https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22394} } |
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Walch, A. | Deconstructing ‘Decentralization': Exploring the Core Claim of Crypto Systems | 2019 | C. Brummer (ed.), Crypto Assets: Legal and Monetary Perspectives, pp. 1-36 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Decentralization is what allows Bitcoin to substitute an army of computers for an army of accountants, investigators, and lawyers.-Nick Szabo, Twitter. 1 [B]ased on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions…. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{walch2019deconstructing, author = {Walch, Angela}, title = {Deconstructing ‘Decentralization': Exploring the Core Claim of Crypto Systems}, journal = {C. Brummer (ed.), Crypto Assets: Legal and Monetary Perspectives}, year = {2019}, pages = {1--36}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3326244} } |
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Halpin, H. | Deconstructing the decentralization trilemma | 2020 | ICETE 2020 - Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications Vol. 3, pp. 505-512 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The vast majority of applications at this moment rely on centralized servers to relay messages between clients, where these servers are considered trusted third-parties. With the rise of blockchain technologies over the last few years, there has been a move away from both centralized servers and traditional federated models to more decentralized peer-to-peer alternatives. However, there appears to be a trilemma between security, scalability, and decentralization in blockchain-based systems. Deconstructing this trilemma using well-known threat models, we define a typology of centralized, federated, and decentralized architectures. Each of the different architectures has this trilemma play out differently. Facing a possible decentralized future, we outline seven hard problems facing decentralization and theorize that the differences between centralized, federated, and decentralized architectures depend on differing social interpretations of trust. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Halpin2020, author = {Halpin, Harry}, title = {Deconstructing the decentralization trilemma}, journal = {ICETE 2020 - Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, pages = {505--512}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5220/0009892405050512} } |
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Kim, E.S. | Deep learning and principal–agent problems of algorithmic governance: The new materialism perspective | 2020 | Technology in Society Vol. 63, pp. 101378 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: With the advent of artificial intelligence, stakeholders and experts cede their policy decisions for human affairs to computer algorithms in algorithmic governance. However, they face a new material principal-agent problem, which occurs between computer scientists as principals and computer algorithms as agents. Drawing upon new materialism, this study investigates informational asymmetry, malfeasance, agency relationships, and solutions related to the principal-agent problem. The inscrutability of computer algorithms is central to the notion of informational asymmetry and their relational agency is related to the notion of malfeasance. The principal-agent relationship is viewed as the output of socio-material assemblages in which computer scientists strive to build trust with computer algorithms. The inscrutability of computer algorithms coupled with their performativity would make it challenging for human principals to ascertain the malfeasance of computer algorithms as agents, thereby forming the material principal-agent problem. Finally, this study recommends an incremental, precautionary, and technologically pluralist approach to cope with this problem. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{kim2020deep, author = {Kim, Eun Sung}, title = {Deep learning and principal–agent problems of algorithmic governance: The new materialism perspective}, journal = {Technology in Society}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {63}, pages = {101378}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101378} } |
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Carter, N. and Jeng, L. | DeFi Protocol Risks: The Paradox of DeFi | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-35 | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This paper explores the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem. We examine how DeFi is emerging on top of the public Ethereum smart contract platform, compare it to the centralized architecture of traditional financial markets and highlight opportunities and potential risks of this ecosystem. We propose a multi-layered framework to analyze the implicit architecture and the various DeFi building blocks, including token standards, decentralized exchanges, decentralized debt markets, blockchain derivatives and on-chain asset management protocols. We conclude that DeFi still is a niche market with certain risks, but also has interesting properties in terms of efficiency, transparency, accessibility and interoperability. As such, it may potentially contribute to a more robust and transparent financial infrastructure. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Carter2021, author = {Carter, Nic and Jeng, Linda}, title = {DeFi Protocol Risks: The Paradox of DeFi}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--35}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3866699}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3866699} } |
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Barbereau, T., Smethurst, R., Papageorgiou, O., Rieger, A. and Fridgen, G. | DeFi, Not So Decentralized: The Measured Distribution of Voting Rights [BibTeX] |
2022 | Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences | inproceedings | DOI |
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{barbereau2022defi, author = {Barbereau, Tom and Smethurst, Reilly and Papageorgiou, Orestis and Rieger, Alexander and Fridgen, Gilbert}, title = {DeFi, Not So Decentralized: The Measured Distribution of Voting Rights}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences}, year = {2022}, doi = {https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/80074} } |
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Faustino, S. | Deleuze in the wild: making philosophy matter for fintech | 2022 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 15(1), pp. 93-102 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper discusses the role of Deleuzian philosophy in fintech projects which operate ‘in the wild', i.e. far from the major institutional settings of fintech development, and which speculate towards an alternative financial economy, building upon algorithms, blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and crypto-assets. Based on ethnographic data collected with three different projects, I discuss the process of earmarking financial operations by means of philosophical concepts or theories, which enable the re-interpretation of the process of financialisation of everyday life. I further analyse the conceptual socialization of these technological endeavours with the wider-reaching theme of accelerating the capitalist process with the objective to overturn its excessive powers. The paper concludes by suggesting that fintech experiments which are socialized with accelerationist narratives re-interpret the process of financialisation as a path of liberation instead of exploitation, offering an escape from the capitalist crisis through machinic alchemy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{faustino2022deleuze, author = {Faustino, Sandra}, title = {Deleuze in the wild: making philosophy matter for fintech}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2022}, volume = {15}, number = {1}, pages = {93--102}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1977676} } |
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Tan, G.K.S. | Democratizing finance with Robinhood: Financial infrastructure, interface design and platform capitalism | 2021 | Environment and Planning A Vol. 53(8), pp. 1862-1878 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: It is widely claimed that financial technology democratizes financial access and promotes financial inclusion. This paper challenges this dominant narrative of financial technology using the popular US-based mobile investing platform Robinhood as a case study. Analyzing press articles on Robinhood and regulatory filings of online brokerages, the concepts of financial infrastructures and platforms are used to unpack the capitalist logics that drive the platform business model. Specifically, this paper shows how digital interface design plays a central role in Robinhood's articulation of investors into the stock markets, through its simple, minimalist app that keeps users engaged by the productive management of ‘frictions'. The ease of investing via platform-based brokerages has seen investors taking on greater amounts of risk. This paper argues that Robinhood's success is driven by the continued expansion of its user base using various interface design techniques. This allows platform capitalism to be enacted by extracting rent through various revenue streams, where higher rents are derived from more frequent and riskier trading behaviors. The narrative of democratizing finance as employed widely in the financial technology sector thus obscures the capitalist logics and predatory practices that underlie financial technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Tan2021, author = {Tan, Gordon Kuo Siong}, title = {Democratizing finance with Robinhood: Financial infrastructure, interface design and platform capitalism}, journal = {Environment and Planning A}, year = {2021}, volume = {53}, number = {8}, pages = {1862--1878}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X211042378} } |
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Fouillet, C., Guérin, I. and Servet, J.M. | Demonetization and digitalization: The Indian government's hidden agenda | 2021 | Telecommunications Policy Vol. 45(2), pp. 102079 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The Indian demonetizations of November 2016 came at an entirely new scale to those of January 1946 and January 1978. This time around, the Narendra Modi government's measures applied to 86.4% of the banknotes and coins in circulation, the equivalent to 11% of GDP. Much analysis has been undertaken on the demonetization. This has largely been critical because of its disastrous consequences on local populations and the most deprived among them. Our paper adopts a different angle: it argues that demonetization has had a key impact on the digitalization of payments. We use data from the Reserve Bank of India from 2014 to 2020 to show that the demonetization period brought about a decline in Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) withdrawals. It equally boosted the adoption of digital means of payments, via Point of Sale Terminals (POS) and mobile banking. Since October 2016, the number of POS transactions has risen almost threefold, while the number of ATM transactions has decreased by almost one-fifth. The current government's rhetoric is to promote digitalization as a means of both formalizing the economy and protecting the poor. Its claim is unfortunately highly debatable. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{fouillet2021demonetization, author = {Fouillet, Cyril and Guérin, Isabelle and Servet, Jean Michel}, title = {Demonetization and digitalization: The Indian government's hidden agenda}, journal = {Telecommunications Policy}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {45}, number = {2}, pages = {102079}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.102079} } |
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Bram, B. | Derivative nature: Interrogating the value of conservation in 'boundless Southern Africa' | 2010 | Third World Quarterly Vol. 31(2), pp. 259-276 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Many conservationists nowadays talk about the urgent need to value nature. To bring out the 'true value' of nature and make conservation compatible with poverty reduction, so the argument goes, it must be appropriated into the realm of commodities and priced in monetary terms. By employing the concept of 'derivative nature', this paper explores the consequences of this neoliberal move. Derivatives are financial mechanisms whose monetary value is literally derived from the value of underlying assets. They were originally devised to reduce risk in the marketplace, but have actually made the global financial market immensely more complex and created more systemic risk and uncertainty because of their susceptibility to speculation. The paper suggests that similar processes can be seen in the arena of conservation. It argues that both nature and 'the poor' are increasingly becoming 'underlying assets' for what has become the 'real' source of value of neoliberal conservation, namely images and symbols within the realms of branding, public relations and marketing. Empirically grounded in a discussion on transfrontier conservation in Southern Africa in the run-up to the 2010 soccer World Cup, the paper examines the consequences of 'derivative nature' and calls for critical thinking to start facing these consequences. textcopyright 2010 Third World Quarterly. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bram2010, author = {Bram, Büscher}, title = {Derivative nature: Interrogating the value of conservation in 'boundless Southern Africa'}, journal = {Third World Quarterly}, year = {2010}, volume = {31}, number = {2}, pages = {259--276}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/01436591003711983} } |
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Noyer, J.-m. | Des plateformes jusqu ' en bas [BibTeX] |
2021 | Etudes digitales, Classiques Garnier | article | |
BibTeX:
@article{Noyer2021, author = {Noyer, Jean-max}, title = {Des plateformes jusqu ' en bas}, journal = {Etudes digitales, Classiques Garnier}, year = {2021} } |
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Bjerg, O. | Designing New Money - The Policy Trilemma of Central Bank Digital Currency | 2017 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: The prospect of central banks issuing digital currency (CBDC) immediately raises the question of how this new form of money should co-exist and interact with existing forms of money. This paper evaluates three different scenarios for the implementation of CBDC in terms of their monetary policy implications. In the ‘money user scenario' CBDC co-exists with both cash and commercial bank deposits. In the ‘money manager scenario' cash is abolished and CBDC co-exists only with commercial bank deposits. And in the ‘money maker scenario' commercial bank deposits are abolished and CBDC co-exist only with cash. The evaluation is based on an adaption of the classical international monetary policy trilemma to a domestic monetary system with multiple forms of money. Our proposition is that a monetary system with two competing money creators, the central bank and the commercial banking sector, can simultaneously only pursue two out of the following three policy objectives: Free convertibility between CBDC and bank money, parity between CBDC and bank money, and central bank monetary sovereignty, which is the use of monetary policy for anything else than support for commercial bank credit creation. This means that the decision on the design of a monetary system with CBDC implies a crucial political decision on the priorities of the central bank. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bjerg2017designing, author = {Bjerg, Ole}, title = {Designing New Money - The Policy Trilemma of Central Bank Digital Currency}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {CBS Working Paper, June 2017}, year = {2017}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2985381} } |
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Jana, R.K., Ghosh, I., Das, D. and Dutta, A. | Determinants of electronic waste generation in Bitcoin network: Evidence from the machine learning approach | 2021 | Technological Forecasting and Social Change Vol. 173 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Electronic waste is generating in the Bitcoin network at an alarming rate. This study identifies the determinants of electronic waste generation in the Bitcoin network using machine learning algorithms. We model the evolutionary patterns of electronic waste and carry out a predictive analytics exercise to achieve this objective. The Maximal Information Coefficient (MIC) and Generalized Mean Information Coefficient (GMIC) help to study the association structure. A series of six state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms - Gradient Boosting (GB), Regularized Random Forest (RRF), Bagging-Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines (BM), Hybrid Neuro Fuzzy Inference Systems (HYFIS), Self-Organizing Map (SOM), and Quantile Regression Neural Network (QRNN) are used separately for predictive modeling. We compare the predictive performance of all the algorithms. Statistically, the GB is a superior model followed by RRF. The performance of SOM is the least accurate. Our findings reveal that the blockchain's size, energy consumption, and the historical number of Bitcoin are the most determinants of electronic waste generation in the Bitcoin network. The overall findings bring out exciting insights into practical relevance for effectively curbing electronic waste accumulation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Jana2021, author = {Jana, Rabin K. and Ghosh, Indranil and Das, Debojyoti and Dutta, Anupam}, title = {Determinants of electronic waste generation in Bitcoin network: Evidence from the machine learning approach}, journal = {Technological Forecasting and Social Change}, year = {2021}, volume = {173}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121101} } |
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Wei, S. and Wang, H. | Diem and China's CBDC: New Challengers with New Impacts on the Financial System [BibTeX] |
2021 | Review of Banking & Financial Law Vol. 41 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{wei2021diem, author = {Wei, Shen and Wang, Heng}, title = {Diem and China's CBDC: New Challengers with New Impacts on the Financial System}, journal = {Review of Banking & Financial Law}, year = {2021}, volume = {41}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3991396} } |
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Maddox, A. and Heemsbergen, L.J. | Digging in Crypto-Communities' Future-Making: From Dark to Doge | 2021 | M/C Journal Vol. 24(2 SE -) |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: duction This article situates the dark as a liminal and creative space of experimentation where tensions are generative and people tinker with emerging technologies to create alternative futures. Darkness need not mean chaos and fear of violence – it can mean privacy and protection. We define dark as an experimental space based upon uncertainties rather than computational knowns (Bridle) and then demonstrate via a case study of cryptocurrencies the contribution of dark and liminal social spaces to future(s)-making. Cryptocurrencies are digital cash systems that use decentralised (peer-to-peer) networking to enable irreversible payments (Maurer, Nelms, and Swartz). Cryptocurrencies are often clones or variations on the ‘original' Bitcoin payment systems protocol (Trump et al.) that was shared with the cryptographic community through a pseudonymous and still unknown author(s) (Nakamoto), creating a founder mystery. Due to the open creation process, a new cryptocurrency is relatively easy to make. However, many of them are based on speculative bubbles that mirror Bitcoin, Ethereum, and ICOs' wealth creation. Examples of cryptocurrencies now largely used for speculation due to their volatility in holding value are rampant, with online clearing houses competing to trade hundreds of different assets from AAVE to ZIL. Many of these altcoins have little to no following or trading volume, leading to their obsolescence. Others enjoy immense popularity among dedicated communities of backers and investors. Consequently, while many cryptocurrency experiments fail or lack adoption and drop from the purview of history, their constant variation also contributes to the undertow of the future that pulls against more visible surface waves of computational progress. The article is structured to first define how we understand and leverage ‘dark' against computational cultures. We then apply thematic and analytical tactics to articulate future-making socio-technical experiments in the dark. Based on past empirical work of the authors (Maddox "Netnography") we focus on crypto-cultures' complex emancipatory and normative tensions via themes of construction, disruption, contention, redirection, obsolescence, and iteration. Through these themes we illustrate the mutation and absorption of dark experimental spaces into larger social structures. The themes we identify are not meant as a complete or necessarily serial set of occurrences, but nonetheless contribute a new vocabulary for students of technology and media to see into and grapple with the dark. Embracing the Dark: Prework & Analytical Tactics for Outside the Known To frame discussion of the dark here as creative space for alternative futures, we focus on scholars who have deeply engaged with notions of socio-technical darkness. This allows us to explore outside the blinders of computational light and, with a nod to Sassen, dig in the shadows of known categories to evolve the analytical tactics required for the study of emerging socio-technical conditions. We understand the Dark Web to usher shifting and multiple definitions of darkness, from a moral darkness to a technical one (Gehl). From this work, we draw the observation of how technologies that obfuscate digital tracking create novel capacities for digital cultures in spaces defined by anonymity for both publisher and user. Darknets accomplish this by overlaying open internet protocols (e.g. TCP/IP) with non-standard protocols that encrypt and anonymise information (Pace). Pace traces concepts of darknets to networks in the 1970s that were 'insulated' from the internet's predecessor ARPANET by air gap, and then reemerged as software protocols similarly insulated from cultural norms around intellectual property. ‘Darknets' can also be considered in ternary as opposed to binary terms (Gehl and McKelvey) that push to make private that which is supposed to be public infrastructure, and push private platforms (e.g. a Personal Computer) to make public networks via common bandwidth. In this way, darknets feed new possibilities of communication from both common infrastructures and individual's platforms. Enabling new potentials of community online and out of sight serves to signal what the dark accomplishes for the social when measured against an otherwise unending light of computational society. To this point, a new dark age can be welcomed insofar it allows an undecided future outside of computational logics that continually define and refine the possible and probable (Bridle). This argument takes von Neumann's 1945 declaration that “all stable processes we shall predict. All unstable processes we shall control” (in Bridle 21) as a founding statement for computational thought and indicative of current society. The hope expressed by Bridle is not an absence of knowledge, but an absence of knowing the future. Past the computational prison of total information awareness within an accelerating information age (Castells) is the promise of new formations of as yet unknowable life. Thus, from Bridle's perspective, and ours, darkness can be a place of freedom and possibility, where the equality of being in the dark, together, is not as threatening as current privileged ways of thinking would suggest (Bridle 15). The consequences of living in a constant glaring light lead to data hierarchies “leaching” (Bridle) into everything, including social relationships, where our data are relationalised while our relations are datafied (Maddox and Heemsbergen) by enforcing computational thinking upon them. Darkness becomes a refuge that acknowledges the power of unknowing, and a return to potential for social, equitable, and reciprocal relations. This is not to say that we envision a utopian life without the shadow of hierarchy, but rather an encouragement to dig into those shadows made visible only by the brightest of lights. The idea of digging in the shadows is borrowed from Saskia Sassen, who asks us to consider the ‘master categories' that blind us to alternatives. According to Sassen (402), while master categories have the power to illuminate, their blinding power keeps us from seeing other presences in the landscape: “they produce, then, a vast penumbra around that center of light. It is in that penumbra that we need to go digging”. We see darkness in the age of digital ubiquity as rejecting the blinding ‘master category' of computational thought. Computational thought defines social/economic/political life via what is static enough to predict or unstable enough to render a need to control. Otherwise, the observable, computable, knowable, and possible all follow in line. Our dig in the shadows posits a penumbra of protocols – both of computational code and human practice – that circle the blinding light of known digital communications. We use the remainder of this short article to describe these themes found in the dark that offer new ways to understand the movements and moments of potential futures that remain largely unseen. Thematic Resonances in the Dark This section considers cryptocultures of the dark. We build from a thematic vocabulary that has been previously introduced from empirical examples of the crypto-market communities which tinker with and through the darkness provided by encryption and privacy technologies (Maddox "Netnography"). Here we refine these future-making themes through their application to events surrounding community-generated technology aimed at disrupting centralised banking systems: cryptocurrencies (Maddox, Singh, et al.). Given the overlaps in collective values and technologies between crypto-communities, we find it useful to test the relevance of these themes to the experimental dynamics surrounding cryptocurrencies. We unpack these dynamics as construction, rupture and disruption, redirection, and the flip-sided relationship between obsolescence and iteration leading to mutation and absorption. This section provides a working example for how these themes adapt in application to a community dwelling at the edge of experimental technological possibilities. The theme of construction is both a beginning and a materialisation of a value field. It originates within the cyberlibertarians' ideological stance towards using technological innovations to ‘create a new world in the shell of the old' (van de Sande) which has been previously expressed through the concept of constructive activism (Maddox, Barratt, et al.). This libertarian ideology is also to be found in the early cultures that gave rise to cryptocurrencies. Through their interest in the potential of cryptography technologies related to social and political change, the Cypherpunks mailing list formed in 1992 (Swartz). The socio-cultural field surrounding cryptocurrencies, however, has always consisted of a diverse ecosystem of vested interests building collaborations from “goldbugs, hippies, anarchists, cyberpunks, cryptographers, payment systems experts, currency activists, commodity traders, and the curious” (Maurer, Nelms, and Swartz 262). Through the theme of construction we can consider architectures of collaboration, cooperation, and coordination developed by technically savvy populations. Cryptocurrencies are often developed as code by teams who build in mechanisms for issuance (e.g. ‘mining') and other controls (Conway). Thus, construction and making of cryptocurrencies tend to be collective yet decentralised. Cryptocurrencies arose during a time of increasing levels of distrust in governments and global financial instability from the Global Financial Crisis (20 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Maddox2021, author = {Maddox, Alexia and Heemsbergen, Luke J}, title = {Digging in Crypto-Communities' Future-Making: From Dark to Doge}, journal = {M/C Journal}, year = {2021}, volume = {24}, number = {2 SE -}, url = {https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2755}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2755} } |
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Zeilinger, M. | Digital Art as ‘Monetised Graphics': Enforcing Intellectual Property on the Blockchain | 2018 | Philosophy and Technology Vol. 31(1), pp. 15-41 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In a global economic landscape of hyper-commodification and financialisation, efforts to assimilate digital art into the high-stakes commercial art market have so far been rather unsuccessful, presumably because digital artworks cannot easily assume the status of precious object worthy of collection. This essay explores the use of blockchain technologies in attempts to create proprietary digital art markets in which uncommodifiable digital artworks are financialised as artificially scarce commodities. Using the decentralisation techniques and distributed database protocols underlying current cryptocurrency technologies, such efforts, exemplified here by the platform Monegraph, tend to be presented as concerns with the interest of digital artists and with shifting ontologies of the contemporary work of art. I challenge this characterisation, and argue, in a discussion that combines aesthetic theory, legal and philosophical theories of intellectual property, rhetorical analysis and research in the political economy of new media, that the formation of proprietary digital art markets by emerging commercial platforms such as Monegraph constitutes a worrisome amplification of long-established, on-going efforts to fence in creative expression as private property. As I argue, the combination of blockchain-based protocols with established ambitions of intellectual property policy yields hybrid conceptual-computational financial technologies (such as self-enforcing smart contracts attached to digital artefacts) that are unlikely to empower artists but which serve to financialise digital creative practices as a whole, curtailing the critical potential of the digital as an inherently dynamic and potentially uncommodifiable mode of production and artistic expression. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{zeilinger2018digital, author = {Zeilinger, Martin}, title = {Digital Art as ‘Monetised Graphics': Enforcing Intellectual Property on the Blockchain}, journal = {Philosophy and Technology}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2018}, volume = {31}, number = {1}, pages = {15--41}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-016-0243-1} } |
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Kaal, W.A. | Digital Asset Market Evolution | 2021 | The Journal of Corporation Law Vol. 46(4), pp. 910-963 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The market for digital assets has evolved since its inception in 2009. Its rapid proliferation in 2016-18 was followed by significant downward corrections in 2018-19. The Article evaluates the central stages of the evolution of the market in digital assets and the affected market participants. It presents and compares market data for initial coin offerings, equity offerings, and initial exchange offerings in blockchain and digital-asset startups. The author examines data trends and their underlying causes in the evolution of the market for digital assets. Particular emphasis is placed on the emerging market for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and its role in the evolution of digital assets. The article examines data to evaluate the feasibility of a DeFi market evolution in the decentralized market infrastructure environment of the early 2020s. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kaal2021, author = {Kaal, Wulf A}, title = {Digital Asset Market Evolution}, journal = {The Journal of Corporation Law}, year = {2021}, volume = {46}, number = {4}, pages = {910--963}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663} } |
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Phillips, D.J. | Digital cash and the surveillance society: Negotiating identification in new consumer payment systems [BibTeX] |
1998 | book | DOI URL | |
BibTeX:
@book{phillips1998digital, author = {Phillips, David J}, title = {Digital cash and the surveillance society: Negotiating identification in new consumer payment systems}, publisher = {University of Pennsylvania}, year = {1998}, url = {https://search.proquest.com/openview/7ca922683fe4b5a94427e0ba59af4def/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y%0A}, doi = {https://search.proquest.com/openview/7ca922683fe4b5a94427e0ba59af4def/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y} } |
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Brunton, F. | Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency | 2019 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Bitcoin may appear to be a revolutionary form of digital cash without precedent or prehistory. In fact, it is only the best-known recent experiment in a long line of similar efforts going back to the 1970s. But the story behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and its blockchain technology has largely been untold—until now. In Digital Cash, Finn Brunton reveals how technological utopians and political radicals created experimental money to bring about their visions of the future: protecting privacy or bringing down governments, preparing for apocalypse or launching a civilization of innovation and abundance that would make its creators immortal. The incredible story of the pioneers of cryptocurrency takes us from autonomous zones on the high seas to the world's most valuable dump, from bank runs to idea coupons, from time travelers in a San Francisco bar to the pattern securing every twenty-dollar bill, and from marketplaces for dangerous secrets to a tank of frozen heads awaiting revival in the far future. Along the way, Digital Cash explores the hard questions and challenges that these innovators faced: How do we learn to trust and use different kinds of money? What makes digital objects valuable? How does currency prove itself as real to us? What would it take to make a digital equivalent to cash, something that could be created but not forged, exchanged but not copied, and which reveals nothing about its users? Filled with marvelous characters, stories, and ideas, Digital Cash is an engaging and accessible account of the strange origins and remarkable technologies behind today's cryptocurrency explosion. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Simpson2020, author = {Brunton, Finn}, title = {Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency}, publisher = {Princeton University Press}, year = {2019}, url = {https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179490/digital-cash}, doi = {https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179490/digital-cash} } |
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Kwet, M. | Digital colonialism: US empire and the new imperialism in the Global South | 2019 | Race and Class Vol. 60(4), pp. 3-26 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article proposes a conceptual framework of how the United States is reinventing colonialism in the Global South through the domination of digital technology. Using South Africa as a case study, it argues that US multinationals exercise imperial control at the architecture level of the digital ecosystem: software, hardware and network connectivity, which then gives rise to related forms of domination. The monopoly power of multinational corporations is used for resource extraction through rent and surveillance – economic domination. By controlling the digital ecosystem, Big Tech corporations control computer-mediated experiences, giving them direct power over political, economic and cultural domains of life – imperial control. The centrepiece of surveillance capitalism, Big Data, violates the sanctity of privacy and concentrates economic power in the hands of US corporations – a system of global surveillance capitalism. As a feature of surveillance capitalism, Global North intelligence agencies partner with their own corporations to conduct mass and targeted surveillance in the Global South – which intensifies imperial state surveillance. US elites have persuaded people that society must proceed according to its ruling class conceptions of the digital world, setting the foundation for tech hegemony. The author argues for a different ecosystem that decentralises technology by placing control directly into the hands of the people to counter the rapidly advancing frontier of digital empire. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kwet2019, author = {Kwet, Michael}, title = {Digital colonialism: US empire and the new imperialism in the Global South}, journal = {Race and Class}, year = {2019}, volume = {60}, number = {4}, pages = {3--26}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396818823172} } |
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Carstens, A. | Digital Currencies and the Future Monetary System | 2021 | Vol. 89(1)Bank for International Settlements Hoover Institution policy seminar, pp. 17 |
unpublished | URL |
Abstract: A technological revolution is changing our economy and even money itself. In addition to improvements to existing payment systems, new digital currencies have been unleashed. Yet societies face two forks in the road in designing digital money. First, should digital currencies rely on a central authority or a decentralised governance system? Second, should access be based on verification of identity, or purely on cryptography? The answer is that if digital currencies are needed, central banks should be the issuers and they should grant access based on identification. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can combine novel digital technologies with the tried and trusted foundation of central banks. Developing CBDCs comes with a host of technological, legal and economic issues that warrant careful examination before issuance. Central banks – the guardians of stability – will proceed carefully, methodically and in line with their mandates. The BIS is supporting this international discussion, ensuring that central banks can continue learning from one another and can cooperate on key design issues. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Carstens2021, author = {Carstens, Agustin}, title = {Digital Currencies and the Future Monetary System}, booktitle = {Bank for International Settlements Hoover Institution policy seminar}, year = {2021}, volume = {89}, number = {1}, pages = {17}, url = {https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp210127.pdf} } |
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Burton, D. | Digital Debt Collection and Ecologies of Consumer Overindebtedness | 2020 | Economic Geography Vol. 96(3), pp. 244-265 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: New digital financial technologies (fintech) are changing the contours of the consumer debt industry. The aim of this article is to address the challenges that these shifts pose for the operation and regulation of the debt collection industry and how they map onto existing spatial ecologies of consumer overindebtedness. Two ideal types of consumer debt ecosystems are developed: a mainstream ecology based on traditional modes of operating that include some practices that have existed for centuries; and a new digital ecology comprising new digital entrants that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data mining. A fourfold framework provides a lens through which the new fintech debt ecology is analyzed: debt repayment, debt reporting, debt accounting, and debt prevention. The challenges digital debt collection pose for financial exclusion, digital inequality, the digital divide, and the implications for policy makers and regulators are discussed. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{dawnburton2020digital, author = {Burton, Dawn}, title = {Digital Debt Collection and Ecologies of Consumer Overindebtedness}, journal = {Economic Geography}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {96}, number = {3}, pages = {244--265}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2020.1762486} } |
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Grünewald, S., Zellweger-Gutknecht, C. and Geva, B. | Digital Euro and ECB Powers | 2021 | Common Market Law Review Vol. 58(4), pp. 1029-1056 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The use of cash in the euro area is declining. Accordingly, the European Central Bank is exploring options for the design of a digital euro as a form of central bank money available to the public. This article addresses the key question of whether the Eurosystem is empowered to issue a digital euro and, if so, in what form. Based on a historical, teleological, and systematic interpretation, it argues that Article 128(1) TFEU serves as both a source of competence for the Eurosystem to issue a digital euro and a limitation to that competence. The Eurosystem's powers are necessarily exclusive and must prevail over the remaining competence of Member States to issue tangible coins on the basis of Article 128(2) TFEU. The article also addresses whether a digital euro would and should possess legal tender status, referring to recent case law in the field. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{grunewald2021digital, author = {Grünewald, Seraina and Zellweger-Gutknecht, Corinne and Geva, Benjamin}, title = {Digital Euro and ECB Powers}, journal = {Common Market Law Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {58}, number = {4}, pages = {1029--1056}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3807855} } |
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Zellweger-Gutknecht, C., Geva, B. and Grünewald, S.N. | Digital Euro, Monetary Objects, and Price Stability: A Legal Analysis | 2021 | Journal of Financial Regulation Vol. 7(2), pp. 284s--318 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The Eurosystem is mandated to safeguard price stability according to article 127 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Based on a theoretical and policy-oriented approach, this article sheds light on a second public good with enormous practical relevance both for financial markets and institutions as well as for the general public that the Eurosystem, and ultimately the European Central Bank (ECB), must safeguard according to article 128 TFEU: the availability of ideal monetary objects for the public. While monetary policy constitutes the instrument used to keep prices stable, the availability of ideal monetary objects is ensured through the issuance of ‘cash' that serves as both money with selected properties and an anchor for other monies of the same currency, including sight deposits at commercial banks. Today, the role of ideal monetary objects is (still) primarily fulfilled by tangible banknotes. As the use of tangible banknotes declines, however, a digital equivalent and complement—a digital euro—becomes increasingly necessary. Accordingly, the article concludes that the ECB is both entitled and obliged de lege lata to issue a digital euro on the basis of article 128 TFEU. It further explains that neither tangible cash nor a digital euro can simultaneously be used as instruments in themselves to maintain price stability. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{zellweger2021digital, author = {Zellweger-Gutknecht, Corinne and Geva, Benjamin and Grünewald, Seraina Neva}, title = {Digital Euro, Monetary Objects, and Price Stability: A Legal Analysis}, journal = {Journal of Financial Regulation}, year = {2021}, volume = {7}, number = {2}, pages = {284s----318}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jfr/fjab009} } |
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Calvão, F. and Archer, M. | Digital extraction: Blockchain traceability in mineral supply chains | 2021 | Political Geography Vol. 87(December 2019) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Digital data — including technologically-mediated data generated by blockchain-enabled traceability — is performing an increasingly integral role in extractive operations, but scarce attention has been paid to the structuring effect of these digital technologies or the socio-economic spatiality of data-driven mining operations. Drawing on extensive qualitative research (interviews, participant observation, and two sets of survey data among actors relevant to these mineral supply chains), this article advances the notion of “digital extraction” to describe the collection, analysis, and instrumentalization of digital data generated under the banner of blockchain-based due diligence, chain of custody certifications, and various transparency mechanisms, situated alongside and in support of mineral extraction. The article mobilizes concepts from political geography and political ecology to argue that digital technologies of traceability in extractive processes potentially create new forms of control and exclusion or exacerbate existing social, political, and territorial dispossession through asymmetric relations of power and knowledge in mineral supply chains. Despite industry efforts to make mineral supply chains more sustainable by resorting to digital certification and traceability, the strategic uses of uncertainty, ignorance, and ambiguity undergirding blockchain-enabled traceability systems fail to challenge existing inequalities in resource use and access or fulfill the promise of transparency and accountability. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Calvao2021, author = {Calvão, Filipe and Archer, Matthew}, title = {Digital extraction: Blockchain traceability in mineral supply chains}, journal = {Political Geography}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2021}, volume = {87}, number = {December 2019}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102381} } |
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Popper, N. | Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money | 2015 | , pp. 416 | book | DOI URL |
Abstract: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2015 FINANCIAL TIMES AND MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEARA New York Times technology and business reporter charts the dramatic rise of Bitcoin and the fascinating personalities who are striving to create a new global money for the Internet age.Digital Gold is New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper's brilliant and engrossing history of Bitcoin, the landmark digital money and financial technology that has spawned a global social movement.The notion of a new currency, maintained by the computers of users around the world, has been the butt of many jokes, but that has not stopped it from growing into a technology worth billions of dollars, supported by the hordes of followers who have come to view it as the most important new idea since the creation of the Internet. Believers from Beijing to Buenos Aires see the potential for a financial system free from banks and governments. More than just a tech industry fad, Bitcoin has threatened to decentralize some of society's most basic institutions.An unusual tale of group invention, Digital Gold charts the rise of the Bitcoin technology through the eyes of the movement's colorful central characters, including an Argentinian millionaire, a Chinese entrepreneur, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Bitcoin's elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Already, Bitcoin has led to untold riches for some, and prison terms for others. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Popper2015, author = {Popper, Nathaniel}, title = {Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money}, publisher = {Harper}, year = {2015}, pages = {416}, url = {http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Gold-Bitcoin-Millionaires-Reinvent/dp/0062362496}, doi = {https://www.harpercollins.com/products/digital-gold-nathaniel-popper?variant=32123091451938} } |
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Hockett, R.C. | Digital Greenbacks: A Sequenced'TreasuryDirect'and'FedWallet'Plan for the Democratic Digital Dollar [BibTeX] |
2020 | Available at SSRN 3599419 | article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{hockett2020digital, author = {Hockett, Robert C}, title = {Digital Greenbacks: A Sequenced'TreasuryDirect'and'FedWallet'Plan for the Democratic Digital Dollar}, journal = {Available at SSRN 3599419}, year = {2020}, url = {https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jtlp/vol25/iss1/1/}, doi = {https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jtlp/vol25/iss1/1/} } |
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Zwitter, A.J., Gstrein, O.J. and Yap, E. | Digital Identity and the Blockchain: Universal Identity Management and the Concept of the “Self-Sovereign” Individual | 2020 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 3, pp. 26 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: While "classical" human identity has kept philosophers busy since millennia, "Digital Identity" seems primarily machine related. Telephone numbers, E-Mail inboxes, or Internet Protocol (IP)-addresses are irrelevant to define us as human beings at first glance. However, with the omnipresence of digital space the digital aspects of identity gain importance. In this submission, we aim to put recent developments in context and provide a categorization to frame the landscape as developments proceed rapidly. First, we present selected philosophical perspectives on identity. Secondly, we explore how the legal landscape is approaching identity from a traditional dogmatic perspective both in national and international law. After blending the insights from those sections together in a third step, we will go on to describe and discuss current developments that are driven by the emergence of new tools such as "Distributed Ledger Technology" and "Zero Knowledge Proof." One of our main findings is that the management of digital identity is transforming from a purpose driven necessity toward a self-standing activity that becomes a resource for many digital applications. In other words, whereas traditionally identity is addressed in a predominantly sectoral fashion whenever necessary, new technologies transform digital identity management into a basic infrastructural service, sometimes even a commodity. This coincides with a trend to take the "control" over identity away from governmental institutions and corporate actors to "self-sovereign individuals," who have now the opportunity to manage their digital self autonomously. To make our conceptual statements more relevant, we present several already existing use cases in the public and private sector. Subsequently, we discuss potential risks that should be mitigated in order to create a desirable relationship between the individual, public institutions, and the private sector in a world where self-sovereign identity management has become the norm. We will illustrate these issues along the discussion around privacy, as well as the development of backup mechanisms for digital identities. Despite the undeniable potential for the management of identity, we suggest that particularly at this point in time there is a clear need to make detailed (non-technological) governance decisions impacting the general design and implementation of self-sovereign identity systems. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{zwitter2020digital, author = {Zwitter, Andrej J. and Gstrein, Oskar J. and Yap, Evan}, title = {Digital Identity and the Blockchain: Universal Identity Management and the Concept of the “Self-Sovereign” Individual}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, publisher = {Frontiers}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, pages = {26}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00026} } |
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Beduschi, A. | Digital identity: Contemporary challenges for data protection, privacy and non-discrimination rights | 2019 | Big Data and Society Vol. 6(2), pp. 2053951719855091 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The World Bank estimates that over one billion people currently lack official identity documents. To tackle this crucial issue, the United Nations included the aim to provide legal identity for all by 2030 among the Sustainable Development Goals. Technology can be a powerful tool to reach this target. In the digital age, new technologies increasingly mediate identity verification and identification of individuals. Currently, State-led and public–private initiatives use technology to provide official identification, to control and secure external borders, and to distribute humanitarian aid to populations in need. All of these initiatives have profound implications for the protection of human rights of those affected by them. Digital identity technologies may render individuals without legal documentation more visible and therefore less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. However, they also present risks for the protection of individuals' human rights. As they build on personal data for identification and identity verification, data protection and privacy rights are most clearly affected. The prohibition of discrimination in the digital space is also of concern as these technological advances' societal impact is not yet fully understood. Accordingly, the article argues that emerging digital identity platforms will only contribute to the protection of human rights if the providers adequately mitigate any risks of potential discrimination and promote high standards of privacy and data protection. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{beduschi2019digital, author = {Beduschi, Ana}, title = {Digital identity: Contemporary challenges for data protection, privacy and non-discrimination rights}, journal = {Big Data and Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2019}, volume = {6}, number = {2}, pages = {2053951719855091}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951719855091} } |
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Strengers, Y., Dahlgren, K., Pink, S., Sadowski, J. and Nicholls, L. | Digital technology and energy imaginaries of future home life: Comic-strip scenarios as a method to disrupt energy industry futures [BibTeX] |
2022 | Energy Research & Social Science Vol. 84, pp. 102366 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{strengers2022digital, author = {Strengers, Yolande and Dahlgren, Kari and Pink, Sarah and Sadowski, Jathan and Nicholls, Larissa}, title = {Digital technology and energy imaginaries of future home life: Comic-strip scenarios as a method to disrupt energy industry futures}, journal = {Energy Research & Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {84}, pages = {102366} } |
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Paraná, E. | Digitalized Finance: Financial Capitalism and Informational Revolution [BibTeX] |
2018 | Digitalized Finance: Financial Capitalism and Informational Revolution | book | DOI |
BibTeX:
@book{Parana2018, author = {Paraná, Edemilson}, title = {Digitalized Finance: Financial Capitalism and Informational Revolution}, booktitle = {Digitalized Finance: Financial Capitalism and Informational Revolution}, year = {2018}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004383920} } |
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Rodima-Taylor, D. | Digitalizing land administration: The geographies and temporalities of infrastructural promise | 2021 | Geoforum Vol. 122(August 2020), pp. 140-151 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Blockchain technology has been explored recently for digitalizing land administration in different parts of the world. It has been viewed as contributing to formalization of property rights in the Global South, and enhancing coordination of real estate markets in the Global North. Suggesting that blockchain applications may entail an unrealistic promise of effecting change in property relations through technical means, the article explores the integration of blockchain with existing modes of land administration in three countries – Ghana, Georgia, and Sweden. It investigates the broader embeddedness of blockchain-based land registries in non-digital infrastructural modalities and the peopled infrastructures of informal networks. It argues that the abstraction of blockchain may obscure the complex layering of formal and informal, institutionalized and grassroots texture of property rights and claims to land. Investigating the “infrastructural promise” of blockchain through narratives advanced around this novel “automated trust” mechanism, the article explores the potential of blockchain land registries to perpetuate territories of dispossession grounded in colonial legacies and present-day inequalities. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Rodima-Taylor2021, author = {Rodima-Taylor, Daivi}, title = {Digitalizing land administration: The geographies and temporalities of infrastructural promise}, journal = {Geoforum}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2021}, volume = {122}, number = {August 2020}, pages = {140--151}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.04.003}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.04.003} } |
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Peneder, M. | Digitization and the evolution of money as a social technology of account | 2021 | Journal of Evolutionary Economics | article | DOI |
Abstract: Throughout the history of monetary thought, economists have predominantly emphasised the function of money as a medium of exchange along with the intrinsic properties that enhance its salability and credibility as the most liquid store of value. But the social institution of money co-evolves with technology. It is significant that the advent of digital crypto-currencies was initiated by computer scientists and has taken economists completely by surprise. As a consequence, it also forces our profession to rethink the basic phenomenology of money. In accordance with the views of Wieser and Schumpeter, digitization brings to the fore the immaterial function of money as a standard of value and social technology of account, which increasingly absorbs its function as a medium of exchange. The potential impact of this on economic policy is huge. The variety of different crypto coins has proven the technical feasibility of competing private currencies as proposed by Hayek. In the long term, however, there is reason to doubt the persistence of intense competition. One must fear that major digital platforms will extend their current dominance in multisided virtual market places to include digital payments and money. Central banks are increasingly anxious to preserve public sovereignty over the common unit of account and are considering issuing their own digital fiat money. After the current era of intense creative experimentation, the potentially new spontaneous order of private crypto-currencies is likely to be supplanted by central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the design of which will depend on deliberate public choices and policies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Peneder2021, author = {Peneder, Michael}, title = {Digitization and the evolution of money as a social technology of account}, journal = {Journal of Evolutionary Economics}, publisher = {Journal of Evolutionary Economics}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-021-00729-4} } |
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Xu, Y. | Digitizing death: commodification of joss paper on Chinese online cemetery | 2021 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 0(0), pp. 1-17 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article explores the digitalization of traditional funeral joss paper into digital commodities through the case study of the Chinese online cemetery 00tang.com. Joss paper are paper replicas of everyday items such as money and objects that are ritually burned as a form of symbolic offering to the deceased in accordance with traditional Chinese practices of ancestor worship. Using both ethnographic interviews and discursive interface analysis, I look at how the remediation of spiritual joss paper into digital objects complicates perceived dichotomy between the gift and commodity that requires new ways of thinking about the acts of social reciprocity, indebtedness, and obligation. Drawing on established literature relating to gift and digital economies, I argue 00tang's digitization of joss paper on internet cemeteries is reflexive of the biopolitical means by which the state and market forces work to subsume traditional ancestor worship into controllable and commodifiable labor of mourning. Here, the subversive wastefulness of the gift is replaced by its accumulation and preservation online. Digitization in this regard highlights the process by which objects take on different materiality, values, aesthetics, and productive labor practices, all of which fundamentally alters the symbolic regimes of death and the ritual gift economy in China. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Xu2021, author = {Xu, Yizhou}, title = {Digitizing death: commodification of joss paper on Chinese online cemetery}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {1--17}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1952099}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1952099} } |
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Trice, E. | Digitizing the Aura: A Systems Update for the Contemporary Art World | 2020 | School: University of Denver | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: During the digital tide of the last several decades, the material, metaphysical and economic properties of art have evolved in response to the ever-accelerating growth of cybernetics. The contemporary art ecosystem (CAE) has long been considered “the last unregulated financial market”; then cryptocurrency was invented. Now, blockchain technology has entered the cultural zeitgeist and could radically innovate numerous industries, including the art market. The CAE itself is a network, a system that operates within fundamental parameters and, in that sense, it shares much in common with the philosophies underlying computation, such as systems theory, complexity theory and emergent consensus mechanisms. However, as the venn diagram of art and tech converges on itself, certain philosophical and technical questions arise: What constitutes “value” when digital reproduction is a given? Can the aura be hacked? What are the new interfaces through which society can ethically and emotionally experience art, and how are these defined by bourgeois or avant-garde ideologies? By combining contemporary art market research with techno-cultural criticism and socioeconomic theory, this thesis will track the effects of the burgeoning digital renaissance on the art market and offer solutions to embolden a more equitable, sustainable and ethical art world. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{trice2020digitizing, author = {Trice, E}, title = {Digitizing the Aura: A Systems Update for the Contemporary Art World}, school = {University of Denver}, year = {2020}, url = {https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1866/}, doi = {https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1866/} } |
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Ahmar, G. | Digitizing the Dollar: Privacy Considerations and Policy Prescriptions for a US Central Bank Digital Currency [BibTeX] |
2022 | Hastings Business Law Journal Vol. 18(1) |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{ahmar2022digitizing, author = {Ahmar, Gina}, title = {Digitizing the Dollar: Privacy Considerations and Policy Prescriptions for a US Central Bank Digital Currency}, journal = {Hastings Business Law Journal}, year = {2022}, volume = {18}, number = {1}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4000826} } |
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Arauz, A., Garratt, R. and Ramos F., D.F. | Dinero Electrónico: The rise and fall of Ecuador's central bank digital currency | 2021 | Latin American Journal of Central Banking Vol. 2(2), pp. 100030 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Dinero Electrónico was a mobile payment system developed by the Banco Central del Ecuador that allowed citizens to transfer USD balances in real-time from person to person using basic cell phones. The program operated between 2014 and 2018. Key drivers of the program were increasing financial inclusion and reducing the need for the central bank to hold and distribute large quantities of USD notes. We discuss reasons why the program was ultimately discontinued, including opposition to the program from private banks, and outline lessons learned. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Arauz2021a, author = {Arauz, Andrés and Garratt, Rodney and Ramos F., Diego F.}, title = {Dinero Electrónico: The rise and fall of Ecuador's central bank digital currency}, journal = {Latin American Journal of Central Banking}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, volume = {2}, number = {2}, pages = {100030}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.latcb.2021.100030} } |
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Brekke, C.J. | Disassembling the Trust Machine, three cuts on the political matter of blockchain T | 2019 | Vol. 0 |
phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: Blockchain technology is, in part, a proposal to resolve ‘the political' through technical means: decentralised networks to solve the problem of authority; cryptography to coordinate and secure the network; and game theory and incentive design to solve network behaviour. This PhD thesis draws on theoretical work by Karen Barad (2007) and Jacques Rancière (Rancière, 2010) to ask the question of what matters politically in blockchain technology – both in the sense of matter as becoming material of a new mediation of the political, but also mattering in the sense of being of political importance to engineers, developers and communities forming around blockchain as a potential. Rather than treating blockchain as coherent thing to be either celebrated or criticised, this thesis proposes and attempts to draw out the ways in which the potentials of blockchain are negotiated as part of its political effects, looking towards these negotiations to understand how political differences are made and sought materialised. Three approaches to the political are articulated to analyse Bitcoin and Ethereum as case studies and shift their terms of debate. Firstly, addressing the question of algorithmic determinacy, an approach is proposed for critically understanding a blockchain proposition that does not immediately revert to a competition of control between ‘human' and ‘machine' through the notion of the insensible, drawing on work by geographer of the inhuman Yusoff (2013a). Secondly, drawing on political theorist Rancière (2010) a particular blockchain sensibility is articulated, addressing the question of the particular kind of ‘disruption' that blockchain presents. Its specific provenance in political histories of decentralised network computation opens up political significance beyond its intersections with financial capitalism. Finally, addressing the question of blockchain as a resolution to the political, the thesis introduces the concept of dissensible as an ongoing potential for incompatible sensibilities and their negotiation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Brekke2019, author = {Brekke, Clara Jaya}, title = {Disassembling the Trust Machine, three cuts on the political matter of blockchain T}, year = {2019}, volume = {0}, url = {http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13174/http://etheses.dur.ac.uk}, doi = {http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13174/http://etheses.dur.ac.uk} } |
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Maddox, A. | Disrupting the Ethnographic Imaginarium: Challenges of Immersion in the Silk Road Cryptomarket Community [BibTeX] |
2020 | Journal of Digital Social Research Vol. 2(1), pp. 20-38 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{maddox2020disrupting, author = {Maddox, Alexia}, title = {Disrupting the Ethnographic Imaginarium: Challenges of Immersion in the Silk Road Cryptomarket Community}, journal = {Journal of Digital Social Research}, year = {2020}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {20--38}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v2i1.23} } |
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König, P.D. | Dissecting the Algorithmic Leviathan: On the Socio-Political Anatomy of Algorithmic Governance | 2020 | Philosophy and Technology Vol. 33(3), pp. 467-485 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A growing literature is taking an institutionalist and governance perspective on how algorithms shape society based on unprecedented capacities for managing social complexity. Algorithmic governance altogether emerges as a novel and distinctive kind of societal steering. It appears to transcend established categories and modes of governance—and thus seems to call for new ways of thinking about how social relations can be regulated and ordered. However, as this paper argues, despite its novel way of realizing outcomes of collective steering and coordination, it can nevertheless be grasped with an old and fundamental figure in political philosophy: that of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. Comparing algorithmic governance with this figure serves to highlight their similarities as socio-political arrangements, and specifically to clarify how algorithmic governance parallels the apolitical traits of the Leviathan—it eliminates the political as it requires compliance and forgoing contestation to best fulfill its role and to produce satisfying outcomes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{konig2020dissecting, author = {König, Pascal D.}, title = {Dissecting the Algorithmic Leviathan: On the Socio-Political Anatomy of Algorithmic Governance}, journal = {Philosophy and Technology}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2020}, volume = {33}, number = {3}, pages = {467--485}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-019-00363-w} } |
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Howson, P. | Distributed degrowth technology: Challenges for blockchain beyond the green economy | 2021 | Ecological Economics Vol. 184(June 2020), pp. 107020 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This commentary considers the challenges and trade-offs in using blockchain as the facilitating digital infrastructure for degrowth projects. A blockchain is simply a distributed database. The technology is being used for a wide range of applications relevant to economic exchange and environmental sustainability. Many degrowth scholars wholly reject technical fixes for politically induced environmental crises, seeing blockchain projects as wasteful and counter to convivial social relations. Others highlight the technology's potential for facilitating redistributive and regenerative economies, but without much detail. This paper argues that if blockchain is ever to prove useful for the degrowth movement it would need to overcome challenges in three important areas: 1) building democratic and (re)distributive economies, 2) regenerating the environment without commodifying it, and 3) facilitating international alliances without imposing a particular set of values. What is certain is that technology on its own will not transcend the political struggles tackled by degrowth activists. However, under certain conditions, blockchain might make those struggles more effective. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Howson2021a, author = {Howson, Peter}, title = {Distributed degrowth technology: Challenges for blockchain beyond the green economy}, journal = {Ecological Economics}, publisher = {Elsevier B.V.}, year = {2021}, volume = {184}, number = {June 2020}, pages = {107020}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107020} } |
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Ziolkowska, K. | Distributing authority–state sovereignty in the age of blockchain | 2021 | International Review of Law, Computers and Technology Vol. 35(2), pp. 116-130 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: According to the classical understanding of the state sovereignty, a state is sovereign when it enjoys full control over its territory, sole authority internally, and independence of outside authority. Those aspects of control and authority will further manifest themselves in law making and law enforcing. Blockchain with its distinctive characteristics can challenge state sovereignty thus seen. Its most salient feature is ability to distribute control and authority over data. Having potential to facilitate transactions without middlemen and render some legal institutions redundant, blockchain carries with itself both great promises and chilling risks for public institutions. Meanwhile, countries implement various policies related to this technology, positioning themselves among passive observers or active regulators; as outsiders or as early adopters. The argument made in this article is that, regardless of the adopted approach, blockchain poses systemic challenges to the sovereignty of states. The article examines fundamental features of blockchain that combined cause the inherent distribution of control within a blockchain environment which, in turn, challenge traditional law making and law enforcement. Finally, I make a point that those features make blockchain equally as ground-breaking as incoherent with the legal and practical functioning of sovereign states and, therefore, some trade-offs are imperative. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Ziolkowska2021, author = {Ziolkowska, Katarzyna}, title = {Distributing authority–state sovereignty in the age of blockchain}, journal = {International Review of Law, Computers and Technology}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {35}, number = {2}, pages = {116--130}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869.2021.1885108}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869.2021.1885108} } |
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Karlstrøm, H. | Do libertarians dream of electric coins? The material embeddedness of bitcoin | 2014 | Distinktion Vol. 15(1), pp. 23-36 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The new, decentralized, anonymous digital currency Bitcoin has in less than three years gone from a proof-of-concept to being traded for about €78 million on a daily basis. Its ascendancy offers up a puzzle for financial regulators and other law-enforcers worldwide, while also promising to fulfill the political visions of a group of marketanarchist cryptographers. While it is still a very small economy in absolute terms, Bitcoin also poses some interesting challenges to traditional economic institutions, and is thus an interesting case for economic sociology. Using the notion of material embeddedness, this paper examines the possible implications of a further propagation of Bitcoin. If the currency proves a success, this will have ramifications for a large number of economic institutions, such as the possibility of taxation of untraceable money, the credit economy and interest rates, and international currency control. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Karlstrøm2014, author = {Karlstrøm, Henrik}, title = {Do libertarians dream of electric coins? The material embeddedness of bitcoin}, journal = {Distinktion}, year = {2014}, volume = {15}, number = {1}, pages = {23--36}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2013.870083} } |
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Koomey, J. and Masanet, E. | Does not compute: Avoiding pitfalls assessing the Internet's energy and carbon impacts | 2021 | Joule Vol. 5(7), pp. 1625-1628 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Jonathan Koomey is president of Koomey Analytics and has in the past been a visiting professor at Stanford University, Yale University, and UC Berkeley. He's one of the leading international experts on the economics of climate solutions and the energy and environmental effects of information technology. Dr. Koomey holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley and an A.B. in History and Science from Harvard University. He is the author or coauthor of more than 200 articles and reports and nine books, including Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving and Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs. More at http://www.koomey.com. Eric Masanet is the Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he holds appointments in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has authored more than 130 scientific publications on sustainability modeling of energy and materials demand systems, with particular focuses on data centers and IT systems. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley, with a focus on sustainable manufacturing. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Koomey2021, author = {Koomey, Jonathan and Masanet, Eric}, title = {Does not compute: Avoiding pitfalls assessing the Internet's energy and carbon impacts}, journal = {Joule}, publisher = {Elsevier Inc.}, year = {2021}, volume = {5}, number = {7}, pages = {1625--1628}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.05.007}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.05.007} } |
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Beller, J. | Economic Media: Crypto and The Myth of Total Liquidity | Australian Humanities Review Vol. 66(May 2020) |
article | DOI URL | |
Abstract: … It is necessary to point out that in and of itself, neither computation nor cryptocurrency does anything to mitigate the unimaginable violence … fully elaborate the ideas encoded herein, and it should be abundantly clear that I am not talking about any crypto currency already extant … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Beller, author = {Beller, Jonathan}, title = {Economic Media: Crypto and The Myth of Total Liquidity}, journal = {Australian Humanities Review}, volume = {66}, number = {May 2020}, url = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/economic-media-crypto-and-the-myth-of-total-liquidity/}, doi = {http://australianhumanitiesreview.org/2020/05/31/economic-media-crypto-and-the-myth-of-total-liquidity/} } |
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Whitaker, A. | Economics of visual art: Market practice and market resistance | 2021 | book | DOI | |
Abstract: How can arts managers, artists, and art market observers approach the study of economics? Accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations, wide-ranging case studies, and expansive discussion resources, this interdisciplinary microeconomics primer engages with complex – and, at turns, political – questions of value and resourcefulness with the artist or manager as the decision-maker and the gallery, museum or studio as 'the firm'. Whitaker arms the reader with analytic and creative tools that can be used in service to economic sustainability for artists and organizations. By exploring the complexities of economics in application to art, design and creative industries, this book offers ways to approach the larger world as an art project. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{whitaker2021economics, author = {Whitaker, Amy}, title = {Economics of visual art: Market practice and market resistance}, publisher = {Cambridge University Press}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108649919} } |
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Rolland, M. and Slim, A. | Économie politique du Bitcoin : l'institutionnalisation d'une monnaie sans institutions | 2017 | Économie et Institutions Vol. 26(26) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Le Bitcoin, cryptomonnaie apparue en 2009, repose sur une infrastructure technique censée offrir « un nouvel espace de liberté » selon l'expression de ses concepteurs. Cette infrastructure, s'appuyant sur un protocole décentralisé, une chaîne de blocs et le minage, a été pensée pour permettre l'interaction directe des individus sans aucun recours à un tiers. Cet article s'attache à montrer que la gouvernance par l'infrastructure du Bitcoin conduit, comme elle contraint, à l'émergence d'une gouvernance de l'infrastructure socialement située. Problèmes et solutions prennent alors place hors du champ de la technique, au sein d'espaces de débats et de prise de décision socialement construits et organisés. Contre l'attente de ses concepteurs, le Bitcoin relève désormais d'une gouvernance « duale », à la fois technique et sociale.The Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which appeared in 2009, is based on a technical infrastructure supposed to propose “a new space of freedom” according to its creators. This technical infrastructure, based on a decentralized protocol, a Blockchain and a process of mining, was designed to allow direct interaction of individuals without any intervention of a third party. This article aims to show that the governance by the infrastructure of Bitcoin both helps and hinders the emergence of a governance of the infrastructure. Problems and solutions then take their place far from the field of technology within socially constructed and organized forums for debate and decision-making. Despite the expectations of its creators, the Bitcoin is now based on a technical and social “dual” governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Slim2017, author = {Rolland, Maël and Slim, Assen}, title = {Économie politique du Bitcoin : l'institutionnalisation d'une monnaie sans institutions}, journal = {Économie et Institutions}, year = {2017}, volume = {26}, number = {26}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4000/ei.6023} } |
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Çalişkan, K. and Callon, M. | Economization, part 1: Shifting attention from the economy towards processes of economization | 2009 | Economy and Society Vol. 38(3), pp. 369-398 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article proposes a research programme devoted to examining 'processes of economization'. In the current instalment we introduce the notion of 'economization', which refers to the assembly and qualification of actions, devices and analytical/practical descriptions as 'economic' by social scientists and market actors. Through an analysis of selected works in anthropology, economics and sociology, we begin by discussing the importance, meaning and framing of economization, as we unravel its trace within a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. We show how in combination, these works have laid the foundations for the study of economization. The second instalment of the article, to appear in the next volume of Economy and Society, presents a preliminary picture of what it might mean to take processes of economization as a topic of empirical investigation. Given the vast terrain of relationships that produce its numerous trajectories, we will illustrate economization by focusing on only one of its modalities - the one that leads to the establishment of economic markets. With emphasis on the increasingly dominant role of materialities and economic knowledges in processes of market-making, we will analyse the extant work in social studies of 'marketization'. Marketization is but one case study of economization. Copyright textcopyright 2009 Taylor & Francis. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Caliskan2009, author = {Çalişkan, Koray and Callon, Michel}, title = {Economization, part 1: Shifting attention from the economy towards processes of economization}, journal = {Economy and Society}, year = {2009}, volume = {38}, number = {3}, pages = {369--398}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140903020580} } |
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Çalişkan, K. and Callon, M. | Economization, part 2: A research programme for the study of markets | 2010 | Economy and Society Vol. 39(1), pp. 1-32 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Presented in two parts, this article proposes a research programme devoted to examining 'processes of economization'. In the first instalment, published in Economy and Society 38(3) (2009), we introduced the notion of 'economization'. The term refers to the assembly and qualification of actions, devices and analytical/practical descriptions as 'economic' by social scientists and market actors. Through an analysis of selected works in anthropology, economics and sociology, we discussed the importance, meaning and framing of economization, unravelling its trace within a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. This second instalment of the article explores what it would mean to move this research programme forward by taking processes of economization as a topic of empirical investigation. Given the vast terrain of relationships that produce its numerous trajectories, to illustrate what such a project would entail we have limited ourselves to the examination of processes we call 'marketization'. These processes, which constitute but one modality of economization, are discussed here from five vantage points: the things in the market, agencies, encounters, prices and market maintenance. Copyright textcopyright 2010 Taylor & Francis. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Caliskan2010, author = {Çalişkan, Koray and Callon, Michel}, title = {Economization, part 2: A research programme for the study of markets}, journal = {Economy and Society}, year = {2010}, volume = {39}, number = {1}, pages = {1--32}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085140903424519} } |
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Sedlmeir, J., Buhl, H.U., Fridgen, G. and Keller, R. | Ein Blick auf aktuelle Entwicklungen bei Blockchains und deren Auswirkungen auf den Energieverbrauch | 2020 | Informatik-Spektrum Vol. 43(6), pp. 391-404 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The enormous power consumption of Bitcoin has led to undifferentiated discussions in science and practice about the sustainability of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in general. However, blockchain technology is far from homogeneous—not only with regard to its applications, which now go far beyond cryptocurrencies and have reached businesses and the public sector, but also with regard to its technical characteristics and, in particular, its power consumption. This paper summarizes the status quo of the power consumption of various implementations of blockchain technology, with special emphasis on the recent ‘‘Bitcoin Halving'' and so-called ‘‘zk-rollups''. We argue that although Bitcoin and other proof-of-work blockchains do indeed consume a lot of power, alternative blockchain solutions with significantly lower power consumption are already available today, and new promising concepts are being tested that could further reduce in particulary the power consumption of large blockchain networks in the near future. From this we conclude that although the criticism of Bitcoin's power consumption is legitimate, it should not be used to derive an energy problem of blockchain technology in general. In many cases in which processes can be digitized or improved with the help of more energy-efficient blockchain variants, one can even expect net energy savings. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Sedlmeir2020a, author = {Sedlmeir, Johannes and Buhl, Hans Ulrich and Fridgen, Gilbert and Keller, Robert}, title = {Ein Blick auf aktuelle Entwicklungen bei Blockchains und deren Auswirkungen auf den Energieverbrauch}, journal = {Informatik-Spektrum}, year = {2020}, volume = {43}, number = {6}, pages = {391--404}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00287-020-01321-z} } |
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Kinney, A.B. | Embedding into an Emerging Money System: The Case of Bitcoin | 2021 | Sociological Focus Vol. 54(1), pp. 77-92 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: As global economic crises place the issue of money at the forefront of media attention, a growing minority are turning to “cryptocurrencies” as an emerging digital alternative to state-issued currencies. Bitcoin, the most popular version of this emerging medium, is a useful proxy to answer a key question to the sociology of money: how do people embed themselves into an emerging money system, and what role does value play in this process? Drawing on 23 interviews with Bitcoin adopters, I find that embedding into Bitcoin is closely tied to personal experience and temporal contexts. This study demonstrates that the adoption of Bitcoin follows a distinct process. First adopters discover the value Bitcoin on their own terms. Next, they reflexively overcome challenges to these initial perceptions of value. Finally, they reaffirm their embeddedness in the system through rituals of commitment. This finding has implications for the sociology of money and economic sociology by distilling the connection between fictional expectations that are used to anchor value systems and the social construction of monetary utilities and group identities. Additionally, this connection helps to unpack how Bitcoin continues to mature as a money system despite being characterized by diverse adopters that often engage in economically inefficient activities. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kinney2021, author = {Kinney, Alexander B.}, title = {Embedding into an Emerging Money System: The Case of Bitcoin}, journal = {Sociological Focus}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2021}, volume = {54}, number = {1}, pages = {77--92}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2020.1845260}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2020.1845260} } |
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Grabher, G. | Enclosure 4.0: Seizing data, selling predictions, scaling platforms | 2020 | Sociologica Vol. 14(3), pp. 241-265 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Advance notice: Rather than a straight narrative, this is a roadmap, roughing out rather divergent pathways for the further exploration of platforms. The essay sets off by reiterating the agentic qualities of machinery for understanding the dynamics of platformization and elucidates the dialectical dynamics of (dis)embedded digital platform labor. Subsequently, the societal implications of the “asset-light” business model of platforms as well as of the framing of platform labor as independent entrepreneurship are explored. After perceiving datafication through the optic of assetization, the essay finally explores the platformization of manufacturing and agriculture and the morphing of the material and the digital in the Internet of Things (IoT). A somewhat restless journey, no doubt. But positioning the various pathways vis-à-vis Karl Polanyi's stand should prevent us from losing orientation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Grabher2020, author = {Grabher, Gernot}, title = {Enclosure 4.0: Seizing data, selling predictions, scaling platforms}, journal = {Sociologica}, year = {2020}, volume = {14}, number = {3}, pages = {241--265}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/12107} } |
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Greenberg, P. and Bugden, D. | Energy consumption boomtowns in the United States: Community responses to a cryptocurrency boom | 2019 | Energy Research and Social Science Vol. 50(December 2018), pp. 162-167 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: While scholars have studied the impacts of energy development booms on local communities in the U.S., much less is known about towns experiencing energy consumption booms from industries such as cryptocurrency mining. This article proposes that energy consumption boomtowns are unique in the risks, benefits, and conflicts they create—and that they provide fruitful areas of research for energy social scientists. We illustrate this point with a brief case study of Chelan County, Washington—where an influx of crypto mining over the past five years has stirred community debate. We collected more than 100 newspaper articles, public comments, and public meeting recordings to identify the cautions, hesitations, and criticisms that have caused local regulators to take a precautionary approach. We highlight five key points of the debate that may be of interest to energy social scientists: (1) impacts on the local energy supply and prices, (2) unclear socioeconomic benefits to the county, (3) the illegitimacy of cryptocurrency, (4) environmental considerations, and (5) a disconnect with local legacy industries and community economic identity. We conclude by proposing areas of future social science research on energy consumption booms. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Greenberg2019, author = {Greenberg, Pierce and Bugden, Dylan}, title = {Energy consumption boomtowns in the United States: Community responses to a cryptocurrency boom}, journal = {Energy Research and Social Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {50}, number = {December 2018}, pages = {162--167}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.12.005}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.12.005} } |
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Gallersdörfer, U., Klaaßen, L., Stoll, C., Gallersdo, U., Klaaßen, L., Stoll, C. and Gallersdo, U. | Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin | 2020 | Joule Vol. 4(2018), pp. 2018-2021 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Bitcoin's energy hunger has triggered a passionate debate about the energy consumption of cryptocurrencies. Most studies have been focusing exclusively on Bitcoin and ignored the more than 500 further mineable coins and tokens. Here we analyze 20 cryptocurrencies, which account for more than 98% of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. We conclude that Bitcoin accounts for 2/3 of the total energy consumption of cryptocurrencies and understudied cryptocurrencies represent the remaining 1/3. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Gallersdo2020, author = {Gallersdörfer, Ulrich and Klaaßen, Lena and Stoll, Christian and Gallersdo, Ulrich and Klaaßen, Lena and Stoll, Christian and Gallersdo, Ulrich}, title = {Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin}, journal = {Joule}, publisher = {Cell Press}, year = {2020}, volume = {4}, number = {2018}, pages = {2018--2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.013} } |
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Li, J., Li, N., Peng, J., Cui, H. and Wu, Z. | Energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining: A study of electricity consumption in mining cryptocurrencies | 2019 | Energy Vol. 168, pp. 160-168 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Cryptocurrency is a relatively new combination of cryptology and currency in financial areas and is increasingly frequently used worldwide. Blockchain applications are expected to reshape the renewable energy market. However, there is a lack of studies covering the power usage of digital currencies. Therefore, this study ran experiments on mining efficiency of nine kinds of cryptocurrencies and ten algorithms. A comparison of statistical analysis of data in a benchmark and experiment results of Monero mining was conducted. Thereafter, this study provided an estimation of global electricity consumption of the Monero mining activity. The results indicated that the hashing algorithm mainly determines the mining efficiency. Data analysis and experiments and estimated Monero mining electricity consumption in the world and its carbon emission in China as a case study. In 2018, Monero mining may consume 645.62 GWh of electricity in the world after its hard fork. The Monero mining in China may consume 30.34 GWh and contribute a carbon emission of 19.12–19.42 thousand tons from April to December in 2018. Although cryptocurrency mining and blockchain technology are promising, their influence on energy conversation and sustainable development should be further studied. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Li2019, author = {Li, Jingming and Li, Nianping and Peng, Jinqing and Cui, Haijiao and Wu, Zhibin}, title = {Energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining: A study of electricity consumption in mining cryptocurrencies}, journal = {Energy}, publisher = {Elsevier Ltd}, year = {2019}, volume = {168}, pages = {160--168}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.046}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.046} } |
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Platt, M., Sedlmeir, J., Platt, D., Xu, J., Tasca, P., Vadgama, N. and Ibanez, J.I. | Energy Footprint of Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms Beyond Proof-of-Work [BibTeX] |
2021 | unpublished | DOI URL | |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Platt2021, author = {Platt, Moritz and Sedlmeir, Johannes and Platt, Daniel and Xu, Jiahua and Tasca, Paolo and Vadgama, Nikhil and Ibanez, Juan Ignacio}, title = {Energy Footprint of Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms Beyond Proof-of-Work}, year = {2021}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.03667}, doi = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.03667} } |
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Hesse, M. | Essays on trust and reputation portability in digital platform ecosystems | 2021 | article | DOI URL | |
Abstract: … topic by investigating the foundations, the economics, and the design of reputation portability in digital platform ecosystems. At the outset, general dynamics of trust-building, reputation, and data portability are formally introduced and conceptualized. Subsequently, from a user's … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hesse2021essays, author = {Hesse, M}, title = {Essays on trust and reputation portability in digital platform ecosystems}, year = {2021}, url = {https://www.depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/12879%0Ahttps://www.depositonce.tu-berlin.de/bitstream/11303/12879/5/hesse_maik.pdf}, doi = {https://www.depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/12879} } |
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Scholten, O.J., Hughes, N.G.J., Deterding, S., Drachen, A., Walker, J.A. and Zendle, D. | Ethereum crypto-games: Mechanics, prevalence and gambling similarities | 2019 | CHI PLAY 2019 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 379-389 | inproceedings | DOI |
Abstract: Ethereum crypto-games are a booming and relatively unexplored area of the games industry. While there is no consensus definition yet, ‘crypto-games' commonly denotes games that store tokens, e.g. in-game items, on a distributed ledger atop a cryptocurrency network. This enables the trading of game items for cryptocurrency, which can then be exchanged for regular currency. Together with their chance-based mechanics, this makes crypto-games part of the recent convergence of digital gaming and gambling. In a first effort to scope the field, this paper surveys popular crypto-games, which use the Ethereum cryptocurrency, to tease out characteristic technical properties and gameplay. It then compares the games' features with criteria found in current legal and psychological definitions of gambling. We find that the popular crypto-games selected meet a combined legal and psychological definition of gambling, and conclude with ramifications for future research. | |||||
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{scholten2019ethereum, author = {Scholten, Oliver James and Hughes, Nathan Gerard Jayy and Deterding, Sebastian and Drachen, Anders and Walker, James Alfred and Zendle, David}, title = {Ethereum crypto-games: Mechanics, prevalence and gambling similarities}, booktitle = {CHI PLAY 2019 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play}, year = {2019}, pages = {379--389}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3311350.3347178} } |
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McDonald, K. | Ethereum Emissions: A Bottom-up Estimate | 2021 | article | DOI URL | |
Abstract: The Ethereum ecosystem is maintained by a distributed global network of computers that currently require massive amounts of computational power. Previous work on estimating the energy use and emissions of the Ethereum network has relied on top-down economic analysis and rough estimates of hardware efficiency and emissions factors. In this work we provide a bottom-up analysis that works from hashrate to an energy usage estimate, and from mining locations to an emissions factor estimate, and combines these for an overall emissions estimate. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{McDonald2021, author = {McDonald, Kyle}, title = {Ethereum Emissions: A Bottom-up Estimate}, year = {2021}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01238}, doi = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2112.01238} } |
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Doria, L. and Fantacci, L. | Evaluating complementary currencies: from the assessment of multiple social qualities to the discovery of a unique monetary sociality | 2018 | Quality and Quantity Vol. 52(3), pp. 1291-1314 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The phenomenon of complementary currencies has experienced in recent years a significant evolution both in terms of the sheer number of initiatives and in terms of their ability to attract the attention of academia, politics and media. The spread of these experiments and the increasing involvement of public institutions have led to a growing demand for evaluation procedures specifically targeted at CCs, both as economic experiments and as public policy initiatives. The task of evaluation confronts the peculiar multidimensional character of complementary currencies. One of the traits that is commonly recognized as a characteristic of CCs is indeed the presence, alongside more strictly economic dimensions, of multiple social dimensions and aims. Some evaluation models therefore attempt to measure—through the identification of multiple variables, and of corresponding indicators—the impacts of complementary currencies in terms of a wide range of expected social or economic objectives. This paper intends to question the sufficiency of similar approaches. We will argue that those approaches risk to overshadow a peculiar form of sociality which may emerge particularly in certain types of complementary currency experiments. The paper highlights the significance of this sociality and the relevance of its analysis for the advancement of evaluation practices in the field of monetary innovation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Doria2017, author = {Doria, Luigi and Fantacci, Luca}, title = {Evaluating complementary currencies: from the assessment of multiple social qualities to the discovery of a unique monetary sociality}, journal = {Quality and Quantity}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, year = {2018}, volume = {52}, number = {3}, pages = {1291--1314}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0520-9} } |
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Cohen, J. | Everything Old Is New Again— Or Is It? [BibTeX] |
2020 | Vol. 14(11)Between Truth and Power: The Legal Constructions of Informational Capitalism, pp. E615 |
incollection | DOI |
BibTeX:
@incollection{Cohen2020, author = {Cohen, Juliie}, title = {Everything Old Is New Again— Or Is It?}, booktitle = {Between Truth and Power: The Legal Constructions of Informational Capitalism}, year = {2020}, volume = {14}, number = {11}, pages = {E615}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5489/CUAJ.6995} } |
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Mannan, M. & Schneider, N. | Exit to Community: Strategies for Multi-Stakeholder Ownership in the Platform Economy | 2020 | Georgetown Law Technology Vol. Review 4(no. 1), pp. 2017-2019 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The platform economy1 is facing a crisis of accountability. Large Internet platforms, once regarded as sources of hope for democratic social movements or engines of a promising new economy—or, at worst, just superficial distractions—are now facing serious public scrutiny across the globe. The executives of Facebook, Google, and Twitter have been called before the U.S. Congress to account for their roles in enabling foreign election interference. Scholars have raised concerns about algorithmic, data-driven business models,2 the exploitation of digital labor,3 the abuse of market power,4 corporate governance failures,5 manipulation by oppressive governments,6 opacity and arbitrariness in content moderation,7 and corporate surveillance,8 to name just a few in an ever-growing body of literature on the depredations of the platform economy. Part of the urgency surrounding such concerns lies in the fact that some platforms are near-impossible to escape. Internet users, and societies as a whole, have difficulty opting out of their services.9 Companies like Facebook, for instance, track users across the Web and create shadow user profiles even when the user does not have an account on their platforms.10 Not using such platforms means forgoing essential opportunities for work and social life—even access to basic services.11 By not using social media platforms such as Facebook, people deprive themselves of one of the “most powerful mechanisms” to make their voices heard.12 Conversely, for those who use such services, exit is not a costless exercise, as it involves the irrecoverable loss of social capital, reputational cachet, and assets.13 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{MannanM.&Schneider2020, author = {Mannan, M. & Schneider, N.}, title = {Exit to Community: Strategies for Multi-Stakeholder Ownership in the Platform Economy}, journal = {Georgetown Law Technology}, year = {2020}, volume = {Review 4}, number = {no. 1}, pages = {2017--2019}, url = {https://georgetownlawtechreview.org/exit-to-community-strategies-for-multi-stakeholder-ownership-in-the-platform-economy/GLTR-05-2021/}, doi = {https://georgetownlawtechreview.org/exit-to-community-strategies-for-multi-stakeholder-ownership-in-the-platform-economy/GLTR-05-2021/} } |
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DuPont, Q. | Experiments in algorithmic governance: A history and ethnography of “The DAO,” a failed decentralized autonomous organization [BibTeX] |
2017 | Bitcoin and beyond, pp. 157-177 | incollection | URL |
BibTeX:
@incollection{dupont2017experiments, author = {DuPont, Quinn}, title = {Experiments in algorithmic governance: A history and ethnography of “The DAO,” a failed decentralized autonomous organization}, booktitle = {Bitcoin and beyond}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2017}, pages = {157--177}, url = {http://iqdupont.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DuPont-Experiments_in_Algorithmic_Governance-2017.pdf} } |
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Eyert, F., Irgmaier, F. and Ulbricht, L. | Extending the framework of algorithmic regulation. The Uber case | 2020 | Regulation and Governance | article | DOI |
Abstract: In this article, we take forward recent initiatives to assess regulation based on contemporary computer technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence. In order to characterize current phenomena of regulation in the digital age, we build on Karen Yeung's concept of “algorithmic regulation,” extending it by building bridges to the fields of quantification, classification, and evaluation research, as well as to science and technology studies. This allows us to develop a more fine-grained conceptual framework that analyzes the three components of algorithmic regulation as representation, direction, and intervention and proposes subdimensions for each. Based on a case study of the algorithmic regulation of Uber drivers, we show the usefulness of the framework for assessing regulation in the digital age and as a starting point for critique and alternative models of algorithmic regulation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{eyert2020extending, author = {Eyert, Florian and Irgmaier, Florian and Ulbricht, Lena}, title = {Extending the framework of algorithmic regulation. The Uber case}, journal = {Regulation and Governance}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12371} } |
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Award, A., Bernards, N. and Campbell-verduyn, M. | Facebook ' s Libra and the International Politics of Financial Infrastructures [BibTeX] |
2019 | E-International Relations, pp. 1-11 | article | |
BibTeX:
@article{campbell2019facebook, author = {Award, Article and Bernards, Nick and Campbell-verduyn, Malcolm}, title = {Facebook ' s Libra and the International Politics of Financial Infrastructures}, journal = {E-International Relations}, year = {2019}, pages = {1--11} } |
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Wissel, T. | Fairness and Freedom for Artists: Towards a Robot Economy for the Music Industry [BibTeX] |
2021 | article | DOI | |
BibTeX:
@article{wissel2021fairness, author = {Wissel, Tim}, title = {Fairness and Freedom for Artists: Towards a Robot Economy for the Music Industry}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:72a5c834-177b-4b3c-a6f8-8e69e65cfdf4} } |
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Sako, K., Matsuo, S. and Meier, S. | Fairness in ERC Token Markets: A Case Study of CryptoKitties | 2021 | Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) Vol. 12676 LNCS, pp. 595-610 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Fairness is an important trait of open, free markets. Ethereum is a platform meant to enable digital, decentralized markets. Though many researchers debate the market's fairness, there are few discussions around the fairness of automated markets, such as those hosted on Ethereum. In this paper, using pilot studies, we consider unfair factors caused by adding the program. Because CryptoKitties is one of the major blockchain-based games and has been in operation for an extended period of time, we focus on its market to examine fairness. As a result, we concluded that a gene determination algorithm in this game has little randomness, and a significant advantage to gain profit is given to players who know its bias over those who do not. We state incompleteness and impact of the algorithm and other factors. Besides, we suppose countermeasures to reduce CryptoKitties' unfairness as a market. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Sako2021, author = {Sako, Kentaro and Matsuo, Shin'ichiro and Meier, Sachin}, title = {Fairness in ERC Token Markets: A Case Study of CryptoKitties}, journal = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)}, year = {2021}, volume = {12676 LNCS}, pages = {595--610}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-63958-0_42} } |
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Violet, V. | False Idols: the Perils of ‘Democratizing' Financial Markets | 2021 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Technology is present in the industrial world as a medium to improve employee performance and productivity. Optimal productivity will help the company to continue to compete with its competitors. To achieve optimal productivity, leaders must be able to demonstrate superior human resource management skills. In the current era, many leaders in the millennial generation have begun to take part in managing HR. The advantages possessed by the millennial generation are that they are close to technology and have higher flexibility than the previous generation. So, companies can optimize millennial leadership in optimizing employee productivity by always providing the latest technology developments. Technology is able to encourage the potential of millennial leaders to manage existing human resources so that employees can reach their maximum potential in giving their best performance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Violet2021, author = {Violet, Victoria}, title = {False Idols: the Perils of ‘Democratizing' Financial Markets}, year = {2021}, url = {https://shareok.org/handle/11244/330102}, doi = {https://shareok.org/handle/11244/330102} } |
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Scharnowski, M., Scharnowski, S. and Zimmermann, L. | Fan Tokens: Sports and Speculation on the Blockchain [BibTeX] |
2021 | Available at SSRN 3992430 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{scharnowski2021fan, author = {Scharnowski, Matthias and Scharnowski, Stefan and Zimmermann, Lukas}, title = {Fan Tokens: Sports and Speculation on the Blockchain}, journal = {Available at SSRN 3992430}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3992430} } |
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Butt, D. | FCJ-198 New International Information Order (NIIO) Revisited: Global Algorithmic Governance and Neocolonialism | 2016 | Fibreculture Journal Vol. 11(2), pp. 56-90 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The field of Internet governance has been dominated by Euro-American actors and has largely resisted consideration of a holistic and integrative rights-based agenda, confining itself to narrow discussions on the technical stability of Internet Protocol resources and debates about nation-state involvement in multistakeholder governance of those resources. In light of the work of Edward Snowden documenting the close relationship between government security agencies and dominant social media platforms, this paper revisits the relevance of the New International Information Order (NIIO), a conceptualisation of the global politics of information described at the 1973 Fourth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement of nations in Algiers. This paper argues that critical analysis of the oligopolistic structure of “platforms” and their algorithmic forms of governance can build a more inclusive movement toward social justice by extending the NIIO framework's emphasis on decolonisation, collective ownership of strategic information resources, and documentation of powerful transnational entities. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{butt2016fcj, author = {Butt, Danny}, title = {FCJ-198 New International Information Order (NIIO) Revisited: Global Algorithmic Governance and Neocolonialism}, journal = {Fibreculture Journal}, publisher = {The Fibreculture Journal}, year = {2016}, volume = {11}, number = {2}, pages = {56--90}, url = {http://twentyseven.fibreculturejournal.org/2016/03/08/fcj-198-new-international-information-order-niio-revisited-global-algorithmic-governance-and-neocolonialism/}, doi = {https://twentyseven.fibreculturejournal.org/2016/03/08/fcj-198-new-international-information-order-niio-revisited-global-algorithmic-governance-and-neocolonialism/} } |
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Dowling, M. | Fertile LAND: Pricing non-fungible tokens [BibTeX] |
2021 | Finance Research Letters, pp. 102096 | article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{dowling2021fertile, author = {Dowling, Michael}, title = {Fertile LAND: Pricing non-fungible tokens}, journal = {Finance Research Letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, pages = {102096}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S154461232100177X}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2021.102096} } |
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Funke, J.J. | Finance and information technologies: Opposite sides of the same coin | 2020 | Geographies of the Internet(August), pp. 170-185 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This chapter examines the world of fintech, where finance and technology intersect. It explores how territory, finance, information, and technology have become seamlessly integrated. The author embeds this topic within wider understandings of neoliberalism and the financialization of the economy, including global debt, which gave rise to global financial flows that cross borders with ease. Along the way, fintech gave rise to spin-offs such as NASDAQ, offshore financial centers, big data analytics, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The chapter concludes with a warning that practices such as credit scoring are integral to the panopticonic operation of contemporary capitalism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Funke2020, author = {Funke, Jayson J.}, title = {Finance and information technologies: Opposite sides of the same coin}, journal = {Geographies of the Internet}, year = {2020}, number = {August}, pages = {170--185}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367817534-13} } |
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Pitluck, A.Z., Mattioli, F. and Souleles, D. | Finance beyond function: Three causal explanations for financialization | 2018 | Economic Anthropology Vol. 5(2), pp. 157-171 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article suggests that it is advantageous for social scientists to deliberatedly depart from functionalist theories seeking to explain the expansion of financial instruments and logics across social life. Rather we identify three causes for financialization from three extant clusters of scholastic activity: an organic policial economy that sees finance expanding as a product or by-product of larger state and imperlial-level politcal strucggles, a prelational sociology that sees the ways that finance expands by becoming another medium for expressing and constraining social relationships, and a cultural analysis that observes the increasing redefinition of discursive and material practices as financial. Across this larger discussion, we introduce and situate the contributions to this journal's special issue on financialization. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Pitluck2018, author = {Pitluck, Aaron Z. and Mattioli, Fabio and Souleles, Daniel}, title = {Finance beyond function: Three causal explanations for financialization}, journal = {Economic Anthropology}, year = {2018}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {157--171}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12114} } |
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de Goede, M. | Finance/security infrastructures | 2020 | Review of international political economy Vol. 28(2), pp. 351-368 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article starts from the premise that International Political Economy (IPE) literature – with some notable exceptions – has a blind spot for the colonial and contested histories of financial infrastructures. Often considered to be the mere ‘plumbing' of international finance, financial infrastructures instead are profoundly political and rooted in long-term colonial histories. To start addressing these blind spots, the article draws on literatures in critical infrastructure studies, that offer understandings of infrastructure as lively, contested and profoundly political. The argument is that attending to infrastructure inevitably brings into view the postcolonial nature of contemporary capitalism and finance. The article draws a parallel between the ways in which inequities and dis/connectivities became hard-wired into early modern financial infrastructures, and the ways in which new inequities and disconnections are hard-wired into present-day financial infrastructures through security sanctions. It uses the case of the contemporary payment infrastructure wars, whereby the SWIFT infrastructure is used to enforce sanctions policies, as example to develop the arguments. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{de2020finance, author = {de Goede, Marieke}, title = {Finance/security infrastructures}, journal = {Review of international political economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {28}, number = {2}, pages = {351--368}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2020.1830832}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1830832} } |
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Schäfer, S. and Read, O. | Financial and monetary stability aspects of global stablecoins | 2020 | Credit and Capital Markets Vol. 53(2), pp. 159-186 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Global stablecoins (GSCs) like Facebook's Libra could prove much more instable than they might appear at first sight. Not only can their exchange rates against individual fiat currencies fluctuate substantially; theoretically, they also have the potential to replace national currencies, constitute “digital currency areas” and become the basis of a two-tier banking system with one and more GSC issuers, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, commercial banks that can create GSC deposit money. Against that background, all steps taken so far by supervisors and central banks can only be the starting point of what is necessary to effectively regulate the new normal of the world of money that is emerging. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Schafer2020, author = {Schäfer, Stefan and Read, Oliver}, title = {Financial and monetary stability aspects of global stablecoins}, journal = {Credit and Capital Markets}, year = {2020}, volume = {53}, number = {2}, pages = {159--186}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3790/ccm.53.2.159} } |
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Marchi, L.G.D. | Financial capital goes to heaven: Bitcoin, fintech 3.0 and the massification of the indebted man | 2021 | MATRIZes Vol. 15(2), pp. 205-227 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The article analyzes Bitcoin cryptocurrency as part of a new sector of the financial market, fintech 3.0. Subscribing to Maurizio Lazzarato's thesis that the category of the indebted man would be the form of governmentality of contemporary capitalism, it is discussed how Bitcoin works as a vector of expansion of the social logic of indebtedness to a portion of the population. At first, I propose to think of cryptocurrency as media. Below, I present a genealogy of the ideologies that animated the creation of Bitcoin, in order to demonstrate the libertarian values that guided the design of this new technology. Finally, I discuss how fintech 3.0 spreads the social logic of the indebted man through personal digital devices | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Marchi2021, author = {Marchi, Leonardo Gabriel De}, title = {Financial capital goes to heaven: Bitcoin, fintech 3.0 and the massification of the indebted man}, journal = {MATRIZes}, year = {2021}, volume = {15}, number = {2}, pages = {205--227}, url = {https://www.revistas.usp.br/matrizes/article/download/172356/175647/512875}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1982-8160.v15i2p205-227} } |
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Samman, A. and Sgambati, S. | Financial eschatology and the libidinal economy of leverage | Theory, Culture & Society (forthcoming) | article | DOI | |
Abstract: Apocalyptic thinking has a long religious and political tradition, but what place does it occupy within the temporal universe of contemporary capitalism? In this essay, we use the figure of the eschaton to draw out the loaded and ambiguous character of the future as it emerges through the condition of indebtedness. This entails a departure from political economy accounts of capitalist futurity, which stress the structural logic of financial speculation, in favour of an existential account that begins instead with the cosmology of money and debt. We argue that finance capital's fixation on the future has produced a very specific form of apocalyptic imagination, characteristic of financial society and built on a libidinal economy of leverage. Rather than offering an ecstatic end to the global process of financialization, financial eschatologies bind the contemporary subject to debt and indebtedness to the very end: an endless apocalypse, premised on the ends of finance itself. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Samman, author = {Samman, Amin and Sgambati, Stefano}, title = {Financial eschatology and the libidinal economy of leverage}, journal = {Theory, Culture & Society (forthcoming)}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764211070805} } |
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Wójcik, D. | Financial Geography I: Exploring FinTech – Maps and concepts | 2021 | Progress in Human Geography Vol. 45(3), pp. 566-576 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In the first of two reports on FinTech, I review definitions, roots and taxonomies of FinTech, survey studies charting FinTech development, and theoretical approaches to FinTech. Emerging empirical research shows a dynamic growth of FinTech characterized by heterogeneity and diversity. Ecosystems, financial ecologies, and digital platform economies are the most popular approaches to FinTech, and I argue that they can be used fruitfully in combination with more established concepts, such as networks and agglomeration. Overall, I show that FinTech research is in a state of flux concerning concepts and empirics, and highlight the potential of geography to tame the beast. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Wojcik2021, author = {Wójcik, Dariusz}, title = {Financial Geography I: Exploring FinTech – Maps and concepts}, journal = {Progress in Human Geography}, year = {2021}, volume = {45}, number = {3}, pages = {566--576}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520952865} } |
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Wójcik, D. | Financial geography II: The impacts of FinTech – Financial sector and centres, regulation and stability, inclusion and governance | 2021 | Progress in Human Geography Vol. 45(4), pp. 878-889 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In this report, I review interdisciplinary research on the actual and potential consequences of FinTech, with emphasis on ideas from and for geographers, and three areas: financial sector and centres, financial regulation and stability, and financial inclusion and governance. I show that the consequences of FinTech are full of controversies, which are part of broader, long-standing debates on the role of finance in economy and society, and need to be approached from geographical perspectives. The intense fusion of fin and tech, arguably accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, complicates and elevates these controversies to a new level. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Wojcik2021a, author = {Wójcik, Dariusz}, title = {Financial geography II: The impacts of FinTech – Financial sector and centres, regulation and stability, inclusion and governance}, journal = {Progress in Human Geography}, year = {2021}, volume = {45}, number = {4}, pages = {878--889}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520959825} } |
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Eichengreen, B. | Financial regulation in the age of the platform economy | 2021 | Journal of Banking Regulation, pp. 1-11 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Platform businesses allow for collaboration with nontraditional partners and bring together different categories of customers, in the financial context savers and investors or lenders and borrowers, creating large, scalable networks of users. Their entry into finance promises potential benefits to consumers in the form of new products, lower prices, wider choice, and enhanced consumer experience. At the same time, their new business models and technologies potentially threaten the dominant position of traditional financial services providers and create challenges for regulators. Platform businesses can use their preferential access to customer data to skim off high-quality loans, leaving only low-quality customers for other lenders. Their ability to offer complementary nonfinancial services that cannot be supplied by FinTech start-ups and banks can make it difficult or unattractive for customers to switch to alternative providers. This danger is especially acute when BigTech firms have monopoly power in other markets that complement financial services. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{eichengreen2021financial, author = {Eichengreen, Barry}, title = {Financial regulation in the age of the platform economy}, journal = {Journal of Banking Regulation}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--11}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41261-021-00187-9} } |
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Bracking, S. | Financialisation, Climate Finance, and the Calculative Challenges of Managing Environmental Change | 2019 | Antipode Vol. 51(3), pp. 709-729 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Abstract This article describes the emergent and unstable dispositif of climate finance that is being built from iterative experiments in climate finance provision. The article provides a periodisation of different phases of climate finance from the 1990s onward using examples from REDD+, ecosystem services, the Green Climate Fund, green bonds, and insurance-based derivatives, and connects this periodisation to broader processes of financialisation. It analyses how climate finance projects incorporate competing systems of accounting denominated in carbon, natural capital, “green-ness”, insurance risk and internationally transferred mitigation outcomes. The article argues that many accounting units are evident in current climate finance products, each loosely derived from a different phase in this periodisation. However, experiments in calculating time and value in climate finance continue, and although risk is being increasingly used to correlate different denominators of value, an overall solution for how climate change is to be accounted for in financial interventions remains elusive. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12510, author = {Bracking, Sarah}, title = {Financialisation, Climate Finance, and the Calculative Challenges of Managing Environmental Change}, journal = {Antipode}, year = {2019}, volume = {51}, number = {3}, pages = {709--729}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/anti.12510}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12510} } |
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Lotti, L. | Financialization as a Medium: Speculative Notes on Post-Blockchain Art | 2018 | Moneylab Reader 2: Overcoming the Hype | incollection | DOI URL |
Abstract: Literaturangaben. "This publication is supported by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and many crowdfunding donors... MoneyLab Reader 2 is part of the State Machines project. This project has been funded with the support of the Europesan Commission..." | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Lotti2018, author = {Lotti, Laura}, title = {Financialization as a Medium: Speculative Notes on Post-Blockchain Art}, booktitle = {Moneylab Reader 2: Overcoming the Hype}, year = {2018}, url = {https://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MONEYLABREADER2OVERCOMINGTHEHYPE.pdf}, doi = {https://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/MONEYLABREADER2OVERCOMINGTHEHYPE.pdf} } |
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Gruin, J. | Financializing authoritarian capitalism: Chinese fintech and the institutional foundations of algorithmic governance | 2019 | Finance and Society Vol. 5(2), pp. 84-104 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Digital credit scoring is driving a number of significant transformations in Chinese economy and society, catalyzing financial liberalization, deepening financial inclusion, and shifting economic power beyond the previously state-controlled commercial banking system. Yet the significance of financial technology is informed in turn by locally specific traditions of governance and regulation. This article critically interrogates the rise of Chinese fintech, reconceptualizing it as a process of financialization that is embedded in a Chinese systems- oriented authoritarian governance tradition. On the basis of documentary sources, Chinese- language secondary literature, and fieldwork conducted from 2016-18, it argues that in addition to disrupting existing practices of financial intermediation, the emergence of novel digital credit scoring technologies is enabling new forms of algorithmic governance to be exercised over the process of financialization, which in turn represents an important component in the construction of China's neo-statist authoritarian capitalism. These findings have broader implications for how we understand the importance of new financial technologies in an era of big data, contributing to contemporary debates in international political economy, economic sociology, and Chinese studies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{gruin2019financializing, author = {Gruin, Julian}, title = {Financializing authoritarian capitalism: Chinese fintech and the institutional foundations of algorithmic governance}, journal = {Finance and Society}, year = {2019}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {84--104}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v5i2.4135} } |
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Maya, C. | Finanzas desreguladas, financiamiento y desarrollo: un balance crítico [BibTeX] |
2021 | Finanzas desreguladas, financiamiento y desarrollo: un balance crítico | book | DOI |
BibTeX:
@book{Maya2021, author = {Maya, Claudia}, title = {Finanzas desreguladas, financiamiento y desarrollo: un balance crítico}, booktitle = {Finanzas desreguladas, financiamiento y desarrollo: un balance crítico}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.22201/iiec.9786073046169e.2021} } |
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Tepe, G., Geyikci, U.B. and Sancak, F.M. | FinTech Companies: A Bibliometric Analysis | 2022 | International Journal of Financial Studies Vol. 10(1), pp. 2 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The financial-technology industry has recently attracted the attention of many sectors. The financial-technology industry designs new and unusual technological financial services in many areas. It combines technology with finance and provides an alternative to the traditional financial system. In the scope of this study, 636 publications were obtained from Scopus. Various tools, such as Microsoft Excel for frequency analysis, and VOSviewer for data visualization, were used. The open-source codes used for bibliometric analysis through the R Studio program were developed by the authors and used for citation-metrics analysis. The main aim of this study was to find out the most influential studies and authors and to reveal the distributions and impacts of publications in the FinTech area between 2015 and 2021 from the Scopus database. The results indicate that the most influential journal is Sustainability Switzerland, and the most cited author is Gomber et al. Additionally, Rabbani has the most publications, while China has emerged as the most productive country. On the other hand, this study found that FinTech research clustered in four areas. These areas are computer science, business management, economics, and social sciences. This FinTech study examines financial services, financial access, and financial technology, where FinTech is at the center. It also focuses on cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and smart contracts where the blockchain is at the center. The results reveal a systematic map of existing studies. Further, the study plays a guiding role in future research. View Full-Text | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{tepe2022fintech, author = {Tepe, Gencay and Geyikci, Umut Burak and Sancak, Fatih Mehmet}, title = {FinTech Companies: A Bibliometric Analysis}, journal = {International Journal of Financial Studies}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}, year = {2022}, volume = {10}, number = {1}, pages = {2}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs10010002} } |
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Fu, J. and Mishra, M. | Fintech in the time of COVID−19: Technological adoption during crises | 2022 | Journal of Financial Intermediation Vol. 50 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We document the effects of the COVID−19 pandemic on digital finance and fintech adoption. Drawing on mobile application data from a globally representative sample, we find that the spread of COVID− 19 and related government lockdowns led to a sizeable increase in the rate of finance app downloads. We then analyze factors that may have driven this effect on the demand−side and better understand the “winners” from this digital acceleration on the supply−side. Our overall results suggest that traditional incumbents saw the largest growth in their digital offerings during the initial period, but that “BigTech” companies and newer fintech providers ultimately outperformed them over time. Finally, we drill−down further on the adoption of fintech apps pertaining to both the asset and liability side of the traditional bank balance sheet, to explore the implications that the accelerated trends in digitization may have for the future landscape of financial intermediation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{fu2022fintech, author = {Fu, Jonathan and Mishra, Mrinal}, title = {Fintech in the time of COVID−19: Technological adoption during crises}, journal = {Journal of Financial Intermediation}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {50}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2021.100945} } |
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Lai, K.P.Y. | FinTech: The dis/re-intermediation of finance? [BibTeX] |
2020 | The Routledge Handbook of Financial Geography, pp. 440-457 | incollection | |
BibTeX:
@incollection{lai2020fintech, author = {Lai, Karen P Y}, title = {FinTech: The dis/re-intermediation of finance?}, booktitle = {The Routledge Handbook of Financial Geography}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020}, pages = {440--457} } |
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Boot, A., Hoffmann, P., Laeven, L. and Ratnovski, L. | Fintech: what's old, what's new? | 2021 | Journal of Financial Stability Vol. 53 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We study the effects of technological change on financial intermediation, distinguishing between innovations in information (data collection and processing) and communication (relationships and distribution). Both follow historical trends towards an increased use of hard information and less in-person interaction, which are accelerating rapidly. We evaluate more recent innovations, such as the combination of data abundance and artificial intelligence, and the rise of digital platforms. We argue that the rise of new communication channels can lead to the vertical and horizontal disintegration of the traditional bank business model. Specialized providers of financial services can chip away activities that do not rely on access to balance sheets, while platforms can interject themselves between banks and customers. We discuss limitations to these challenges to the traditional bank business model, and the resulting policy implications. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Boot2021, author = {Boot, Arnoud and Hoffmann, Peter and Laeven, Luc and Ratnovski, Lev}, title = {Fintech: what's old, what's new?}, journal = {Journal of Financial Stability}, year = {2021}, volume = {53}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2020.100836} } |
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Blankenship, J. | Forging Blockchains: Spatial Production and Political Economy of Decentralized Cryptocurrency Code/Spaces | 2017 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Cryptocurrencies and blockchains are increasingly used, implemented and adapted for numerous purposes; people and businesses are integrating these technologies into their practices and strategies, creating new political economies and spaces in and of everyday life. This thesis seeks to develop a foundation of geographic theory for the study of spatial production within and surrounding blockchain technologies focusing on acute studies of Bitcoin as cryptocurrency, Ethereum as digital marketplace, and their conditions of possibility as decentralized autonomous organizations. Utilizing concepts from Henri Lefebvre's Production of Space, this thesis situates blockchain technologies within the wider discussion about the political economy of modes of spatial production, dialectical material methods, code/space, and network society through an examination of human and machine relations within their unique and emergent spaces. Combining phenomenological and dialectical material methods with the methodological practice of discourse analysis and systems theory, this thesis explores an understanding of how systemic mechanisms and actant actions driving blockchain technologies are indications of new evolutions in our conceptions of space and place in everyday life of later informational capitalism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Blankenship2017, author = {Blankenship, Joe}, title = {Forging Blockchains: Spatial Production and Political Economy of Decentralized Cryptocurrency Code/Spaces}, year = {2017}, url = {https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/6681%0A%0A}, doi = {https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/6681} } |
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Sinnreich, A. | Four Crises in Algorithmic Governance [BibTeX] |
2018 | Sinnreich, A.(2018). Four Crises in Algorithmic Governance. Annual Review of Law and Ethics Vol. 19(2016), pp. 1-10 |
article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{sinnreich2018four, author = {Sinnreich, Aram}, title = {Four Crises in Algorithmic Governance}, journal = {Sinnreich, A.(2018). Four Crises in Algorithmic Governance. Annual Review of Law and Ethics}, year = {2018}, volume = {19}, number = {2016}, pages = {1--10}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3650593%0A}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3650593} } |
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Whitaker, A. and Kräussl, R. | Fractional equity, blockchain, and the future of creative work | 2020 | Management Science Vol. 66(10), pp. 4591-4611 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A core challenge in studying the real return on artist' work is the extreme difficulty accessing private records from when an artwork was first sold and thus relying on public auction data. In addition, artists do not typically receive proceeds after the initial sale. This paper, for the first time, uses archivally sourced primary market records to model returns on art and introduces a novel fractional equity structure for artists. We first model what would happen if the American artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg had retained 10% equity in their work when it was first sold. Second, we model a portfolio return using data from the Betty Parsons Gallery and the Green Gallery. To add a portfolio analysis to the performance of "star"artists, we model the galleries as a fund invested in all of artworks sold, using auction sales as the realization event. We find that the individual Johns and Rauschenberg works would have vastly outperformed equities markets. The gallery portfolio still substantially outperforms the S&P, even including 20% transaction costs. Beyond the art market, our larger conceptual framework for retained fractional equity has broad implications for compensation of early-stage creative work in any field and for potential applications of blockchain technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{whitaker2020fractional, author = {Whitaker, Amy and Kräussl, Roman}, title = {Fractional equity, blockchain, and the future of creative work}, journal = {Management Science}, publisher = {INFORMS}, year = {2020}, volume = {66}, number = {10}, pages = {4591--4611}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3633} } |
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Kim, S. | Fractional ownership, democratization, and bubble formation - The impact of blockchain enabled asset tokenization | 2020 | 26th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2020, pp. 0-5 | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Motivated by the growing importance of research on blockchain applications, this paper conceptualizes the potential impact of blockchain enabled asset tokenization. Asset tokenization is the process of converting real-world assets to digital tokens and trading them fractionally based on a blockchain platform and its smart contract function. This research hypothesizes that tokenizing the asset increases its price by improving the democracy of the market and its liquidity, and eventually results in a price bubble, although it is not clear how long it will last. Furthermore, this impact is hypothesized to be greater on the previously lesser-known assets, because of the dominant investor sentiment and valuation subjectivity. Specifically, the art market is designated as a research context because blockchain applications has been expected to innovate the market by resolving its problems of centralization, inefficiency, and information asymmetry. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kim2020, author = {Kim, Soyeon}, title = {Fractional ownership, democratization, and bubble formation - The impact of blockchain enabled asset tokenization}, journal = {26th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS 2020}, year = {2020}, pages = {0--5}, url = {https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2020/adv_info_systems_research/adv_info_systems_research/19/}, doi = {https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2020/adv_info_systems_research/adv_info_systems_research/19/} } |
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Da, Z., Fang, V.W. and Lin, W. | Fractional Trading [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{Fang2021, author = {Da, Zhi and Fang, Vivian W. and Lin, Wenwei}, title = {Fractional Trading}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3949697} } |
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Poblet, M., Allen, D.W.E., Konashevych, O., Lane, A.M. and Diaz Valdivia, C.A. | From Athens to the Blockchain: Oracles for Digital Democracy | 2020 | Frontiers in Blockchain Vol. 3, pp. 41 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: … This is an important development for facilitating longer-term exchanges that require a level of certainty over the future value of payment … An example of data feed could be a monthly unemployment rate by a government source, or the daily number of Covid-19 global cases by … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{poblet2020athens, author = {Poblet, Marta and Allen, Darcy W. E. and Konashevych, Oleksii and Lane, Aaron M. and Diaz Valdivia, Carlos Andres}, title = {From Athens to the Blockchain: Oracles for Digital Democracy}, journal = {Frontiers in Blockchain}, publisher = {Frontiers}, year = {2020}, volume = {3}, pages = {41}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2020.575662} } |
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Cunha, P.R., Melo, P. and Sebastião, H. | From bitcoin to central bank digital currencies: Making sense of the digital money revolution | 2021 | Future Internet Vol. 13(7), pp. 165 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We analyze the path from cryptocurrencies to official Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), to shed some light on the ultimate dematerialization of money. To that end, we made an extensive search that resulted in a review of more than 100 academic and grey literature references, including official positions from central banks. We present and discuss the characteristics of the different CBDC variants being considered—namely, wholesale, retail, and, for the latter, the account-based, and token-based—as well as ongoing pilots, scenarios of interoperability, and open issues. Our contribution enables decision-makers and society at large to understand the potential advantages and risks of introducing CBDCs, and how these vary according to many technical and economic design choices. The practical implication is that a debate becomes possible about the trade-offs that the stakeholders are willing to accept. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{cunha2021bitcoin, author = {Cunha, Paulo Rupino and Melo, Paulo and Sebastião, Helder}, title = {From bitcoin to central bank digital currencies: Making sense of the digital money revolution}, journal = {Future Internet}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute}, year = {2021}, volume = {13}, number = {7}, pages = {165}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/fi13070165} } |
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Anker-Sørensen, L. and Zetzsche, D.A. | From Centralized to Decentralized Finance: The Issue of [BibTeX] |
2021 | Available at SSRN 3978815 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{anker2021centralized, author = {Anker-Sørensen, Linn and Zetzsche, Dirk A}, title = {From Centralized to Decentralized Finance: The Issue of}, journal = {Available at SSRN 3978815}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3978815} } |
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Anker-Sørensen, L. and Zetzsche, D.A. | From Centralized to Decentralized Finance: The Issue of 'Fake-DeFi' | 2021 | unpublished | DOI URL | |
Abstract: While decentralized finance is one of the latest buzzword in the FinTech space, this paper argues that the reality is a phenomenon we call “Fake-DeFi”, that is a decentralized application in which innovators or service providers hold governance rights, or the technical equivalent of governance rights, which would they could modify the fundamentals of the whole network. The reason for Fake-DeFi are partly legal and regulatory, but for the main part Fake-DeFi is inherent in the market logic: innovators want to capitalize on their inventions. Making profits in a fully decentralized network is incredibly difficult. Hence, innovators turn to the less difficult alternative to create only partially centralized networks and services over which they hold various degrees of control. Fake-DeFi will remain the eminent business model even if law and regulation would provide legal and regulatory certainty and smooth supervision for a cross-border fully decentralized network. Fake-DeFi asks for a regulatory response. Regulators facing Fake-DeFi as wide-spread phenomenon are encouraged to review laws and regulations relating to governance rights and modes of control. The former includes, but is not limited to, rules on major shareholders and beneficial ownership relating to regulated intermediaries, fitness and properness of key personal, organizational and prudential requirements of dominant shareholders, as well as the definition of financial services groups. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Anker-Sørensen2021, author = {Anker-Sørensen, Linn and Zetzsche, Dirk Andreas}, title = {From Centralized to Decentralized Finance: The Issue of 'Fake-DeFi'}, year = {2021}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3978815}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3978815} } |
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Eichengreen, B. | From commodity to fiat and now to crypto: What does history tell us? [BibTeX] |
2020 | Digital Currency Economics and Policy, pp. 29-68School: National Bureau of Economic Research | techreport | DOI |
BibTeX:
@techreport{eichengreen2019commodity, author = {Eichengreen, Barry}, title = {From commodity to fiat and now to crypto: What does history tell us?}, booktitle = {Digital Currency Economics and Policy}, school = {National Bureau of Economic Research}, year = {2020}, pages = {29--68}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811223785_0004} } |
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Dylag, M. and Smith, H. | From cryptocurrencies to cryptocourts: blockchain and the financialization of dispute resolution platforms | 2021 | Information Communication and Society Vol. 0(0), pp. 1-16 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This paper contributes to emerging discussions of blockchain governance through an analysis of dispute resolution platforms that reimagine justice. We focus specifically on Kleros, a blockchain-enabled dispute resolution platform, that promises to secure, authenticate, and democratize access to justice for the twenty-first century. We advance the concept of cryptocourts whereby jurors, incentivized by accumulating cryptocurrency, rapidly mobilize using principles of on-demand crowdsourcing to resolve disputes. We critique the broader social imaginaries that cryptocourts such as Kleros will result in a more open, trustworthy, transparent, and democratic systems of justice. These platforms instead pose important questions concerning their potential impact on civil dispute resolution practices by embedding it within an economy of cryptocurrency speculation. This ostensibly results in a legal infrastructure founded on principles of financial acquisition that positions jurors as economic agents seeking to profit from disputes, and courts as computational systems that merely authenticate and secure the distribution of evidence and verdicts. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Dylag2021, author = {Dylag, Matthew and Smith, Harrison}, title = {From cryptocurrencies to cryptocourts: blockchain and the financialization of dispute resolution platforms}, journal = {Information Communication and Society}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {1--16}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1942958}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1942958} } |
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Jervis, F. | From Economization to Tokenization: New Forms of Economic Life On-Chain | 2019 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI URL |
Abstract: The emerging field of token engineering aims to open “economy itself as design space,” using blockchains and other distributed ledger and smart contract technologies in combination with game theory and behavioral economics. This paper describes the emergence of the Ethereum network as the principle site for the development of a cryptographically tokenized mode of economic life, and the reconstruction of human economic agency along game-theoretic lines in the figure of Homo cryptoeconomicus. The paper draws together questions from the economization and marketization, materiality and human/non-human agency programs in economic sociology: token engineering represents both a new field of practice for a self-consciously performative economics, and a potential point of intervention for a practice-oriented mode of social studies of finance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Jervis2019, author = {Jervis, Francis}, title = {From Economization to Tokenization: New Forms of Economic Life On-Chain}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2019}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3344748}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3344748} } |
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Bankov, K. | From gold to futurity: a semiotic overview on trust, legal tender and fiat money | 2019 | Social Semiotics Vol. 29(3), pp. 336-350 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: In the first part of the paper, I am summarizing the most relevant findings of the semiotic study of the money sign. It starts with a tripartition of the major types, namely commodity money, representative money, and fiat money. I then use this approach in order to position the most important contributions of other authors from semiotics and surrounding disciplines. In the second part, I develop a semiotic reading of the notion of legal tender where the latter is seen as a semiotic mechanism that provides particular conditions for the formation of the value of money. I combine a historical review with stress on important theoretic reflections during the development and implementation of pure legal tender money. The last part is dedicated to a proposal for a semiotic model of the fiat money sign. The model is developed and implemented as a reflection on some critical readings of the world financial crisis from 2008 to 2009, where the “semiotization of money” was used for explication. My model is based on one of the most insightful definitions of money, which sees them as “trust inscribed”. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bankov2019gold, author = {Bankov, Kristian}, title = {From gold to futurity: a semiotic overview on trust, legal tender and fiat money}, journal = {Social Semiotics}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {29}, number = {3}, pages = {336--350}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2019.1587833} } |
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Dressler, W., Büscher, B., Schoon, M., Brockington, D., Hayes, T., Kull, C.A., McCarthy, J. and Shrestha, K. | From hope to crisis and back again? A critical history of the global CBNRM narrative | 2010 | Environmental Conservation Vol. 37(1), pp. 5-15 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has been on the ascendancy for several decades and plays a leading role in conservation strategies worldwide. Arriving out of a desire to rectify the human costs associated with coercive conservation, CBNRM sought to return the stewardship of biodiversity and natural resources to local communities through participation, empowerment and decentralization. Today, however, scholars and practitioners suggest that CBNRM is experiencing a crisis of identity and purpose, with even the most positive examples experiencing only fleeting success due to major deficiencies. Six case studies from around the world offer a history of how and why the global CBNRM narrative has unfolded over time and space. While CBNRM emerged with promise and hope, it often ended in less than ideal outcomes when institutionalized and reconfigured in design and practice. Nevertheless, despite the current crisis, there is scope for refocusing on the original ideals of CBNRM: ensuring social justice, material well-being and environmental integrity. Copyright textcopyright 2010 Foundation for Environmental Conservation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Dressler2010, author = {Dressler, Wolfram and Büscher, Bram and Schoon, Michael and Brockington, Dan and Hayes, Tanya and Kull, Christian A. and McCarthy, James and Shrestha, Krishna}, title = {From hope to crisis and back again? A critical history of the global CBNRM narrative}, journal = {Environmental Conservation}, year = {2010}, volume = {37}, number = {1}, pages = {5--15}, url = {papers2://publication/uuid/C6990D58-3407-4BC8-8249-1DD2B6D92953}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892910000044} } |
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Pupolizio, I. | From Libra to Diem. The Pursuit of a Global Private Currency | 2021 | Global Jurist | article | DOI |
Abstract: The official launch of the Libra project in 2019, and the subsequent troubles experienced by the project, stimulated a vigorous debate, from different perspectives, on the pros and cons of a private currency with global ambitions. This paper describes the main characteristics of Libra and of its heir, Diem, locating both in a partial taxonomy of the increasingly crowded field of so-called 'digital currencies'. In the light of the distinguishing features and risks of such an ambitious project, the paper also aims to assess the potential impact on a crucial issue of the present international monetary system: the power to create money. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{pupolizio2021libra, author = {Pupolizio, Ivan}, title = {From Libra to Diem. The Pursuit of a Global Private Currency}, journal = {Global Jurist}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/gj-2021-0055} } |
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Easley, D., O'Hara, M. and Basu, S. | From mining to markets: The evolution of bitcoin transaction fees [BibTeX] |
2019 | Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 134(1), pp. 91-109 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{easley2019mining, author = {Easley, David and O'Hara, Maureen and Basu, Soumya}, title = {From mining to markets: The evolution of bitcoin transaction fees}, journal = {Journal of Financial Economics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {134}, number = {1}, pages = {91--109} } |
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Morse, E.A. | From Rai stones to Blockchains: The transformation of payments | 2018 | Computer Law and Security Review Vol. 34(4), pp. 946-953 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Computer technology has dramatically changed the marketplace, including the way we make payments. Electronic access to funds expands liquidity and the relationships within payment networks allow strangers to build bridges of trust, increasing trade and human interaction. But electronic payment channels have also presented new challenges in security and privacy, including new forms of criminal behavior and tax avoidance for governments to address. This essay outlines some of the legal, social, and technological implications from this transformation of payments and assesses future challenges in the electronic payments frontier. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{morse2018rai, author = {Morse, Edward A.}, title = {From Rai stones to Blockchains: The transformation of payments}, journal = {Computer Law and Security Review}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2018}, volume = {34}, number = {4}, pages = {946--953}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2018.05.035} } |
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Lucchini, L., Aiello, L.M., Alessandretti, L., Morales, G.D.F., Starnini, M. and Baronchelli, A. | From Reddit to Wall Street: The role of committed minorities in financial collective action | 2021 | , pp. 1-26 | unpublished | URL |
Abstract: In January 2021, retail investors coordinated on Reddit to target short selling activity by hedge funds on GameStop shares, causing a surge in the share price and triggering significant losses for the funds involved. Such an effective collective action was unprecedented in finance, and its dynamics remain unclear. Here, we analyse Reddit and financial data and rationalise the events based on recent findings describing how a small fraction of committed individuals may trigger behavioural cascades. First, we operationalise the concept of individual commitment in financial discussions. Second, we show that the increase of commitment within Reddit predated the initial surge in price. Third, we reveal that initial committed users occupied a central position in the network of Reddit conversations. Finally, we show that the social identity of the broader Reddit community grew as the collective action unfolded. These findings shed light on financial collective action, as several observers anticipate it will grow in importance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Lucchini2021, author = {Lucchini, Lorenzo and Aiello, Luca Maria and Alessandretti, Laura and Morales, Gianmarco De Francisci and Starnini, Michele and Baronchelli, Andrea}, title = {From Reddit to Wall Street: The role of committed minorities in financial collective action}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--26}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2107.07361} } |
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Rosamond, E. | From Reputation Capital to Reputation Warfare: Online Ratings, Trolling, and the Logic of Volatility | 2020 | Theory, Culture and Society Vol. 37(2), pp. 105-129 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: What are the consequences of the tendency for ubiquitous online reputation calculation to lead not to more precise expressions of reputation capital but, rather, to greater reputational instability? This article contrasts two conceptions of online reputation, which enact opposing attitudes about the relation between reputation and the calculable. According to an early online reputation paradigm – reputation capital – users strove to achieve high scores, performing the presumption that reputation could be incrementally accumulated and consistently measured within relatively stable spheres of value. Yet, ubiquitous calculation led not to more precise measurements of reputation, but rather to the increasing volatility of online reputation. Thus, a second online reputation paradigm – reputation warfare – has become increasingly prevalent, in which strategic actors indirectly capitalize on systemic volatility produced by reputation's ubiquitous online calculation. Steve Bannon's 2016 Trump campaign strategy, which mobilized trolls, exemplifies the indirect optimization of online reputation, placing an option on reputational volatility. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Rosamond2020, author = {Rosamond, Emily}, title = {From Reputation Capital to Reputation Warfare: Online Ratings, Trolling, and the Logic of Volatility}, journal = {Theory, Culture and Society}, year = {2020}, volume = {37}, number = {2}, pages = {105--129}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276419872530} } |
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van Haaften-Schick, L. and Whitaker, A. | From the Artist's Contract to the Blockchain Ledger: New Forms of Artists' Funding using Equity and Resale Royalties | 2021 | Vol. 23529(2)SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-45 |
unpublished | DOI |
Abstract: Although the Artist's Contract, first developed in 1971, was not broadly adopted in its early decades, renewed interest in it fifty years later has led to inventive related structures, e.g., proposals for fractional equity and sharing of resale royalties with charities. In this paper, we investigate whether this contract's conceptual roots and quixotic history, notably in the work of the artist Hans Haacke (b. 1936), has laid groundwork for a potentially powerful funding mechanism via the ways in which the Contract's resale royalties terms inform the architecture of blockchain-based registries and transactions for visual art. We employ auction records to study Haacke's historical use of the contract, along with contemporary data from the blockchain registry SuperRare, which pays royalties to artists. Because blockchain companies such as SuperRare generally sell digital works outside the taste-making and gate-keeping systems of the upper echelons of the traditional art market, this funding model's technological resurgence may initially develop from the periphery of the narrowly defined art market. This arc from conceptual practice within the arts to commercial practice at the edge of the arts points to the Contract's legacy as a potentially a disruptive technology and a new fundraising models for artists. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{DouglasW.ArnerJanosBarberis2008, author = {van Haaften-Schick, Lauren and Whitaker, Amy}, title = {From the Artist's Contract to the Blockchain Ledger: New Forms of Artists' Funding using Equity and Resale Royalties}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, volume = {23529}, number = {2}, pages = {1--45}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3842210} } |
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Kirkwood, J.W. | From Work to Proof of Work: Meaning and Value after Blockchain [BibTeX] |
2022 | Critical Inquiry Vol. 48(2), pp. 360-380 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{kirkwood2022work, author = {Kirkwood, Jeffrey West}, title = {From Work to Proof of Work: Meaning and Value after Blockchain}, journal = {Critical Inquiry}, publisher = {The University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL}, year = {2022}, volume = {48}, number = {2}, pages = {360--380}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1086/717303} } |
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Reinsberg, B. | Fully-automated liberalism? Blockchain technology and international cooperation in an anarchic world | 2021 | International Theory Vol. 13(2), pp. 287-313 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A recent wave of scholarship attests that the liberal world order is under threat. Although there is disagreement about the underlying reasons for this diagnosis, there are few attempts to further our understanding of how the liberal order can be reinvigorated. This paper probes the potential of blockchain technology to promote international cooperation. Blockchain technology is a data structure that enables global governance stakeholders to establish decentralized governance systems which provide high-powered incentives for enhanced cooperation. By outlining the contours of a blockchain-based global governance system for climate policy, the paper illustrates that blockchain technology holds theoretical promise to foster cooperation in three ways: leveraging new sources of information through blockchain-based prediction markets; allaying coordinating problems through reducing the cost of transactions for side payments; and allowing states and other global governance actors to make more credible commitments given guaranteed execution of blockchain-enabled smart contracts. By empowering local knowledge holders and non-state actors that traditionally lacked the means to coordinate efforts to influence global politics, blockchain technology also promises to advance an international order based on liberal values. In actuality, however, emerging blockchain-based global governance systems will fall short of the libertarian ideal of 'fully-automated liberalism' as their design and operation will remain under the shadow of power. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Reinsberg2021, author = {Reinsberg, Bernhard}, title = {Fully-automated liberalism? Blockchain technology and international cooperation in an anarchic world}, journal = {International Theory}, year = {2021}, volume = {13}, number = {2}, pages = {287--313}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752971920000305} } |
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Di Muzio, T. | GameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I) | 2021 | , pp. 1-13 | unpublished | URL |
Abstract: Reflections on leveraging finance against finance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{DiMuzio2021, author = {Di Muzio, Tim}, title = {GameStop Capitalism. Wall Street vs. The Reddit Rally (Part I)}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--13}, url = {https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:229951} } |
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Fallows Tierney, J. | Gamification and securities regulation | 2021 | , pp. 1-67 | article | URL |
Abstract: Popular zero-commission stock trading apps like Robinhood innovate in user-experience design, featuring digital engagement practices and prompts that appeal to inves-tors' psychology and make it easy and fun to trade. These include leaderboards of popular stock, push notifications, and visual flourishes. Design features like these, sometimes called "gamification" or "digital engagement," have come under increased scrutiny. Regulators have announced plans to examine gamification in retail markets, with the SEC most recently in August 2021 requesting comment on potential responses in broker dealer regulation. This attention reflects considerable skepticism about behavioral design in securities markets. At best, it encourages engagement and democratizes the markets. But at worst, it produces a set of interrelated phenomena of concern, like the potential for problem use and significant idiosyncratic losses, as well as lower quality price discovery and distortions in capital allocation. How regulators should respond to behavioral design in investing apps is therefore a high-stakes matter not just for retail investors but for society more broadly, given that interventions in retail investor choice have significant implications for wealth inequality. Calls to regulate gamification highlight a tension at the core of securities markets. Securities law has largely ceded the field of investor protection to the interests of sophisticated financial intermediaries in producing liquidity and price discovery. By permitting gamification practices that encourage active trading for the broker-dealer's primary benefit, securities law subordinates its investor protection function to encourage plausibly wasteful investment in achieving ever-smaller improvements in liquidity and price discovery. Regulation of gamification is likely to be socially desirable, I argue, not just given what we know about retail trader behavior and its second-order effects on personal finance and markets-but because it is an opportunity for securities law to recalibrate away from encouraging an all-out arms race in dealer arbitrage. This article takes up the problem of digital engagement and behavioral design. It extends the literature on retail investment regulation by considering how gamification is the nearly inevitable consequence of fragmented market structure, competition on brokerage commissions, and the rise of retail investors who trade without superior information about a stock's fundamental value. Calls to regulate "gamification," I argue, often elide important distinctions between how securities law should treat active-traders who prefer risk, and those with preferences distorted by behavioral design. This article explains how we got here; examines the social-welfare case for regulating gamifi-cation, behavioral design, and related digital engagement practices; offers a typology of techniques that securities regulators can adopt in response; and assesses these candidate techniques against existing securities law doctrine and policy, as well as potential reforms that the SEC has recently floated. I also consider and respond to the techno-optimist claim that gamification can further literacy, and the techno-populist claim that this serves to democratize investing. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{FallowsTierney2021, author = {Fallows Tierney, James}, title = {Gamification and securities regulation}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--67}, url = {https://ssrn.com/abstract=3916407} } |
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North, P., Nowak, V., Southern, A. and Thompson, M. | Generative Anger: From Social Enterprise to Antagonistic Economies | 2020 | Rethinking Marxism Vol. 32(3), pp. 330-347 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This essay offers conceptual development for thinking diverse economies in terms of their relationship to antagonism. Rather than seeing antagonism as unhelpfully fueling capitalocentric thinking, the essay argues that antagonism can usefully recognize and engage with problematic forms of power and domination. Building on calls for a closer engagement of community-economies thinking with wider anticapitalist praxis, the essay explores how social and solidarity economy (SSE) practices sometimes reproduce, sometimes challenge, and sometimes build alternatives to forms of power that attempt to shape, obstruct, and obliterate attempts to create better worlds. The essay develops conceptualizations of social enterprise, the social economy, and solidarity economies before offering the novel concept of the antagonistic economy, arguably a site from which angry opposition to constraining power relations can generate a more productive politics of possibility. The conception of the antagonistic economy is developed by discussion of taking back labor through recovered factories and land through community land trusts. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{North2020, author = {North, Peter and Nowak, Vicky and Southern, Alan and Thompson, Matt}, title = {Generative Anger: From Social Enterprise to Antagonistic Economies}, journal = {Rethinking Marxism}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {32}, number = {3}, pages = {330--347}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08935696.2020.1780669} } |
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Berndt, C. and Boeckler, M. | Geographies of circulation and exchange: Constructions of markets | 2009 | Progress in Human Geography Vol. 33(4), pp. 535-551 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Although markets are at centre stage in capitalist processes of circulation and exchange, they have rarely been made an object of study. In this paper we distinguish three heterodox approaches: (1) Socioeconomics points out that concrete markets cannot be separated from their social context. Markets are dissolved in social networks and socialized. (2) Political economy investigates how the market model is confused for real markets by market participants. The market is represented as a destructive force. (3) Cultural economists point to the practical self-realization of economic knowledge and argue that the abstract market model is performative. textcopyright The Author(s), 2009. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Berndt2009, author = {Berndt, Christian and Boeckler, Marc}, title = {Geographies of circulation and exchange: Constructions of markets}, journal = {Progress in Human Geography}, year = {2009}, volume = {33}, number = {4}, pages = {535--551}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132509104805} } |
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Buscema, C. | Geopolitics of monetary innovation in the Longue Durée: Financialization, digitalization and the crisis of the global hegem-ony | 2020 | Partecipazione e Conflitto Vol. 13(1), pp. 360-383 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Since the beginning of the new millennium, a great variety of experiences of monetary innovation has tak-en place worldwide. Actually, very assorted types of social agents, at very different levels of interaction and with very diverse purposes and results, are creating a plethora of global, macro-regional, local or de-territorialized currencies seriously defying both the hegemonic role of the US dollar, and the traditional agents, methods and criteria related to money's creation and circulation. Given such a picture, the main aim of this essay is to characterize and valuate the principle features of the ongoing process of monetary innovation, in light of its modern and contemporary history. We adopt an interdisciplinary theoretical frame, based on the ground of the political sociology and the world system theory, and a genealogical method focused on the monetary history of the United States. The main result here presented is the centrality of the dialectic between innovation and regulation, and of their social and institutional forces. Actually, it can help the comprehension about where, when and why new forms of money appear, as well as the individuation of the main traits characterizing the current stage of global cri-sis and of its risky implications. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Buscema2020, author = {Buscema, Carmelo}, title = {Geopolitics of monetary innovation in the Longue Durée: Financialization, digitalization and the crisis of the global hegem-ony}, journal = {Partecipazione e Conflitto}, year = {2020}, volume = {13}, number = {1}, pages = {360--383}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v13i1p360} } |
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Shah, A. and Moss, A. | Global Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets Digital Assets Primer : Only the first inning [BibTeX] |
2021 | (October)School: Bank of America Global Research | unpublished | |
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Shah2021, author = {Shah, Alkesh and Moss, Andrew}, title = {Global Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets Digital Assets Primer : Only the first inning}, school = {Bank of America Global Research}, year = {2021}, number = {October} } |
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Malloy, M. and Lowe, D. | Global Stablecoins: Monetary Policy Implementation Considerations from the U.S. Perspective | 2021 | Finance and Economics Discussion Series Vol. 2021(020), pp. 1-14 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This note explores the potential effects of the widespread adoption of a global stablecoin (GSC) on key aggregate financial sector balance sheets in the United States. To do this, we map out cash flows of GSC transactions among financial sector entities using a stylized set of 't-accounts'. By analyzing these individual transactions, we infer aggregate and compositional effects on U.S. commercial banking sector and Federal Reserve balance sheets. Through this lens, we also consider how these balance sheet changes could affect monetary policy implementation, the demand for central bank reserves, and the market for U.S. dollar safe assets. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lowe2021global, author = {Malloy, Matthew and Lowe, David}, title = {Global Stablecoins: Monetary Policy Implementation Considerations from the U.S. Perspective}, journal = {Finance and Economics Discussion Series}, publisher = {FEDS Working Paper}, year = {2021}, volume = {2021}, number = {020}, pages = {1--14}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.17016/feds.2021.020} } |
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Becker, K. | Göttliche Protokolle, Bitcoin-Jünger und schattenhafte Herrscher: Über die religiösen Anwandlungen und ideologischen Verstrickungen der Blockchain-Technologie [BibTeX] |
2022 | unpublished | ||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Becker2022b, author = {Becker, Katrin}, title = {Göttliche Protokolle, Bitcoin-Jünger und schattenhafte Herrscher: Über die religiösen Anwandlungen und ideologischen Verstrickungen der Blockchain-Technologie}, year = {2022} } |
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Chen, L., Tong, T.W., Tang, S. and Han, N. | Governance and Design of Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Research Directions on a Meta-Organization | 2022 | Journal of Management Vol. 48(1), pp. 147-184 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The burgeoning digital-platforms literature across multiple business disciplines has primarily characterized the platform as a market or network. Although the organizing role of platform owners is well recognized, the literature lacks a coherent approach to understanding organizational governance in the platform context. Drawing on classic organizational governance theories, this paper views digital platforms as a distinct organizational form where the mechanisms of incentive and control routinely take center stage. We systematically review research on digital platforms, categorize specific governance mechanisms related to incentive and control, and map a multitude of idiosyncratic design features studied in prior research onto these mechanisms. We further develop an integrative framework to synthesize the review and to offer novel insights into the interrelations among three building blocks: value, governance, and design. Using this framework as a guide, we discuss specific directions for future research and offer a number of illustrative questions to help advance our knowledge about digital platforms' governance mechanisms and design features. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{chen2022governance, author = {Chen, Liang and Tong, Tony W. and Tang, Shaoqin and Han, Nianchen}, title = {Governance and Design of Digital Platforms: A Review and Future Research Directions on a Meta-Organization}, journal = {Journal of Management}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA}, year = {2022}, volume = {48}, number = {1}, pages = {147--184}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063211045023} } |
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Just, N. and Latzer, M. | Governance by algorithms: reality construction by algorithmic selection on the Internet | 2017 | Media, Culture and Society Vol. 39(2), pp. 238-258 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article explores the governance by algorithms in information societies. Theoretically, it builds on (co-)evolutionary innovation studies in order to adequately grasp the interplay of technological and societal change and combines these with institutional approaches to incorporate governance by technology or rather software as institutions. Methodologically, it draws from an empirical survey of Internet-based services that rely on automated algorithmic selection, a functional typology derived from it, and an analysis of associated potential social risks. It shows how algorithmic selection has become a growing source of social order, of a shared social reality in information societies. It argues that – similar to the construction of realities by traditional mass media – automated algorithmic selection applications shape daily lives and realities, affect the perception of the world, and influence behavior. However, the co-evolutionary perspective on algorithms as institutions, ideologies, intermediaries, and actors highlights differences that are to be found, first, in the growing personalization of constructed realities and, second, in the constellation of involved actors. Altogether, compared to reality construction by traditional mass media, algorithmic reality construction tends to increase individualization, commercialization, inequalities, and deterritorialization and to decrease transparency, controllability, and predictability. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{just2017governance, author = {Just, Natascha and Latzer, Michael}, title = {Governance by algorithms: reality construction by algorithmic selection on the Internet}, journal = {Media, Culture and Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2017}, volume = {39}, number = {2}, pages = {238--258}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443716643157} } |
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Supiot, A. | Governance by Numbers: The Making of a Legal Model of Allegiance | 2017 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: The West's cherished dream of social harmony by numbers is today disrupting all our familiar legal frameworks - the state, democracy and law itself. Its scientistic vision shaped both Taylorism and Soviet Planning, and today, with 'globalisation', it is flourishing in the form of governance by numbers. Shunning the goal of governing by just laws, and empowered by the information and communication technologies, governance champions a new normative ideal of attaining measurable objectives. Programmes supplant legislation, and governance displaces government. However, management by objectives revives forms of law typical of economic vassalage. When a person is no longer protected by a law applying equally to all, the only solution is to pledge allegiance to someone stronger than oneself. Rule by law had already secured the principle of impersonal power, but in taking this principle to extremes, governance by numbers has paradoxically spawned a world ruled by ties of allegiance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Supiot2017, author = {Supiot, Alain}, title = {Governance by Numbers: The Making of a Legal Model of Allegiance}, publisher = {Bloomsbury Publishing}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/governance-by-numbers-9781509907748/}, doi = {https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/governance-by-numbers-9781509907748/} } |
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Reijers, W., O'Brolcháin, F. and Haynes, P. | Governance in Blockchain Technologies & Social Contract Theories | 2016 | Ledger Vol. 1, pp. 134-151 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper is placed in the context of a growing number of social and political critiques of blockchain technologies. We focus on the supposed potential of blockchain technologies to transform political institutions that are central to contemporary human societies, such as money, property rights regimes, and systems of democratic governance. Our aim is to examine the way blockchain technologies canbring about - and justify - new models of governance. To do so, we draw on the philosophical works of Hobbes, Rousseau, and Rawls, analyzing blockchain governance in terms of contrasting social contract theories. We begin by comparing the justifications of blockchain governance offered by members of the blockchain developers' community with the justifications of governance presented within social contract theories. We then examine the extent to which the model of governance offered by blockchain technologies reflects key governance themes and assumptions located within social contract theories, focusing on the notions of sovereignty, the initial situation, decentralization and distributive justice. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{reijers2016governance, author = {Reijers, Wessel and O'Brolcháin, Fiachra and Haynes, Paul}, title = {Governance in Blockchain Technologies & Social Contract Theories}, journal = {Ledger}, year = {2016}, volume = {1}, pages = {134--151}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5195/ledger.2016.62} } |
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Zwitter, A. and Hazenberg, J. | Governance, Blockchain, Cyberspace: How Technology Implies Normative Power and Regulation | 2020 | SSRN Electronic Journal | incollection | DOI |
Abstract: Technologies and their inherent design choices create normative structures that affect governance. This chapter aims to illustrate how block-chain technology in particular introduces new norms into a legal framework. We first analyze the different forms of governance by distinguishing between old and new governance. With a view to code that functions as legal norms, Block-chain technology is particularly suited to create governance structures and mechanisms. However, one needs to be aware of the norms that are implicitly introduced into the legal system by a specific block-chain technology. We look at the block-chain technology that underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This block-chain introduces a decentralized, transparent, cryptographic-ally locked and thus immutable shared ledger. In summary, these design choices have normative powers over the user and over user interaction. If this is indeed the case, then regulators have to actively assess newly introduced digital ledger technology and other technologies for their effect on the normative and legal system. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Zwitter2021a, author = {Zwitter, Andrej and Hazenberg, Jilles}, title = {Governance, Blockchain, Cyberspace: How Technology Implies Normative Power and Regulation}, booktitle = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3660795} } |
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Brown, E. and Piroska, D. | Governing Fintech and Fintech as Governance: The Regulatory Sandbox, Riskwashing, and Disruptive Social Classification | 2022 | New Political Economy Vol. 27(1), pp. 19-32 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article evaluates the sandbox approach as a regulatory answer to the challenges financial technology brings to finance and social relations. Taking fintech as a sociotechnological phenomenon embedded in discourses of solutionism and innovation, we show that the regulatory sandbox accepts these discourses. Instead of containing fintech, the sandbox is designed in a way that advances riskwashing of fintech even if it is disguised as risktaming. Next, we demonstrate fintech's problematic nature that regulation should control. First, we propose that through its information processing capacity, fintech accelerates the transition from bank-based to market-based finance. Second, we demonstrate that fintech as part of a fintech-financialization apparatus has catallactic and value-extracting governance effects. Third, inserting the fintech-financialization apparatus into Fourcade and Healy's argument on the social stratification effect of the data-driven economy, we argue that it also has a socially disruptive potential. We critique the regulatory sandbox for being a facilitator to this process and recommend increasing the number and power of veto players and veto points in complex regulatory regimes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{brown2021governing, author = {Brown, Eric and Piroska, Dóra}, title = {Governing Fintech and Fintech as Governance: The Regulatory Sandbox, Riskwashing, and Disruptive Social Classification}, journal = {New Political Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2022}, volume = {27}, number = {1}, pages = {19--32}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1910645}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1910645} } |
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Leistert, O. | Governing Objects from a Distance : Blockchains as Organizers of Environmentality | 2020 | Explorations in Digital Cultures, pp. 1-21 | incollection | DOI |
Abstract: Of the phenomena in the field of media technologies that have conquered imaginations and funding buckets recently, blockchain technologies, next to artificial intelligence and machine learning, might be considered the most striking example. The blockchain constitutes a protocological internet layer for values that corresponds to a continuing monetization pressure and ongoing expansion of identification strategies. Notwithstanding these trajectories, behind this prospective killer application resides first of all a sovereign chronological regime that has the capacities to prove and modulate the existence, identity and administration of data, assets, goods and services from a distance on granular scales. | |||||
BibTeX:
@incollection{Leistert2020, author = {Leistert, Oliver}, title = {Governing Objects from a Distance : Blockchains as Organizers of Environmentality}, booktitle = {Explorations in Digital Cultures}, publisher = {meson press}, year = {2020}, pages = {1--21}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/14853} } |
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Helfrich, F.L. | Governing Socio-Technical Systems: Internal Governance of Decentralized Blockchain-Based Networks | 2020 | phdthesis | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Along with the emerging use of cryptocurrency systems, new forms of decentralised blockchain-based networks are envisioned and being developed. These networks are extending the scope of using blockchain technology beyond solely financial contexts into novel fields of application. Investigating the ways in which such networks are implemented in societies and how they are governed requires understanding the underlying technical structures, social practices and forms of governance within such networks. Investigating these internal aspects of decentralised blockchain-based networks is the main focus of this thesis. Drawing on accounts in the field of science and technology studies (STS), this thesis will elaborate on decentralised cryptocurrency systems as being constituted by technical aspects of their infrastructure, as well as the social relations within them. Building upon an understanding of the socio-technical structure of such systems, the influence of their decentralised character on the constitution of user identities is presented. It will be investigated how the socio-technical character and decentralised structure of cryptocurrency systems leads to new forms of governance within them and, correspondingly, in the decentralised blockchain-based networks they are a part of. Two illustrative cases of decentralised blockchain-based networks in electricity markets and the forms of governance within them will be examined. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Helfrich2020, author = {Helfrich, Florian Lukas}, title = {Governing Socio-Technical Systems: Internal Governance of Decentralized Blockchain-Based Networks}, year = {2020}, url = {http://essay.utwente.nl/84805/}, doi = {http://essay.utwente.nl/84805/} } |
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Sullivan, S. | Green capitalism, and the cultural poverty of constructing nature as service provider | 2009 | Radical Anthropology Vol. 3, pp. 18-27 |
article | |
Abstract: Sian Sullivan investigates the bonanza of ‘green' business opportunities for capitalist investors in environmental crisis. But do communities who live in some of the world's most biodiverse environments offer ways of relating with nature that are irreducible to monetised economics? | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Sullivan2009, author = {Sullivan, Sian}, title = {Green capitalism, and the cultural poverty of constructing nature as service provider}, journal = {Radical Anthropology}, year = {2009}, volume = {3}, pages = {18--27} } |
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Brekke, J.K. | Hacker-engineers and Their Economies: The Political Economy of Decentralised Networks and ‘Cryptoeconomics' | 2021 | New Political Economy Vol. 26(4), pp. 646-659 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Research by political economists typically highlights policymakers, regulators, economists and consultants as the makers of economies. This paper foregrounds a different actor entirely, what I call the ‘hacker-engineer' as an important protagonist in the making of decentralised digital network economies that are forged through the emerging field of ‘cryptoeconomics' and blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies. Responding to critical literature stating that blockchain and ‘cryptoeconomics' merely extend neoliberal processes of economisation, the paper recovers the neglected hacker culture of cypherpunk and histories of peer-to-peer decentralised networks in order to foreground concerns that depart from the continuation of economics and economies as usual. Hacker-engineers are dedicated to decentralisation as a ‘disruptive' response to network control and surveillance, and share a pragmatist sensibility that seeks to make decentralised networks ‘work' in order to provide informational security and privacy. While further broadening the range of agents that provide the focus for political economy research into the production of economies, the paper also draws attention to the technical decisions of hacker-engineers that attempt to reconfigure the material infrastructures of digital economies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Brekke2021, author = {Brekke, Jaya Klara}, title = {Hacker-engineers and Their Economies: The Political Economy of Decentralised Networks and ‘Cryptoeconomics'}, journal = {New Political Economy}, year = {2021}, volume = {26}, number = {4}, pages = {646--659}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2020.1806223} } |
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Sanz Bas, D. | Hayek and the cryptocurrency revolution | 2020 | Iberian Journal of the History of Economic Thought Vol. 7(1), pp. 15-28 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The emergence of cryptocurrencies has been one of the most notable monetary phenomenon of the last decade. Many academics and analysts have found a clear precedent to this event in Friedrich Hayek's latest monetary work, Denationalization of money. The aim of this article is to analyze what we can learn about cryptocurrencies by re-reading this book. As will be proven, Hayek would surely have rejected the idea that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies with similar characteristics could be accepted as money in the market. Furthermore, this paper will prove that a very close connection between Stablecoins and private money exists, following the Austrian economist's predictions in a context of monetary competition. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{SanzBas2020, author = {Sanz Bas, David}, title = {Hayek and the cryptocurrency revolution}, journal = {Iberian Journal of the History of Economic Thought}, year = {2020}, volume = {7}, number = {1}, pages = {15--28}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5209/ijhe.69403} } |
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Lohmann, L. and Lohmann, L. | Heat Colonialism and the Geography of Artificial Intelligence | 2021 | School: The Corner House | unpublished | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article briefly develops two insights about artificial intelligence (AI) together in the hope that the combination may help in the understanding of important contemporary political struggles. The first insight is that artificial intelligence consists of energy-intensive forms of mechanization that are continuous with those of 19th-century phases of industrialization, with all of their social and ecological characteristics. The second insight is that it can be useful to reconceptualize the relation between artificial intelligence and energy in geographic terms. This reconceptualization is premised on picturing the practice and theory of energy since the 19th century as involving (1) continuous efforts to reorganize the earthly gradients between low and high entropy that are needed to sustain proliferations of energy conversion devices, (2) reinforcement of integral tendencies toward progressive erosion of these gradients within relevant bordered systems, and (3) expansion of colonial management across those borders to dispose of high entropy and curb trends toward local thermodynamic equilibrium. Put | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Lohmann, author = {Lohmann, Larry and Lohmann, Larry}, title = {Heat Colonialism and the Geography of Artificial Intelligence}, school = {The Corner House}, year = {2021}, url = {http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/heat-colonialism-and-geography-artificial-intelligence}, doi = {http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/heat-colonialism-and-geography-artificial-intelligence} } |
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Bodó, B. and Janssen, H. | Here Be Dragons – Maintaining Trust in the Technologized Public Sector | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: Emerging technologies, such as AI systems, distributed ledgers, but also private e-commerce and telecommunication platforms have permeated every aspect of our social, economic, political relations. Various bodies of the state, from education, via law enforcement to healthcare also increasingly rely on technical components to provide cheap, efficient public services, and supposedly fair, transparent, disinterested, accountable public administration. Most of these technical components are provided by private parties who designed, developed, trained, and maintain the technical components of public infrastructures. The rapid, and often unplanned, and uncontrolled technologization of public services (as happened, for example in the rapid adoption of distance learning and teleconferencing systems during the COVID lockdowns) inseparably link the perception of the quality, trustworthiness, effectiveness of public services and the public bodies which provision them to the successes and failures of their private, technological components: if the government's welfare fraud AI system fails, it is the confidence in the governments which is ultimately hit.In this contribution we explore how the use of potentially untrustworthy private technological systems in the public sector may affect the trust in government. We argue that citizens' and business' trust in government is a valuable asset, which came under assault from many dimensions. The increasing reliance on private technical components in government is in part a response to protect this trust, but in many cases, it opens up new forms of threats and vulnerabilities, because the trustworthiness of many of these private technical systems is, at best, questionable, particularly where it is deployed in the context of public sector trust contexts. We consider a number of policy options to protect the trust in government even if some of their technological components are fundamentally untrustworthy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bodo2021, author = {Bodó, Balázs and Janssen, Heleen}, title = {Here Be Dragons – Maintaining Trust in the Technologized Public Sector}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3868208} } |
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Bjerg, O. | How is Bitcoin Money? | 2016 | Theory, Culture & Society Vol. 33(1), pp. 53-72 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic payment system that operates as an independent currency. This paper is a philosophical investigation of the ontological constitution of Bitcoin. Using Slavoj Žižek's ontological triad of the real, the symbolic and the imaginary, the paper distinguishes between three ideal typical theories of money: commodity theory, fiat theory, and credit theory. The constitution of Bitcoin is analysed by comparing the currency to each of these ideal types. It is argued that Bitcoin is commodity money without gold, fiat money without a state, and credit money without debt. In conclusion, it is suggested that Bitcoin poses an ideological challenge to conventional forms of money in so far as it not only provokes sedimented beliefs about money but also exposes the forms of exploitation, risk and even violence inherent in the existing system of state authorized credit money. textcopyright 2015, Sage Publications. All rights reserved. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bjerg2016bitcoin, author = {Bjerg, Ole}, title = {How is Bitcoin Money?}, journal = {Theory, Culture & Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2016}, volume = {33}, number = {1}, pages = {53--72}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276415619015} } |
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Faustino, S. | How metaphors matter: an ethnography of blockchain-based re-descriptions of the world | 2019 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 12(6), pp. 478-490 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper explores the role of metaphors in the production of re-descriptions of the world within the framework of technological design processes. Drawing on a collaborative ethnography with the Economic Space Agency (ECSA), a start-up developing post-blockchain technology, this paper illustrates how metaphors mimic the toponymy of decentralized material infrastructures, while simultaneously pushing forward ‘posthuman' values that are expected to become fixated through software. Through an analysis of a ‘collection' of metaphors produced by ECSA, this paper sheds light on the work performed by specific vocabularies, within technological communities, in shaping a symbiotic relationship between futuristic politics and material culture. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{faustino2019metaphors, author = {Faustino, Sandra}, title = {How metaphors matter: an ethnography of blockchain-based re-descriptions of the world}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {12}, number = {6}, pages = {478--490}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2019.1629330} } |
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Grothoff, C. and Moser, T. | How to issue a privacy-preserving central bank digital currency | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: Many central banks are currently investigating Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and possible designs. A recent survey conducted by the European Central Bank has found that both citizens and professionals consider privacy the most important feature of a CBDC. We … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{chaum2021issue, author = {Grothoff, Christian and Moser, Thomas}, title = {How to issue a privacy-preserving central bank digital currency}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3965050} } |
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Ducuing, C. | How to Make Sure My Cryptokitties Are Here Forever? The Complementary Roles of Blockchain and the Law to Bring Trust | 2019 | European Journal of Risk Regulation Vol. 10(2), pp. 315-329 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Under the phrase "code is law" and based on its "trustless trust", blockchain has emerged as a disrupting technology considered by some as an alternative to the law. Based on a study of real-life blockchain-based decentralised applications (Dapps), this article takes blockchain developers at their word and adopts the point of view of users: can blockchain live up to its promise and enable them to transact with each other without the need for the trust granted by the law? The article particularly highlights that users need to be able to ascertain that a self-advertised Dapp indeed qualifies as one. Blockchain technology may make it possible to do away with trust in third parties, but this is not enough. Users also need to trust that an alleged Dapp genuinely is one, and blockchain alone cannot provide this. Beyond Dapps, it is argued that blockchain needs the complementary role of the law to deliver its promises and especially to authenticate blockchain "virtues". The EU certification mark is identified as a promising form of co-regulation for that purpose. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Ducuing2019, author = {Ducuing, Charlotte}, title = {How to Make Sure My Cryptokitties Are Here Forever? The Complementary Roles of Blockchain and the Law to Bring Trust}, journal = {European Journal of Risk Regulation}, year = {2019}, volume = {10}, number = {2}, pages = {315--329}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2019.39} } |
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Frye, B.L. | How to Sell NFTs Without Really Trying | Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, Forthcoming | article | DOI URL | |
Abstract: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3930430 | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{frye2021sell, author = {Frye, Brian L.}, title = {How to Sell NFTs Without Really Trying}, journal = {Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, Forthcoming}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3930430}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3930430} } |
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Murray, A., Rhymer, J. and Sirmon, D.G. | Humans and technology: Forms of conjoined agency in organizations | 2021 | Academy of Management Review Vol. 46(3), pp. 552-571 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Organizations are increasingly deploying technologies that have the ability to parse through large amounts of data, acquire skills and knowledge, and operate autonomously. These technologies diverge from prior technologies in their capacity to exercise intentionality over protocol development or action selection in the practice of organizational routines, thereby affecting organizations in newand distinctways. In this article,we categorize four forms of conjoined agency between humans and technologies: (1) conjoined agency with assisting technologies, (2) conjoined agency with arresting technologies, (3) conjoined agency with augmenting technologies, and (4) conjoined agencywith automating technologies. We then theorize on the different ways in which these forms of conjoined agency impact a routine's change at a particular moment in time as well as a routine's responsiveness to feedback over time. In doing so, we elaborate on how organizations may evolve in varied and diverse ways based on the form(s) of conjoined agency they deploy in their organizational design choices. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{murray2021humans, author = {Murray, Alex and Rhymer, Jen and Sirmon, David G.}, title = {Humans and technology: Forms of conjoined agency in organizations}, journal = {Academy of Management Review}, publisher = {Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY}, year = {2021}, volume = {46}, number = {3}, pages = {552--571}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2019.0186} } |
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Brody, A. and Couture, S. | Ideologies and Imaginaries in Blockchain Communities: The Case of Ethereum | 2021 | Canadian Journal of Communication Vol. 46(3) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Background: Academic literature on blockchains has focused on Bitcoin, which is traditionallyassociated with right-wing libertarianism. This article looks at Ethereum, an alternative that emerged in Canada and is now the second most used blockchain technology after Bitcoin. Analysis: Using participatory observation supplemented with publicly available material, this article examines the ideologies and imaginaries surrounding Ethereum and how they are articulated with its technical design.Conclusion and implications: Ethereum's design ostensibly widens the ideological spectrum of cryptocurrency while “masking” certain currency ideologies still prominent within it. This complicates the distinction seen in the literature between blockchain as currency and blockchain as media and points to the increasing need to study non-currency-based blockchain technologies. Contexte : La recherche sur les blockchains s'est surtout attardé à Bitcoin, en l'associant aux idéologies libertariennes. Cet article aborde Ethereum, la technologie de blockchain la plus utilisée après Bitcoin.Analyse : Basé sur l'observation participante et du matériel publiquement accessible, l'article analyse les idéologies et imaginaires entourant Ethereum et leur articulation avec son design technique.Conclusion et implications : Ethereum élargit le spectre idéologique des blockchains tout en «masquant» certaines idéologies monétaires toujours proéminentes. Cela complique la distinction énoncée dans la littérature entre blockchains comme monnaie et blockchains comme média, etc. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Brody2021, author = {Brody, Ann and Couture, Stéphane}, title = {Ideologies and Imaginaries in Blockchain Communities: The Case of Ethereum}, journal = {Canadian Journal of Communication}, year = {2021}, volume = {46}, number = {3}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2021v46n3a3701} } |
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Inwood, O. and Zappavigna, M. | Ideology, attitudinal positioning, and the blockchain: a social semiotic approach to understanding the values construed in the whitepapers of blockchain start-ups | 2021 | Social Semiotics, pp. 1-19 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Recent work on algorithmic bias has shown that understanding the values embedded in technology design processes is important for avoiding social harm. This paper explores the attitudes construed in whitepapers of blockchain technology start-ups. Blockchain technology is a relatively new phenomenon that has informed discourses about the future of governance and economics in relation to the internet. This study aims to understand the values discursively construed in the whitepapers of four blockchain start-ups: Steemit, Creativechain, Democracy Earth, and Bitnation. It adopts a corpus linguistics approach, and uses the Appraisal framework (Martin, J. R., and P. R. R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York: Palgrave Macmillan) to analyse the evaluative meanings expressed in the whitepaper dataset. This analysis reveals that the blockchain start-ups manifest shared values around the concepts of decentralisation, trust in algorithms, and trust in individuals over institutions. The start-ups enact different political orientations, expressing ideals related to the digital commons, cyber-libertarianism, and capitalism. The corpus-based linguistic analysis used in this study offers a method that may be applicable to other areas of technology discourse where whitepapers and design documents tend to embed covert political and ideological positions. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{inwood2021ideology, author = {Inwood, Olivia and Zappavigna, Michele}, title = {Ideology, attitudinal positioning, and the blockchain: a social semiotic approach to understanding the values construed in the whitepapers of blockchain start-ups}, journal = {Social Semiotics}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--19}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2021.1877995} } |
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Nabilou, H. and Prüm, A. | Ignorance, debt, and cryptocurrencies: The old and the new in the law and economics of concurrent currencies | 2019 | Journal of Financial Regulation Vol. 5(1), pp. 29-63 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Cryptocurrencies are expected to have a significant impact on banking, finance, and monetary systems. Due to the uncertainty as to the possible future trajectories of the evolving cryptocurrency ecosystem, governments have taken a relatively hands-off approach to regulating such currencies. This approach may be justified within the theoretical information-economics framework of this paper, which draws parallels between the information economics of money and quasi-money creation within the current central banking, commercial banking, and shadow banking systems with that of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. In particular, drawing lessons from the literature on the role of information in creating 'safe assets', in this paper the authors find that by building on symmetric (common) knowledge as to the inner workings of the Bitcoin Blockchain-though in a different way-BTC possesses a degree of endogenous information insensitivity typical of safe assets. This endogenous information insensitivity could support BTC's promise of maturing into a viable store of value and a niche medium of exchange. This finding should not be overlooked in the policy discussions for potential future regulatory interventions in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Nabilou2019, author = {Nabilou, Hossein and Prüm, André}, title = {Ignorance, debt, and cryptocurrencies: The old and the new in the law and economics of concurrent currencies}, journal = {Journal of Financial Regulation}, year = {2019}, volume = {5}, number = {1}, pages = {29--63}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jfr/fjz002} } |
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Nabben, K. | Imagining Human-Machine Futures | unpublished | |||
Abstract: Blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) communities risk perpetuating the 1990s Californian Ideology of techno-elitism in their imaginary of “autonomy” via technological determinism, free-market economics, and “engineering” approach to social and political challenges (Barbrook & Cameron, 1996). Imaginations include algorithmic governance via Artificial General Intelligence agents running on decentralized blockchains, hiring labour in DAOs, and bartering payment in cryptocurrency. The role of humans in this imaginary is limited. This piece explores autonomy in blockchain-based DAOs to investigate visions of algorithmic assemblages. Do DAOs imagine a different future where the role of humans is one of symbiosis and augmentation with machines? I draw on cybernetic interpretations of DAOs as “autopoietic” organisms to imagine a co-constitutive relationship between people and algorithms in the information age. By understanding the promises and practices of blockchain technology and decentralized governance, we can better engage with these emergent objects of social and policy inquiry. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Nabben, author = {Nabben, Kelsie}, title = {Imagining Human-Machine Futures} } |
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Peyrouzet, M. | In blockchain they trust – Now, power to the people or to the invisible hand? | 2018 | (May), pp. 68 | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: This dissertation provides an analysis of the ideological component behind the crypto-anarchist enthusiasm for the highly topical emerging technology of distributed ledger technology, commonly known as ‘blockchain'. Philosophy of technology scholars have drawn attention to the fact that technologies can possess political properties and serve to reinforce or challenge power structures. Public blockchains have an unquestionable social and political character due to their capacity to facilitate the emergence of cryptographic, decentralized and reliable peer-to-peer networks. The exponential adoption of this disruptive technology, which is poised to cause transformational changes across socio-technical systems and organizational structures, means that both its political properties and the ideological forces behind its development as a political technology must be recognized. Accordingly, this dissertation engages with some of the most ideologically-driven projects aiming to tap into blockchain's political and economic potential, namely those of Bitcoin, FairCoin, Democracy Earth and Bitnation. These projects exemplify what is posited as the main ideological cleavage within crypto-anarchism, which revolves around the privileged agent and vision that should be empowered and trusted to capture the decentralizing potential offered by blockchain technology. The paper offers an original contribution by conceptualizing the cleavage as separating; ‘crypto-libertarians', whose neo-Hobbesian individualistic vision sees the invisible hand of the free market as the privileged agent driving a trustless technology; and ‘crypto-commonists', whose collectivist vision regards blockchain as a trust-enabling technology that should be used to facilitate collaborative economic paradigms and participatory forms of e-democracy. The dissertation concludes that while both strands of blockchain enthusiasts have a shared interest in promoting personal privacy, radical transparency, and eroding the authority of nation-states, their diametrically opposed views on human nature and socio-economic organization seem presently irreconcilable. The research undertaken for this paper has covered a substantial breadth of the existing academic material concerning the philosophy and politics of blockchain technology, consulting books, journals, white papers and online articles. This dissertation contributes with an ideological conceptualization to the fields of techno-politics and blockch … View full abstract | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Peyrouzet2018, author = {Peyrouzet, Mateo}, title = {In blockchain they trust – Now, power to the people or to the invisible hand?}, year = {2018}, number = {May}, pages = {68}, url = {https://www.academia.edu/38081197/In_blockchain_they_trust_Now_power_to_the_people_or_to_the_invisible_hand}, doi = {https://www.academia.edu/38081197/In_blockchain_they_trust_Now_power_to_the_people_or_to_the_invisible_hand} } |
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Baldwin, J. | In digital we trust: Bitcoin discourse, digital currencies, and decentralized network fetishism [BibTeX] |
2018 | Palgrave Communications Vol. 4(1), pp. 1-10 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{baldwin2018digital, author = {Baldwin, Jon}, title = {In digital we trust: Bitcoin discourse, digital currencies, and decentralized network fetishism}, journal = {Palgrave Communications}, publisher = {Palgrave}, year = {2018}, volume = {4}, number = {1}, pages = {1--10} } |
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Xia, M. | In Search of The Perfect Coin: China's Approach towards Cryptocurrency and Its Own Central Bank Digital Currency | 2021 | Banking & Finance Law Review Vol. 36(3), pp. 419-456 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Ever since Bitcoin was introduced in 2008, Central Banks and regulators have watched carefully and cautiously over the development of cryptocurrencies. This development took a significant leap in 2019 when Facebook and the People's Bank of China almost … | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{xia2021search, author = {Xia, Mian}, title = {In Search of The Perfect Coin: China's Approach towards Cryptocurrency and Its Own Central Bank Digital Currency}, journal = {Banking & Finance Law Review}, year = {2021}, volume = {36}, number = {3}, pages = {419--456}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3919475} } |
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Dix, G. | Incentivization: From the current proliferation to the (re)problematization of incentives | 2020 | Economy and Society Vol. 49(4), pp. 642-663 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Incentives are so widespread and seemingly so insignificant that we might simply take them at face value and fail to ask how we can account for their emergence and proliferation. Building upon Foucault's notion of ‘problematization' as a mode of reading history, this paper questions the taken-for-granted place that incentives have come to acquire in our current reflections and practices. To do so, it returns to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when American mechanical engineers and social scientists turned the behaviour of factory workers into a managerial problem and began to design new instruments to incentivize them. The shift from the current proliferation of incentives to their past opens up a genealogical space that invites us to explore the contingent shifts in meaning and use of incentivization as a framework to understand and govern human behaviour over the course of the twentieth century. Such a shift opens up an analytical space too. The return to early instances of incentivization allows us to compare labour incentives with labour discipline and to tease out some of the similarities and differences between these two ways of wielding power on the shop floor–and possibly beyond. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Dix2020, author = {Dix, Guus}, title = {Incentivization: From the current proliferation to the (re)problematization of incentives}, journal = {Economy and Society}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {49}, number = {4}, pages = {642--663}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2020.1774256} } |
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Aleinieh, T.K. and Zoboli, L. | Increasing standardization for smart(er) contracts | 2021 | Uniform Law Review Vol. 26(3), pp. 583-598 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Legal standardization traditionally played an important role in contractual relations. With technological and commercial development and expansion of trade from the individual and collective levels to internationalization, it became necessary to create a set of standards to keep pace with this development and facilitate the contractual process. Although smart contracts are considered a leap in the contractual relationship, it cannot be overlooked that these contracts share many characteristics with traditional contracts. To gain a greater position in the global market, smart contracts also need to be well functioning and efficient. In this context, the article tackles the phenomenon of legal standardization and identifies the main weaknesses of smart contracts—to answer two crucial questions: how can these contracts be smarter, and how should we employ standardization to ensure their efficiency? | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{aleinieh2021increasing, author = {Aleinieh, Tarek Kadour and Zoboli, Laura}, title = {Increasing standardization for smart(er) contracts}, journal = {Uniform Law Review}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2021}, volume = {26}, number = {3}, pages = {583--598}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/ulr/unab022} } |
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Bruun, M.H., Andersen, A.O. and Mannov, A. | Infrastructures of trust and distrust: The politics and ethics of emerging cryptographic technologies | 2020 | Anthropology Today Vol. 36(2), pp. 13-17 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The authors of this article are engaged in anthropological research on the links between the growing interest in privacy and data security as a technical field and how notions of trust, security and accountability are practised in and beyond technical fields of cryptography, specifically a field called multi-party computation (MPC). They pursue the relationship between trust in different forms of cryptography – academic and activist – and notions of trust as they are articulated in relation to data security and the protection of citizens' data. There is a tension between the concerns raised in public debates about data security and the promises of emerging cryptographic protocols. In political speeches and public debates, citizens' trust that governments and tech companies will protect their data is framed as important and essential. In the environments of emerging cryptographic technologies, such as blockchains, bitcoin and MPC, a promise to provide ‘trustless trust' and abandon the need for trusted intermediaries, authorities and institutions is articulated. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bruun2020infrastructures, author = {Bruun, Maja Hojer and Andersen, Astrid Oberborbeck and Mannov, Adrienne}, title = {Infrastructures of trust and distrust: The politics and ethics of emerging cryptographic technologies}, journal = {Anthropology Today}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2020}, volume = {36}, number = {2}, pages = {13--17}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12562} } |
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Nost, E. | Infrastructuring “data-driven” environmental governance in Louisiana's coastal restoration plan | 2020 | Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space Vol. 0(0), pp. 251484862090972 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Conservationists around the world advocate for “data-driven” environmental governance, expecting data infrastructures to make all relevant and actionable information readily available. But how exactly is data to be infrastructured and to what political effect? I show how putting together and maintaining environmental data for decision-making is not a straightforward technical task, but a practice shaped by and shaping politico-economic context. Drawing from the US state of Louisiana's coastal restoration planning process, I detail two ways ecosystem modelers manage fiscal and institutional “frictions” to “infrastructuring” data as a resource for decision-making. First, these experts work with the data they have. They leverage, tweak, and maintain existing datasets and tools, spending time and money to gather additional data only to the extent it fits existing goals. The assumption is that these goals will continue to be important, but building coastal data infrastructure around current research needs, plans, and austerity arguably limits what can be said in and done with the future. Second, modelers acquire the data they made to need. Coastal communities have protested the state's primary restoration tool: diversions of sediment from the Mississippi River. Planners reacted by relaxing institutional constraints and modelers brought together new data to highlight possible winners and losers from ecological restoration. Fishers and other coastal residents leveraged greater dissent in the planning process. Political ecologists show that technocentric environmental governance tends to foreclose dissent from hegemonic socioecological futures. I argue we can clarify the conditions in which this tends to happen by following how experts manage data frictions. As some conservationists and planners double down on driving with data in a “post-truth” world, I find that data's politicizing effects stem from what is asked of it, not whether it is “big” or “drives.” | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Nost2020, author = {Nost, Eric}, title = {Infrastructuring “data-driven” environmental governance in Louisiana's coastal restoration plan}, journal = {Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space}, year = {2020}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {251484862090972}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620909727} } |
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Zook, M. and Grote, M.H. | Initial coin offerings: Linking technology and financialization | 2020 | Environment and Planning A Vol. 52(8), pp. 1560-1582 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper elaborates on the interactions between digital technologies and financial practices and how they contribute to the ongoing process of financialization. We focus on the circumstances of blockchain-based token offerings and their contribution to reshaping existing systems of investment in startups. We show how future clients become investors via the initial coin offering (ICO) process. The paper is based on interviews with blockchain and industry practitioners during 2018 and 2019 and focuses on an in-depth case study of a specific ICO in early 2018. We suggest a framework consisting of catalysts, cracks and voids to analyze the financialization process and to inform theories of how financialization advances through the new spaces afforded by socially constructed technologies upon which entrepreneurs capitalize. With this framework we provide a better understanding of the mechanics behind financialization, particularly the ways in which business processes, and larger social relations such as the role of investors and clients, are reimagined and reworked. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Zook2020, author = {Zook, Matthew and Grote, Michael H.}, title = {Initial coin offerings: Linking technology and financialization}, journal = {Environment and Planning A}, year = {2020}, volume = {52}, number = {8}, pages = {1560--1582}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X20954440} } |
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Lohmann, L. | INTERPRETATION MACHINES Contradictions of 'Artificial Intelligence' in 21st-Century Capitalism [BibTeX] |
unpublished | |||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Lohmanna, author = {Lohmann, Larry}, title = {INTERPRETATION MACHINES Contradictions of 'Artificial Intelligence' in 21st-Century Capitalism} } |
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Hull, J., Gupta, A. and Kloppenburg, S. | Interrogating the promises and perils of climate cryptogovernance: Blockchain discourses in international climate politics | 2021 | Earth System Governance Vol. 9, pp. 100117 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This article interrogates the assumed promises and perils of climate cryptogovernance or deployment of cryptographic technology (i.e., blockchain) within climate governance. We distill how climate cryptogovernance is being discussed by influential climate policy actors, and the implications for reinforcing or challenging how climate governance currently occurs. Specifically, through discourse analysis, we explore how blockchain technology is presented in the communications of international organisations and multistakeholder initiatives in the climate policy space. We identify a dominant storyline being advanced that views blockchain as an enabler of ambitious climate action, through its potential to enhance the reliability, transparency, accountability, and democratic quality of climate governance. We critically interrogate each of these component elements of the dominant storyline, arguing that, taken as a whole, they tend to privilege a technocratic, market-oriented approach to climate governance. We conclude by reflecting on whether this risks reinforcing a problematic ‘post-political' turn in environmental governance in the future. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Hull2021, author = {Hull, Jed and Gupta, Aarti and Kloppenburg, Sanneke}, title = {Interrogating the promises and perils of climate cryptogovernance: Blockchain discourses in international climate politics}, journal = {Earth System Governance}, publisher = {Elsevier B.V.}, year = {2021}, volume = {9}, pages = {100117}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100117}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100117} } |
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Lustig, C. | Intersecting imaginaries: Visions of decentralized autonomous systems | 2019 | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Vol. 3(CSCW) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Sociotechnical imaginaries are futures that people envision might be possible and desirable. They have a real impact on how systems are designed and what values they have embedded in their design. This article examines imaginaries about autonomous systems, decentralized systems, and decentralized autonomous systems. Through a discussion of the literature on autonomous and decentralized systems and how these imaginaries play out in the blockchain community based on my qualitative research, I demonstrate how decentralized autonomous systems are related to imaginaries about the organization of and the future of work. I identify three framings of imaginaries about autonomous systems: (1) autonomous technology as physical objects, (2) as mathematical rules, and (3) as artificial mangers. I also identify two sometimes conflicting framings of imaginaries about distributed and decentralized technology: these technologies as a new form of production and as freedom from control. These imaginaries intersect in decentralized autonomous systems, and I examine what they can tell us about the design and governance of such technologies. Lastly, I suggest ways of using the concept of imaginaries in participatory design. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lustig2019, author = {Lustig, Caitlin}, title = {Intersecting imaginaries: Visions of decentralized autonomous systems}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, year = {2019}, volume = {3}, number = {CSCW}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3359312} } |
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Smales, L.A. | Investor attention in cryptocurrency markets | 2022 | International Review of Financial Analysis Vol. 79, pp. 101972 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: We examine the relationship between investor attention, and measures of uncertainty, with the market dynamics of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We find that increases in investor attention are associated with higher returns, more volatility, and greater illiquidity in cryptocurrency markets. In contrast, cryptocurrency uncertainty (UCRY) and financial market uncertainty (VIX) are also positively related to volatility and illiquidity but have a negative contemporaneous relationship with returns. The identified relationships are accentuated during the COVID-pandemic, and are robust to different measures of investor attention, volatility, and illiquidity. Our results suggest that monitoring investor attention could assist both investors and policymakers. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{smales2022investor, author = {Smales, L. A.}, title = {Investor attention in cryptocurrency markets}, journal = {International Review of Financial Analysis}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2022}, volume = {79}, pages = {101972}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101972} } |
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Nabben, K. | Is a DAO a Panopticon? Algorithmic governance as creating and mitigating vulnerabilities in 'Decentralised Autonomous Organisations' [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal, pp. 1-17 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{Nabben2021, author = {Nabben, Kelsie}, title = {Is a DAO a Panopticon? Algorithmic governance as creating and mitigating vulnerabilities in 'Decentralised Autonomous Organisations'}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--17}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3907693} } |
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Wang, G., Tang, Y., Xie, C. and Chen, S. | Is bitcoin a safe haven or a hedging asset? Evidence from China | 2019 | Journal of Management Science and Engineering Vol. 4(3), pp. 173-188 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Based on daily data about Bitcoin and six other major financial assets (stocks, commodity futures (commodities), gold, foreign exchange (FX), monetary assets, and bonds) in China from 2013 to 2017, we use a VAR-GARCH-BEKK model to investigate mean and volatility spillover effects between Bitcoin and other major assets and explore whether Bitcoin can be used either as a hedging asset or a safe haven. Our empirical results show that (i) only the monetary market, i.e., the Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (SHIIBOR) has a mean spillover effect on Bitcoin and (ii) gold, monetary, and bond markets have volatility spillover effects on Bitcoin, while Bitcoin has a volatility spillover effect only on the gold market. We further find that Bitcoin can be hedged against stocks, bonds and SHIBOR and is a safe haven when extreme price changes occur in the monetary market. Our findings provide useful information for investors and portfolio risk managers who have invested or hedged with Bitcoin. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{wang2019bitcoin, author = {Wang, Gangjin and Tang, Yanping and Xie, Chi and Chen, Shou}, title = {Is bitcoin a safe haven or a hedging asset? Evidence from China}, journal = {Journal of Management Science and Engineering}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2019}, volume = {4}, number = {3}, pages = {173--188}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmse.2019.09.001} } |
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Wang, Q., Su, M. and Li, R. | Is China the world's blockchain leader? Evidence, evolution and outlook of China's blockchain research | 2020 | Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 264, pp. 121742 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: China wants to embrace blockchain, the technology has triggered a new round of technological innovation and industrial change and has huge potential to enhance sustainable development capabilities in many areas. The purpose of this paper is to explore the global status of China's blockchain research. This study applies bibliometric analysis to perform statistical and correlation analysis on the blockchain literature from 2013 to 2019 included in the Web of Science (WOS) database and draws the social network with visual analysis technology. The statistical results show that China is the country that publishes the most blockchain papers in the world, leading the global blockchain research. Research institutions and authors from China also dominate global blockchain research. Further, this paper investigates the development process of China's blockchain research and determines the development stage through a comparative analysis with the United States. More specifically, the paper comprehensively analyzes the current status of China's blockchain research from three perspectives: the subject area, high-yield institutions and high-yield authors. The results indicate that China's blockchain research is experiencing rapid growth, and the research scope is constantly expanding, with the research focus gradually shifting to applied research. Finally, this paper summarizes the challenges faced by China's blockchain research and puts forward corresponding policy recommendations for reference by policy makers. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{wang2020china, author = {Wang, Qiang and Su, Min and Li, Rongrong}, title = {Is China the world's blockchain leader? Evidence, evolution and outlook of China's blockchain research}, journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {264}, pages = {121742}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121742} } |
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Drummer, D. and Neumann, D. | Is code law? Current legal and technical adoption issues and remedies for blockchain-enabled smart contracts | 2020 | Journal of Information Technology Vol. 35(4), pp. 337-360 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technology has enabled so-called smart contracts between different parties on a decentralized network. These self-enforceable and self-executable computerized contracts could initiate a fundamental paradigm shift in the understanding and functioning of our legal practices. Opportunities for their application are increasingly understood, and numerous tests of feasibility have been completed. However, only very few use cases have yet been implemented at scale. This article—as the first of its kind—comprehensively analyzes the underlying challenges and locates a key reason for the slow adoption in the discrepancy between legal requirements and IT capabilities. Our work combines a wide range of academic sources and interviews with 30 domain experts from IT, the legal domain and private industry. First, we establish that smart contracts still fall within the boundaries of the general legal framework. We then systematically dissect current shortcomings of smart contracts on three distinct levels, namely, (1) how smart contracts are likely to cause conflicts with existing laws, (2) how smart contracts are intrinsically limited on an individual contract level and (3) how they are impeded by their current technical design. Across those levels, we dissect 20 distinct issues concerning the current implementation of smart contracts for which we derive potential remedies. We further outline implications for policy-makers as well as IT management, and examine how information systems research can play an important role in advancing smart contracts. Finally, we show how managerial and organizational issues might represent an ongoing challenge for the widespread adoption of smart contracts. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{drummer2020code, author = {Drummer, Daniel and Neumann, Dirk}, title = {Is code law? Current legal and technical adoption issues and remedies for blockchain-enabled smart contracts}, journal = {Journal of Information Technology}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2020}, volume = {35}, number = {4}, pages = {337--360}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0268396220924669} } |
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Eikmanns, B.C., Mehrwald, P., Welpe, I.M. and Sandner, P.G. | Is Ethereum the New iOS? Exploring the Platform Economy of Decentralized Finance | article | DOI URL | ||
Abstract: Similar to mobile operating systems, public blockchain infrastructures, such as Ethereum, represent a platform for the development of software applications. Since 2020, we observe the emergence of a rapidly evolving ecosystem of blockchain-based applications called Decentralized Finance (DeFi), which aspires to challenge traditional finance and associated business models. To explore the economic structures that constitute DeFi, we follow an interdisciplinary approach, supplementing information systems (IS) research with strategic management literature. We apply the theoretical lens of strategic groups to identify platform-specific dimensions and conceptualize DeFi as a hierarchical structured platform economy consisting of four strategic groups, namely 1) Token Management Applications, 2) Protocol Platforms, 3) Aggregation Platforms, and 4) Decentralized Financial Services Solutions. Further, we give a market overview of DeFi applications and discover archetypal attributes of the respective groups. Lastly, we present an integrated framework for the analysis of software-based platform ecosystems and derive areas for future research. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Eikmanns, author = {Eikmanns, Benedikt C. and Mehrwald, Pascal and Welpe, Isabell M. and Sandner, Philipp G.}, title = {Is Ethereum the New iOS? Exploring the Platform Economy of Decentralized Finance}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3992625}, doi = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3992625} } |
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Mann, R.B. | It's Good for the Planet and It's Good for Your Portfolio: Encouraging Millennial Participation in 401 ( k ) Plans Through Lowering Barriers To ESG Investing [BibTeX] |
2021 | Vol. 401Penn Law Legal Scholarship Repository, pp. 1-35 |
book | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@book{Mann2021, author = {Mann, Rachel Baker}, title = {It's Good for the Planet and It's Good for Your Portfolio: Encouraging Millennial Participation in 401 ( k ) Plans Through Lowering Barriers To ESG Investing}, booktitle = {Penn Law Legal Scholarship Repository}, year = {2021}, volume = {401}, pages = {1--35}, url = {https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=prize_papers}, doi = {https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=prize_papers} } |
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Meister, R. | Justice is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century | 2021 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Page 1. JUSTICE IS AN OPTION Page 2. CHICAGO STUDIES IN PRACTICES OF MEANING A series edited by Andreas Glaeser, William Mazzarella, William Sewell Jr., Kaushik Sunder Rajan, and Lisa Wedeen Published in … | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Meister2021, author = {Meister, Robert}, title = {Justice is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century}, year = {2021}, url = {https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/J/bo49967326.html}, doi = {https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/J/bo49967326.html} } |
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Viaut, L. | La cryptomonnaie ou l'émergence d'une nouvelle féodalité [BibTeX] |
2020 | Actu-Juridique | misc | URL |
BibTeX:
@misc{Presse2020, author = {Viaut, Laura}, title = {La cryptomonnaie ou l'émergence d'une nouvelle féodalité}, booktitle = {Actu-Juridique}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.actu-juridique.fr/ntic-medias-presse/la-cryptomonnaie-ou-lemergence-dune-nouvelle-feodalite/} } |
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Becker, K. | La technologie Blockchain et la promesse crypto-divine d'en finir avec les tiers [BibTeX] |
2018 | Études digitales Vol. 6, pp. 33-52 |
article | URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Becker2014, author = {Becker, Katrin}, title = {La technologie Blockchain et la promesse crypto-divine d'en finir avec les tiers}, journal = {Études digitales}, year = {2018}, volume = {6}, pages = {33--52}, url = {https://classiques-garnier.com/etudes-digitales-2018-2-n-6-religiosite-technologique-ii-la-technologie-blockchain-et-la-promesse-crypto-divine-d-en-finir-avec-les-tiers.html} } |
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Becker, K. | La technologie blockchain et les tendances de la décorporéisation en droit et culture [BibTeX] |
2021 | Pistes. Revue de philosophie contemporaine Vol. 1 |
article | URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Becker2019c, author = {Becker, Katrin}, title = {La technologie blockchain et les tendances de la décorporéisation en droit et culture}, journal = {Pistes. Revue de philosophie contemporaine}, year = {2021}, volume = {1}, url = {https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/44173} } |
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Tremčinský, M. | Labour, control, and value: Marx meets Negri in Bitcoin mining | 2021 | Dialectical Anthropology, pp. 1-18 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This article analyses the production of Bitcoin through two contradictory approaches to value: the labour theory of value as formulated by Karl Marx and value as an effect of political control proposed by Antonio Negri. Bitcoin mining is used as an exemplary case of a decentralized network that utilizes abstract labour as a regulatory mechanism. The process of Bitcoin mining is described in detail, and its consequences for the organization of labour are discussed. I argue that Bitcoin mining is a form of socialized work where abstract labour becomes a mechanism of control and thus also a source of Bitcoin's value. I further demonstrate the controlling aspects of abstract labour on three interdependent dimensions: control of Bitcoin's integrity, control of access to the network, and control of the class positions within the network. Consequentially, Negri's and Marx's views on value serve as complementary approaches to value creation in decentralized networks. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{tremvcinsky2021labour, author = {Tremčinský, Martin}, title = {Labour, control, and value: Marx meets Negri in Bitcoin mining}, journal = {Dialectical Anthropology}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--18}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-021-09638-1} } |
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Lohmann, L. | Labour, Justice and the Mechanization of Interpretation | 2019 | Development (Basingstoke) Vol. 62(1-4), pp. 43-52 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The biggest frontier of mechanization of the past 10 years has been the automation, broadly speaking, of interpretation. This includes recognition (for example, image recognition technologies used by security services), translation (Google Translate), searching for information (search engines), understanding (‘predictive algorithms' that learn what books or movies you will like or what kind of propaganda will appeal to you, as used by Amazon, Netflix, or the Donald Trump campaign), trust (blockchain technologies such as Bitcoin), and negotiation (‘smart contracts' as pioneered by firms such as Ethereum). This article explores how these technologies benefit business and why they have come to prominence now, the ways they degrade and exhaust the work of both humans and nonhumans, the parallels with earlier uses of machines to discipline and extract value from labour, and the implications for social movement strategy. The article also suggests some directions for research. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{lohmann2019labour, author = {Lohmann, Larry}, title = {Labour, Justice and the Mechanization of Interpretation}, journal = {Development (Basingstoke)}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2019}, volume = {62}, number = {1-4}, pages = {43--52}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-019-00207-2} } |
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Brownsword, R. | Law 3.0: Rules, Regulation, and Technology [BibTeX] |
2020 | book | ||
BibTeX:
@book{brownsword2020law, author = {Brownsword, Roger}, title = {Law 3.0: Rules, Regulation, and Technology}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2020} } |
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Jiménez González, A. | Law, Code and Exploitation: How Corporations Regulate the Working Conditions of the Digital Proletariat | 2021 | Critical Sociology, pp. 08969205211028964 | article | DOI |
Abstract: Contrary to what orthodox Marxism claims, the article defends that the legal field has been a fundamental aspect of the capitalist social ordering, and an unavoidable feature to understand how dominated subjectivities are produced and exploited. Expanding Lessig's concept of ‘code as law' with Marxist scholarly, the article argues that digital capitalists are reorganising work and the labour force through a form of algorithmic regulation. The article states that algorithms – that is, digital machines – have become not only part of the means of production of the era of automation, but also the code by which capitalists are writing the conditions of existence and exploitation of the digital proletariat. The article bridges recent contributions on labour law, AI and algorithmic regulation with the latest Marxist sociological contributions analysing the relation of work and digital exploitation, opening with it new ways to understand how sociotechnical systems owned by corporations regulate the behaviour not only of the working class but of the wider citizenry. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{jimenez2021law, author = {Jiménez González, Aitor}, title = {Law, Code and Exploitation: How Corporations Regulate the Working Conditions of the Digital Proletariat}, journal = {Critical Sociology}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2021}, pages = {08969205211028964}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205211028964} } |
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Koulu, R. | Law, technology and dispute resolution: The privatisation of coercion | 2018 | Law, Technology and Dispute Resolution: The Privatisation of Coercion, pp. 1-220 | book | DOI |
Abstract: The use of new information and communication technologies both inside the courts and in private online dispute resolution services is quickly changing everyday conflict management. However, the implications of the increasingly disruptive role of technology in dispute resolution remain largely undiscussed. In this book, assistant professor of law and digitalisation Riikka Koulu examines the multifaceted phenomenon of dispute resolution technology, focusing specifically on private enforcement, which modern technology enables on an unforeseen scale. The increase in private enforcement confounds legal structures and challenges the nation-state's monopoly on violence. And, in this respect, the author argues that the technology-driven privatisation of enforcement - from direct enforcement of e-commerce platforms to self-executing smart contracts in the blockchain - brings the ethics of law's coercive nature out into the open. This development constitutes a new, and dangerous, grey area of conflict management, which calls for transparency and public debate on the ethical implications of dispute resolution technology. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Koulu2019, author = {Koulu, Riikka}, title = {Law, technology and dispute resolution: The privatisation of coercion}, booktitle = {Law, Technology and Dispute Resolution: The Privatisation of Coercion}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2018}, pages = {1--220}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315149479} } |
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Tadjeddine, Y. | Le shadow banking : forme structurelle du capitalisme bancaire financiarisé [BibTeX] |
2021 | Revue d'économie financière Vol. N° 142(2), pp. 49-61 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{Tadjeddine2021, author = {Tadjeddine, Yamina}, title = {Le shadow banking : forme structurelle du capitalisme bancaire financiarisé}, journal = {Revue d'économie financière}, year = {2021}, volume = {N° 142}, number = {2}, pages = {49--61}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3917/ecofi.142.0049} } |
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Lamberty, R., de Waard, D. and Poddey, A. | Leading Digital Socio-Economy to Efficiency -- A Primer on Tokenomics | 2020 | , pp. 1-9 | unpublished | URL |
Abstract: Through the usage of cryptographically secure and digitally scarce tokens, a next evolutionary step of the Internet has come. Cryptographic token represent a new phenomena of the crypto movement with the ability to program rules and incentives to steer participant behaviors that transforms them from purely technical to socio-economic innovations. Tokens allow the coordination, optimization and governing large networks of resources in a decentralized manner and at scale. Tokens bring powerful network effects that reward participants relative to their stage of adoption, the value they contribute and the risk they bear in an auditable, decentralized and therefore trustful way. We illustrate which important role tokenomics plays in the creation of, and sustainable and efficient operation of cooperations. | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Lamberty2020, author = {Lamberty, Ricky and de Waard, Danny and Poddey, Alexander}, title = {Leading Digital Socio-Economy to Efficiency -- A Primer on Tokenomics}, year = {2020}, pages = {1--9}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2008.02538} } |
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Goldenfein, J. and Leiter, A. | Legal Engineering on the Blockchain: ‘Smart Contracts' as Legal Conduct | 2018 | Law and Critique Vol. 29(2), pp. 141-149 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: A new legal field is emerging around blockchain platforms and automated transactions. Understanding the relationships between law, legal enforcement, and these technological systems has become critical for scaling blockchain applications. Because ‘smart contracts' do not themselves constitute agreements, the first necessary ‘legal' development for transacting with these technologies involves linking computational transactions to natural language contracts. Various groups have accordingly begun building libraries of machine readable transaction modules that correspond to natural language contracting elements. In doing so, they are creating the building blocks for ever more complex transactions that will ultimately define the entire envelope of computational legal conduct in these environments, and likely standardise the field. However, also critical to emerging blockchain ‘legalities', is the capacity for dispute resolution and legal enforcement. Beyond the performance of parties, or the quality of goods and services transacted, new mechanisms are also needed to address the performance of the computational transaction systems themselves. Such mechanisms are necessary to address the reality that smart contracts cannot be forced to perform actions beyond the parameters of their coding, even by a judicial order. Legal tools, both technological and institutional, are thus being developed to ‘soften' the effects of self-executing transactions. In this article we treat these developments as law-making practices that are constitutive of an emerging legal field. Legal engineering exercises of this kind are not novel, and by drawing on historic examples from the common law and international arbitration, we gain insights into the competitive dynamics likely to be shaping legal engagements on the blockchain. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{goldenfein2018legal, author = {Goldenfein, Jake and Leiter, Andrea}, title = {Legal Engineering on the Blockchain: ‘Smart Contracts' as Legal Conduct}, journal = {Law and Critique}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2018}, volume = {29}, number = {2}, pages = {141--149}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-018-9224-0} } |
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Inozemtsev, M.I. | Legal Regulation of Crypto-Asset Markets in the EU in the Post-COVID Period [BibTeX] |
2021 | Post-COVID Economic Revival, Volume I, pp. 315-326 | incollection | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@incollection{inozemtsev2021legal, author = {Inozemtsev, Maxim I}, title = {Legal Regulation of Crypto-Asset Markets in the EU in the Post-COVID Period}, booktitle = {Post-COVID Economic Revival, Volume I}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2021}, pages = {315--326}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-83561-3_22%0A}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83561-3_22} } |
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Azouvi, S. | Levels of Decentralization and Trust in Cryptocurrencies: Consensus, Governance and Applications | 2021 | School: University College London | phdthesis | DOI URL |
Abstract: Since the apparition of Bitcoin, decentralization has become an ideal praised almost religiously. Indeed, removing the need for a central authority prevents many forms of abuse that could be performed by a trusted third party, especially when there are no transparency and accountability mechanisms in place. Decentralization is however a very subtle concept that has limits. In this thesis, we look at the decentralization of blockchains at three different levels. First we look at the consensus protocol, which is the heart of any decentralized system. The Nakamoto protocol, used by Bitcoin, has been shown to induce centralization through the shift to mining pools. Additionally, it is heavily criticized for the enormous amount of energy it requires. We propose a protocol, Fantômette, that incorporates incentives at its core and that consumes much less energy than Bitcoin and other proof-of-work based cryptocurrencies. If the consensus protocol makes it possible to decentralize the enforcement of rules in a cryptocurrency, there is still the question of who decides on the rules. Indeed, if a central authority is able to determine what those rules are then the fact that they are enforced in a decentralized way does not make it a decentralized system. We study the governance structure of Bitcoin and Ethereum by making measurements of their GitHub repositories and providing quantitative ways to compare their level of centralization by using appropriate metrics based on centrality measures. Finally, many applications are now built on top of blockchains. These can also induce or straightforwardly lead to centralization, for example by requiring that users register their identities to comply with regulations. We show how identities can be registered on blockchains in a decentralized and privacy-preserving way. | |||||
BibTeX:
@phdthesis{Azouvi2021, author = {Azouvi, Sarah}, title = {Levels of Decentralization and Trust in Cryptocurrencies: Consensus, Governance and Applications}, school = {University College London}, year = {2021}, url = {https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139069/}, doi = {https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139069/} } |
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Schulz, K. and Feist, M. | Leveraging Blockchain Technology for Innovative Climate Finance under the Green Climate Fund | 2020 | SSRN Electronic Journal Vol. 7, pp. 100084 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The rapid development of digital technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger-based systems holds transformative potential for the financial sector. Promising applications include asset management as well as peer-to-peer networks for the transparent exchange of data and information. International climate finance stands to benefit in particular ways from these new opportunities in financial technology. Distributed ledger technologies could be leveraged to support climate action, for example by facilitating transparent and standardized transactions, or by enabling more efficient monitoring and accreditation processes. In view of these promising opportunities, we focus our inquiry on the case of the Green Climate Fund to explore how distributed ledger technologies can be used for innovative climate finance. Based on our analysis of different digital system models and potential use cases, we then discuss some of the technical and political challenges that may arise, for example with regard to standards and safeguards, governance processes, country ownership, and further capitalization. Our findings show that distributed ledger-based systems could benefit the work of the fund in key areas such as multi-stakeholder coordination and impact assessment. However, our analysis also points to the concrete limitations of technology driven solutions. Digital technologies are not a standalone solution to persistent resource allocation and governance challenges in international climate finance, especially because the design and deployment of these digital systems is inherently political. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{schulz2021leveraging, author = {Schulz, Karsten and Feist, Marian}, title = {Leveraging Blockchain Technology for Innovative Climate Finance under the Green Climate Fund}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2020}, volume = {7}, pages = {100084}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3663176} } |
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Becker, K. | Lex cryptographica , smart contracts et gouvernements personnalisés [BibTeX] |
2019 | Grief Vol. 6(2), pp. 87-96 |
article | URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Becker2019a, author = {Becker, Katrin}, title = {Lex cryptographica , smart contracts et gouvernements personnalisés}, journal = {Grief}, year = {2019}, volume = {6}, number = {2}, pages = {87--96}, url = {https://www.cairn.info/revue-grief-2019-2-page-87.html} } |
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Buterin, V., Hitzig, Z. and Weyl, E.G. | Liberal Radicalism: Formal Rules for a Society Neutral Among Communities | 2018 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: We propose a design for philanthropic or publicly-funded seeding to allow (near) optimal provision of a decentralized, self-organizing ecosystem of public goods. The concept extends ideas from Quadratic Voting to a funding mechanism for endogenous community formation. Individuals make public goods contributions to projects of value to them. The amount received by the project is (proportional to) the square of the sum of the square roots of contributions received. Under the "standard model" this yields first best public goods provision. Variations can limit the cost, help protect against collusion and aid coordination. We discuss applications to campaign finance, open source software ecosystems, news media finance and urban public projects. More broadly, we offer a resolution to the classic liberal-communitarian debate in political philosophy by providing neutral and non-authoritarian rules that nonetheless support collective organization. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Buterin2018, author = {Buterin, Vitalik and Hitzig, Zoë and Weyl, Eric Glen}, title = {Liberal Radicalism: Formal Rules for a Society Neutral Among Communities}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2018}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3243656} } |
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Reiser, J. | Libra : An Economic and Technical Analysis [BibTeX] |
2020 | article | DOI | |
BibTeX:
@article{schar2020libra, author = {Reiser, Jan}, title = {Libra : An Economic and Technical Analysis}, year = {2020}, doi = {https://wwz.unibas.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/wwz/00_Professuren/Schaer_DLTFintech/Lehre/Reiser_2020.pdf} } |
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Vasudevan, R. | Libra and Facebook's Money Illusion | 2020 | Challenge Vol. 63(1), pp. 21-39 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The launch of Libra, a corporate-controlled supranational currency is a bold attempt by a bigtech behemoth to leverage its monopoly over digital data and platform networks in order to draw low-income and unbanked households into its web of interconnected financial services. But in the process, argues the author, it will likely exacerbate financial fragility, global imbalances, and the already substantial financial subordination of developing countries. Even if Facebook's plan to launch a global private digital currency, Libra, as soon as next year (in 2020) flounders the announcement is still significant as an opening salvo by a US corporate power, globally dominant in the field of new technology, to push its disruptive potential into the sphere of the international monetary system. The announcement of the social network behemoth's entry into the sphere of finance has, not surprisingly, triggered both speculation and backlash. Writing in the Financial Times blog, FTalphaville, which has excellent, if skeptical, analysis of this crypto-currency pretender, Isabella Kaminska calls Libra A glorified exchange traded fund which uses blockchain buzz words to neutralize the regulatory impact of coming to market without a license as well as to veil the disproportionate influence of Facebook, in what it hopes will eventually become a global digital reserve system. (Kaminska 2019b) The claim is that this currency will have all the attributes of the world's best currencies: stability, low inflation, wide global acceptance, and fungibility (Libra 2019). And the announcement comes at a time when Facebook is plagued by accusations of misuse of private data, widespread abuse of its digital platform, and blatantly anti-competitive practices, and has been slapped with a $5 billion fine by the Federal Trade Commission for data privacy violations (Murphy 2019a). Whatever might be the pitfalls of such hubris, the launch reflects deeper structural trends in contemporary capitalism. Before the full implications of these structural trends can be grasped, it is necessary to cut through the buzz and hype surrounding the launch of Libra and clarify some of the nuts and bolts of the proposed plan. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Vasudevan2020, author = {Vasudevan, Ramaa}, title = {Libra and Facebook's Money Illusion}, journal = {Challenge}, year = {2020}, volume = {63}, number = {1}, pages = {21--39}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/05775132.2019.1684662} } |
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Kenworthy, N. | Like a Grinding Stone: How Crowdfunding Platforms Create, Perpetuate, and Value Health Inequities | 2021 | Medical Anthropology Quarterly Vol. 35(3), pp. 327-345 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article explores how inequities are reproduced by, and valued within, the increasingly ubiquitous world of medical crowdfunding. As patients use platforms like GoFundMe to solicit donations for health care, success stories inundate social media. But most crowdfunders experience steep odds and marginal benefits. Drawing on the problematic figure of the “black box” in health disparities research and technology studies, I offer ethnography as a tool for unpacking often inscrutable and complex pathways through which online platforms amplify inequities. By leveraging both online and traditional research strategies—a platform analysis and paired narratives of crowdfunders' disparate experiences, drawn from open-ended interviews—this article explores how inequities are created and experienced by users. The analysis highlights how inequities are simultaneously central to the functioning of this marketplace and occluded by its platform design. Consequently, crowdfunding is concealing health inequities while shifting public values about who is entitled to health care, and why. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Kenworthy2021, author = {Kenworthy, Nora}, title = {Like a Grinding Stone: How Crowdfunding Platforms Create, Perpetuate, and Value Health Inequities}, journal = {Medical Anthropology Quarterly}, year = {2021}, volume = {35}, number = {3}, pages = {327--345}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12639} } |
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O'Dwyer, R. | Limited edition: Producing artificial scarcity for digital art on the blockchain and its implications for the cultural industries | 2020 | Convergence Vol. 26(4), pp. 874-894 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article examines the use of the blockchain to create limited editions of digital art with a particular focus on the business models of two companies: Monegraph and Ascribe. For some, the development of blockchain technologies and smart contracts suggests an opportunity for artists to protect their work from misuse and expropriation. For others, it suggests the possibility of stronger forms of digital rights management, going forward, that may negatively impact digital culture. However, this article argues that the aim of limited editions on the blockchain is not usually to institute stronger restrictions over use or a new form of digital rights management but rather to create new kinds of tradable digital assets. In turn, this trend implies a different operation of intellectual property rights with respect to digital culture, one where alienation rather than exclusion is significant, and a different operation of scarcity with respect to digital cultural goods, where their free circulation is not necessarily antithetical to profit. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{o2020limited, author = {O'Dwyer, Rachel}, title = {Limited edition: Producing artificial scarcity for digital art on the blockchain and its implications for the cultural industries}, journal = {Convergence}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2020}, volume = {26}, number = {4}, pages = {874--894}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856518795097} } |
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Proskurovska, A. | Linking local housing and global finance: the state, land administration infrastructure and blockchain [BibTeX] |
2022 | 2022 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting | inproceedings | DOI |
BibTeX:
@inproceedings{proskurovska2022linking, author = {Proskurovska, Anetta}, title = {Linking local housing and global finance: the state, land administration infrastructure and blockchain}, booktitle = {2022 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting}, year = {2022}, doi = {https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/linking-local-housing-and-global-finance-the-state-land-administr} } |
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Erbguth, J. | Literature Review on Blockchain and democracy | Academia.Edu | unpublished | URL | |
Abstract: … Casino, Dasaklis, & Patsakis, 2019). Rozas provides an overview of papers (Rozas, 2018) that analyze the possibility of using blockchain as an approach to solve the tragedy of commons (Ostrom, 1990). Some papers analyze the … | |||||
BibTeX:
@unpublished{Erbguth, author = {Erbguth, J}, title = {Literature Review on Blockchain and democracy}, booktitle = {Academia.Edu}, url = {http://www.academia.edu/download/59243135/BC_Democracy20190514-62947-dkd82b.pdf} } |
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Pacione, M. | Local Exchange Trading Systems as a Response to the Globalisation of Capitalism | 1997 | Urban Studies Vol. 34(8), pp. 1179-1199 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The globalisation of capitalism has disadvantaged those people and places marginal to the capitalist development process. The local exchange trading system represents a possible approach to the challenge of relocalising social and economic identity. Despite the growing importance of local exchange trading systems (LETS) in the UK, geographical research into the concept is limited. This paper examines the potential of LETS as a response to the hegemonic influence of global capitalism. The empirical evidence focuses on the development and operation of LETS in Glasgow. The research analyses both successful and unsuccessful LETS in the city, examines the prospects for further development of LETS in the UK, and considers the potential value of the concept particularly for people and places disadvantaged by the capitalist market economy. textcopyright 1997, Sage Publications. All rights reserved. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Pacione1997, author = {Pacione, Michael}, title = {Local Exchange Trading Systems as a Response to the Globalisation of Capitalism}, journal = {Urban Studies}, year = {1997}, volume = {34}, number = {8}, pages = {1179--1199}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098975583} } |
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Lee, S.C. | Magical capitalism, gambler subjects: South Korea's bitcoin investment frenzy | 2020 | Cultural Studies Vol. 0(0), pp. 1-24 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: ‘First, it was just tech people. Now, literally everyone is interested in bitcoin', said CNN News while reporting on the bitcoin mania that haunted South Korean society in the winter of 2017–2018. This study takes that speculative frenzy as an entry point for exploring lay bitcoin investors' experiences and the ‘magical' features of contemporary financial capitalism. It first situates the bitcoin investment boom in the contexts of South Korea's post-developmental transition and the rise of mass investment culture. Drawing upon participant observation of online communities for South Korea's bitcoin investors, this study then demonstrates how lay bitcoin investors' daily beliefs and practices are distinguished from more traditional economic subjectivities–namely, disciplined workers and rational investors. Lay bitcoin investors present themselves not simply as calculative investors but also as enchanted gamblers who often rely upon magical formulas and rituals that express their hopes and despairs in the face of an uncertain future. Instead of dismissing their beliefs and rituals as ‘irrational exuberance', this study argues that their cultural practices should be understood as a reflexive response to the ‘magical' mechanisms of the financial market based on self-referential valuation and self-fulfilling performativity. In examining how the logics of uncertainty and magic are returned at the heart of contemporary capitalism, this study consequently seeks to situate the lay investors' struggles in dealing with the ambiguous future within the broader transformation of the human condition during the triumphant rise of financial capitalism. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lee2020, author = {Lee, Seung Cheol}, title = {Magical capitalism, gambler subjects: South Korea's bitcoin investment frenzy}, journal = {Cultural Studies}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {1--24}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2020.1788620}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2020.1788620} } |
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Tankha, M. and Dalinghaus, U. | Mapping the intermediate: lived technologies of money and value | 2020 | Vol. 13(4)Journal of Cultural Economy, pp. 345-352 |
misc | DOI |
Abstract: As financial transactions are increasingly digitized, old and new kinds of intermediaries are only expanding in importance. Intermediaries, mediators and brokers sit at critical junctures and operate between diverse financial arenas and pathways. We argue that mapping the intermediate entails identifying how different kinds of actors—human and non-human, objects and interfaces, institutions and practices—delimit or reify but also stitch together and overcome spatial and temporal differences in people's financial lives, while taking on varying burdens of risk. Mapping the intermediate is both an empirical and methodological exercise. Empirically, it requires following the agents and traders, brokers and material objects that facilitate transactions and add, extract, or re-work different kinds of value. Methodologically, intermediaries and the intermediate are not only the objects of analysis but act as analytical tools in their own right, making the process and politics of transactions visible and tangible. Attending to the intermediate in our inquiries around money, currency and new digital financial technologies, thereby, offers new directions for grounding finance in politics and history and better connecting micro and macro and local and global economic processes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@misc{tankha2020mapping, author = {Tankha, Mrinalini and Dalinghaus, Ursula}, title = {Mapping the intermediate: lived technologies of money and value}, booktitle = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {13}, number = {4}, pages = {345--352}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2020.1779112} } |
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Nadini, M., Alessandretti, L., Di Giacinto, F., Martino, M., Aiello, L.M. and Baronchelli, A. | Mapping the NFT revolution: market trends, trade networks, and visual features | 2021 | Scientific Reports Vol. 11(1) |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that represent objects like art, collectible, and in-game items. They are traded online, often with cryptocurrency, and are generally encoded within smart contracts on a blockchain. Public attention towards NFTs has exploded in 2021, when their market has experienced record sales, but little is known about the overall structure and evolution of its market. Here, we analyse data concerning 6.1 million trades of 4.7 million NFTs between June 23, 2017 and April 27, 2021, obtained primarily from Ethereum and WAX blockchains. First, we characterize statistical properties of the market. Second, we build the network of interactions, show that traders typically specialize on NFTs associated with similar objects and form tight clusters with other traders that exchange the same kind of objects. Third, we cluster objects associated to NFTs according to their visual features and show that collections contain visually homogeneous objects. Finally, we investigate the predictability of NFT sales using simple machine learning algorithms and find that sale history and, secondarily, visual features are good predictors for price. We anticipate that these findings will stimulate further research on NFT production, adoption, and trading in different contexts. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Nadini2021, author = {Nadini, Matthieu and Alessandretti, Laura and Di Giacinto, Flavio and Martino, Mauro and Aiello, Luca Maria and Baronchelli, Andrea}, title = {Mapping the NFT revolution: market trends, trade networks, and visual features}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, year = {2021}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00053-8} } |
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Zook, M. and McCanless, M. | Mapping the uneven geographies of digital phenomena: The case of blockchain | 2021 | The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien | article | DOI |
Abstract: Digital phenomena pose unique challenges to social science researchers investigating the impact of new and changing technologies. In part, this challenge derives from the constantly evolving practices, actants, and geographies enrolled in the digital. When these phenomena are coupled with over-the-top expectations and media hype, initial impressions often mask the complicated and nuanced ways new technologies are put to use. Blockchain (and its original application Bitcoin) represent one of these new, unstable digital phenomena that simultaneously captures public imagination and generates powerful discourses of disruption and change. One way of clarifying the messiness of technologies like blockchain is to ground its practices within the materiality of geography. The DIGO framework proposed in this article uses four broad categories—discourses (measured via Twitter), infrastructures (indicated by Bitcoin mining), groupings (based on firms and exchanges), and outcomes (measured by initial coin offerings)—located in geographic space. Each category is meant to provide insight on blockchain as it unfolds across space and scale. The same framework can guide research on other digital phenomena, based on appropriate measures for each of the four DIGO foci. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{zook2021mapping, author = {Zook, Matthew and McCanless, Michael}, title = {Mapping the uneven geographies of digital phenomena: The case of blockchain}, journal = {The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12738} } |
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Wright, S.A. | Measuring DAO Autonomy: Lessons From Other Autonomous Systems | 2021 | IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society Vol. 2(1), pp. 43-53 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: DAOS | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Wright2021, author = {Wright, Steven A.}, title = {Measuring DAO Autonomy: Lessons From Other Autonomous Systems}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society}, year = {2021}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {43--53}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/tts.2021.3054974} } |
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Bodó, B. | Mediated trust: A theoretical framework to address the trustworthiness of technological trust mediators | 2021 | New Media and Society Vol. 23(9), pp. 2668-2690 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article considers the impact of digital technologies on the interpersonal and institutional logics of trust production. It introduces the new theoretical concept of technology-mediated trust to analyze the role of complex techno-social assemblages in trust production and distrust management. The first part of the article argues that globalization and digitalization have unleashed a crisis of trust, as traditional institutional and interpersonal logics are not attuned to deal with the risks introduced by the prevalence of digital technologies. In the second part, the article describes how digital intermediation has transformed the traditional logics of interpersonal and institutional trust formation and created new trust-mediating services. Finally, the article asks as follows: why should we trust these technological trust mediators? The conclusion is that at best, it is impossible to establish the trustworthiness of trust mediators, and that at worst, we have no reason to trust them. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{bodo2021mediated, author = {Bodó, Balázs}, title = {Mediated trust: A theoretical framework to address the trustworthiness of technological trust mediators}, journal = {New Media and Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2021}, volume = {23}, number = {9}, pages = {2668--2690}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820939922} } |
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Maia, G. and Vieira dos Santos, J. | MiCA and DeFi ('Proposal for a Regulation on Market in Crypto-Assets' and 'Decentralised Finance') [BibTeX] |
2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{c2021mica, author = {Maia, Guilherme and Vieira dos Santos, João}, title = {MiCA and DeFi ('Proposal for a Regulation on Market in Crypto-Assets' and 'Decentralised Finance')}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3875355} } |
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McKenzie, M.d.J. | Micro-assets and portfolio management in the new platform economy | 2020 | Distinktion Vol. 0(0), pp. 1-20 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: Digital labour platforms act as intermediary agents between users and are imbued with the power to determine the rules of interaction within their own digital ecosystem. As the labour market has become increasingly integrated into the platform economy, digital enterprises have been able to use their concentration of power to experiment with new structures of labour regulation and management. The key transformation of labour by platform enterprises is the fragmentation of labour contracts into minute by minute tasks, with noteworthy implications for our understanding of human capital investment in the digital age. As individuals are required to sell their abilities as micro-skills such as photo-tagging and copy editing, long-term human capital investments such as higher education are devalued. These long-term assets are replaced by highly volatile and short-term human capital assets such as reputation scores and platform metrics. This paper will investigate these new forms of human capital, exploring how they are held hostage by platform enterprises to lock users in and structure how labour is practiced in the new digital economy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{McKenzie2020, author = {McKenzie, Monique de Jong}, title = {Micro-assets and portfolio management in the new platform economy}, journal = {Distinktion}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2020}, volume = {0}, number = {0}, pages = {1--20}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2020.1734847}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2020.1734847} } |
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Vidan, G. and Lehdonvirta, V. | Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness | 2019 | New Media and Society Vol. 21(1), pp. 42-59 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Subscribing to a techno-utopian discourse replacing institutions and experts with “trust in code,” digital alternative currency Bitcoin is pitched as a “math-based money” governed by incorruptible code rather than human regulators. In three cases, which occurred between 2013 and 2015, we examine this system at moments of breakdown. In contrast to the discourse, we find that power is concentrated to critical sites and individuals who manage the system through ad hoc negotiations, and who users must therefore implicitly trust—a contrast we call Bitcoin's “promissory gap.” But even in the face of such contradictions between premise and reality, the discourse is maintained. We identify four authorizing strategies used in this work: conflating people with devices, assuming actors conform to notions of economic rationality, appealing to technical expertise, and explaining contradictions as temporary bugs. We contend that these strategies are mobilized widely to legitimize a variety of applications of algorithmic regulation and peer production projects. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Vidan2019, author = {Vidan, Gili and Lehdonvirta, Vili}, title = {Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness}, journal = {New Media and Society}, year = {2019}, volume = {21}, number = {1}, pages = {42--59}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818786220} } |
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Schneider, N., De Filippi, P., Frey, S., Tan, J.Z. and Zhang, A.X. | Modular Politics: Toward a Governance Layer for Online Communities | 2021 | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Vol. 5(CSCW1), pp. 1-26 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Governance in online communities is an increasingly high-stakes challenge, and yet many basic features of offline governance legacies-juries, political parties, term limits, and formal debates, to name a few-are not in the feature-sets of the software most community platforms use. Drawing on the paradigm of Institutional Analysis and Development, this paper proposes a strategy for addressing this lapse by specifying basic features of a generalizable paradigm for online governance called Modular Politics. Whereas classical governance typologies tend to present a choice among wholesale ideologies, such as democracy or oligarchy, Modular Politics would enable platform operators and their users to build bottom-up governance processes from computational components that are modular and composable, highly versatile in their expressiveness, portable from one context to another, and interoperable across platforms. This kind of approach could implement pre-digital governance systems as well as accelerate innovation in uniquely digital techniques. As diverse communities share and connect their components and data, governance could occur through a ubiquitous network layer. To that end, this paper proposes the development of an open standard for networked governance. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Schneider2021, author = {Schneider, Nathan and De Filippi, Primavera and Frey, Seth and Tan, Joshua Z. and Zhang, Amy X.}, title = {Modular Politics: Toward a Governance Layer for Online Communities}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}, year = {2021}, volume = {5}, number = {CSCW1}, pages = {1--26}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3449090} } |
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Allon, F. | Money after Blockchain: Gold, Decentralised Politics and the New Libertarianism | 2018 | Australian Feminist Studies Vol. 33(96), pp. 223-243 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Blockchain technologies are central to what has been described as a new ‘smart social contract'. With blockchain, individual cryptographic identity becomes the basis for new forms of money and for a whole suite of restructured social, political and financial transactions. But what do these developments signal for feminist engagements with the money economy? The transparency and pseudonymity that the blockchain provides has been welcomed as a ‘feminist weapon'. But the decentralised technology also legitimises many longstanding assumptions of libertarianism, especially competitive individualism, naturalised social inequality and the stability of value associated with the gold standard. Drawing on popular culture texts, Goldfinger and The Mandibles, this article considers this history, examining the gendered, racialised and sexualised discursive practices that attend representations of gold along with the ‘metallism' surrounding blockchain-based cryptocurrencies in the contemporary conjuncture. By claiming to represent non-negotiable certainty derived from technology/nature rather than social convention, the fantasy of fundamental value returns, together with related associations of essentialism and authenticity, but anchored in this new context in the technocratic authoritarianism of FinTech. This is part of the background for the ‘new libertarianism' whose ascendency now overshadows the neoliberalism that has been the focus of critical attention for some decades. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Allon2018, author = {Allon, Fiona}, title = {Money after Blockchain: Gold, Decentralised Politics and the New Libertarianism}, journal = {Australian Feminist Studies}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2018}, volume = {33}, number = {96}, pages = {223--243}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2018.1517245} } |
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North, P. | Money and Liberation: The Micropolitics of Alternative Currency Movements. | 2007 | book | DOI URL | |
Abstract: Is conventional money simply a discourse? Is it merely a socially constructed unit of exchange? If money is not an actual thing, are people then free to make collective agreements to use other forms of currency that might work more effectively for them? Proponents of “better money” argue that they have created currencies that value people more than profitability, ensuring that human needs are met with reasonable costs and decent wages—and supporting local economies that emphasize local sustainability. How did proponents develop these new economies? Are their claims valid? Grappling with these questions and more, Money and Liberation examines the experiences of groups who have tried to build a more equitable world by inventing new forms of money. Presenting in-depth profiles of the trading networks that have been constructed both historically and more recently, including Local Exchange Trading Schemes (England), Green Dollars (New Zealand), Talente (Hungary), and the barter system in Argentina, Peter North shows how the use of currency has been redefined as part of political action, revealing surprising political ambiguity and a nuanced understanding of the potential and limits on alternative currencies as a resistance practice. Highlight | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Cameron2009, author = {North, Peter}, title = {Money and Liberation: The Micropolitics of Alternative Currency Movements.}, publisher = {University of Minnesota Press}, year = {2007}, url = {https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/money-and-liberation}, doi = {https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/money-and-liberation} } |
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Koddenbrock, K. | Money and moneyness: thoughts on the nature and distributional power of the ‘backbone' of capitalist political economy | 2019 | Journal of Cultural Economy Vol. 12(2), pp. 101-118 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This paper contends that political economy may profit from an understanding of money that is both able to account for its systemic importance as well as money's specific role for the contemporary distribution of wealth. ‘Money-ness' is a strategic factor in profit-making and capital accumulation. If we accord moneyness to all those instruments that make the repackaging of credit and other financial assets and liabilities and their capitalization possible, we arrive at an understanding of money that underscores the Marxian analysis of the structural importance of the money relation for capital accumulation that is up to speed with current financial innovations. As a social structure and process, moneymaking through capital permeates society. As a public-private deal between the state, rentiers, banks, and taxpayers that has existed since the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694, it binds these actors together in shifting relations of dependence. Under financial capitalism today, what counts as money and how far moneyness stretches into the realms of financial innovation has been a core object of struggle in the public-private deal of money creation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Koddenbrock2019, author = {Koddenbrock, Kai}, title = {Money and moneyness: thoughts on the nature and distributional power of the ‘backbone' of capitalist political economy}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Economy}, year = {2019}, volume = {12}, number = {2}, pages = {101--118}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1545684} } |
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Salmony, M. | Money and the fear of missing out: How to stay sane in a world shaken by Libra. | 2019 | Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems Vol. 13(4), pp. 282-287 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: This paper discusses the issues surrounding the question of whether the best way to provide seamless pan-European/global payments is to deploy a new cryptocurrency, perhaps via a private actor, or to build on the existing infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{salmony2020money, author = {Salmony, Michael}, title = {Money and the fear of missing out: How to stay sane in a world shaken by Libra.}, journal = {Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems}, publisher = {Henry Stewart Publications}, year = {2019}, volume = {13}, number = {4}, pages = {282--287}, url = {https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hsp/jpss/2020/00000013/00000004/art00002}, doi = {https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hsp/jpss/2020/00000013/00000004/art00002} } |
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Bazzani, G. | Money as a tool for collective action | 2020 | Partecipazione e Conflitto Vol. 13(1), pp. 438-461 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Complementary currencies are usually seen as a by-product of collective movements for social change or as an institutional tool for local development: they are an outcome of collective action, not the origin of collective mobilisation. Empirical research on the Sardex complementary currency, though, suggests that money may support the emergence of collective action. Traditional economic theory considers any collective benefits provided by the economic system as the secondary effects of individual entrepreneurs seeking to maximise their profits. Entrepreneurs belonging to the Sardex network, though, do associate the use of the Sardex currency with direct collective benefits. This means they consider their business activities to be a form of collective action for promoting the com-mon good of Sardinia's socio-economic development. Using the Sardex currency sets this collective action in motion: some Sardex members also work to expand the Sardex network without any expectation of economic gain. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Bazzani2020, author = {Bazzani, Giacomo}, title = {Money as a tool for collective action}, journal = {Partecipazione e Conflitto}, year = {2020}, volume = {13}, number = {1}, pages = {438--461}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v13i1p438} } |
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Parkin, J. | Money code space: Hidden power in bitcoin, blockchain, and decentralisation | 2020 | , pp. 1-288 | book | DOI |
Abstract: Newly emerging cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology present a challenging research problem in the field of digital politics and economics. Bitcoin-the first widely implemented cryptocurrency and blockchain architecture-seemingly separates itself from the existing territorial boundedness of nation-state money via a process of algorithmic decentralisation. Proponents declare that the utilisation of cryptography to advance financial transactions will disrupt the modern centralised structures by which capitalist economies are currently organised: corporations, governments, commercial banks, and central banks. Allegedly, software can create a more stable and democratic global economy; a world free from hierarchy and control. In Money Code Space, Jack Parkin debunks these utopian claims by approaching distributed ledger technologies as a spatial and social problem where power forms unevenly across their networks. First-hand accounts of online communities, open-source software governance, infrastructural hardware operations, and Silicon Valley start-up culture are used to ground understandings of cryptocurrencies in the “real world.” Consequently, Parkin demonstrates how Bitcoin and other blockchains are produced across a multitude of tessellated spaces from which certain stakeholders exercise considerable amounts of power over their networks. While money, code, and space are certainly transformed by distributed ledgers, algorithmic decentralisation is rendered inherently paradoxical because it is predicated upon centralised actors, practices, and forces. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Parkin2020, author = {Parkin, Jack}, title = {Money code space: Hidden power in bitcoin, blockchain, and decentralisation}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2020}, pages = {1--288}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197515075.001.0001} } |
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Hart, K. | Money from a cultural point of view [BibTeX] |
2015 | HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory Vol. 5(2), pp. 411-416 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{hart2015money, author = {Hart, Keith}, title = {Money from a cultural point of view}, journal = {HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory}, publisher = {University of Chicago Press}, year = {2015}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {411--416} } |
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Westermeier, C. | Money is data–the platformization of financial transactions | 2020 | Information Communication and Society Vol. 23(14), pp. 2047-2063 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Financial transactions are part of everyday life, yet banking has largely withstood the digital transformation within most European countries. Recently, there have been initiatives that merge the digital and the financial sphere by integrating the transactions that run through established financial infrastructures into digital platforms. Large data-driven companies hereby seek access to financial transactions and try to embed payments within their platforms. This contribution discusses differing models of how tech-driven companies gain access to financial infrastructures, and how recently introduced policies engender these processes. Within Europe and the United Kingdom, banks that operate through financial infrastructures and hold most transactional data are now required by regulators to provide access to their customers' accounts. The platformization of financial transactions is thus not purely a technical question, but it also is a remarkable example of how politically enforced changes in the materiality of data lead to reconfigurations with broader economic and social consequences. It results in the transformation of money into a form of (transactional) data and shows how the value of money and data depends on the technological underpinnings that determine the capability of their circulation. In order to understand their valuation, we need to take the material assemblages that enable their distribution into account. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Westermeier2020, author = {Westermeier, Carola}, title = {Money is data–the platformization of financial transactions}, journal = {Information Communication and Society}, year = {2020}, volume = {23}, number = {14}, pages = {2047--2063}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1770833} } |
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Coeckelbergh, M. | Money machines: Electronic financial technologies, distancing and responsibility in global finance | 2015 | , pp. 1-204 | book | DOI |
Abstract: While we have become increasingly vulnerable to the ebb and flow of global finance, most of us know very little about it. This book focuses on the role of technology in global finance and reflects on the ethical and societal meaning and impact of financial information and communication technologies (ICTs). Exploring the history, metaphysics, and geography of money, algorithms, and electronic currencies, the author argues that financial ICTs contribute to impersonal, disengaged, placeless, and objectifying relations, and that in the context of globalization these ‘distancing' effects render it increasingly difficult to exercise and ascribe responsibility. Caught in the currents of capital, it seems that both experts and lay people have lost control and lack sufficient knowledge of what they are doing. There is too much epistemic, social, and moral distance. At the same time, the book also shows that these electronically mediated developments do not render global finance merely ‘virtual', for its technological practices remain material and place–bound, and the ethical and social vulnerabilities they create are no less real. Moreover, understood in terms of technological practices, global finance remains human through and through, and there is no technological determinism. Therefore, Money Machines also examines the ways in which contemporary techno-financial developments can be resisted or re–oriented in a morally and socially responsible direction – not without, but with technology. As such, it will appeal to philosophers and scholars across the humanities and the social sciences with interests in science and technology, finance, ethics and questions of responsibility. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{coeckelbergh2016money, author = {Coeckelbergh, Mark}, title = {Money machines: Electronic financial technologies, distancing and responsibility in global finance}, publisher = {Routledge}, year = {2015}, pages = {1--204}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306116671949n} } |
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Agha, A. | Money talk and conduct from cowries to bitcoin | 2017 | Signs and Society Vol. 5(2), pp. 293-355 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: What role do forms of money play in social life? What kinds of sociocultural variation do they exhibit? What variety of things do people do with varieties of money? How are activities involving money differentiated into registers of money conduct in specific times and places? How are specific forms of money conduct recognized and differentiated from other cultural routines by those who encounter them? It has long been understood that money is intimately linked to varied forms of discursive semiosis through which distinct forms of money are created and endowed with distinct use characteristics; that specific forms of money are readily linked to (or appropriated by) group-specific interests or ideologies; and that differences in types of money conduct readily differentiate social roles and relationships among persons and groups in social history. Yet the role of discursive semiosis in the existence and use of money is not well understood, a lacuna that links most descriptions of “money” to voicing structures (or discursive positionalities) that are not grasped for what they are by those who offer such descriptions (e.g., “speaking like the State” without knowing it). This article clarifies the role of discursive semiosis in the social life of money. It shows that such clarification is a prerequisite on ethnographic answers to the questions listed at the beginning of this abstract. It presents a comparative framework for reasoning about forms of money in forms of life. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{agha2017money, author = {Agha, Asif}, title = {Money talk and conduct from cowries to bitcoin}, journal = {Signs and Society}, publisher = {University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL}, year = {2017}, volume = {5}, number = {2}, pages = {293--355}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1086/693775} } |
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Gießmann, S. | Money, Credit, and Digital Payment 1971/2014: From the Credit Card to Apple Pay | 2018 | Administration and Society Vol. 50(9), pp. 1259-1279 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The article intertwines the history of the American credit card, its standardization, and interactional realization with the latest developments in payment systems. Understanding both credit cards and systems like Apple Pay or blockchain-based applications as part of an administrative longue durée, it argues for a different understanding of the Internet of Things. It should be understood both as a technical-informational and as an accounting infrastructure, with tensions arising between both segments. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{giessmann2018money, author = {Gießmann, Sebastian}, title = {Money, Credit, and Digital Payment 1971/2014: From the Credit Card to Apple Pay}, journal = {Administration and Society}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA}, year = {2018}, volume = {50}, number = {9}, pages = {1259--1279}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399718794169} } |
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Mildenberger, C.D. | Money, its functions and the moral limits of their re-design | 2021 | Inquiry (United Kingdom), pp. 1-22 | article | DOI |
Abstract: If money is used in a market setting, and if it fulfils its three traditional functions well, this creates normative problems. Arguably, the two most pressing problems linked to markets–inequality and corruption–are partly caused by the prevailing monetary design. Given the history of suggested monetary reforms, one might reasonably hope that, by consciously re-designing the functions of a currency, one might overcome these issues. This essay argues that there are clear moral limits to this. Because of the way inequality and corruption are intertwined via money's functions, we cannot simultaneously overcome both problems. This also means that even though these problems have monetary causes, they do not have purely monetary solutions, but need to be addressed relying on fiscal or market reform as well. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{mildenberger2021money, author = {Mildenberger, Carl David}, title = {Money, its functions and the moral limits of their re-design}, journal = {Inquiry (United Kingdom)}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2021}, pages = {1--22}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2021.2009025} } |
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Wullweber, J. | Money, state, hegemony: A political ontology of money | 2019 | New Political Science Vol. 41(2), pp. 313-328 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article develops a political understanding of the money-form, its relation to value, to society, and to the state. It argues that the value of assets is based on societal relations. These value relations are expressed in a general measure of value – money. Money serves as the equivalent for all asset values. This general equivalent is conceptualized as a master signifier. Based on Laclau's political theory and theories of International Political Economy, the article argues that it is the master signifier, which not only defines the assets' value relations, but also constitutes the assets by assigning value. It follows that the value of an asset can only be determined when it can be expressed in money, and that asset values can only be made comparable when they can be related to this general money-form. Furthermore, the transition from a specific object or credit to the money-form is theorized as a political process. Money ultimately represents a specific political relationship resulting from hegemonic struggles. To conceptualize money as a master signifier makes it possible to understand money not as a neutral measure of abstract value but as a general measure of value relations resulting from political processes and social struggles. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{wullweber2019money, author = {Wullweber, Joscha}, title = {Money, state, hegemony: A political ontology of money}, journal = {New Political Science}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {41}, number = {2}, pages = {313--328}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2019.1596686} } |
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Hindriks, F. and Sandberg, J. | Money: What it is and what it should be [BibTeX] |
2021 | Journal of Social Ontology Vol. 6(2), pp. 237-243 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{hindriks2020money, author = {Hindriks, Frank and Sandberg, Joakim}, title = {Money: What it is and what it should be}, journal = {Journal of Social Ontology}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, year = {2021}, volume = {6}, number = {2}, pages = {237--243}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/jso-2021-2010} } |
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Tkacz, N. | Money's new abstractions: Apple Pay and the economy of experience | 2019 | Distinktion Vol. 20(3), pp. 264-283 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This article draws on insights from digital media theory and design methodology to contribute to sociological and anthropological understandings of money. It postulates the rise of a new money-form, or rather money-forms, referred to (in the plural) as experience money. The notion of experience money is developed through an analysis of Apple Pay, where I suggest that experience contains both economic and design qualities. Experience, that is, is both a way of thinking about and producing value, and a set of concrete design techniques for realizing such value. Each instance of experience money therefore embodies a distinctive ‘value proposition'–an experience value, if you will–which forms the basis of differentiation and competition. While there is a vast literature dedicated to troubling and challenging the modern accounts of money and economy in terms of abstraction–from anthropology to economic sociology, social studies of finance or even behavioural economics–experience money poses new challenges for these empirically-nuanced theories of money. Experience money performatively incorporates and recodes the diversity and specificity of money and monetary practices as described by sociologists and anthropologists. It participates in the critique of (modern) money as abstraction, but it by no means does away with abstraction. The article concludes with a reflection on what money's new relationship to abstraction entails for how we study economy. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{tkacz2019money, author = {Tkacz, Nathaniel}, title = {Money's new abstractions: Apple Pay and the economy of experience}, journal = {Distinktion}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, year = {2019}, volume = {20}, number = {3}, pages = {264--283}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2019.1653348} } |
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Hockett, R.C. | Money's Past is Fintech's Future: Wildcat Crypto, the Digital Dollar, and Citizen Central Banking | 2018 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: I argue that crypto-currencies will soon go the way of the ‘wildcat' banknotes of the mid-19th century. As central banks worldwide upgrade their payments systems, the Fed will begin issuing a ‘digital dollar' that leaves no licit function for what I call ‘wildcat crypto.' But the imminent change heralds far more than a shakeout in ‘fintech.' It will also make possible a new era of what I call ‘Citizen Central Banking.' The Fed will administer a national system of what I call ‘Citizen Accounts.' This will not only end the problem of the ‘unbanked,' it also will simplify monetary policy. Instead of working through private bank ‘middlemen' that it hopes will lend QE money to borrowers during a downturn, the Fed will be able to do ‘helicopter drops' directly into Fed Citizen Accounts. And rather than rely solely on interbank lending rate hikes or countercyclical capital buffering during periods of froth, the Fed will be able to impound money through the more ‘carrot-like' measure of interest credited to those accounts. We are at last on the verge of establishing a true ‘Fed for the People.' | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{hockett2019money, author = {Hockett, Robert C.}, title = {Money's Past is Fintech's Future: Wildcat Crypto, the Digital Dollar, and Citizen Central Banking}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, year = {2018}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3299555} } |
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Goldstein, J.E. | More data, more problems? Incompatible uncertainty in Indonesia's climate change mitigation projects [BibTeX] |
2021 | Geoforum | article | DOI URL |
BibTeX:
@article{Goldstein2021, author = {Goldstein, Jenny E.}, title = {More data, more problems? Incompatible uncertainty in Indonesia's climate change mitigation projects}, journal = {Geoforum}, publisher = {Pergamon}, year = {2021}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016718521002955}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GEOFORUM.2021.11.007} } |
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Lawrence, C.J. and Mudge, S.L. | Movement to market, currency to property: the rise and fall of Bitcoin as an anti-state movement, 2009--2014 [BibTeX] |
2019 | Socio-Economic Review Vol. 17(1), pp. 109-134 |
article | |
BibTeX:
@article{lawrence2019movement, author = {Lawrence, Christopher J and Mudge, Stephanie Lee}, title = {Movement to market, currency to property: the rise and fall of Bitcoin as an anti-state movement, 2009--2014}, journal = {Socio-Economic Review}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, year = {2019}, volume = {17}, number = {1}, pages = {109--134} } |
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Scharding, T. | National currency, world currency, cryptocurrency: A Fichtean approach to the Ethics of Bitcoin | 2019 | Business and Society Review Vol. 124(2), pp. 219-238 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: I investigate ethical questions concerning a novel cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, using a Fichtean account of the ethics of currency. Fichte holds that currencies should fulfill an ethical purpose: providing access, in perpetuity, to the material welfare that underwrites citizens' basic rights. In his nineteenth-century context, Fichte argues that currencies fulfill this purpose better when nations control them (i.e., when they are “national currencies”) than when foreigners freely trade them (as “world currencies”). After exploring conditions in which national currencies fail to secure material stability over time, e.g., in corrupt regimes, I develop a Fichtean model for ethically evaluating currencies and evaluate the extent to which Bitcoin meets its standards for ethical currency. I argue that Bitcoin undermines the (monetary) power of nations and, as such, threatens their ability to provide access to necessary material goods. While offering citizens a means of defending themselves against corrupt regimes, Bitcoin forsakes the general welfare and is, as such, unethical by Fichtean lights. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{scharding2019national, author = {Scharding, Tobey}, title = {National currency, world currency, cryptocurrency: A Fichtean approach to the Ethics of Bitcoin}, journal = {Business and Society Review}, publisher = {Wiley Online Library}, year = {2019}, volume = {124}, number = {2}, pages = {219--238}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12169} } |
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Büscher, B. | Nature 2.0: Exploring and theorizing the links between new media and nature conservation | 2016 | New Media and Society Vol. 18(5), pp. 726-743 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Web 2.0 and social media applications that allow people to share, co-create and rate online content are crucial new ways for conservation organizations to reach audiences and for concerned individuals and organizations to be (seen as) ‘green'. These dynamics are rapidly changing the politics and political economy of nature conservation. By developing the concept of ‘nature 2.0' and building on empirical insights, the article explores and theorizes these changes. It argues that online activities stimulate and complicate the commodification of biodiversity and help to reimagine ideas, ideals and experiences of (‘pristine') nature. By exploring the implications of these arguments in relation to several key themes in new media studies, the article aims to provide building blocks for further investigations into the world of nature 2.0 and the effects of new media on human–nature dynamics more broadly. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Buscher2016, author = {Büscher, Bram}, title = {Nature 2.0: Exploring and theorizing the links between new media and nature conservation}, journal = {New Media and Society}, year = {2016}, volume = {18}, number = {5}, pages = {726--743}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814545841} } |
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Büscher, Bram, wolfram dressler, R.F. | Nature tm Inc. | 2014 | book | ||
Abstract: Pembelajaran Bahasa Indonesia dapat dikelompokkan menjadi tiga bagian, yaitu pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa pertama atau bahasa ibu, pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa kedua selain bahasa ibu, dan pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa asing. Untuk kelompok ketiga, yaitu pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa asing biasa disebut sebagai pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia bagi penutur asing (BIPA). Perkembangan BIPA sampai saat ini mengalami perkembangan yang sangat pesat, baik di dalam negeri maupun di luar negeri. Namun, semenjak program pembelajaran BIPA mulai dilaksanakan oleh beberapa perguruan tinggi dan lembaga kursus di Indonesia, sampai saat ini belum memiliki kurikulum standar nasional. Masing-masing lembaga penyelenggara program memiliki kurikulum tersendiri sesuai dengan latar belakang pendirian program. Pada tulisan ini, dipaparkan rancangan kurikulum BIPA yang dapat dikembangankan oleh penyelenggara program atau pun lembaga yang akan menyelenggarakan program BIPA. Pada prinsipnya, pengembangan kurikulum BIPA didasarkan pada prinsip relevansi, efektivitas, efisiensi, kesinambungan, dan fleksibilitas. Prinsip-prinsip ini digunakan untuk penyusunan rancangan kurikulum yang meliputi, penentuan tujuan, ruang lingkup dan sumber bahannya, dan evaluasi. Rancangan ini merupakan rancangan sederhana kurikulum BIPA yang dapat dikembangkan oleh lembaga penyelenggara program berdasarkan pada analisis kebutuhan. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{BuscherBramwolframdressler2014, author = {Büscher, Bram, wolfram dressler, Robert Fletcher}, title = {Nature tm Inc.}, publisher = {The University of Arizona Press}, year = {2014} } |
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Arsel, M. and Büscher, B. | Nature™ Inc: Changes and Continuities in Neoliberal Conservation and Market-based Environmental Policy | 2012 | Development and Change Vol. 43(1), pp. 53-78 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Nature™ Inc. describes the increasingly dominant way of thinking about environmental policy and biodiversity conservation in the early twenty-first century. Nature is, and of course has long been, 'big business', especially through the dynamics of extracting from, polluting and conserving it. As each of these dynamics seems to have become more intense and urgent, the capitalist mainstream is seeking ways to off-set extraction and pollution and find (better) methods of conservation, while increasing opportunities for the accumulation of capital and profits. This has taken Nature™ Inc. to new levels, in turn triggering renewed attention from critical scholarship. The contributions to this Debate section all come from a critical perspective and have something important to say about the construction, workings and future of Nature™ Inc. By discussing the incorporation of trademarked nature and connecting what insights the contributions bring to the debate, we find that there might be what we call an intensifying dialectic between change and limits influencing the relations between capitalism and nature. Our conclusion briefly points to some of the issues and questions that this dialectic might lead to in future research on neoliberal conservation and market-based environmental policy. textcopyright 2012 International Institute of Social Studies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Arsel2012, author = {Arsel, Murat and Büscher, Bram}, title = {Nature™ Inc: Changes and Continuities in Neoliberal Conservation and Market-based Environmental Policy}, journal = {Development and Change}, year = {2012}, volume = {43}, number = {1}, pages = {53--78}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2012.01752.x} } |
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Lohmann, L. | Neoliberalism and the Calculable World: the Rise of Carbon Trading | 2021 | Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism | article | DOI |
Abstract: ... In so doing, it hopes to provide an introduction to one of neoliberalism's potentially greatest class projects: the attempt to privatise the climate itself. ... Carbon trading treats the safeguarding of climatic stability, or the earth's capacity to regulate its climate , as a measurable ... n | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Lohmann2021, author = {Lohmann, Larry}, title = {Neoliberalism and the Calculable World: the Rise of Carbon Trading}, journal = {Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism}, year = {2021}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350223486.ch-004} } |
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Kaplanov, N.M. | Nerdy Money: Bitcoin, the Private Digital Currency, and the Case Against Its Regulation | 2012 | SSRN Electronic Journal Vol. 25, pp. 111 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: This Comment explores the lawfulness of using bitcoin, a privately-issued currency transacted on a peer-to-peer network, and the ability of the federal government to bar transactions between two willing parties. While there are no cases yet challenging the ability of parties in the United States to make transactions using bitcoins, there are policymakers who have denounced the use of bitcoin. This has led to the question of whether the federal government has the ability under current federal law to prohibit the use of bitcoins between willing parties. This Comment will show that the federal government has no basis to stop bitcoin users who engage in traditional consumer purchases and transfers. This Comment further argues that the federal government should refrain from passing any laws or regulations limiting the use of bitcoins. Should any claim arise, this Comment argues that there is a perfectly acceptable model with which to analogize bitcoin use: community currencies. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{kaplanov2012nerdy, author = {Kaplanov, Nikolei M.}, title = {Nerdy Money: Bitcoin, the Private Digital Currency, and the Case Against Its Regulation}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {HeinOnline}, year = {2012}, volume = {25}, pages = {111}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2115203} } |
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Casale-Brunet, S., Ribeca, P., Doyle, P. and Mattavelli, M. | Networks of Ethereum Non-Fungible Tokens: A graph-based analysis of the ERC-721 ecosystem | 2021 | arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.12545 | article | URL |
Abstract: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a decentralized proof of ownership represent one of the main reasons why Ethereum is a disruptive technology. This paper presents the first systematic study of the interactions occurring in a number of NFT ecosystems. We illustrate how to retrieve transaction data available on the blockchain and structure it as a graph-based model. Thanks to this methodology, we are able to study for the first time the topological structure of NFT networks and show that their properties (degree distribution and others) are similar to those of interaction graphs in social networks. Time-dependent analysis metrics, useful to characterize market influencers and interactions between different wallets, are also introduced. Based on those, we identify across a number of NFT networks the widespread presence of both investors accumulating NFTs and individuals who make large profits. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{casale2021networks, author = {Casale-Brunet, S. and Ribeca, P. and Doyle, P. and Mattavelli, M.}, title = {Networks of Ethereum Non-Fungible Tokens: A graph-based analysis of the ERC-721 ecosystem}, journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.12545}, year = {2021}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/2110.12545} } |
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Swartz, L. | New money: How payment became social media | 2020 | , pp. 1-259 | book | DOI URL |
Abstract: A new vision of money as a communication technology that creates and sustains invisible-often exclusive-communities “In an engaging and timely work, brimming with fascinating anecdotes and historical and literary references, Lana Swartz brilliantly illustrates how financial technologies are quietly transforming how we socialize and what it means to belong.”-Jonathan Zittrain, author of The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It One of the basic structures of everyday life, money is at its core a communication media. Payment systems-cash, card, app, or Bitcoin-are informational and symbolic tools that integrate us into, or exclude us from, the society that surrounds us. Examining the social politics of financial technologies, Lana Swartz reveals what's at stake when we pay. This accessible and insightful analysis comes at a moment of disruption: from “fin-tech” startups to cryptocurrencies, a variety of technologies are poised to unseat traditional financial infrastructures. Swartz explains these changes, traces their longer histories, and demonstrates their consequences. She shows just how important these invisible systems are. Getting paid and paying determines whether or not you can put food on the table. The data that payment produces is uniquely revelatory-and newly valuable. New forms of money create new forms of identity, new forms of community, and new forms of power. | |||||
BibTeX:
@book{Swartz2020, author = {Swartz, Lana}, title = {New money: How payment became social media}, publisher = {Yale University Press}, year = {2020}, pages = {1--259}, url = {https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300233223/new-money}, doi = {https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300233223/new-money} } |
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Zook, M.A. and Blankenship, J. | New spaces of disruption? The failures of Bitcoin and the rhetorical power of algorithmic governance | 2018 | Geoforum Vol. 96(August), pp. 248-255 |
article | DOI URL |
Abstract: In less than a decade Bitcoin and the technology of blockchain – a cryptographically-secured, algorithmically-regulated, distributed-ledger – emerged as the enfant terrible of the global economy. Ironically, as cryptocurrencies reached collective valuations of hundreds of billions of dollars the Bitcoin project failed in its original purpose as an alternative currency governed by code rather than trust. Not only has Bitcoin not become a popular means of global peer-to-peer transactions but the much vaulted purity of algorithmic governance is heavily entangled in social relations. This article reviews blockchain's computer architectures, its connections to materiality and space and the complexity of its established practices. This analysis shows that rather than occupying an algorithmic place apart, blockchain contains multiple and conflicting agencies and is messily embedded in the code/space of materiality. Nevertheless the faith in the superiority of algorithmic governance has injected a powerful discourse in economies that has proven more important and disruptive than the actual practices of Bitcoin or blockchain. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Zook2018, author = {Zook, Matthew A. and Blankenship, Joe}, title = {New spaces of disruption? The failures of Bitcoin and the rhetorical power of algorithmic governance}, journal = {Geoforum}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2018}, volume = {96}, number = {August}, pages = {248--255}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.08.023}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.08.023} } |
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Haupert, T. | New Technology, Old Patterns: Fintech Lending, Metropolitan Segregation, and Subprime Credit | 2022 | Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, pp. 1-15 | article | DOI |
Abstract: This research assesses the relationship between subprime lending rates among applicants to traditional and fintech mortgage lenders and metropolitan-level racial and ethnic segregation in the United States. Fintech—short for financial technology—mortgage lenders underwrite loans using all-online applications and proprietary machine learning underwriting algorithms that process unprecedented amounts of applicant data. While traditional lenders have long been associated with high rates of subprime lending in segregated metropolitan areas, it is unknown whether fintech lenders also exhibit this relationship. Using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data from the nation's 200 largest metropolitan areas in 2015–2017 and a series of binomial logistic regressions, I find the probability of an applicant receiving a subprime loan at both traditional and fintech lenders is positively associated with metropolitan area Black and Hispanic segregation. However, fintech lending is associated with significantly lower rates of subprime lending, relative to traditional lending, in metropolitan areas with high levels of Black segregation. This relationship holds true when analyzing both Black-white dissimilarity and Black isolation. Results related to white-Hispanic segregation are mixed. Fintech lenders are more likely than traditional lenders to originate subprime loans in metropolitan areas with high levels of white-Hispanic dissimilarity, but less likely as a metropolitan area's Hispanic isolation increases. Findings suggest the structural forces connecting subprime lending to metropolitan segregation—especially Black segregation—have a weaker association with the fintech lending market than the traditional market, but still play a significant structural role in shaping fintech lending outcomes. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{haupert2022new, author = {Haupert, Tyler}, title = {New Technology, Old Patterns: Fintech Lending, Metropolitan Segregation, and Subprime Credit}, journal = {Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2022}, pages = {1--15}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09353-0} } |
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Valera, S.C., Valdés, P.F. and Viñas, S.M. | NFT and digital art: New possibilities for the consumption, dissemination and preservation of contemporary works of art | 2021 | Artnodes Vol. 2021(28), pp. 1-10 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: Digital technology, which appeared in the ‘80s and consolidated itself in the following decade with what was called the “third industrial revolution”, has transformed not only our daily environment, but also the way in which we produce and experience the artistic work. Digital art, a subcategory of the so-named art of the new media, presents multiple forms and is in continual evolution, parallel to the devices which make it possible; but its commercialisation in the contemporary art market becomes complex, so digital works present a series of characteristics such as the paperless ofice, obsolescence and reproducibility which may be considered to be not particularly profitable by collectors. Despite this, in recent months the sale of some digital artworks, to which numerous texts are referred to under the name of cryptoart, have increased notably, reaching figures in the millions for the first time in auction houses. The commercial success of these pieces is due to the fact that, together with the work's archive, they include a type of cryptographic certificate, the non- fungible-tokens or NFTs, which collect the the work's data and inscribe them in a blockchain; transforming a multiple and disseminated work into a digital item that is unique and traceable, whose property can be transmitted as one would do with any other object in the offline world. Although they favour in principle the creation and sale of digital art, NFTs present their own problems, especially related to their access, use and sustainability; are NFTs a permanent tool or only a method of fleeting speculation? How does this certification affect property and the author's rights? Is it possible and will it be sustainable to employ them as a strategy for the preservation of digital works? This article carries out an analysis of the principal characteristics and problems of digital art in a general sense, as well as the solutions and preoccupations which the cryptographic certificates offer in all aspects in the life of a work of art: Production, dissemination and preservation. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{Valera2021, author = {Valera, Salom@Cuesta C. and Valdés, Paula Fernández and Viñas, Salvador Muñoz}, title = {NFT and digital art: New possibilities for the consumption, dissemination and preservation of contemporary works of art}, journal = {Artnodes}, year = {2021}, volume = {2021}, number = {28}, pages = {1--10}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.7238/a.v0i28.386317} } |
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Aharon, D.Y. and Demir, E. | NFTs and asset class spillovers: Lessons from the period around the COVID-19 pandemic | 2021 | Finance Research Letters, pp. 102515 | article | DOI |
Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the connectedness between returns for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other financial assets (equities, bonds, currencies, gold, oil, Ethereum) during the period from January 2018 to June 2021. By using the Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressions (TVP-VAR) approach, we show that the overall connectedness between the returns for financial assets increased during the COVID-19 period. Our static analysis shows that the behavior of the majority of NFT returns is attributable to endogenous shocks and only a small portion of this variation resulted from the impact of innovation in other assets. The results suggest that NFTs are mainly independent of shocks from common assets classes and even from their close relation, Ethereum. The dynamic analysis across time reveals that during normal times, NFTs act as transmitters of systemic risk to some degree, but during stressful times, their role shifts, and they act as absorbers of risk spillovers. This suggests that NFTs may have diversification benefits during turbulent times, as apparent during the COVID-19 crisis, and especially around the great March 2020 market plunge. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{aharon2021nfts, author = {Aharon, David Y. and Demir, Ender}, title = {NFTs and asset class spillovers: Lessons from the period around the COVID-19 pandemic}, journal = {Finance Research Letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, year = {2021}, pages = {102515}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2021.102515} } |
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Çağlayan Aksoy, P. and Özkan Üner, Z. | NFTs and copyright: challenges and opportunities [BibTeX] |
2021 | Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice Vol. 16(10), pp. 1115-1126 |
article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{ccauglayan2021nfts, author = {Çağlayan Aksoy, Pınar and Özkan Üner, Zehra}, title = {NFTs and copyright: challenges and opportunities}, journal = {Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice}, year = {2021}, volume = {16}, number = {10}, pages = {1115--1126}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpab104} } |
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Joselit, D. | NFTs, or the readymade reversed [BibTeX] |
2021 | October(175), pp. 3-4 | article | DOI |
BibTeX:
@article{Joselit2021, author = {Joselit, David}, title = {NFTs, or the readymade reversed}, journal = {October}, year = {2021}, number = {175}, pages = {3--4}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1162/octo_a_00419} } |
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Mackenzie, S. and Bērziņa, D. | NFTs: Digital things and their criminal lives | 2021 | Crime, Media, Culture, pp. 17416590211039797 | article | DOI |
Abstract: The extraordinary current craze around NFTs reflects their perceived value as a technological development that can bring greater certainty to questions of ownership and authenticity in fields like art and other collectibles. This is, among other things, the promise of crime prevention through technology, as ownership and authenticity are in the art world closely tied to criminal legal matters like theft, handling stolen goods and fraud. The crime prevention promise looks to fall flat though, as the technology seems to be less capable of delivering these benefits than has been assumed by its promoters. Much of the attraction of NFTs is therefore not actually based on effective crime prevention, but rather on hype. This paper explores the hype, and its relationship to the crime prevention promise of NFTs, through the lens of ‘the social lives of things'. We argue that as well as social lives, things have criminal lives. Analysis sensitive to the criminal lives of things finds an NFT trading scene heated by emotion: excitement, attraction, temptation, speculative euphoria and acquisitive, possessive sentiment. This creates a sense of object agency more active than the cold traditional vision of material structure presented in standard criminological treatments of things-in-the-world as passive opportunity structures. The hyped NFT market trades in affecting objects that create crime in emotional as well as structural ways. We therefore arrive at a conclusion opposite to starting assumptions: far from preventing crime, NFTs are making it. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{mackenzie2021nfts, author = {Mackenzie, Simon and Bērziņa, Diāna}, title = {NFTs: Digital things and their criminal lives}, journal = {Crime, Media, Culture}, publisher = {SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England}, year = {2021}, pages = {17416590211039797}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590211039797} } |
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Manski, S. and Manski, B. | No Gods, No Masters, No Coders? The Future of Sovereignty in a Blockchain World | 2018 | Law and Critique Vol. 29(2), pp. 151-162 |
article | DOI |
Abstract: The building of the blockchain is predicted to harken the end of the contemporary sovereign order. Some go further to claim that as a powerful decentering technology, blockchain contests the continued functioning of world capitalism. Are such claims merited? In this paper we consider sovereignty and blockchain technology theoretically, posing possible futures for sovereignty in a blockchain world. These possibilities include various forms of individual, popular, technological, corporate, and techno-totalitarian state sovereignty. We identify seven structural tendencies of blockchain technology and give examples as to how these have manifested in the construction of new forms of sovereignty. We conclude that the future of sovereignty in a blockchain world will be articulated in the conjuncture of social struggle and technological agency and we call for a stronger alliance between technologists and democrats. | |||||
BibTeX:
@article{manski2018no, author = {Manski, Sarah and Manski, Ben}, title = {No Gods, No Masters, No Coders? The Future of Sovereignty in a Blockchain World}, journal = {Law and Critique}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2018}, volume = {29}, number = {2}, pages = {151--162}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-018-9225-z} } |
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Ante, L. | Non-fungible token (NFT) markets on the Ethereum blockchain: Temporal development, cointegration and interrelations | 2021 | SSRN Electronic Journal | article | DOI |
Abstract: The market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), transferrable and unique digital assets on public blockchains, has received widespread attention and experienced strong growth since early 2021. This study provides an introduction to NFTs and explores the 14 largest submarkets using data from the Ethereum blockchain between June 2017 and May 2021. The analyses rely on (a) the number of NFT sales, (b) the dollar volume of NFT trades and (c) the number of unique blockchain wallets that traded NFTs. Based on the number of transactions and wallets, the Ethereum-based NFT market peaked at the end of 2017 due to the success of the CryptoKitties project. As of 2021, fewer transactions occur but the traded value is much higher. We find that NFT submarkets are cointegrated and feature various causal short-run connections between them. The success or adoption of younger NFT projects is influenced by that of more established markets. At the same time, the success of newer |