Blockchain-based Technologies Research Articles

Blockchain in banking and finance: A bibliometric review

Blockchain is a disruptive, decentralized, replicable, distributed ledger technology with the potential to change the conventional business landscape in banking and finance. This study consists of a bibliometric review and a content analysis of the academic literature dealing with the antecedents, the applications, and the consequences of the adoption of blockchain-based technologies in these highly interconnected industries. With a final sample of 154 papers published between 2009 and 2021, we map their influential aspects, in terms of trending topic, authors and target journals. We then provide a bibliographic analysis, which consists of co-authorship, cartographic, co-citation and coupling analyses. Finally, we identify the main literature streams and the future research agenda, which may serve as a valid starting point for future research in the field for both scholars and practitioners.

Impact of Blockchain Technology on E-Commerce Website

Blockchain-based technologies are predicted as major disruptors for numerous business applications and pro Blockchain cesses, which bears huge implications for e-commerce. Given the ability of blockchain and related technologies Distributed Ledger Technology to create so-called “trustless systems” with idiosyncratic properties, various business models and established processes that have emerged over the years to ensure trust, reliability and enforceability in business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) relations need to be questioned and potentially adjusted. Blockchain has the potential to shake the foundation of e- commerce by enabling exchange relations that are trustless and operate without dedicated intermediaries or even central authorities in the case of permissionless blockchains. Furthermore, the exchange of information and value between companies and consumers might change considerably by enabling unified access to immutable data along the entire supply chain. In this paper, a framework and 19 high-level research questions are developed to inspire researchers to closely investigate the potential impact of blockchain on e-commerce. The main categories include (a) technological, (b) legal and (c) organizational and quality issues as well as (d) consumer issues. This paper illustrates how blockchain potentially impacts different elements of e-commerce in these respective areas

A fair consensus model in blockchain based on computational reputation

Fair selection of community members’ transactions in blockchain-based technologies, especially in finance, is essential and vital. Therefore, in this paper, a novel consensus model for fair selection of community members’ transactions through reputation models is presented as fair reputation-based consensus model (FRCM), so that all transactions of community members have the same weight and transactions are selected regardless of the transaction fee or the assets or computing power but based on the reputation of the trustees who are responsible for placing the transactions in the block. For this purpose, a FRCM prototype has been designed and implemented based on the proposed algorithms. Experimental and theoretical evaluations and simulation results show that the FRCM can select the transactions of community members fairly while reducing the average response time effectively. In addition, comparative analysis with other consensus mechanisms proved that FRCM model has lower consensus latency than other mechanisms, while improving throughput and scalability.

Tokenization, blockchain and web 3.0 technologies as research objects in innovation management

Tokenization, blockchain and web 3.0 technologies as research objects in innovation management

A hybrid blockchain method in internet of things for privacy and security in unmanned aerial vehicles network

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) offer a huge amount of potential in a variety of applications, including healthcare, medical, traffic monitoring, military, and industry. UAVs are deployed in association with the Internet of Things (IoT) to facilitate receivers or end-users at the end for delivering IoT services, resulting in a new research domain. The objectives of this research work are to analyze and classify the peer-reviewed research on UAV IoT frameworks and identify the solution towards challenges related to the overall security including the privacy of the frameworks. In the article, an optimum solution for various security and reliability challenges in UAV-enabled IoT applications is given using a fusion of several methods combining blockchain-based technologies. The results are obtained and compared on different parameters like overall system utility, accuracy, latency, and processing time. The proposed methodology results highlight the improvement and give novel directions toward future work.

Qualitative Study of Participant Impressions as Simulated Patients of MediLinker—A Blockchain-Based Identity Verification Application

Abstract Objective In this study, we obtained participants' views on using MediLinker—a blockchain-based identity verification and personal health information management application. We also gathered their views about the use of blockchain technology for controlling and managing personal health information, especially in the context of a global health crisis such as a pandemic. Methods Online semistructured interviews were conducted with 29 simulated patients (i.e., avatars) who used MediLinker between February and May 2020. Interview data were analyzed qualitatively using a phenomenological approach to thematic analysis. Results Most of the participants noted that they do not know what blockchain is nor understand how it works. Nonetheless, in the context of the study, they trust blockchain as a technology that can enhance data protection and privacy of their personal health information. Participants noted that MediLinker is a useful application that allows patients to easily input, share, and revoke personal health information. As a proof-of-concept application, participants also noted several issues and recommendations that can serve as points of improvement when developing subsequent versions of MediLinker. In the context of using MediLinker as part of a telemedicine system during a pandemic, participants noted that it facilitates social distancing, makes clinical transactions efficient and convenient, and enhances identity verification. Conclusion In general, the findings lay the foundation for a user-centered approach in developing future iterations of MediLinker and other patient-facing blockchain-based health information technologies. Also, the findings provide important insights into how people perceive blockchain-based health information technologies, especially during a pandemic.

SoK: Network-Level Attacks on the Bitcoin P2P Network

Over the last decade, Bitcoin has revolutionized the global economic and technological landscape, inspiring a new generation of blockchain-based technologies. Its protocol is today among the most influential for cryptocurrencies and distributed networks. In particular, the P2P layer represents a reference point for all permissionless blockchains, which often implement its solutions in their network layer. Unfortunately, the Bitcoin network protocol lacks a strong security model, leaving it exposed to several threats. Attacks at this level can affect the reliability and trustworthiness of the consensus layer, mining the credibility of the whole system. It is therefore of utmost importance to properly understand and address the security of the Bitcoin P2P protocol. In this paper, we give a comprehensive and detailed overview of known network-level attacks in Bitcoin, as well as the countermeasures that have been implemented in the protocol. We propose a generic network adversary model, and propose an objective-based taxonomy of the attacks. Finally, we identify the core weaknesses of the protocol and study the relationship between different types of attack. We believe our contribution can help both new and experienced researchers have a broader and deeper understanding of the Bitcoin P2P network and its threats, and allow for a better modeling of its security properties.

Blockchain: A business model innovation analysis

The adoption of blockchain-based technologies by organisations can bring benefits in terms of firms' profitability, productivity and efficiency, making companies rethink their existing business models. However, as the technology is still developing and the research on the implications of the different types of blockchain networks (i.e. public, private, consortium) is scarce, their role in business model innovation requires closer attention. To address this gap, the paper provides a conceptual insight into the role of blockchain technology in companies with different value configurations by examining the technological conditions that can impact business models and probing the role of technology benefits in driving company value. The analysis contributes to the literature by discussing the business implications of innovative technologies and uncovering their positive and negative consequences for the value creation, delivery and capture activities. Such analysis sheds light on the functions of blockchains that have a differentiating impact on business processes. Also, the paper puts forward managerial implications by discussing the paths of business model innovation using blockchain technologies.

Unfinished Paths—From Blockchain to Sustainability in Supply Chains

Blockchain technology has been promised as a solution to social and environmental issues in supply chains. The potential includes reduction of vulnerable party exploitation and avoiding environmentally harmful practices. Yet, it remains unclear how these potential improvements are created and whether blockchain can truly contribute. Therefore, this field study explores and identifies the mechanisms for blockchain technology to facilitate positive social and environmental impacts in supply chains. We applied an explorative qualitative research approach and interviewed blockchain technology implementers and practitioners that allowed a detailed analysis of this problem despite the scarcity of practice data. The results include the development of a middle-range theory that shows barriers and drivers of blockchain-based technologies in supply chains, introduces the concept of blockchain-enabled system, and outlines expected outcomes and impacts. We further identify four impact pathways that describe how blockchain-enabled system create positive impact: (voluntary) market mechanisms, plausibility checks, smart contracts and tokenisation, and peer-to-peer trust. The study contributes by providing insights into “how” blockchain-based technologies in supply chains can lead to social and environmental impacts. The study also furthers the discussion on blockchain technology’s role in supply chain implementation and addresses the yet unresolved problem of measuring the impact of such blockchain-enabled systems.

MEdge-Chain: Leveraging Edge Computing and Blockchain for Efficient Medical Data Exchange

Medical data exchange between diverse e-health entities can lead to a better healthcare quality, improving the response time in emergency conditions, and a more accurate control of critical medical events (e.g., national health threats or epidemics). However, exchanging large amount of information between different e-health entities is challenging in terms of security, privacy, and network loads, especially for large-scale healthcare systems. Indeed, recent solutions suffer from poor scalability, computational cost, and slow response. Thus, this article proposes medical-edge-blockchain (MEdge-Chain), a holistic framework that exploits the integration of edge computing and blockchain-based technologies to process large amounts of medical data. Specifically, the proposed framework describes a healthcare system that aims to aggregate diverse health entities in a unique national healthcare system by enabling swift, secure exchange, and storage of medical data. Moreover, we design an automated patients monitoring scheme, at the edge, which enables the remote monitoring and efficient discovery of critical medical events. Then, we integrate this scheme with a blockchain architecture to optimize medical data exchanging between diverse entities. Furthermore, we develop a blockchain-based optimization model that aims to optimize the latency and computational cost of medical data exchange between different health entities, hence providing effective and secure healthcare services. Finally, we show the effectiveness of our system in adapting to different critical events, while highlighting the benefits of the proposed intelligent health system.

A Blockchain-Based Distributed Paradigm to Secure Localization Services.

In recent decades, modern societies are experiencing an increasing adoption of interconnected smart devices. This revolution involves not only canonical devices such as smartphones and tablets, but also simple objects like light bulbs. Named the Internet of Things (IoT), this ever-growing scenario offers enormous opportunities in many areas of modern society, especially if joined by other emerging technologies such as, for example, the blockchain. Indeed, the latter allows users to certify transactions publicly, without relying on central authorities or intermediaries. This work aims to exploit the scenario above by proposing a novel blockchain-based distributed paradigm to secure localization services, here named the Internet of Entities (IoE). It represents a mechanism for the reliable localization of people and things, and it exploits the increasing number of existing wireless devices and blockchain-based distributed ledger technologies. Moreover, unlike most of the canonical localization approaches, it is strongly oriented towards the protection of the users’ privacy. Finally, its implementation requires minimal efforts since it employs the existing infrastructures and devices, thus giving life to a new and wide data environment, exploitable in many domains, such as e-health, smart cities, and smart mobility.

Information traceability platforms for asset data lifecycle: blockchain-based technologies

PurposeThe emergence of new digital technologies in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution presents a turning point that could change the fate of the traditional ways of designing, build and manage asset data. Disruptive technologies such as Blockchain and theInternet of things (IoT) are one of the main pillars that are driving this revolution. The integration of decentralised networks and automated workflows has the potential to become a pivotal factor in construction projects, especially in supply chain ecosystems within the off-site manufacturing field. Obstacles related to fragmented information, interoperability, transparency and “big data” management are the main drivers for change that the industry needs to address. Whilst organisations and users can automate workflows and processes by utilising IoT technology to transfer data without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, the interaction, storage and management of the data generated are not safe or reliable.Design/methodology/approachThe approach outlined in this paper addresses the challenges that IoT and centralised networks present. Blockchain, a peer-to-peer distributed database, offers the possibility to support and maintain the asset information without interruptions in all the stages of the life cycle. The synergy between these technologies, along with other techniques, methods and platforms (such as building information modeling (BIM)), based on a single environment, will support information traceability from the strategic definition to end of life.FindingsThe framework of this study presents an excellent opportunity to apply new workflows and processes with the application of new technologies and protocols. It benefits from a well-established platform such as BIM to enable the coordination and management of digital assets as well as giving illustration and collaboration to the supply chain members. IoT and Blockchain are the other layers that work together with the third layer (BIM). This framework proposed the use of these platforms to ensure the information traceability of physical and digital assets, data automation and information management, in a dynamic supply chain ecosystem, bringing efficiency and transparency to stakeholders and users.Practical implicationsThis study provides an exploratory framework to be used by the supply chain members in offsite manufacturing, and the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry in general, to track asset information throughout their entire life cycle securely and transparently.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the knowledge of IoT, Blockchain technology and BIM use in offsite manufacturing under the AEC industry. It provides a basis for future research by professionals, experts and academics regarding these technologies and their workflows.

Blockchain-Based Confidential Multiparty Contract Signing Protocol Without TTP Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Abstract Signed information is difficult to manage and this difficulty is even bigger when pieces of signed digital information have to be exchanged in an atomic procedure. Multiparty contract signing is an application of fair exchange of values, where the information to be exchanged are signed versions of a contract. Traditionally, this trust service requires the involvement of a trusted third party (TTP). This is a point of weakness for the generalization of the use of electronic contract signing protocols. Another usual problem for multiparty contract signing is that the protocols for multiparty exchanges are far more complex that those for two-party exchanges. Additionally, it is common that the signers demand protocols that assure the confidentiality of the contract. In this proposal blockchain-based technologies and smart contracts are used to obtain a protocol for electronic contract signing that does not need a TTP in any stage of the procedure. The protocol satisfies the ideal requirements for the contract signing service, even allowing the signature of confidential contracts. Moreover, the proposed solution is far more efficient than previous solutions for fair exchange protocols using blockchain presented up to the date thanks to the use of elliptic curve cryptography.

The impact of blockchain on e-commerce: A framework for salient research topics

• The first academic paper that presents a comprehensive research agenda for the implications of Blockchain (DLT) on e-Commerce. • The framework contains technological, legal, organizational and consumer issues. • Blockchain (DLT) is shown as a decisive factor for e-commerce success. • Detailed research questions that need to be tackled in order to systematically explain, explore and predict the impact of Blockchain (DLT) on e-commerce. Blockchain-based technologies are predicted as major disruptors for numerous business applications and processes, which bears huge implications for e-commerce. Given the ability of blockchain and related technologies to create so-called “trustless systems” with idiosyncratic properties, various business models and established processes that have emerged over the years to ensure trust, reliability and enforceability in business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) relations need to be questioned and potentially adjusted. Blockchain has the potential to shake the foundation of e-commerce by enabling exchange relations that are trustless and operate without dedicated intermediaries or even central authorities in the case of permissionless blockchains. Furthermore, the exchange of information and value between companies and consumers might change considerably by enabling unified access to immutable data along the entire supply chain. In this paper, a framework and 19 high-level research questions are developed to inspire researchers to closely investigate the potential impact of blockchain on e-commerce. The main categories include (a) technological, (b) legal and (c) organizational and quality issues as well as (d) consumer issues. This paper illustrates how blockchain potentially impacts different elements of e-commerce in these respective areas.

Blockchain-based technologies

Blockchain-based technologies can be understood as a distributed network of computers, ideally organised in a decentralised way, mutually agreeing on a common state while tolerating failures (incl. malicious behaviour) to some extent.

Distributed application provisioning over Ethereum-based private and permissioned blockchain: availability modeling, capacity, and costs planning

Blockchain and cloud computing are two of the main topics related to the distributed computing paradigm, and in the last decade, they have seen exponential growth in their adoption. Cloud computing has long been established as the main mechanism to test, develop, and deliver new applications and services in a distributed manner across the World Wide Web. Large data centers host many services and store petabytes of user data. Infrastructure and services owners rule the access to data and may even be able to change contents and attest to its veracity. Blockchain is a step towards a future where the user’s data are considered safer, besides being public. Advances in blockchain-based technologies, now, support service provisioning over permissioned and private infrastructures. Therefore, organizations or groups of individuals may share information, service even if they do not trust each other, besides supporting infrastructure management tasks. This paper presents and evaluates models for assessing the availability and capacity-oriented availability of cloud computing infrastructures. It aims at running blockchain’s distributed applications based on the Ethereum blockchain platform and the required expenses to perform service delivery in public and private infrastructures. Most of the obtained results also apply to other blockchains-based platforms.

Editorial: COVID-19: The Unexpected and Disruptive Event that Will Radically Shake Up and Change the World as We Know it

The author of this editorial article, published in the fourth issue of the Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions Journal (Volume 10, Issue 4, 2020), aims to provide a summary overview of the Journal's main contributions and a brief analysis of the most relevant emerging digital business trends in the financial sector. The rapid growth and the widespread diffusion of the digital business models seem to have received a sharp acceleration during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to social distancing and mobility restrictions, changing consumer shopping preferences, and the growing trend of working remotely. In this article, the author also recognizes the exceptional and unprecedented policy response undertaken by governments, central banks, supranational, and multilateral institutions in order to help mitigate the health, social, and economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and to support a coordinated, sustainable, and resilient economic recovery. The underlying argument of this article, supported by empirical evidences in the industries, is that the pandemic event, despite its severe health and social consequences, is becoming also a major catalyst of accelerated business and economic transformation towards the adoption of innovative and more digitally-driven business models in all industries. Among these innovations, some of the most relevant ones includes: AI-based innovations and industry 4.0 solutions, digital transformation, blockchain-based technologies, fintech and embedded finance innovations, and environmentally-friendly and socially-inclusive economic models. As a consequence of the disruptive pandemic event, firms are in fact, reinventing, redesigning, and reconfiguring their business models, value chains, and value networks relying increasingly more on digital and cloud-based technologies and on remote working, but also completely rethinking their cost structure, operations, supply chains, and customer experience journey in order to increase productivity, speed of innovation, profitability, customer knowledge through Big Data and Data Science, and to achieve also ambitious inclusion and sustainability goals. In summary, this article, lead to the conclusion that the dramatic event of the COVID-19 pandemic is a severe health crisis that will likely leave lasting economic and social scars across the world in the years to come, but it will be probably also the catalyst of a brighter, more sustainable, and inclusive future, as the latest emerging trends would seem to indicate, although a high level of uncertainty about potential downside risk still persist in the markets, which might bring further disruption in severe adverse scenario.

Blockchain-based Innovation in UK Construction: A User Perspective

Innovative blockchain-based technologies are promising tools to address issues of limited trust and transparency across the construction industry’s supply chains. To provide further insight on how to encourage blockchain-based technologies adoption in construction, this study examines the forces that enable and prevent blockchain adoption, in addition to the associated perceived benefits and perceived risks. Exploratory research is conducted involving eight frontier construction companies in the UK construction industry and includes consultants, architects and contractors. The findings have revealed that blockchain adoption in construction is driven by forces encouraging the change, including the pursuit of efficient technological solutions such as blockchain to overcome the declining economic environment in UK construction, a digitally savvy workforce (i.e. millennials) acting as change agents driving technological change, and the pursuit of more data availability to combat skill shortages worldwide. However, forces restraining the change also persist including the technological ambiguity of blockchain tools, lack of interoperability with enterprise systems and industry-wide misperceptions surrounding blockchain. The findings have also revealed discrepancies among the multi-disciplinary stakeholders regarding the perceived benefits and perceived risks of the technology. Lack of education, misuse of technology and financial losses are considered major risks, in addition to data security and management issues. On the other hand, major perceived benefits include increased cybersecurity, transparency and openness, and effective dispute resolution. Recommendations are developed to support blockchain-based innovations adoption in the construction industry. The main contribution of this research project is the development of a preliminary framework of potential risks and benefits of blockchain-based technologies which can assist advocates of blockchain in the development of strategies to increase the rate of adoption in the construction industry.

The future of healthcare in Singapore. How an integrated use of A.I., Internet-of-Medical things (IoMT), Blockchain-based technologies, and Cloud-computing-based Medtech and Digital Health solutions will radically address medical data integrity concerns.

Industry 4.0 in the pharmaceutical, medical devices, and healthcare sectors could have a significant impact as they can help maximize productivity by analyzing the data of patients. The application of Industry 4.0 technologies to the pharma, medical, and healthcare sectors may also play an important role in addressing and helping overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the latest innovations in the space of biopharma and biotech. As Ow (2021b) discussed and explored how medical industries in Singapore can utilize Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Digital health, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and Telemedicine as part of the future of the digital health evolution. This study will explore how the utilization of Blockchain can help to address medical data security concerns to accelerate the utilization of digital health and Telemedicine, which is one of the key concerns cited by both the general public and industry experts, which might impact the adoption of the industrial 4.0 technologies. This study will also examine how receptive the public is to use these technologies; the integration of technologies into the healthcare industry, and the future of digital health. This research focuses on the Singapore medical industry and on the opinions of Singaporeans and the predictions of industry experts. Using qualitative methodology, this research is exploratory in nature, given the early-stage developments in the implementation of integrated 4.0 technologies in the digital health space. In addition, this study aims to assess the future potential benefits of integrating these advanced technologies into the medical and biopharma industries for the healthcare system of Singapore and its citizens. Finally, this study will seek to contribute to the existing literature in the fields of digital health, Blockchain-based health devices, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and Telemedicine, and to the integrated use of these technologies to create new value innovation opportunities and business models in the rapidly expanding digital health space of Singapore.

A Systematic Analysis on Blockchain Integration With Healthcare Domain: Scope and Challenges

A secure, smart and peer-to-peer transactions framework can be developed by Blockchain. Blockchain has enormous potential to turn health care systems as a horizontal technology, which has changed many fields of industry. The aim of this article is to critically review 50 papers published between 2015 and 2020 on blockchain-based health systems. 36 of these were journal papers; 7 were from conferences, 4 were from various symposiums; 3 were from seminars and 1 chapter was written in the book. Three key questions will be answered in this report. Firstly, what are the emerging trends of blockchain application development in healthcare from a technical perspective? Secondly, in what ways will the systematic analysis presented here contribute to a better understanding of the potential for incorporating blockchain-based technologies into the healthcare domain? Third, what are the important challenges in adopting blockchain as a solution in the healthcare domain? The descriptive analysis contains in this article shows the statistical statistics on the strategies of these 50 papers reveal that many of the blockchain systems proposed are using privately held blockchain and Ethereum platforms. We also address possible emerging trends of blockchain application such as blockchain integration with artificial intelligence, cloud based solutions and parallel block chain architecture.