Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether encourage the owners of computing resources to bring ever-increasing levels of processing power to bear in validating the distributed ledger of cryptocurrency purchases and sales.  Initial coin offerings (ICOs) involve the sale of cryptocurrency coins or tokens with the aid of on white papers.  Crypto coin white papers involve a mixture of scientific, sociopolitical, and economic speech.  They often contain extended arguments for how users of the coins and the Internet or society in general could benefit from a new way of organizing economic relations, assembling and deploying assets, or exchanging messages or entitlements.  While they share some similarities with forms of commercial speech that enjoy quite limited First Amendment protection, they are arguably more similar to other economic statements that enjoy First Amendment protection against censorship, or to direct advertisements that are deemed insufficiently misleading to result in civil liability.  Nevertheless, some interpretations of U.S. securities and commodities law would prohibit authors of such white papers from raising funds for crypto coin platforms if the coin's users expect to earn a return on their investment and rely on the coin issuer's expertise or representations. 

This article explores principles of free expression that could shield truthful speech and subjective opinions about new crypto coins from some of the worst chilling effects of U.S. laws.  It examines ways in which crypto coins may benefit marketplace participants and economic efficiency, including by providing a beneficial alternative to traditional software app stores, logistics infrastructures, or banking and payment systems.  It then surveys the First Amendment and other constitutional issues that onerous regulations raise, and draws analogies to doctrines that reconcile the freedom of economic expression with the cause of consumer or investor protection under the Lanham Act, the Securities Exchange Act, state deceptive practices laws, and the law of warranties.  Several themes in the case law are ripe for application to ICOs: the need for precision and proportionality in framing regulation, the proscription against regulatory overkill and one-size-fits-all approaches, and the requirement that basic freedoms be preserved.  More specifically, the securities or commodities are not properly read as applying to many crypto coin offering papers, and describes other concepts such as virtual commodities or virtual barter systems from other jurisdictions that may be a better fit. 

The article urges American lawyers and judges to probe thoroughly whether the interests served by prohibitions and penalties on crypto coin speech justify the burdens imposed on information providers. Regulating false statements of existing fact and enhancing the remedies for making them will be more effective and less constitutionally infirm measures than those aimed at preempting merely potential harm.  Courts must balance the values of fraud prevention and remediation with the values of freedom of expression and expanded economic opportunity.  Analogous fields of law provide several tools with which to achieve this balance, including the distinction between general or universal fraud prohibitions and narrower securities or commodities regulation regimes, the difference between forward-looking and other statements in several area of fraud law, First Amendment principles governing professional and occupational licensing, and rules against vague or discriminatorily enforced regulations. 

keywords: cryptocurrencies, tokens, appcoins, altcoins, coins, coin offerings, ICOs, "initial coin offerings", free speech, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of information, cloud computing, virtualization, virtual communities,  virtual currencies, virtual commodities, digital barter, securities law, regulation, consumer protection, false advertising, Lanham Act, misleading, First Amendment, commercial speech, least restrictive means, overbreadth, vagueness, Fifth Amendment, due process, human rights, Telegram, TON, Kik, Kin, Kik Interactive, Bitcoin, Ether, smart contracts, crowdfunding, SEC, The DAO, CFTC, CFPB, European Union, EU, banking, risk, innovation, technology, financial technology, payment systems, multistakeholder governance, polycentric governance, puffery, bespeaks caution doctrine, California, New York, Texas, occupational licensing, libertarianism

In the context of private ordering—where rule sets are relatively fluid, centrally controlled, and exist in the shadow of law and regulation—developing generalizable insights about comparatively superior governance mechanisms is difficult. I shed light on this question by characterizing cryptocurrency blockchains as a type of constitutional rule set that both defines and legitimizes the activities supported by the underlying distributed ledger technology. More specifically, I argue that cryptocurrency blockchains have led to new forms of competition in private governance, which include exit costs as an important competitive margin. My analysis not only identifies the choices in constitutional governance to which proposed cryptocurrency blockchain changes are analogous, but it also highlights the competitive gains expected to result from these changes. I further consider both the trade-offs in governance created by competition between cryptocurrency blockchains and the surprising ways in which these unique competitive margins may influence downstream outcomes.

The rise of cryptocurrencies during the last decade has caused growing concerns among national and international regulators. One of the risks identified is that these instruments may constitute an innovative tool for criminals when laundering money. This risk has been confirmed by numerous recent cases

Peer review is a necessary and essential quality control step for scientific publications but lacks proper incentives. Indeed, the process, which is very costly in terms of time and intellectual investment, not only is not remunerated by the journals but it is also not openly recognized by the academic community as a relevant scientific output for a researcher. Therefore, scientific dissemination is affected in timeliness, quality and fairness. Here, to solve this issue, we propose a blockchain-based incentive system that rewards scientists for peer reviewing other scientists’ work and that builds up trust and reputation. We designed a privacy-oriented protocol of smart contracts called Ants-Review that allows authors to issue a bounty for open anonymous peer reviews on Ethereum. If requirements are met, peer reviews will be accepted and paid by the approver proportionally to their assessed quality. To promote ethical behaviour and inclusiveness the system implements a gamified mech...

Resumen
Este trabajo desarrolla un análisis regulatorio del proyecto monetario del Banco Central Europeo conocido como Euro Digital.

Abstract

This work develops a regulatory analysis of the monetary project of the European Central Bank known as Digital Euro.

Palabras clave
Euro Digital, Banco Central Europeo, criptomonedas, monedas digitales de banca central, política monetaria, tecnología blockchain

Keywords
Digital Euro, European Central Bank, cryptocurrencies, Central bank digital currencies, monetary policy, blockchain technology

In summer 2018 bitcoin gained a huge popularity and media coverage, this attracted
a lot of speculators that pushed its value to over 20000$, in the couple of months
from the peak it feel down to 3000$. Many skeptics such as Warren Buffet were
more than sure that it was just a rich quick scheme and its value would have
reached 0$ sooner or later. The negative trend ended after 6 months and at the time
of writing this thesis the value raised up to 9000$ again. Few years ago it would
have been impossible to imagine that piece of digital code not controlled by any
government could even reach these values.
Amazon at its early stages was as well victim of the same skepticisms, Its value
raised up to 110$ per share, and after the dot-com bubble popped it feel down to 10
(91% drawdown). Today Amazon is worth more than 1300$ per share.
The total cryptocurrencies’s combined market cap reached almost
1.000.000.000.000$ (1 Trillion) at bubble peak. At the time that I am writing this
chapter it is almost approaching 300.000.000.000$ on positive trend, after the
bubble popped. Considerable amount of trust is given to the market, even if now is
more than clear that investing in it would not get people rich quickly by any chance.
Consistently with the assumptions explained above, the first objective of this thesis
is to extremely simplify the basic concepts behind blockchain for everybody really to
understand how it works and how it could impact society for the better.
Secondly it will analyse all the different possibilities and technological features that
the discovery of blockchain lead to. To connect these abstract concepts to reality I
will take advantage of my personal experience at Euklid as an Intern.
Later by explaining the Tangle network and its features I will try to make the reader
grasp how the possible blockchain’s varieties can be the perfect base ground were
to build the Industry 4.0 form. Considering the Tangle in specific I will analyse how it
could possibly power the Internet of Things.
Finally, by placing those incremental changes in historical perspective considering
the past industrial revolutions, I will make data-based predictions on how those
technologies will impact the major subject’s group we studied during the Business &
Economics degree course.

Critical new media art is based on research-based art practice. It is both research-and process-oriented, so that the final result is not " completed " works (products) but rather process artifacts. This paper describes the artistic research and development of the art-group " Artistic Bokeh " , which is developing new documentation formats, and conducting experiments about the value of artistic practice and labor.

This is a Doctorate of Laws (LL.D.) thesis submitted in May 2015. The thesis focused on the potential effect of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the anti-money laundering regulatory framework, with special focus on the Maltese AML regime. Certain issues were pointed out and proposed solutions forwarded towards the end of the thesis.

This is one of the first legal theses in the world tackling the subject of cryptocurrencies. In fact, Jonathan Galea has been studying cryptocurrencies since 2013 and has participated as a speaker in several prominent cryptocurrency and blockchain-related events.

The World Wide Web was created as a free and open platform for users to share information with one another. This changed over time as data evolved to become a valuable asset class. This resulted in new business models, with companies capturing user-generated content for monetization purposes. At best, this information is sold to marketers and advertisers to make data-driven decisions about how to sell their products. In recent years, however, this data, along with data collected from attacks on centralized authorities, has been increasingly misused for other purposes, such as voter manipulation.

With the advents in blockchain technology, Web 2.0 is starting to transition towards a more open and transparent model - Web 3.0. Before we explore what that means, we will first identify what defined the previous versions of the Web and what brought the ongoing changes. We will then define what the new Web 3.0 stack could looks like, and explore a series of use cases from a decentralized browser to distributed storage solutions.  Lastly, we will explore how this undergoing transition towards Web 3.0 could change the way we interact with the web. But this time,  it’s bringing privacy, security, and restoring democracy of data to the users who created it.

The aim of the article is to conceptualize, that is, to explain, analyze the meaning and indicate the framework for the interpretation of the concept of “cryptocurrency” in social sciences, including political science. As issue an interdisciplinary, polysemic and at the same time novum technological novelty, cryptocurrencies are a challenge for representatives of the world of science. The proposed heuristic model of concept analysis based on the technological, legal and economic aspect indicates that in the broad sense of cryptocurrencies it should be understood as: decentralized, functioning in a network with a peer-to-peer architecture, cryptographically secured, based on trust and consensus, type of virtual currency, that meets some of the functions of money. Explaining the content by one aspect of the functioning of cryptocurrencies is its narrowing down.

I propose an objective definition of money through a biological definition of cooperation, as opposed to altruism. I argue that these types of sociality are confused because they are not evaluated from a situated perspective of animal interactions. The theory of reciprocal altruism does not correctly model the human exchange of goods and services. These constructive economic interactions require the ability to choose partners based on individual preferences. On the other hand, altruism presupposes partnership under a common standard of value. Therefore, the nature and evolution of money cannot be explained by conceptualising it as a token of altruism or as a form of credit. Rather, money is a transferable signal that enables cooperative interactions between distant or unrelated individuals. This behavioural definition similarly proposes an understanding of morality and human society as strategies of indirect reciprocity in the context of game theory.

—The Internet has now become an environment and source for innovation development that has impacted a wide range of industries. The platform has enabled entrepreneurs to create groundbreaking solutions that have had a disruptive and transformative effect on the lives of many people. While banking had dealt with several innovations such as internet payment providers, more recently a virtual alternative to cash has begun to emerge. Although the notion of true electronic cash has been considered for some time, the availability of a practical electronic currency has only recently gained actual adoption that is forcing many financial institutions to reconsider the potential long-term impact. We provide some insight into the latest trends in cryptocurrency and propose a reference architecture for adopting this form of financial asset in a central banking scenario; i.e. a Fiat based cryptocurrency. The presently used cryptocurrency are based on a peer to peer scheme and hence we outline an IT solution that will accommodate a centrally issued electronic currency.

This paper examines the performance of cryptocurrencies issued in initial coin offerings (ICOs) over a three-year period after the initial exchange listing. Average (median) ICO underpricing amounts to 15% (3%), even though 4 out of 10 ICOs destroy value on the first trading day. Liquidity, market capitalization, and high-low price ratios predict returns. Long-run buy-and-hold returns are positive for the mean and negative for the median. For holding periods between one and twenty-four months, the median ICO depreciates by 30%. Evidently, there is substantial positive skewness in the cryptocurrency market. Further, a size effect emerges from the data as an empirical regularity: Large ICOs are more often overpriced and underperform in the long run. JEL classification: G24, G32, K22, L26.

Las criptomonedas han creado un nuevo paradigma económico, y depende de a quién se le consulte, son interpretadas como un avance tecnológico, un movimiento reaccionario contra el sistema bancario, un avance en el manejo de dinero, y por supuesto también son consideradas por algunos, como un bluf que pasará tarde o temprano y el mercado monetario se estabilizará con algunos sobrevivientes y los elementos monetarios tradicionales de intercambio conviviendo.

Hemos asistido a innumerables errores de predicción, supuestos y acciones sobre las criptomonedas, de hecho personalidades del mundo económico han hecho comentarios poco felices, "No he podido identificar el valor intrínseco de Bitcoin" decía Alan Greenspan (2013). A finales de 2013, el ganador del Premio Nobel, P. Krugman decía "Parece que el Bitcoin fue diseñado como un arma destinada a dañar a la banca central y los bancos emisores de dinero (…)”

Las criptomonedas se basan en blockchain, algo en lo cual no profundizaremos en concepción ni definición, pero rescatemos la idea de Goldman Sachs (2017), cuando dice que, "en su esencia, el Blockchain es un registro de transacciones, como un libro contable tradicional" y agrega “hoy las transacciones son verificadas por una autoridad central, como un gobierno o una cámara de compensación (clearing house). Las aplicaciones de Blockchain podrían reemplazar estos sistemas centralizados por sistemas descentralizados, donde la verificación proviene del consenso de múltiples usuarios".

El mundo económico no se pone de acuerdo hoy sobre la regulación de las criptomonedas, pero tampoco lo hace respecto a la visión desde la tecnología, por ejemplo en cuanto a la seguridad. Muchos gobiernos se sienten obligados a adoptarlas, crearlas o regularlas, dada la masividad que toman algunas criptomonedas en ciertas geografías. Y esto también no es de consenso puesto que la idea de masividad, en términos estrictos, dista mucho de acompañar las criptomonedas. Rodeadas de un enorme movimiento de marketing y publicidad, estas monedas virtuales son difíciles de descifrar. Separar bluf de realidad, no parece fácil y esto es parte del paradigma innegable que se ha creado.

América Latina se suma a las criptomonedas de forma muy particular, con una diversidad de sabores que confunden hasta el más ávido entendedor de las criptomonedas y el más avezado economista. Ni que hablar que están siendo un dolor de cabeza para los Ministerios de Economía y los bancos centrales.

Resumen: Este artículo tiene por objeto analizar la regulación de las criptomonedas y de los diferentes proveedores de servicios existentes en este sector, con especial énfasis en el contexto regulatorio e institucional de la Unión Europea y específicamente de España. Para tal fin, esta investigación examina y discute críticamente los presupuestos conceptuales y funcionales que están determinando los últimos desarrollos de las políticas legislativas sobre las criptomonedas. La tesis básica que se sostiene en este trabajo es que a medida que se adopten socialmente las criptomonedas y evolucione la tecnología digital subyacente (DLT/Blockchain), los reguladores y autoridades tendrán que ir cambiando el enfoque legislativo actual, que de momento es muy limitado y restrictivo. En este trabajo se propone pasar de una aproximación basada en riesgos y amenazas al sistema financiero y tributario vigente a otro más integrador de esta tecnología financiera.

Palabras clave: monedas virtuales, criptomonedas, monedero electrónico, proveedores de servicios de cambio, proveedores de custodia de monederos electrónicos, claves criptográficas, Blockchain

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyze the regulation of cryptocurrencies and of the different existing service providers in this sector, with special emphasis on the regulatory and institutional context of the European Union and specifically Spain. To this end, this research critically examines and discusses the conceptual and functional assumptions that are determining the latest developments in legislative policies on cryptocurrencies. The basic thesis that is supported in this work is that as cryptocurrencies are socially adopted and the underlying digital technology (DLT / Blockchain) evolves, regulators and authorities will have to change the current legislative approach, which at the moment is very limited and restrictive. In this paper, it is proposed to move from an approach based on risks and threats to the current financial and tax system to one that is more integrative of this financial technology.

Keywords: virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, ewallet, exchange service providers, custodian wallet provider, cryptographic keys, Blockchain

The cryptocurrency market is a very diverse place where it is hard to find reliable information. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to find all the important facts about more than one project in one place >>>> Cryptocurrency Encyclopedia was written to solve this problem and create the first comfortable all-in-one source of knowledge for cryptocurrency investors and traders.

The Cryptocurrency Encyclopedia  comprehensively describes the top 100 most important cryptocurrencies — arranging them by project utility, reliability, team engagement, and fundamental and speculative value. This summary of the cryptocurrency market is sure to help any investor find prime investment opportunities. What is more, all the information are checked in terms of reliability, contain technical specifications and evaluate the community outlook. The book also details the principles of blockchain technology in an easy-to-understand form, allowing the entry to every class of investor — from beginner to an advanced “crypto hodler”.

The book describes the 101 most important cryptocurrencies by their function, advantages, disadvantages, team engagement, fundamental and speculative value. The projects are divided into categories as follows:

=======Classic cryptocurrencies=======
Bitcoin
Litecoin
Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin SV
Monero
Dash
Etheruem Classic
Dogecoin
Zcash
Decred
Bitcoin Gold
Bitcoin Diamond
Bytecoin
Algorand
MonaCoin
Energi
Verge
Zilliqa

====Contracts and token platforms=====
Ethereum
EOS
Cardano
Tron
Chainlink
Neo
Gas
Qtum
EDUCare
DigiByte
Komodo
RIF Token
WAX
Gram

=======Exchange-based tokens=======
Binance Coin
Unus Sed Leo
Huobi Token
KuCoin Shares
ZB
Synthetix Network Token
Nash Exchange
Digitex Futures
QASH

==Cryptocurrency integration platforms==
XRP
Stellar
NEM
Newton
Libra

=====Alternative blockchain Coins=====
Cosmos
Ontology
Ontology Gas
VeChain
V Systems
Lisk
Nano
Holo
Waves
Icon
Quant
HyperCash
IOST
Ardor

===Crypto-fiat transactions platforms===
Crypto.com
MCO
Crypterium
Pundi X
Nexo
Electroneum

============Stablecoins============
DAI
USD Coin
Paxos Standard
True USD
Stasis Euro
Tether

=====All other major cryptoprojects====
Tezos
Maker
HedgeTrade
Basic Attention Token
0x
Ravencoin
Omisego
ABBC Coin
Augur
BitTorrent
KaratGold Coin
BitShares
Theta
MaidSafeCoin
Siacoin
Lambda
Bytom
Metaverse ETP
Steem
Golem
Enjin Coin
Status
Reddcoin
Loopring
Decentreland
Civic
District0x
Populous

For the past twenty years, the use of the Internet has facilitated international commercial relations between people who do not know each other and who are geographically distant. Disputes resulting from e-commerce have undermined the supremacy of state courts, which have proved unable to provide an appropriate response to small claims arising in an international context and raising delicate questions as to jurisdiction and applicable law. The length, cost and complexity of the procedure, as well as the risk associated with the international enforcement of the judgment are deterrent factors that led e-commerce platforms to develop online dispute resolution (ODR).

Thanks in part to the removal of intermediaries, the transfer of cryptocurrencies and other crypto assets using blockchain technology has further facilitated international commercial relations. The decentralized and distributed characteristics of blockchain technology and the pseudonymity of its transactions has led to a new economy growing independently from nation states. This technology has brought an additional degree of complication in the application of private international law (PIL) rules by removing the illusion that online transactions can be linked to the territory of a state. Smart contracts also allow the creation of digital entities that can enter into commercial relations. The first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was the source of a resounding dispute between parties with diverging interests, which had to be urgently resolved without any access to state courts or a dispute resolution mechanism. This case revealed the risk of disputes in the blockchain environment and the resulting legal uncertainty, and led to the emergence of various models of blockchain dispute resolution (BDR) mechanisms (BDRs) inspired by the solutions developed in e-commerce.

This chapter deals with the application of PIL rules to the resolution of disputes involving DAOs. The authors first analyze what is a DAO and whether DAOs legally qualify as companies. What is at stake is the legal personality of DAOs and their capacity to conduct legal proceedings. The authors then examine whether disputes involving DAOs may be brought before state. This analysis highlights the problems related to the location, pseudonymity, and uncertainty regarding the legal personality of the participants of the blockchain environment, which challenge the jurisdiction of state courts in case of a dispute. The authors then draw on the experience acquired in the field of e-commerce to examine the advisability of setting up alternative dispute resolution mechanisms available to the actors of the blockchain environment. Based on an analysis of existing BDRs, the authors examine whether and how BDRs are likely to avoid a denial of justice and bring legal certainty to disputes related to contractual relationships with DAOs formalized through smart contracts as well as disputes related to the governance of DAOs. The authors find that a BDR decision which can be directly enforced through smart contracts confers effective justice to the actors of the blockchain environment. Finally, the authors address the more delicate issue of the enforcement of a BDR decision on non-crypto assets. This approach shows that a type of justice based on cryptoeconomic incentives challenges the concept of fair justice. This could be an impediment to obtaining the assistance of state authorities for the enforcement of a BDR decision outside of the blockchain environment as this type of decision could be considered contrary to public policy.

The analysis is mostly based on Swiss private international law and major private international law conventions. In this chapter, the authors outline the contours of a new private justice system designed to provide decentralized autonomous justice to the actors of the crypto economy.

Quest’ultimo decennio è stato caratterizzato dalla comparsa e dall’affermazione su scala mondiale del fenomeno delle criptovalute. In un lasso di tempo relativamente breve, le valute virtuali sono passate dall’essere un’idea remota, partorita da menti dedite al fanatismo anarchico, a divenire una realtà estremamente concreta che ha coinvolto il mondo del diritto e dell’economia.
Con una capitalizzazione di mercato complessiva senza precedenti, la diffusione di nuove tecnologie inedite e con l’affermazione di nuove prospettive d’applicazione del concetto di autonomia privata tra i rapporti inter partes, le criptovalute sono state il preludio ad un fermento giuridico che ha coinvolto ogni sfera del diritto e dell’economia, costituendo una nuova sfida per i regolatori del diritto, i quali sono stati chiamati ad assistere al proliferare di un fenomeno che è nato come mera idea, partorita da menti fanatiche e dedite all’anarchismo, ma che si è ingigantito a tal punto da richiedere interventi concreti, mirati e chiarificatori.
Il presente elaborato tenta di ricostruire la genesi del fenomeno delle criptovalute, ponendosi due obbiettivi principali: il primo è quello di indagare all’interno delle categorie dogmatiche messe a nostra disposizione dal sistema del diritto civile nel suo complesso, cercando un inquadramento giuridico che possa assorbire in sé un fenomeno tanto alieno per certi versi quanto familiare per altri; il secondo obbiettivo guarda più alla pratica che alla teoria, essendo volto ad un’indagine circa l’uso effettivo che i privati fanno delle criptovalute all’interno del sistema obbligatorio, osservando come le valute virtuali si prestino tanto al più immediato ed intuitivo scopo di pagamento, quanto allo scopo di investimento e di speculazione finanziaria, constatando come ed in che misura il nostro attuale complesso normativo si presti alla tutela e alla disciplina dei rapporti aventi ad oggetto criptovalute in entrambi i versanti.

Blockchain technologies are predicted to substantially transform the tourism industry. At present, cryptocurrencies are the most advanced application of public blockchains that promise benefits such as a universal means of payment and minimal fees through the removal of intermediaries. In the tourism industry, though many tourism vendors have been accepting cryptocurrencies and the potential of using cryptocurrencies in travel-related consumption has been intensively documented, existing knowledge about travelers’ intention to use cryptocurrencies for payment purposes is limited. Traditional models do not account for the idiosyncrasies of cryptocurrencies and are therefore less appropriate to foster the understanding of travelers’ adoption of travel-related payments. To fill this knowledge gap, an exploratory study was conducted with 161 travelers from the Asia-Pacific region who have previously consumed travel-related services with cryptocurrencies. Their previous usage experiences are analyzed and reported. Through harnessing the correspondence analysis, several technological contingency factors were identified, as well as positive and negative perceptual antecedents. Additionally, their levels of satisfaction and intention to re-use the technology in future trips were investigated. Based on these findings, several propositions are suggested for guiding future research on travelers’ cryptocurrency adoption in the travel and tourism contexts.

Seen as a rebellious technological invention that could overturn the world's financial institutions, cryptocurrency has endured the speculations of the wild market. Though people are familiar with crypto terms such as Ethereum, Bitcoin, and more, very few understand the fundamental working principle behind cryptocurrency especially when it comes to the financial arena. So, we have put together a mini guide to help you out with determining whether cryptocurrencies are for you and to also keep you away from getting ripped off. What Is Cryptocurrency? Let's start with the basics-what is cryptocurrency. Typically, cryptocurrency is just a way of managing and transferring value online using cryptographical functions. As it leverages blockchain technology, it is decentralized, transparent, and immutable-the three greatest features of cryptocurrency. Among the three features, decentralization happens to be the greatest most important feature of cryptocurrency as this feature makes cryptocurrency uncontrolled by any form of central authorities. Additionally, decentralized nature also makes cryptocurrency immune to the traditional ways of control and interference established by the government. Cryptocurrency exchanges can take place between two parties through both private and public keys. Such transfers being devoid of steep fees charged by traditional financial institutions happens with minimal processing fees as well. Cryptocurrency Mining The interesting fact about cryptocurrency mining is that it allows almost anyone to be a miner. As cryptocurrency follow a decentralized structure, it doesn't hold the authority supervise this task. Thus, cryptocurrency must have some mechanism in order to prevent the ruling party from abusing this ability. For instance, what if there was someone who created thousands of peers and forged the transactions? It will lead to the system breaking down immediately. Due to this reason, Satoshi, when he invented cryptocurrency, defined a rule for miners-every miner needs to invest some part of their work into their system to get qualified to do this task. In fact, what they actually have do is find a hash. A hash is nothing but the resultant product of a cryptographic function that links the newly created block with its antecedent and the entire process is called the Proof-of-Work. When it comes to Bitcoin, Proof-of-Work follows the SHA 256 algorithm. The Top 5 Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Bitcoin is the go-to leader when it comes to the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, according to the studies conducted by Coin Market Cap, the market capitalization of the world's top digital currency is more than $179 billion, with a price per coin of more than $9,9901. Ethereum Ethereum has made it to this list because it is that digital token which sparked the invention of Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Though it is comparatively smaller than Bitcoin, it holds a trading price of around $185 per token and a market cap of $20 billion. The recent studies have found out the total number of ETH tokens present in circulation around the world to be more than 100.7 million. Ripple Next on our list is the pretty popular Ripple that holds a total market capitalization of over $11.8 billion. Unlike the other cryptocurrencies that we have on this list, the value of XRP tokens is too

Bitcoin, also known as a decentralized virtual currency (DVC), is regulated differently in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Canada, and the United States, and represents a vastly underdeveloped area of the law. No country has currently backed Bitcoin. Launched in 2009, and founded by Satoshi Nakamoto,  Bitcoin is a “decentralized peer-to-peer virtual currency.” Other virtual currencies include Litecoin, Namecoin, Auroracoin, Peercoin, and Dogecoin – about 500 varieties in total – but research here primarily focuses on Bitcoin. A comparative analysis helps discern how these respective countries classify Bitcoin (e.g., a virtual object, currency, or potential security), and how these jurisdictions regulate, or intend to regulate, DVCs. Bitcoin is identified as a “currency,” throughout the paper, but the classification is heavily contested. Questions for analyses include: are there appropriate existing legal frameworks to regulate Bitcoin? What securities regulation challenges does Bitcoin pose? What are the consumer and investor protection concerns associated with Bitcoin compared to traditional financial exchanges? What are the cross-jurisdictional challenges of virtual currency transactions that operate over the Internet (e.g., money laundering, or fraudulent activities)? Research incorporates securities commission reports, social and political commentary from secondary sources, and relevant jurisprudence and legislation. Findings help situate the current climate of Bitcoin globally, and assess how its regulation differs relative to technological, economic, social, financial, and political forces.

Objective:The paper analyzes money laundering through crypto-assets and offers a legal perspective on how this new technology can be used to commit these felonies. The study intends to shed light on the matter, helping to visualize how future anti money laundering – AML regulation should focus on tackling crypto criminal activity effectively. Methodology: The research adopts an inductive approach, bibliographic and documental research technique, with an exploratory and propositional methodological objective. Results: The paper proposes the following framework of anti-money laundering principles for crypto-focused action: transnational approach for AML action; going beyond basic gatekeeper compliance approach, considering the lack of structural chokepoints in a blockchain protocol; private-sector cooperation and clear AML standards; usage of tracking and reverse-engineering anonymization techniques for the tracing of crypto transaction history; and adoption of a global blacklist for ...

The audience of the research paper are cryptocurrencies investors and scientists interested in the topic of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The article outlines characteristics and mechanics of the cryptocurrencies market, allowing reader to fully understand the process of cryptocurrencies mining. The aim of the paper is to show the unique features of the industry. The analysis of the revenues, costs and profits in the sector and comparing it to the assumptions of the perfect competition, proves that the cryptocurrencies mining market is first industry that achieved all requirements of the perfect competition. The research paper summarizes the potential of the cryptocurrencies sector.

In this study a continuous wavelet transform is performed on bitcoin’s historical returns. Despite the asset’s novelty and high volatility, evidence from the wavelet power spectra shows clear dominance of specific investment horizons during periods of high volatility. Thanks to wavelet analysis it is also possible to observe the presence of fractal dynamics in the asset’s behavior. Wavelet analysis is a method to decompose a time series into several layers of time scales, making it possible to analyze how the local variance, or wavelet power, changes both in the frequency and time domain. Although relatively new to finance and economic, wavelet analysis represents a powerful tool that can be used to study how economic phenomena operates at simultaneous time horizons, as well as aggregated processes that are the result of several agents or variables with different term objectives.

This paper examines the performance of cryptocurrencies issued in initial coin offerings (ICOs) over a three-year period after the initial exchange listing. Average (median) ICO underpricing amounts to 15% (3%), even though 4 out of 10 ICOs destroy value on the first trading day. Liquidity, market capitalization, and high-low price ratios predict returns. Long-run buy-and-hold returns are positive for the mean and negative for the median. For holding periods between one and twenty-four months, the median ICO depreciates by 30%. Evidently, there is substantial positive skewness in the cryptocurrency market. Further, a size effect emerges from the data as an empirical regularity: Large ICOs are more often overpriced and underperform in the long run. JEL classification: G24, G32, K22, L26.

Crypto-currencies (or digital currencies) have gained popularity in the recent few years, considering its young existence of six years. Crypto-currencies are simply enabling means to transact in the virtual space globally without the need of intermediaries and third parties. It is built on the “Blockchain” technology, which provides an innovative means of transfer. This paper investigates crypto-currencies, its underlying technology, and the motivation of its development and adoption. It further takes the next step in evaluating consumer’s mindsets around crypto-currencies utilizing the patented IdeaMap® and RDE methods to identify the most influencing characteristics of crypto-currencies. Three distinct segments were identified, where each segment is concerned with discrete elements involving cost, privacy, and accessibility. It concludes that the creation of new services and applications will drive widespread adoption of digital currencies.

The world today has realized the vast technological evolution that has greatly shaped the production and management functions of business enterprises. Traditional contracts can take weeks or even months to initiate, and there have been numerous instances of breaches and lack of trust for contracts in both the private and public sector. A smart contract can be defined as a self-executing contract that utilizes blockchain technology to digitally enforce, verify, or facilitate the performance or negotiation of a contract. Owing to the security and decentralized system exhibited by blockchain technology, smart contracts can foster transaction credibility between contracting parties without the necessity of third parties as exhibited in traditional contracts. Any business organization that aims at achieving greater heights in management and production dimensions must consider utilizing robust technologies that are aimed at bolstering its competitive edge. Owing to the newness of smart contracts, characterized by very few studies on the same, this research reviews how smart contracts through blockchain technology can be implemented in an organization to enhance performance and outlines the applications, benefits, and limitations associated with such contracts.

Keywords: Blockchain technology; smart contracts; smart contract applications; smart contract benefits; smart contract implementation; cryptography; cryptocurrency

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.

Money is one of mankind's earliest and greatest inventions. Money, as we know it today has a long
evolutionary history. The process started from barter in ancient times and evolved into
cryptography-based money in modern times. The evolution process of money has always been
closely connected with the technological advancements in an economy and modern economy is
high-tech. The global economy is inevitably moving towards a digital eco-system which requires
a new and auspicious payments solution that better address the needs of the people involved. Over
the last couple of years, cryptocurrencies have gained rapid market growth as well as serious public
attention. The creator of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto,
wrote a white paper titled ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’ and in his paper he
describes Bitcoin as a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash (Nakamoto, 2008). The
motivation of the creator behind Bitcoin was to develop an alternate payments solution to cash
while retaining the advantageous properties of cash.

Le società moderne sono protagoniste di un complesso processo evolutivo, tale che – quasi quotidianamente – si assiste all’introduzione di strumenti della tecnica e dell’informatica sempre più efficienti e puntuali.
Tale processo evolutivo esercita una maggiore pressione sul Diritto che, come è noto, ha dei tempi di adattamento piuttosto lenti. Molto spesso, infatti, l’introduzione di una nuova normativa prende atto di un fenomeno che ha già avuto modo di svilupparsi ampiamente dalla sua nascita, risultando la regolamentazione spesso contradditoria e poco utile in sede applicativa. Ciononostante, non è possibile ignorare lo sforzo dommatico di quella dottrina che, avvalendosi degli istituti tradizionali della disciplina giuridica, contribuisce alla definizione – e talvolta alla normativizzazione – del settore tecnologico: basti pensare agli studi relativi a FinTech, consistente nell’applicazione delle nuove tecnologie ai settori finanziari, teleologicamente orientata ad apportare vantaggi tanto al consumatore quanto all’impresa.
Tanto premesso, questo elaborato ha lo scopo di individuare e commentare l’evoluzione giuridica e l’applicazione nell’impresa di una delle tecnologie più interessanti e discusse degli ultimi dieci anni : la Blockchain.
Blockchain è una tecnologia dalla portata rivoluzionaria, tanto dall’essere considerata la chiave di volta per l’evoluzione dell’informazione digitale ad una vera e propria identità elettronica della realtà sensibile – Internet of Things -. La blockchain è, essenzialmente, un registro distribuito in una rete peer-to-peer ove ogni unità fondamentale (per semplicità, definita “Blocco”) è interconnessa all’unità precedente ed a quella successiva, in modo tale che le informazioni contenute in essa siano certe ed immutabili.
Da questa prima e breve definizione di Blockchain – al cui approfondimento si rimanda alle pagine successive dell’elaborato – appaiono evidenti le conseguenze che la sua applicazione potrebbe avere una volta inserita nei quotidiani rapporti giuridici. L’immutabilità dell’informazione faciliterebbe la prova dell’esistenza del rapporto, necessitando dell’introduzione di meccanismi di accertamento ad-hoc.
Percepita la capacità rivoluzionaria di Blockchain, la dottrina si è impegnata affinché tale strumento trovasse una collocazione – anche primordiale – negli istituti giuridici dell’ordinamento ed, allo stesso tempo, ha cercato di sollecitare il legislatore alla promulgazione di una normativa generale che, con il recente “Decreto Semplificazioni” del 2019, ha visto la luce in Italia.
In conclusione, l’ elaborato vuole illustrare non solo le più recenti valutazioni sulla blockchain tanto dottrinarie quanto normative, ma anche di come, dalle prime applicazioni di questa tecnologia al mondo delle criptovalute, vi è un interesse crescente da parte degli operatori giuridico-economici al suo utilizzo tanto nei rapporti societari – come la circolazione delle partecipazioni sociali – quanto nel diritto d’impresa in genere, potendo la blockchain apportare un miglioramento alla produttività ed alla sicurezza dei rapporti economici sia con il consumatore che con altri imprenditori – operanti o meno nello stesso settore di mercato - : sul tema, è doveroso citare le importantissime applicazioni di blockchain alla tutela del diritto d’autore ed al migliore sfruttamento economico della proprietà industriale (marchi e brevetti) che ha avuto dei risultati pionieristici nella lotta all’abuso ed alla contraffazione o comunque nel sollecitare la ricerca di un regime giuridico unitario e semplificato per le IPs.

This report is prepared for the World Bank Legal Department’s Thematic Working Group on Technology and Innovation in Development. The research paper explores the legal issues and considerations the World Bank should take into account when considering financing projects with components that involve disruptive technologies. The report highlights legal and regulatory issues which may either enable or which may impede the adoption or creation of disruptive technologies, particularly in emerging market economies.

The authors of the report are Professor Ian Walden and Dr Theodora A Christou, members of the Cloud Legal Project at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University London

Objective:The paper analyzes money laundering through crypto-assets and offers a legal perspective on how this new technology can be used to commit these felonies. The study intends to shed light on the matter, helping to visualize how future anti money laundering – AML regulation should focus on tackling crypto criminal activity effectively. Methodology: The research adopts an inductive approach, bibliographic and documental research technique, with an exploratory and propositional methodological objective. Results: The paper proposes the following framework of anti-money laundering principles for crypto-focused action: transnational approach for AML action; going beyond basic gatekeeper compliance approach, considering the lack of structural chokepoints in a blockchain protocol; private-sector cooperation and clear AML standards; usage of tracking and reverse-engineering anonymization techniques for the tracing of crypto transaction history; and adoption of a global blacklist for ...

O presente artigo tem por objetivo realizar um estudo descritivo das criptomoedas – e particularmente de sua espécie mais conhecida, o Bitcoin – classificando-as como forma monetária inserida no grupo das moedas paralelas. Atentar-se-á, no entanto, às peculiaridades deste novo instrumento, que se diferencia dos instrumentos criados por particulares até o presente – principalmente devido ao seu caráter desinstitucionalizado e “anárquico” – como descrito pelos próprios usuários. Para uma melhor diferenciação, explorar-se-á ainda um outro caso prático, o caso do Banco Palmas, conhecido por ter aliado a coesão de uma comunidade à emissão e circulação de uma moeda própria de circulação restrita que levou a um desenvolvimento significativo da comunidade.

There are many aspects to successful trading. An often overlooked yet critical aspect is, knowing the trading system ("trading strategy") you’re using actually has a clear positive edge/positive expectancy.
This is a MUST for any consistently profitable trading strategy! 
Read on to understand the importance of trading system expectancy, learn how to calculate it, and confirm if you have a profitable trading strategy (clear positive expectancy).

Cryptocurrencies are gradually establishing themselves as a new class of assets with unique features, although there remains skepticism and a lack of understanding of their nature. In this study, we compare the financial properties of these new digital assets and investigate their dynamic relationship with major financial securities and commodities. Furthermore, we evaluate the economic and financial potential benefits of cryptocurrencies for financial investors. Using different time-varying copula approaches and bivariate dynamic conditional correlation GARCH models, we find that the cross-correlation with conventional assets is changing over time but weak, supporting the idea that these cryptocurrencies can be suitable for financial diversification. However, our analysis of portfolios shows that cryptocurrencies are poor hedging instruments in most of the considered cases. Moreover, we find that the relationship between cryptocurrencies and conventional assets is sensitive to external economic and financial shocks.

The research undertaken in the following paper bases its analysis on the model of the decentralized governance, offered in the case of blockchain technologies. The focus will be centered on some social elements of innovation introduced by the blockchain system, such as the Non-fungible tokens (NFT) and on the argument of their undeniable influence on a social, political and cultural levelinto forming a new model of governance. More specifically, it will be given an insight on the modes in which the compliance to the blockchain and NFT model, gives rise to new levels of relations between people, influencing their ways of living and socializing. Thus, NFTs are putting forward some novel aesthetics of interaction-exemplified by the case of a new perspective on art, and enhancing individual will and autonomy, through the circulation of cryptographic tokens within the digital space.