Accounting Information Systems in the Time of Blockchain

Accounting Information Systems in the Time of Blockchain Iacopo Ennio Inghirami [0000-0002-5092-6667] University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy iacopo.inghirami@unimib.it Abstract. Distributed Ledger Technology - of which Blockchain is an example is revolutionizing different sectors, creating new challenges and new opportunities. In this paper, we will investigate the impact of this technology on Accounting and Accounting Information Systems (AIS). The adoption of a Distributed Ledger Accounting presents extremely interesting characteristics, eliminating or redefining the role of entities external to the company, such as Banks, Insurance Companies, Certified Public Accountants and Auditors. Furthermore, we will try to outline the impact of this technology on AIS by hypothesising possible paths of development. Keywords: Accounting Information Systems, Distributed Ledger Technology, Blockchain, Triple Entry Accounting. 1 Introduction Distributed Ledger Technology, the so-called Blockchain, is revolutionizing the Internet. On the other hand, the Internet itself is changing, following the requests of those who wish that it became not only a place of information exchange, but also a virtual place to exchange actual values. In this paper, we will try to understand the interrelations between the Internet of Information, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Values and Blockchain, analyzing firstly the evolution of the Internet and then the Blockchain technology. We will analyse in depth the Distributed Ledger Technology and its relationships with Accountability and Accounting. We will then analyse the impact of Blockchain on Accounting Systems and finally we will examine the changes to be made to Accounting Information Systems to exploit this technology. Beyond the emphasis with which many researchers invite to welcome this new technology, we will try to understand if Distributed Ledger Technology really has the ability to revolutionize Accounting and Accounting Information Systems. Some research questions emerge from this analysis: RQ1: What is the Blockchain and what are the characteristics that will probably make it widely used? RQ2: What impact will the adoption of Blockchain technology have on business intermediaries? 2 RQ3: Will the Blockchain be universally adopted in the AIS of all companies? RQ4: What could be the development paths of the AISs taking into account the Blockchain Technology? 2 Internet of Information, Internet of Things, Internet of Value For the last forty years, we have had the Internet of Information. In 1989, Tim BernersLee created the World Wide Web. The information-centric medium of the web relies on an interlinked page model and publishing language (HTML), and it is conceived to exchange nothing but information. The Internet has evolved following two main, distinct but complementary directions: the Internet of Things and the Internet of Values. 2.1 The Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IOT) concept was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, a member of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) development community [2], and it has recently become more relevant to the practical world largely because of the growth of mobile devices, embedded and ubiquitous communication and cloud computing. [22] Currently, the Internet is not only a network of computers, but it has evolved into a network of device of all type and sizes. Computers, vehicles, smart phones, home appliances, toys, cameras, medical instruments and industrial systems, animals, people, buildings, all connected, all communicating and sharing information. Adopting stipulated protocols these devices achieve smart reorganizations, positioning, tracing, safe and control and even personal real time online monitoring, online upgrade, process control and administration [22]. Imagine a world where billions of objects can sense, communicate and share information, all interconnected over public or private Internet Protocol (IP) networks. These interconnected objects have data regularly collected, analyzed and used to initiate action, providing a wealth of intelligence for planning, management and decision making. This is the world of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is a concept and a paradigm that considers pervasive presence in the environment of a variety of things/objects that through wireless and wired connections and unique addressing schemes are able to interact with each other and cooperate with other things/objects to create new applications/services and reach common goals. In this context, the research and development challenges to create a smart world are enormous. [12] Taking this a step further and discussing the IoT, an even brighter focus should be on the concepts of co-creation of value. Traditionally, value has been created within a firm with minimal interaction by consumers (except for user tests etc. during the development phase). Firstly the Internet, secondly Web 2.0 and thirdly, and next, the IoT makes it possible to incorporate and interact with customers in any phase of the value creation process. This is a prerequisite for a value centered design process of future products and services. A common view on co-creation is that value is created by collaboration, facilitated by technology (like the Internet), between people. However, 3 some of the next disruptive moves that might create opportunities are the ideas around the Internet of Things. [18][32] 2.2 The Internet of Value The Internet was conceived to exchange information; it was not designed to handle the exchange of value. Anyone transferring money online is not actually moving the value directly. Instead, they are sending instructions to an intermediary - whether through a bank or a credit card company - to pass on the value. [29] No movement of value can be done directly over the Internet but it has to be done via a third-party broker. The involvement of such third parties in the exchange of value: 1) it needs a party that is trusted from both the actors, sender and receiver; 2) it comes at a cost. “The Internet of Information was great but it did have a big weakness. You could not store, move, and transact value without a powerful intermediary. The underlying technology of blockchains might actually represent a second era of the Internet. For the last 40 years we’ve had the Internet of Information; now, with Blockchains, we’re getting the Internet of Value.”[29] On the Internet, information can be replicated indefinitely without additional costs. This is a problem when it is necessary to transfer a sum of money: money must pass from subject A to subject B without duplication. In other words, we must be sure that after the transaction the amount that is in the portfolio of B is no longer present in the portfolio of A. For this reason, we use an intermediary, such as a bank, and we order to transfer the amount from A to B. Conversely, if we use a virtual currency, such as an amount in Bitcoin, we can transfer the desired amount from the virtual portfolio of A to that of B by recording the transaction on a Distributed Ledger. This is, concisely, the function of Distributed Ledger Technology. 3 Blockchain Definition Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is a technological protocol that enables data to be exchanged directly between different contracting parties within a network without the need for intermediaries. The network participants interact with encrypted identities (anonymously). Each transaction is coded and added to an immutable transaction chain. This chain is distributed to all network nodes (ledgers), thus preventing the alteration of the chain itself. [7] Although the correct denomination of this technology is DLT, we will use the most appealing name of Blockchain in the rest of the paper. 3.1 Blockchain technology in details. The Blockchain can be seen as the distributed, decentralized, transparent and chronological database of transactions, sometimes also called the Ledger. The data in the 4 blockchain (e.g transactions) is divided into blocks. Each block is dependent on the previous one. The system in which a blockchain serves as the database comprises of nodes or workers. These workers are responsible for appending new blocks to the blockchain. A new block can only be appended after all nodes in the system reach a consensus, i.e all agree that this block is legitimate and contains only valid transactions. How the validity of transactions is determined and how the nodes compute new blocks, is regulated by the protocol. Blockchain is shared among all nodes in the system; it is monitored by every node and at the same time controlled by none. The protocol itself is responsible to keep the blockchain valid. According to the literature [28] there are three main categories of Blockchain applications: Blockchain 1.0: Currency - The currency and services associated with money transfers such as payment mechanisms and remittance services. Currently, there are hundreds of different types of cryptocurrencies with bitcoin remaining the biggest by market cup. The currencies may have different features such as being tied to a fiat currency or commodity but their nature stays the same – they are used for payments and transfers of digital property. Blockchain 2.0: Smart contracts – it is a layer of smart-contracts, which are more sophisticated than just a currency. A ‘smart contract’ is a computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. Smart contracts allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties. These transactions are trackable and irreversible. Nick Szabo, who coined the term, in 1994, firstly proposed the adoption of smart contracts. [3] Smart-contracts can represent shares of stocks, bonds, options, mortgages and smart property. While the 1.0 concept represents decentralization of money, the 2.0 concept is a decentralization of markets. All the technologies aiming at decentralization of relationships of different counterparties such clearing houses, banks, companies are covered by this concept. Some interesting examples are peer-to-peer lending services Btcjam, Bitbond, Crowd-funding platform Koinify, bitcoin prediction markets Augur, Fairlay. A potential accounting system on Blockchain is, therefore, covered by the 2.0 concept as it is supposed to represent a smart-contract system where the transactions and automatically paid bills are executed and recorded. Almost since the introduction of Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain ledger, researchers began to explore other field where a blockchain technology might be of great use. With Blockchain 2.0 we introduce additional types of blockchains and reason about their potential in other fields beyond cryptocurrency. Some of those potential applications are: • • • General (bonded contracts, multiple signature transactions) Financial transactions (pensions, stocks ...) Public records (land titles, vehicle registrations ...) 5 • • • • Identification (drivers license, ids ...) Private records (loans, contracts ...) Physical asset keys (home, hotel rooms, rental cars) Intangible assets (patents, trademarks, ...) Blockchain 3.0: Areas in government, health, science etc. - it is a Blockchain applications system beyond financial markets and covers government, art, culture and science. Examples of 3.0 applications are Blockchain voting systems, Decentralized Domain Name system – Namecoin, anti-censorship applications like Alexandria and Ostel, and many other applications using immutability and transparency properties of blockchain to promote freedom, democracy and fair allocation of wealth. 3.2 Distributed Ledger Technology Features. An extensive literature illustrates in detail the technical characteristics of the Distributed Ledger Technology [25][28]. DLT, of which Blockchain is an example, uses cryptographic tools and a distributed consensus process to create a significant innovation in traditional record keeping. It has three main features [7]: • Veracity – multiple copies (as opposed to a single copy) of the complete historical record of ledger entries are each verified by consensus. Bogus entries are identified and eliminated by failure to reach consensus. • Transparency – it is a public record of activity that can be seen by all market participants. • Disintermediation – it operates using a peer-to-peer network, rather than requiring a specific central organization. Disintermediation is the core feature that drives the benefits associated with distributed ledgers. Traditionally, systems that have centralized ledgers have required the participation of a trusted third party to maintain a record of transactions between organizations. A Distributed Ledger overcomes the need for a third party, which can be a significant benefit when there is no clear trusted central organization, or if the costs of intermediation are high. [7] Main applications of Distributed Ledger Technology so far have been in financial services, namely Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies. With Blockchain, we can imagine a world in which contracts are embedded in digital code and stored in transparent, shared databases, where they are protected from deletion, tampering and revision- In this world every agreement, every process, every task and every payment would have a digital record and signature that could be identified, validated, stored and shared. Intermediaries like lawyers, brokers and bankers might no longer be necessary. [4] To date, however, it has not made a significant impact on the core operations of the banking and payments systems, although many banks, including the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada with its Jasper Project, are carefully assessing the possible implications of this technology. [24][6] Moreover, many financial 6 institutions are experimenting with broader uses like supply chain tracking and digital identity management. [7] 3.3 Blockchain Applications. Although the Internet is a great tool to aid every sphere of the modern digital life, it is still highly flawed in terms of the lack of security and privacy, especially when it comes to FinTech and E-commerce. [16] [20] Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency, brought forth a new revolution by providing a mechanism for Peer-to-Peer transactions without the need for any intermediary body such as the existing commercial banks. Blockchain validates all the transactions and preserves a permanent record of them while making sure that any identification related information of the users are kept incognito. Thus all the personal information of the users are sequestered while substantiating all the transactions. This is achieved by reconciling mass collaboration by cumulating all the transactions in a computer code based digital ledger. Thus, by applying Blockchain or similar cryptocurrency techniques, the users neither need to trust each other nor do they need an intermediator; rather the trust is manifested within the decentralized network system itself. Bitcoin is just an exemplary use of the Blockchain. Blockchain is considered to be a novel revolution in the domain of computing enabling limitless applications such as storing and verifying legal documents including deeds and various certificates, healthcare data, IoT, Cloud and so forth. Tapscott indicated Blockchain to be the “World Wide Ledger”, enabling many new applications beyond verifying transactions such as in: smart deeds, decentralized and/or autonomous organizations/ government services etc. [29] Researchers propose these fields of application [13]: • Smart contracts. As we have seen, a general definition of a smart contract would be a computer program that can automatically execute the terms of a contract. By being self-executing and having property ownership information embedded, they can solve the problems of counterparty trust. Smart contracts are trustless, autonomous, and self-sufficient. Instead of reinventing contractual relationships, smart contracts are making their formation and performance more efficient, cost-effective, and transparent. [10] Blockchain and Smart Contracts can work together to trigger payments when a preprogrammed condition of a contractual agreement is triggered. Smart Contracts are really the killer application of the cryptocurrency world. Using blockchain technology has made it much easier to register, verify and execute them. Moreover, open source companies like Ethereum and Codius are already enabling Smart Contracts using blockchain technology and many companies which operate on bitcoin and blockchain technologies are beginning to support Smart Contracts. [8] • Domestic payments. At a procedural level, the process of inter-bank clearing requires an intricate coordination of resource-intensive steps between banks, clearing houses, and the central bank. These steps are typically not executed at a constant 7 basis, but rather as a processing cycle that happens several times a day. The outcome of it is that payment can often end up credited one or more days after their initiation, especially over weekends or holidays. The intricacy of the current system constitute a procedural challenge for payment service providers, and highlights the need for a more efficient system for real-time payment, both domestically and internationally. • International payments. To achieve real-time payments on an international scale, there will be a need to introduce foreign exchange (FX) market makers to the blockchain network. They will perform currency conversions on transactions between consumer bank accounts. Central bank participation on the network in a market maker capacity would also be needed between payment service providers in different currency jurisdictions. In this way, real-time payments could potentially be achieved on a cost-effective basis. • Trade finance. Digitization and automation of trade processes has been ongoing for many years, but the banks’ updated processes are still largely based around the logistics of handling physical documents. Many processes share similar characteristics, but requires completely different IT systems and procedural steps to manage. An example here would be documentary collection, letter of credit and consignment. All of these processes follow roughly the same five steps: 1) Extension of credit to customer; 2) Informing the customer of credit status; 3) Banks open a communication channel regarding the customer; 4) Updating the status of goods from freight forwarder; 5) Execution of full or partial payment of funds based on certain criteria. Blockchain technology could bring the benefits of automation to these trades. Through the use of cryptographic keys and multisignature wallets, one can create a replacement for traditional trade finance documents, which are stored on the blockchain as a Smart Contract. The document is updated by blockchain transactions as it moves through the steps of the trade process. • Capital markets. When trading on the capital market, there exists a set of procedural steps that enable the trading of assets in a legally conforming fashion, as well as a number of custodian services revolving around facilitating the trade. A broad definition of these steps can be termed as such: 1) Create a representation of an asset, such as a currency, bonds, stocks, gold, etc.; 2) Enable a trade to take place between two or more stakeholders; 3) Balances must be recorded and kept; 4) The eventual liquidation of an investor’s position. 4 Blockchain and Accountability Researchers analyzed the enterprise opportunities for Blockchain-IoT convergence supporting trusted machine identity, interactions, and transactions [15]. Their research finds that, if developed for scale, Blockchain could offer IoT a level of interoperability, transparency, and security currently absent from today’s architectures, but essential to ecosystem-driven business models and autonomous products and services. What we need is accountability. The term “accountability” is described in various ways depending on the domain in which it is used. Internet transaction is increasing significantly due to very fast grown 8 of mobile devices, electronic commerce, and electronic records, i.e. a very fast grown of IoT. A general definition incorporating the main elements of accountability is directed to the obligation of a person (the accountable) to another person (the accountee), according to which the former must give account of, explain and justify his actions or decisions in an appropriate way [34] In electronic commerce, accountability involves access or denial to parties for transactions. Various researchers have proposed protocols to analyze accountability for Internet transactions, particularly payment transactions. [30][31] Accountability can be framed along the following three elements: [34] • Standards need to be introduced that hold governing bodies accountable, at least on the organizational level; such standards help to improve accountability; • Information should be made more readily available to the concerned recipients, enabling them to apply the standards in question to the performance of those who are held to account; in order to make information flow active rather than passive consultation procedures are to be established; • Beneficiaries of accountability must be able to impose some sort of sanction, thus, attaching costs to the failure to meet the standards; such “sanctioning” is only possible if adequate participation schemes are devised through direct voting channels and indirect representation schemes. Neisse et al. proposed a solution for data accountability and provenance automatic tracking that relies on a public blockchain-based distributed ledger platform, namely the open source Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) [21], while Crabtree et al. suggested the development of accountability based mechanisms provided by an IoT Databox model. This model seeks to respond to the external data subject accountability requirements of actual and proposed legislation in Europe and the US on Personal Data Protection. [9] 5 Blockchain and Accounting Modern financial accounting is based on a double entry system. Double entry bookkeeping (DEB) revolutionized the field of financial accounting during the Renaissance period. DEB solved the problem of managers knowing whether they could trust their own books. However, to gain the trust of outsiders, independent public auditors also verify the company’s financial information. Each audit is a costly exercise, binding the company’s accountants for long times. [1] Blockchain technology may represent the next step for accounting: instead of keeping separate records based on transaction receipts, companies can write their transactions directly into a joint register, creating an interlocking system of enduring accounting records. Since all entries are distributed and cryptographically sealed, falsifying or destroying them to conceal activity is practically impossible. To explain the notion of Blockchain-based accounting some researchers use the term Triple-Entry Accounting which is described as an enhancement to conventional double 9 entry accounting where the accounting entries of the involved parties are cryptographically sealed by a third entity (the Blockchain). [14] [19] Since the Blockchain is immutable to any data amendment it is impossible to falsify or delete the written accounting entries. Notably, the notion of triple-entry accounting was first time described in 2005 by Ian Grigg three years before Blockchain was invented. [14] Ian Grigg described the possibility of using cryptographically protected digital receipt to verify transactions occurred between different counterparts and stored by a third party and showing if any details in the records were changed or deleted. With the advent of Blockchain that processes can become automated, cheap and even more reliable as the need for a third party holding the receipts in a centralized manner is superseded by a decentralized ledger. Lazanis was first to coherently describe the possibility of Blockchain Accounting by conventional companies. He emphasizes that blockchain eliminates the need for trust in any intermediary such as bank or insurance company if a company voluntarily publishes its transactions on Blockchain. [17] The companies would benefit in many ways: standardization would allow auditors to verify a large portion of the most important data behind the financial statements automatically. The cost and time necessary to conduct an audit would decline considerably. Auditors could spend freed up time on areas they can add more value, e.g. on very complex transactions or on internal control mechanisms. It is not necessary to start with a joint register for all accounting-entries. The Blockchain as a source of trust can also be extremely helpful in today’s accounting structures. It can be gradually integrated with typical accounting procedures: starting from securing the integrity of records, to completely traceable audit trails. At the end of the road, fully automated audits may be reality. [1] Since companies are implementing Blockchain into their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, particularly for tasks such as procurement and supplier management, the accountant’s and the auditor’s role has just evolved. [33] Blockchain’s transparency gives visibility to all transactions for approved users, and this may decrease auditors’ work with sampling and validating transactions. However, this allows auditors more time to focus on controls and investigating anomalies. Meanwhile, opportunities are emerging for CPAs to use Blockchain technology as they expand their assurance services to areas such as cybersecurity and sustainability. Blockchain could enable a real-time, verifiable, and transparent accounting ecosystem. It has the potential to transform current auditing practices, resulting in a more precise and timely automatic assurance system. [11] 6 Blockchain and Accounting Information Systems As we mentioned before, companies are trying to implement Blockchain into their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, particularly for tasks such as procurement and supplier management. Blockchain ledger-based technology can simplify the procurement process because it enables secure recording of transactions in a way that can lead to unprecedented transparency and increased operational efficiency. [33] 10 6.1 Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) Claimed benefits of Blockchain include offering business value and efficiency gains by, for example, assisting compliance, asset tracking, supply chain management, and generally displacing intermediaries. The focus is particularly on multi-party scenarios (across organizations, departments, individuals, etc.), where the ledger provides a transparent and reliable source of facts across administrative domains. [27] As such, “Blockchain-as-a-Service” (BaaS) offerings are emerging to make Blockchain more accessible to businesses, by reducing the overheads of adoption. BaaS entails a service provider offering and managing various components of a Blockchain infrastructure. The precise nature of a BaaS deployment depends on the service provider, application specifics, and the customer goals. Several IT solution companies provide BaaS solutions, see Tab. 1 [23] Table 1. Top 10 Blockchain as a Service Providers [23] Provider Microsoft Partners Tool name Microsoft, ConsenSys, Blockstack Labs Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Royal Bank of Scotland, and more than 70 partners, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. HPE SAP Azure VeChain Blockstream BitSE, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Blocko, Samsung, LG CNS, Hyundai, other South Korean firms Blockstream PayStand Peer Ledger Deloitte PayStand Peer Ledger Deloitte R3 HPE R3 SAP Cloud Platform Blockchain BitSE Blocko 6.2 Cryptovalue Ethereum Corda Corda Leonardo Coinstack Lotte card Lightning Charge, Lightning Network Bitcoin Rubix Core Ethereum Real-time Blockchain Accounting System Real-time Blockchain Accounting System (RBAS) is a software solution that enables transactions of currency, financial derivatives, and other digital documents between two or more counterparts, stores the transaction data in cryptographically protected blocks whose integrity is verified through the process of mining, and allows the composition of financial statements at any time. [24] 11 For companies and their stakeholder to obtain all the benefits provided by the technology it is necessary that a RBAS possesses the following properties: 1. Transparency - the transactions must visible in real-time as it is the case with bitcoin 2. Immutability - there must not be a programming possibility to change any data once they were entered, to ensure this, the company using the system must not control the mining power. 3. Accessibility – the data must be easily accessible to a broad range of stakeholders. Financial statements are prepared at regular intervals and sum up what has happened in a firm’s ledger throughout a certain period. An auditor then issues an opinion on the accuracy of the financial statements. Outsiders, such as investors and credit risk managers, have to trust both that the auditing is thorough and unbiased and that the firm has not given false information to the auditor. That is, the concept of trust is critical in both the preparation of the financial statement and in the auditing process. This is where the Blockchain technology behind the bitcoin can play an integral role. [5] If a firm were to voluntarily post all of its business transactions on a blockchain, with a permanent time stamp on each transaction, the firm’s entire ledger would be instantaneously visible and anyone could aggregate the firm’s transactions into income statements and balance sheets in real-time. That is, many of the things the auditor does in today’s accounting world, the blockchain can possibly do much more efficiently and much more timely in tomorrow’s. By construction, if a firm kept all its transactions and balances on a blockchain, then the blockchain itself could, largely, replace the auditor in confirming the accuracy of the firm’s accounting, thus avoiding potential moral hazard or agency problems. [5] 6.3 The adoption of Blockchain in AISs Although there is a noteworthy academic literature about the Blockchain, its applications and the benefits that can be achieved with its adoption, there are no works related to real applications in AIS systems, as far as we know. Many "big players" like Microsoft, SAP or Deloitte are starting to offer solutions that incorporate Blokchain-related technologies, typically based on a "Blockchain As A Service" approach as those that we have seen. However, these solutions are still at a prototype stage and the related documentation is halfway between a declaration of intent and a marketing proposal. Another aspect ignored by the current literature concerns the evolution of ERP systems in a Blockchain perspective. Adopting DLT in an ERP system means intervening heavily on the main modules of the systems, modifying in depth modules such as Financial Accounting (FI), Asset Accounting (AA), Sales & Distribution (SD) and Material Management (MM), using SAP terminology. For this reason, we believe unlikely to see in the future new versions of existing ERP systems that effectively include Blockchain features. 12 Conversely, a company that wants to implement Blockchain-based solutions is much more likely to use a platform like the one offered by the above-mentioned BaaS systems. 6.4 Pros and cons of the Blockchain The above-mentioned literature highlights characteristics, merits and advantages deriving from the adoption of DLT systems. However, no paper highlights the point of view of companies. What are the actual costs of implementing DLT systems? What are the real – not theoretical - advantages for the company deriving from the adoption of such systems? Fig. 1. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018 [35]. In current literature, some fundamental aspects are left out. The evidences are that adoption of DLT-based systems only makes sense if: 1) all or most of the members of the Value Chain adopt these systems; 2) the costs of new disintermediation services are lower than the costs of current service providers; 3) it is possible to adopt cryptocurrencies in order to take full advantage of the benefits offered by the Internet of Values. This is not the case, as an example, for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) or large companies that sell to thousands of end consumers, such as Amazon. In small 13 companies there is no obligation to audit, so the benefits of such complex accounting are lost. As often happens in the field of IT, after an initial emphasis on the theoretical advantages of an innovation that feed great expectations, we are heading towards a phase of disappointment of these expectations (see Fig. 1) [35]. In this sense, the only voice out of the chorus is Rückeshäuser. While agreeing with the adoption of a Blockchain Accounting, she believes that it alone is not sufficient to eliminate accounting fraud [26] 7 Conclusions Internet has changed: from the Internet of Information it has become Internet of Values. Blockchain is certainly one of the technologies that led to this transformation. In conclusion, we can answer the Research Questions that we had placed in the introduction: RQ1: What is the Blockchain and what are the characteristics that will probably make it widely used? Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), of which Blockchain is an example, is a technological protocol that enables data to be exchanged directly between different contracting parties within a network without the need for intermediaries. Blockchain uses cryptographic tools and a distributed consensus process to create a significant innovation in traditional record keeping. RQ2: What impact will the adoption of Blockchain technology have on business intermediaries? Disintermediation is the core feature that drives the benefits associated with Distributed Ledgers. Traditionally, systems that have centralized ledgers have required the participation of a trusted third party to maintain a record of transactions between organizations. A Distributed Ledger overcomes the need for a third party, which can be a significant benefit when there is no clear trusted central organization, or if the costs of intermediation are high. Intermediaries such as banks, insurance companies and auditors will have to redefine their relationships with companies. RQ3: Will the Blockchain be universally adopted in the AIS of all companies? The adoption of DLT-based systems only makes sense if: 1) all or most of the members of the Value Chain adopt these systems; 2) the costs of new disintermediation services are lower than the costs of current service providers; 3) it is possible to adopt cryptocurrencies in order to take full advantage of the benefits offered by the Internet of Values. This is not the case, as an example, for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) or large companies that sell to thousands of end consumers, such as Amazon. RQ4: What could be the development paths of the AISs taking into account the Blockchain Technology? 14 Adopting DLT in an ERP system means intervening heavily on the main modules of ERP systems. For this reason, we believe unlikely to see in the future new versions of existing ERP systems that effectively include Blockchain features. 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