Ethereum Blockchain Platform Research Articles

Blockchain and contract theory: modeling smart contracts using insurance markets

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to model blockchain-based smart contracts specifically for the insurance industry. The authors introduce the concept of smart contracts and further discuss the implementation of a decentralized insurance marketplace, namely Etherisc, using smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain platform. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ three methods in this paper. The first one is a design illustration of a live application, namely, Etherisc. The second one is an economic model using demand–supply and equilibrium economics. The third one is an illustration using principal–agent modeling using constrained optimization. Findings The findings illustrate the following: in the design discussion, the authors demonstrate the architecture of a live Ethereum-based smart contract system. In the economic model, the authors illustrate how decentralized smart contract systems can increase social welfare by shifting demand and supply by reducing transactional costs. In the principal–agent model, the authors show how both the principal and agent are positively benefited by various mechanisms. Originality/value The paper is an original contribution and can be used as a reference model to study insurance or other similar marketplaces and the underlying economic transformations happening therein.

Ethereum smart contract-based automated power trading algorithm in a microgrid environment

A recently emerged microgrid system presents the concept of a prosumer that consumers can also become suppliers, instead of a one-way configuration with separate providers and consumers. The microgrid system allows users to produce electricity, sell it on demand, and purchase them from other users. Unlike conventional centralized power trading, this emerging system aims on providing decentralized, transparent, and secure power trading. In this paper, we introduce a transparent and safe power trading algorithm between users using blockchain. The proposed algorithm has been implemented with an executable distributed code (i.e., smart contract) in an Ethereum blockchain platform. It explores for the power trading with automated operations in a decentralized environment without user intervention. The proposed power trading algorithm is written in the Solidity language and tested on the Ethereum blockchain platform. We also provide the actual code of the power trading algorithm written in the Solidity language.

Toward an ontology‐driven blockchain design for supply‐chain provenance

SummaryAn interesting research problem in our age of Big Data is that of determining provenance. Granular evaluation of provenance of physical goods (e.g., tracking ingredients of a pharmaceutical or demonstrating authenticity of luxury goods) has often not been possible with today's items that are produced and transported in complex, interorganizational, often internationally spanning supply chains. Recent adoptions of the Internet of Things and blockchain technologies give promise at better supply‐chain provenance. We are particularly interested in the blockchain, as many favored use cases of blockchain are for provenance tracking. We are also interested in applying ontologies, as there has been some work done on knowledge provenance, traceability, and food provenance using ontologies. In this paper, we make a case for why ontologies can contribute to blockchain design. To support this case, we analyze a traceability ontology and translate some of its representations to smart contracts that execute a provenance trace and enforce traceability constraints on the Ethereum blockchain platform.