The results of this study show that cybersecurity standards are not designed in close cooperation between the two major western blocks - US and EU. In addition, while the US is still leading in this area, the security standards for cryptocurrencies, internet-of-things, and blockchain technologies have not evolved as fast as the technologies have. The key finding from this study is that although the crypto market has grown into a multi-trillion industry, the crypto market has also lost over 70% since its peak, causing significant financial loss for individuals and cooperation’s. Despite this significant impact to individuals and society, cybersecurity standards and financial governance regulations are still in their infancy.
Research Paper
Dr Daniel Barreto's class: Leading Trends in IT.
Grade: 97%
Co-written by Christina Rentschler, Victor Gardrinier and Dean Rauschenbusch.
Date: 08/2017
Big-Crypto: Big Data, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Hossein Hassani, Xu Huan...eraser Juan José Calderón
Big-Crypto: Big Data, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Hossein Hassani, Xu Huang and Emmanuel Silva
.Abstract:
Cryptocurrency has been a trending topic over the past decade, pooling tremendous
technological power and attracting investments valued over trillions of dollars on a global scale.
The cryptocurrency technology and its network have been endowed with many superior features
due to its unique architecture, which also determined its worldwide efficiency, applicability and
data intensive characteristics. This paper introduces and summarises the interactions between two
significant concepts in the digitalized world, i.e., cryptocurrency and Big Data. Both subjects are at the
forefront of technological research, and this paper focuses on their convergence and comprehensively
reviews the very recent applications and developments after 2016. Accordingly, we aim to present
a systematic review of the interactions between Big Data and cryptocurrency and serve as the
one stop reference directory for researchers with regard to identifying research gaps and directing
future explorations.
Keywords: Big Data; cryptocurrency; Bitcoin; blockchain; review
Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion...ijtsrd
Bitcoin was initially described to the public in a paper released in 2008 under the identity Satoshi Nakamoto. The first ever Bitcoin transaction took place on January 3, 2009. Its success paved the way for the development of similar digital currencies in the years that followed. There are more than 12,500 different cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketcap 2021. This is mostly owing to the extraordinary volatility of the market, which drew many individuals to take an interest and participate in it in the hopes of making money. Twitter has emerged as a common meeting place for those interested in cryptocurrencies. In a noteworthy move, Twitter announced on September 23, 2021, a new feature that would enable users to tip other users using their Bitcoin Lightning wallets. In spite of the fact that this new technology may have far reaching effects on our lives in the future, there is not a great deal of writing on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Even if there arent many rules in place yet for trading cryptocurrencies, a social media sentiment study might help fill in the gaps in our understanding of what influences bitcoin prices. In this study, we examine whether or not analyzing Twitter sentiment can reliably foretell changes in the value digital currencies. Seven of the most widely used cryptocurrencies have their own Twitter discussions and price histories gathered. After that was done, the Valence Aware Dictionary for Sentiment Reasoning was used to conduct an analysis of the datas emotional content VADER . We used the Augmented Dicky Fuller ADF , Kwiatkowski Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin KPSS , and Granger Causality tests to identify time series that were stationary. However, the bullishness ratio revealed that Ethereum and Polkadot prices were predicted despite the fact that swings in Bitcoin, Cardano, XRP, and DOGE prices tend to vary attitude. At last, we use Vector Autoregression VAR to look at the predictability of price returns, and we discover that two of the seven cryptocurrencies can have their prices predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Exactness of price forecasts for Polkadot and Ethereum, respectively, was 99.17 and 99.67 . A. Esakki Elango | E. Manohar ME | S. Vishnu Durga "Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion and Information Quantity" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-2 , April 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd55091.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/management/other/55091/cryptocurrency-market-movement-and-tendency-forecasting-using-twitter-emotion-and-information-quantity/a-esakki-elango
Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion...ijtsrd
Bitcoin was initially described to the public in a paper released in 2008 under the identity Satoshi Nakamoto. The first ever Bitcoin transaction took place on January 3, 2009. Its success paved the way for the development of similar digital currencies in the years that followed. There are more than 12,500 different cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketcap 2021. This is mostly owing to the extraordinary volatility of the market, which drew many individuals to take an interest and participate in it in the hopes of making money. Twitter has emerged as a common meeting place for those interested in cryptocurrencies. In a noteworthy move, Twitter announced on September 23, 2021, a new feature that would enable users to tip other users using their Bitcoin Lightning wallets. In spite of the fact that this new technology may have far reaching effects on our lives in the future, there is not a great deal of writing on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Even if there arent many rules in place yet for trading cryptocurrencies, a social media sentiment study might help fill in the gaps in our understanding of what influences bitcoin prices. In this study, we examine whether or not analyzing Twitter sentiment can reliably foretell changes in the value digital currencies. Seven of the most widely used cryptocurrencies have their own Twitter discussions and price histories gathered. After that was done, the Valence Aware Dictionary for Sentiment Reasoning was used to conduct an analysis of the datas emotional content VADER . We used the Augmented Dicky Fuller ADF , Kwiatkowski Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin KPSS , and Granger Causality tests to identify time series that were stationary. However, the bullishness ratio revealed that Ethereum and Polkadot prices were predicted despite the fact that swings in Bitcoin, Cardano, XRP, and DOGE prices tend to vary attitude. At last, we use Vector Autoregression VAR to look at the predictability of price returns, and we discover that two of the seven cryptocurrencies can have their prices predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Exactness of price forecasts for Polkadot and Ethereum, respectively, was 99.17 and 99.67 . A. Esakki Elango | E. Manohar ME | S. Vishnu Durga "Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion and Information Quantity" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-2 , April 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd55091.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/management/other/55091/cryptocurrency-market-movement-and-tendency-forecasting-using-twitter-emotion-and-information-quantity/a-esakki-elango
Blockchain beyond fintech by ridgelift.ioUdayan Modhe
A comprehensive paper on blockchain technology. It covers blockchain technological aspects, blockchain evolution, future trends in blockchain implementation and reference architecture.
Buzz factor or innovation potential - cryptocurrencies’ comparedIan Beckett
This document summarizes a research article that examines factors associated with variations in cryptocurrency market values. It finds that a cryptocurrency's innovation potential, as measured by technological upgrades, is the most important positive factor associated with returns. In contrast, "buzz" or media attention surrounding cryptocurrencies is negatively associated with returns after controlling for other factors. Unexpected increases in supply are also positively associated with returns, which challenges traditional economic theories. The study analyzes weekly return data for five major cryptocurrencies over one year to identify supply and demand drivers of cryptocurrency price fluctuations.
Blockchain and AI Convergence A New Era of Possibilitiesijtsrd
The convergence of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence AI is heralding a transformative era across industries. This paper explores the integration of blockchain and AI, highlighting the synergies between these two technologies and the myriad possibilities they unlock. We delve into the key areas where this convergence is making an impact, including data security, decentralized applications, autonomous systems, and more. Furthermore, we examine the challenges and considerations surrounding this integration, emphasizing the potential benefits for society, businesses, and innovation. Manish Verma "Blockchain and AI Convergence: A New Era of Possibilities" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-5 , October 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd59864.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/59864/blockchain-and-ai-convergence-a-new-era-of-possibilities/manish-verma
Intrduction to crypto and opportunity to learn and earnAkanksha Jaiswal
In this article, you will get to know about the cryptocurrency and also an opportunity that "How you can Get Rich With Bitcoin Even If You Have No Clue About Technology"
Since the introduction of Bitcoin as a prototype for a decentralized cryptocurrency between 2008 and 2009, the field of cryptocurrency technologies has experienced rapid growth in popularity. Those technologies that are based on the same or very similar fundamental principles as Bitcoin are commonly referred to as Blockchains. The term blockchain itself was not directly introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in the original paper but used early on within the Bitcoin community to refer to certain concepts of cryptocurrency.
As a result, there are two common spellings of this term found throughout the literature, namely blockchain and blockchain. Although the later variant was used by Satoshi Nakamoto in a comment within the original source code,1 the first one is used frequently in press articles as well as recent academic literature e.g., in publications such as [50], and has established itself as the de-facto standard.
Research Paper
Dr Daniel Barreto's class: Leading Trends in IT.
Grade: 97%
Co-written by Christina Rentschler, Victor Gardrinier and Dean Rauschenbusch.
Date: 08/2017
Big-Crypto: Big Data, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Hossein Hassani, Xu Huan...eraser Juan José Calderón
Big-Crypto: Big Data, Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Hossein Hassani, Xu Huang and Emmanuel Silva
.Abstract:
Cryptocurrency has been a trending topic over the past decade, pooling tremendous
technological power and attracting investments valued over trillions of dollars on a global scale.
The cryptocurrency technology and its network have been endowed with many superior features
due to its unique architecture, which also determined its worldwide efficiency, applicability and
data intensive characteristics. This paper introduces and summarises the interactions between two
significant concepts in the digitalized world, i.e., cryptocurrency and Big Data. Both subjects are at the
forefront of technological research, and this paper focuses on their convergence and comprehensively
reviews the very recent applications and developments after 2016. Accordingly, we aim to present
a systematic review of the interactions between Big Data and cryptocurrency and serve as the
one stop reference directory for researchers with regard to identifying research gaps and directing
future explorations.
Keywords: Big Data; cryptocurrency; Bitcoin; blockchain; review
Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion...ijtsrd
Bitcoin was initially described to the public in a paper released in 2008 under the identity Satoshi Nakamoto. The first ever Bitcoin transaction took place on January 3, 2009. Its success paved the way for the development of similar digital currencies in the years that followed. There are more than 12,500 different cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketcap 2021. This is mostly owing to the extraordinary volatility of the market, which drew many individuals to take an interest and participate in it in the hopes of making money. Twitter has emerged as a common meeting place for those interested in cryptocurrencies. In a noteworthy move, Twitter announced on September 23, 2021, a new feature that would enable users to tip other users using their Bitcoin Lightning wallets. In spite of the fact that this new technology may have far reaching effects on our lives in the future, there is not a great deal of writing on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Even if there arent many rules in place yet for trading cryptocurrencies, a social media sentiment study might help fill in the gaps in our understanding of what influences bitcoin prices. In this study, we examine whether or not analyzing Twitter sentiment can reliably foretell changes in the value digital currencies. Seven of the most widely used cryptocurrencies have their own Twitter discussions and price histories gathered. After that was done, the Valence Aware Dictionary for Sentiment Reasoning was used to conduct an analysis of the datas emotional content VADER . We used the Augmented Dicky Fuller ADF , Kwiatkowski Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin KPSS , and Granger Causality tests to identify time series that were stationary. However, the bullishness ratio revealed that Ethereum and Polkadot prices were predicted despite the fact that swings in Bitcoin, Cardano, XRP, and DOGE prices tend to vary attitude. At last, we use Vector Autoregression VAR to look at the predictability of price returns, and we discover that two of the seven cryptocurrencies can have their prices predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Exactness of price forecasts for Polkadot and Ethereum, respectively, was 99.17 and 99.67 . A. Esakki Elango | E. Manohar ME | S. Vishnu Durga "Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion and Information Quantity" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-2 , April 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd55091.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/management/other/55091/cryptocurrency-market-movement-and-tendency-forecasting-using-twitter-emotion-and-information-quantity/a-esakki-elango
Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion...ijtsrd
Bitcoin was initially described to the public in a paper released in 2008 under the identity Satoshi Nakamoto. The first ever Bitcoin transaction took place on January 3, 2009. Its success paved the way for the development of similar digital currencies in the years that followed. There are more than 12,500 different cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketcap 2021. This is mostly owing to the extraordinary volatility of the market, which drew many individuals to take an interest and participate in it in the hopes of making money. Twitter has emerged as a common meeting place for those interested in cryptocurrencies. In a noteworthy move, Twitter announced on September 23, 2021, a new feature that would enable users to tip other users using their Bitcoin Lightning wallets. In spite of the fact that this new technology may have far reaching effects on our lives in the future, there is not a great deal of writing on the subject of cryptocurrencies. Even if there arent many rules in place yet for trading cryptocurrencies, a social media sentiment study might help fill in the gaps in our understanding of what influences bitcoin prices. In this study, we examine whether or not analyzing Twitter sentiment can reliably foretell changes in the value digital currencies. Seven of the most widely used cryptocurrencies have their own Twitter discussions and price histories gathered. After that was done, the Valence Aware Dictionary for Sentiment Reasoning was used to conduct an analysis of the datas emotional content VADER . We used the Augmented Dicky Fuller ADF , Kwiatkowski Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin KPSS , and Granger Causality tests to identify time series that were stationary. However, the bullishness ratio revealed that Ethereum and Polkadot prices were predicted despite the fact that swings in Bitcoin, Cardano, XRP, and DOGE prices tend to vary attitude. At last, we use Vector Autoregression VAR to look at the predictability of price returns, and we discover that two of the seven cryptocurrencies can have their prices predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Exactness of price forecasts for Polkadot and Ethereum, respectively, was 99.17 and 99.67 . A. Esakki Elango | E. Manohar ME | S. Vishnu Durga "Cryptocurrency Market Movement and Tendency Forecasting using Twitter Emotion and Information Quantity" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-2 , April 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/papers/ijtsrd55091.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com.com/management/other/55091/cryptocurrency-market-movement-and-tendency-forecasting-using-twitter-emotion-and-information-quantity/a-esakki-elango
Blockchain beyond fintech by ridgelift.ioUdayan Modhe
A comprehensive paper on blockchain technology. It covers blockchain technological aspects, blockchain evolution, future trends in blockchain implementation and reference architecture.
Buzz factor or innovation potential - cryptocurrencies’ comparedIan Beckett
This document summarizes a research article that examines factors associated with variations in cryptocurrency market values. It finds that a cryptocurrency's innovation potential, as measured by technological upgrades, is the most important positive factor associated with returns. In contrast, "buzz" or media attention surrounding cryptocurrencies is negatively associated with returns after controlling for other factors. Unexpected increases in supply are also positively associated with returns, which challenges traditional economic theories. The study analyzes weekly return data for five major cryptocurrencies over one year to identify supply and demand drivers of cryptocurrency price fluctuations.
Blockchain and AI Convergence A New Era of Possibilitiesijtsrd
The convergence of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence AI is heralding a transformative era across industries. This paper explores the integration of blockchain and AI, highlighting the synergies between these two technologies and the myriad possibilities they unlock. We delve into the key areas where this convergence is making an impact, including data security, decentralized applications, autonomous systems, and more. Furthermore, we examine the challenges and considerations surrounding this integration, emphasizing the potential benefits for society, businesses, and innovation. Manish Verma "Blockchain and AI Convergence: A New Era of Possibilities" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-5 , October 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd59864.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/59864/blockchain-and-ai-convergence-a-new-era-of-possibilities/manish-verma
Intrduction to crypto and opportunity to learn and earnAkanksha Jaiswal
In this article, you will get to know about the cryptocurrency and also an opportunity that "How you can Get Rich With Bitcoin Even If You Have No Clue About Technology"
Since the introduction of Bitcoin as a prototype for a decentralized cryptocurrency between 2008 and 2009, the field of cryptocurrency technologies has experienced rapid growth in popularity. Those technologies that are based on the same or very similar fundamental principles as Bitcoin are commonly referred to as Blockchains. The term blockchain itself was not directly introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in the original paper but used early on within the Bitcoin community to refer to certain concepts of cryptocurrency.
As a result, there are two common spellings of this term found throughout the literature, namely blockchain and blockchain. Although the later variant was used by Satoshi Nakamoto in a comment within the original source code,1 the first one is used frequently in press articles as well as recent academic literature e.g., in publications such as [50], and has established itself as the de-facto standard.
How Is Cryptocurrency Affecting The World Economy? | +971 589 500 125AaqilFaraj1
The introduction of cryptocurrency licences in Dubai has given rise to a new industry committed to overseeing cryptocurrency exchanges operating throughout the world. Some early adopters became instantly wealthy, while others developed companies whose revenue comes from trading.
https://www.dubaibusinesssetup.ae/cryptocurrency-license/
Investing in Cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is back in the headlines after a three-year respite. It’s discussed on CNBC
daily, and political figures, financial gurus and regulatory officials are repeatedly
asked for their opinion. At this point, much attention has been focused on what
Bitcoin is and how it works, but that in some ways, is the easy part. Assuming the
underlying blockchain technology works, is Bitcoin or any other of the
cryptocurrencies something investors should consider for their portfolios? That’s
the more difficult question.
Unraveling the Bitcoin Breakthrough_ The Future of Cryptocurrency.pdfhk2635475
Cryptocurrency could be a buzzword that has been making waves for a long time presently . Among the different advanced monetary standards , Bitcoin is the foremost well known and widely used. It has been nearly 12 a long time since Bitcoin was to begin with , and it has come a long way since at that point . In a fairly long time , Bitcoin has gone from being a cloud concept to a worldwide wonder , and it has earned a parcel of consideration from investors, dealers , and indeed governments. In spite of this, there are still numerous people who are uncertain about how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies work, and what their future might hold. In this post, we'll dive into what Bitcoin is, how it works, and what long term cryptocurrency might seem like. From block chain innovation to the masters and cons of contributing in computerized cash , we'll cover everything you would like to know around the world of cryptocurrency.
In this article, I review recent studies on blockchains, crypto currencies, and initial coin offerings. I organize the research into two broad categories on the economics of decentralized ledger technologies and their impacts on the real economy. I also outline promising directions for future research in this area.
This document summarizes previous research on the price dependencies and relationships between Bitcoin and major altcoins like Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, etc. It finds that:
1) Previous studies show strong evidence of long-run cointegration and price dependencies between Bitcoin and altcoins.
2) This study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the long-run relationships between cryptocurrency prices, filling a gap in previous research.
3) Preliminary results suggest cryptocurrency prices and their inter-relationships have proven resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are closer price dependencies between some currencies over time.
An Introduction to BlockchainUV7356-PDF-ENG.pdfDeepakSood25
This document introduces blockchain technology and provides examples of its potential applications. It discusses how blockchain creates a secure and transparent way to track asset ownership and enables the verification of transactions between parties in a network. It then describes specific ways blockchain could be used, including for cross-border payments, smart contracts, digital identities, and more. The document uses the example of cross-border payments to illustrate how blockchain may be able to simplify, speed up, and reduce the costs associated with international money transfers.
This document provides an analysis of the cryptocurrency industry. It begins with an overview of the industry and a brief history of digital currencies. It discusses Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, launched in 2009. It then analyzes the economics of major cryptocurrencies, partitioning them by their network security protocols, including proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, and hybrid models. It also discusses factors affecting industry growth like regulation and public perception. The analysis concludes with the goal of providing a concise yet comprehensive overview of the cryptocurrency industry and theoretical economic differences between existing coins.
Bitcoin vs. Altcoins - Exploring the Key DifferencesNiall O'Riordan
Welcome to the fascinating world of cryptocurrencies, where digital currencies and blockchain technology are reshaping the way we think about money and transactions. In this section, we will delve into the intricacies of cryptocurrencies and explore their various types.
Crypto currencies usage is growing in a more connected world. The traditional banking industry is being disrupted by a decentralized network, rich in computing resources and connectivity.
Full quality version here -> https://www.scribd.com/document/333257162/Crypto-Currency-Mining-Science
The Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies: Defining the Economic and Social Value...Petar Radanliev
The study examines blockchain technologies and their pivotal role in the evolving Metaverse, shedding light on topics such as how to invest in cryptocurrency, the mechanics behind crypto mining, and strategies to effectively buy and trade cryptocurrencies. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the research transitions from the fundamental principles of fintech investment strategies to the overarching implications of blockchain within the Metaverse. Alongside exploring machine learning potentials in financial sectors and risk assessment methodologies, the study critically assesses whether developed or developing nations are poised to reap greater benefits from these technologies. Moreover, it probes into both enduring and dubious crypto projects, drawing a distinct line between genuine blockchain applications and Ponzi-like schemes. The conclusion resolutely affirms the continuing dominance of blockchain technologies, underlined by a profound exploration of their intrinsic value and a reflective commentary by the author on the potential risks confCybersecurity Risks ronting individual investors.
Blockchain and smart contracts have potential applications in the insurance sector, but the technology is still maturing. The article discusses use cases for blockchain in insurance like smart contracts for claims processing but notes the technology is still early in the hype cycle for insurance. It aims to help insurers evaluate if and how to adopt blockchain by reviewing the technology, use cases, and doing a SWOT analysis to discuss strengths, weaknesses and other factors to consider for adoption. A decision to adopt now may not show results for 3-5 years when the technology is more mature for insurance applications.
Bitter to Better — How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency.Qutomatic
Bitter to Better — How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency.
Bitcoin is a distributed digital currency which has attracted a substantial number of users. We perform an in-depth investigation to understand what
made Bitcoin so successful, while decades of research on cryptographic e-cash
has not lead to a large-scale deployment. We ask also how Bitcoin could become
a good candidate for a long-lived stable currency. In doing so, we identify several
issues and attacks of Bitcoin, and propose suitable techniques to address them
Cryptocurrencies venture into the unknownThe Block
This document discusses cryptoasset investments and strategies for institutional investors. It begins by reviewing developments in the crypto industry in 2018, including large price swings and increased funding and infrastructure projects. It then outlines three broad categories of cryptoasset investments: mainstream cryptoassets, pre- and post-token distribution, and equity investing. Various fund strategies like public index, public active, and private approaches are also discussed. The document recommends that institutional investors begin exploring crypto with small allocations of less than 1% of their portfolio due to the high risks involved and need for diversification.
Correlation between capital markets and cryptocurrency: impact of the coronav...IJECEIAES
The objective of the study is to use daily Thai data analysis to strengthen correlations between Bitcoin and conventional asset measurements. The most popular asset prices and indices include gold, oil, the SET50 index, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Dashcoin (DASH), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Binance coin (BNB), and Dogecoin (DOGE). We find a significant correlation between cryptocurrencies and the digital economy using a matrix approach to the Pearson correlation coefficient. With the help of a minimal spanning tree model and random matrix theory, we can determine the shortest route between assets. Yet, as predicted, only a small percentage of the greatest eigenvalues diverge. We are also developing a novel technique to find the SET-50 index. In an investment portfolio during the coronavirus period, alternatives to the gold price and the DOGE may offer possibilities for risk diversification.
This document discusses blockchain technology and its potential uses. It begins by defining key terms related to blockchain like nodes, transactions, ledgers, blocks, cryptography, and hashing. It then describes the three main types of blockchain: public, private, and consortium. Public blockchains allow anyone to participate, private blockchains are permissioned, and consortium blockchains involve a group of organizations controlling access. Potential uses of blockchain discussed include cryptocurrency, financial services, supply chain management, healthcare, and more. The document aims to provide an overview of the basic concepts of blockchain technology.
Bitcoin Desk Clock is a Real-time crypto ticker display. 500+ cryptocurrencies, select the end of your favorite to enjoy the ride! Portable, elegant, unstoppable, It will show you bitcoin price, bitcoin news and bitcoin price USD.
http://bitcoindeskclock.com/
This document provides an overview and introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology for investors. It defines key terms like blockchain, distributed ledger, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. It explains how blockchain works to securely record transactions in digital ledgers without a central authority. The document outlines the investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin themselves, as well as companies driving innovation in the crypto economy through mining, exchanges, payments and more. It aims to help investors understand this new asset class and where it may fit in a portfolio.
The dramatic events of 2022 will shape the crypto landscape for years to come.
Chart 1. Rolling 1y Sharpe ratio
Sources: IEX Cloud and Coinbase.
Yet, despite the uncertainty surrounding the
potential fallout, there are important
characteristics that distinguish this market
from the previous crypto winter. For one,
institutional crypto adoption remains firmly
entrenched. Many investors take a long-term
perspective and recognize the cyclical nature
of these markets. Rather than stepping back,
they are using this environment to hone their
knowledge and build the infrastructure to
prepare for the future.
But no one is arguing that digital assets
haven’t faced an important setback. The
total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies
is currently around US$835 billion, down 62%
from $2.2 trillion at the end of 2021, albeit still
high relative to most of the asset class’ history.
Comparatively, the Nasdaq is down 30% since
the end of 2021 and the S&P 500 down 18%.
From a Sharpe ratio perspective however,
crypto’s risk-adjusted return actually
performed in line with US and global stock
indices through 2022 and did much better
than US bonds. Prior to the fallout in November,
an equally-weighted basket of BTC and ETH
offered a negative Sharpe ratio of 1.08 compared
to an average negative return of 0.90 for US
stocks. This is a significant deviation from
the trend observed in the last crypto winter,
when digital assets underperformed nearly
all traditional risk assets for the duration of
2019 and into early 2020.
4
The differences between these periods may
also be observed in the prospective fallout
from the latest crypto downturn. For instance,
we expect greater calls for regulatory clarity
to emerge, as institutional investors push for
better governance and standards to help
make the asset class more accessible, safer,
and easier for all to navigate. This will take
time, however, as the industry puts lessons
about systemic deficiencies in the right
context and applies the necessary risk
controls to protect its customers.
Looking ahead, we believe the evolution
of the crypto ecosystem is putting subjects
like tokenization, permissioned DeFi, and
web3 front and center. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s
core investment thesis remains intact, while
Ethereum seems to be outpacing its layer-1
competition in terms of network activity.
We are seeing a greater variety of use cases for
non-fungible tokens outside of art, like using
NFTs to certify and authenticate real-world
assets or as ENS domain names. Stablecoins
are now one of the largest sectors in the crypto
ecosystem with an outsized role in storing and
transferring wealth.
We discuss these trends and many more in the
enclosed report
Artificial Intelligence and Quantum CryptographyPetar Radanliev
Dr Petar Radanliev
Department of Computer Sciences
University of Oxford
Abstract:
The technological advancements made in recent times, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing, have brought about significant changes in technology. These advancements have profoundly impacted quantum cryptography, a field where AI methodologies hold tremendous potential to enhance the efficiency and robustness of cryptographic systems. However, the emergence of quantum computers has created a new challenge for existing security algorithms, commonly called the 'quantum threat'. Despite these challenges, there are promising avenues for integrating neural network-based AI in cryptography, which has significant implications for future digital security paradigms. This summary highlights the key themes in the intersection of AI and quantum cryptography, including the potential benefits of AI-driven cryptography, the challenges that need to be addressed, and the prospects of this interdisciplinary research area.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Algorithms, Neural Networks, Quantum-AI Integration, Quantum Threats, AI-enhanced Security, Quantum Information Processing.
Artificial Intelligence and Quantum CryptographyPetar Radanliev
Abstract:
The technological advancements made in recent times, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing, have brought about significant changes in technology. These advancements have profoundly impacted quantum cryptography, a field where AI methodologies hold tremendous potential to enhance the efficiency and robustness of cryptographic systems. However, the emergence of quantum computers has created a new challenge for existing security algorithms, commonly called the 'quantum threat'. Despite these challenges, there are promising avenues for integrating neural network-based AI in cryptography, which has significant implications for future digital security paradigms. This summary highlights the key themes in the intersection of AI and quantum cryptography, including the potential benefits of AI-driven cryptography, the challenges that need to be addressed, and the prospects of this interdisciplinary research area.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Algorithms, Neural Networks, Quantum-AI Integration, Quantum Threats, AI-enhanced Security, Quantum Information Processing.
More Related Content
Similar to Review and comparison of US, EU, and UK regulations on cyber risk/security of the current Blockchain Technologies - viewpoint from 2023
How Is Cryptocurrency Affecting The World Economy? | +971 589 500 125AaqilFaraj1
The introduction of cryptocurrency licences in Dubai has given rise to a new industry committed to overseeing cryptocurrency exchanges operating throughout the world. Some early adopters became instantly wealthy, while others developed companies whose revenue comes from trading.
https://www.dubaibusinesssetup.ae/cryptocurrency-license/
Investing in Cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is back in the headlines after a three-year respite. It’s discussed on CNBC
daily, and political figures, financial gurus and regulatory officials are repeatedly
asked for their opinion. At this point, much attention has been focused on what
Bitcoin is and how it works, but that in some ways, is the easy part. Assuming the
underlying blockchain technology works, is Bitcoin or any other of the
cryptocurrencies something investors should consider for their portfolios? That’s
the more difficult question.
Unraveling the Bitcoin Breakthrough_ The Future of Cryptocurrency.pdfhk2635475
Cryptocurrency could be a buzzword that has been making waves for a long time presently . Among the different advanced monetary standards , Bitcoin is the foremost well known and widely used. It has been nearly 12 a long time since Bitcoin was to begin with , and it has come a long way since at that point . In a fairly long time , Bitcoin has gone from being a cloud concept to a worldwide wonder , and it has earned a parcel of consideration from investors, dealers , and indeed governments. In spite of this, there are still numerous people who are uncertain about how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies work, and what their future might hold. In this post, we'll dive into what Bitcoin is, how it works, and what long term cryptocurrency might seem like. From block chain innovation to the masters and cons of contributing in computerized cash , we'll cover everything you would like to know around the world of cryptocurrency.
In this article, I review recent studies on blockchains, crypto currencies, and initial coin offerings. I organize the research into two broad categories on the economics of decentralized ledger technologies and their impacts on the real economy. I also outline promising directions for future research in this area.
This document summarizes previous research on the price dependencies and relationships between Bitcoin and major altcoins like Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, etc. It finds that:
1) Previous studies show strong evidence of long-run cointegration and price dependencies between Bitcoin and altcoins.
2) This study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the long-run relationships between cryptocurrency prices, filling a gap in previous research.
3) Preliminary results suggest cryptocurrency prices and their inter-relationships have proven resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are closer price dependencies between some currencies over time.
An Introduction to BlockchainUV7356-PDF-ENG.pdfDeepakSood25
This document introduces blockchain technology and provides examples of its potential applications. It discusses how blockchain creates a secure and transparent way to track asset ownership and enables the verification of transactions between parties in a network. It then describes specific ways blockchain could be used, including for cross-border payments, smart contracts, digital identities, and more. The document uses the example of cross-border payments to illustrate how blockchain may be able to simplify, speed up, and reduce the costs associated with international money transfers.
This document provides an analysis of the cryptocurrency industry. It begins with an overview of the industry and a brief history of digital currencies. It discusses Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, launched in 2009. It then analyzes the economics of major cryptocurrencies, partitioning them by their network security protocols, including proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, and hybrid models. It also discusses factors affecting industry growth like regulation and public perception. The analysis concludes with the goal of providing a concise yet comprehensive overview of the cryptocurrency industry and theoretical economic differences between existing coins.
Bitcoin vs. Altcoins - Exploring the Key DifferencesNiall O'Riordan
Welcome to the fascinating world of cryptocurrencies, where digital currencies and blockchain technology are reshaping the way we think about money and transactions. In this section, we will delve into the intricacies of cryptocurrencies and explore their various types.
Crypto currencies usage is growing in a more connected world. The traditional banking industry is being disrupted by a decentralized network, rich in computing resources and connectivity.
Full quality version here -> https://www.scribd.com/document/333257162/Crypto-Currency-Mining-Science
The Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies: Defining the Economic and Social Value...Petar Radanliev
The study examines blockchain technologies and their pivotal role in the evolving Metaverse, shedding light on topics such as how to invest in cryptocurrency, the mechanics behind crypto mining, and strategies to effectively buy and trade cryptocurrencies. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the research transitions from the fundamental principles of fintech investment strategies to the overarching implications of blockchain within the Metaverse. Alongside exploring machine learning potentials in financial sectors and risk assessment methodologies, the study critically assesses whether developed or developing nations are poised to reap greater benefits from these technologies. Moreover, it probes into both enduring and dubious crypto projects, drawing a distinct line between genuine blockchain applications and Ponzi-like schemes. The conclusion resolutely affirms the continuing dominance of blockchain technologies, underlined by a profound exploration of their intrinsic value and a reflective commentary by the author on the potential risks confCybersecurity Risks ronting individual investors.
Blockchain and smart contracts have potential applications in the insurance sector, but the technology is still maturing. The article discusses use cases for blockchain in insurance like smart contracts for claims processing but notes the technology is still early in the hype cycle for insurance. It aims to help insurers evaluate if and how to adopt blockchain by reviewing the technology, use cases, and doing a SWOT analysis to discuss strengths, weaknesses and other factors to consider for adoption. A decision to adopt now may not show results for 3-5 years when the technology is more mature for insurance applications.
Bitter to Better — How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency.Qutomatic
Bitter to Better — How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency.
Bitcoin is a distributed digital currency which has attracted a substantial number of users. We perform an in-depth investigation to understand what
made Bitcoin so successful, while decades of research on cryptographic e-cash
has not lead to a large-scale deployment. We ask also how Bitcoin could become
a good candidate for a long-lived stable currency. In doing so, we identify several
issues and attacks of Bitcoin, and propose suitable techniques to address them
Cryptocurrencies venture into the unknownThe Block
This document discusses cryptoasset investments and strategies for institutional investors. It begins by reviewing developments in the crypto industry in 2018, including large price swings and increased funding and infrastructure projects. It then outlines three broad categories of cryptoasset investments: mainstream cryptoassets, pre- and post-token distribution, and equity investing. Various fund strategies like public index, public active, and private approaches are also discussed. The document recommends that institutional investors begin exploring crypto with small allocations of less than 1% of their portfolio due to the high risks involved and need for diversification.
Correlation between capital markets and cryptocurrency: impact of the coronav...IJECEIAES
The objective of the study is to use daily Thai data analysis to strengthen correlations between Bitcoin and conventional asset measurements. The most popular asset prices and indices include gold, oil, the SET50 index, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Dashcoin (DASH), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Binance coin (BNB), and Dogecoin (DOGE). We find a significant correlation between cryptocurrencies and the digital economy using a matrix approach to the Pearson correlation coefficient. With the help of a minimal spanning tree model and random matrix theory, we can determine the shortest route between assets. Yet, as predicted, only a small percentage of the greatest eigenvalues diverge. We are also developing a novel technique to find the SET-50 index. In an investment portfolio during the coronavirus period, alternatives to the gold price and the DOGE may offer possibilities for risk diversification.
This document discusses blockchain technology and its potential uses. It begins by defining key terms related to blockchain like nodes, transactions, ledgers, blocks, cryptography, and hashing. It then describes the three main types of blockchain: public, private, and consortium. Public blockchains allow anyone to participate, private blockchains are permissioned, and consortium blockchains involve a group of organizations controlling access. Potential uses of blockchain discussed include cryptocurrency, financial services, supply chain management, healthcare, and more. The document aims to provide an overview of the basic concepts of blockchain technology.
Bitcoin Desk Clock is a Real-time crypto ticker display. 500+ cryptocurrencies, select the end of your favorite to enjoy the ride! Portable, elegant, unstoppable, It will show you bitcoin price, bitcoin news and bitcoin price USD.
http://bitcoindeskclock.com/
This document provides an overview and introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology for investors. It defines key terms like blockchain, distributed ledger, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. It explains how blockchain works to securely record transactions in digital ledgers without a central authority. The document outlines the investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin themselves, as well as companies driving innovation in the crypto economy through mining, exchanges, payments and more. It aims to help investors understand this new asset class and where it may fit in a portfolio.
The dramatic events of 2022 will shape the crypto landscape for years to come.
Chart 1. Rolling 1y Sharpe ratio
Sources: IEX Cloud and Coinbase.
Yet, despite the uncertainty surrounding the
potential fallout, there are important
characteristics that distinguish this market
from the previous crypto winter. For one,
institutional crypto adoption remains firmly
entrenched. Many investors take a long-term
perspective and recognize the cyclical nature
of these markets. Rather than stepping back,
they are using this environment to hone their
knowledge and build the infrastructure to
prepare for the future.
But no one is arguing that digital assets
haven’t faced an important setback. The
total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies
is currently around US$835 billion, down 62%
from $2.2 trillion at the end of 2021, albeit still
high relative to most of the asset class’ history.
Comparatively, the Nasdaq is down 30% since
the end of 2021 and the S&P 500 down 18%.
From a Sharpe ratio perspective however,
crypto’s risk-adjusted return actually
performed in line with US and global stock
indices through 2022 and did much better
than US bonds. Prior to the fallout in November,
an equally-weighted basket of BTC and ETH
offered a negative Sharpe ratio of 1.08 compared
to an average negative return of 0.90 for US
stocks. This is a significant deviation from
the trend observed in the last crypto winter,
when digital assets underperformed nearly
all traditional risk assets for the duration of
2019 and into early 2020.
4
The differences between these periods may
also be observed in the prospective fallout
from the latest crypto downturn. For instance,
we expect greater calls for regulatory clarity
to emerge, as institutional investors push for
better governance and standards to help
make the asset class more accessible, safer,
and easier for all to navigate. This will take
time, however, as the industry puts lessons
about systemic deficiencies in the right
context and applies the necessary risk
controls to protect its customers.
Looking ahead, we believe the evolution
of the crypto ecosystem is putting subjects
like tokenization, permissioned DeFi, and
web3 front and center. Meanwhile, bitcoin’s
core investment thesis remains intact, while
Ethereum seems to be outpacing its layer-1
competition in terms of network activity.
We are seeing a greater variety of use cases for
non-fungible tokens outside of art, like using
NFTs to certify and authenticate real-world
assets or as ENS domain names. Stablecoins
are now one of the largest sectors in the crypto
ecosystem with an outsized role in storing and
transferring wealth.
We discuss these trends and many more in the
enclosed report
Similar to Review and comparison of US, EU, and UK regulations on cyber risk/security of the current Blockchain Technologies - viewpoint from 2023 (20)
Artificial Intelligence and Quantum CryptographyPetar Radanliev
Dr Petar Radanliev
Department of Computer Sciences
University of Oxford
Abstract:
The technological advancements made in recent times, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing, have brought about significant changes in technology. These advancements have profoundly impacted quantum cryptography, a field where AI methodologies hold tremendous potential to enhance the efficiency and robustness of cryptographic systems. However, the emergence of quantum computers has created a new challenge for existing security algorithms, commonly called the 'quantum threat'. Despite these challenges, there are promising avenues for integrating neural network-based AI in cryptography, which has significant implications for future digital security paradigms. This summary highlights the key themes in the intersection of AI and quantum cryptography, including the potential benefits of AI-driven cryptography, the challenges that need to be addressed, and the prospects of this interdisciplinary research area.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Algorithms, Neural Networks, Quantum-AI Integration, Quantum Threats, AI-enhanced Security, Quantum Information Processing.
Artificial Intelligence and Quantum CryptographyPetar Radanliev
Abstract:
The technological advancements made in recent times, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing, have brought about significant changes in technology. These advancements have profoundly impacted quantum cryptography, a field where AI methodologies hold tremendous potential to enhance the efficiency and robustness of cryptographic systems. However, the emergence of quantum computers has created a new challenge for existing security algorithms, commonly called the 'quantum threat'. Despite these challenges, there are promising avenues for integrating neural network-based AI in cryptography, which has significant implications for future digital security paradigms. This summary highlights the key themes in the intersection of AI and quantum cryptography, including the potential benefits of AI-driven cryptography, the challenges that need to be addressed, and the prospects of this interdisciplinary research area.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Algorithms, Neural Networks, Quantum-AI Integration, Quantum Threats, AI-enhanced Security, Quantum Information Processing.
Cyber Diplomacy: Defining the Opportunities for Cybersecurity and Risks from Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Blockchains, and Quantum Computing
Abstract: Cyber diplomacy is critical in dealing with the digital era's evolving cybersecurity dangers and possibilities. This article investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchains, and Quantum Computing on cyber diplomacy. AI holds the potential for proactive threat identification and response, while IoT enables international information sharing. Blockchains enable secure data sharing and document verification, but they also pose new threats, such as AI-driven cyber-attacks, IoT privacy breaches, blockchain vulnerabilities, and the potential for quantum computing to break encryption. This article conducts case study reviews in combination with secondary data analysis and emphasises the value of international cooperation in developing global norms and frameworks to control responsible technology adoption. Cyber diplomacy can promote cybersecurity, protect national interests, and foster mutual trust among nations in the digital sphere by capitalising on possibilities and reducing threats.
PhD Thesis:
Blockchain Cybersecurity
Dr Petar Radanliev
University of Oxford
PhD Thesis:
"Blockchain Cybersecurity: A Comprehensive Study"
Dr Petar Radanliev
University of Oxford
Abstract:
This thesis presents an exhaustive exploration of the interplay between blockchain technology and cybersecurity. It delves into how blockchain can revolutionise cybersecurity practices, addressing existing challenges and opening up new avenues for secure digital interactions. The study provides a thorough analysis of blockchain's inherent security features, such as decentralisation, immutability, and transparency, and how these attributes contribute to enhancing cybersecurity across various domains. Additionally, the thesis examines potential vulnerabilities within blockchain systems and proposes strategies for mitigating these risks. By combining theoretical insights with practical case studies, this work aims to offer a holistic view of blockchain's role in shaping the future landscape of cybersecurity.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview of Blockchain Technology
Cybersecurity Challenges in the Digital Age
Objectives and Scope of the Study
Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Blockchain Technology
History and Evolution of Blockchain
Key Components and Functioning of Blockchain Systems
Types of Blockchain: Public, Private, and Consortium
Chapter 3: Blockchain in Cybersecurity
Decentralisation as a Security Feature
Immutability and Data Integrity
Transparency and Trust in Blockchain Systems
Chapter 4: Blockchain Applications in Cybersecurity
Use Cases in Various Industries
Blockchain in Identity Management and Authentication
Secure Transactions and Smart Contracts
Chapter 5: Vulnerabilities and Risks in Blockchain
Analysis of Known Blockchain Vulnerabilities
Potential Attack Vectors and Their Implications
Risk Mitigation Strategies and Best Practices
Chapter 6: Future Trends and Challenges
Emerging Trends in Blockchain and Cybersecurity
Scalability, Interoperability, and Regulatory Challenges
Future Research Directions
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Summary of Key Findings
Contributions to the Field of Blockchain Cybersecurity
Recommendations for Future Research and Practice
Appendices
Technical Details of Blockchain Protocols
Case Studies and Practical Examples
Bibliography
Comprehensive List of Academic References and Key Sources
This thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a detailed analysis of blockchain's potential and limitations in the realm of cybersecurity, offering valuable insights for academics, industry practitioners, and policy makers.
I started my career testing security in the military and defence industries. Then, I moved into managing cyber risks in the finance world. After ten years in these fields, I returned to academics, earning my PhD, Master's, and Bachelor's degrees.
My postdoctoral work took me to several universities: Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, MIT, and back to the University of Oxford
PhD Thesis:
Blockchain Cybersecurity
Dr Petar Radanliev
University of Oxford
PhD Thesis:
"Blockchain Cybersecurity: A Comprehensive Study"
Dr Petar Radanliev
University of Oxford
Abstract:
This thesis presents an exhaustive exploration of the interplay between blockchain technology and cybersecurity. It delves into how blockchain can revolutionise cybersecurity practices, addressing existing challenges and opening up new avenues for secure digital interactions. The study provides a thorough analysis of blockchain's inherent security features, such as decentralisation, immutability, and transparency, and how these attributes contribute to enhancing cybersecurity across various domains. Additionally, the thesis examines potential vulnerabilities within blockchain systems and proposes strategies for mitigating these risks. By combining theoretical insights with practical case studies, this work aims to offer a holistic view of blockchain's role in shaping the future landscape of cybersecurity.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview of Blockchain Technology
Cybersecurity Challenges in the Digital Age
Objectives and Scope of the Study
Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Blockchain Technology
History and Evolution of Blockchain
Key Components and Functioning of Blockchain Systems
Types of Blockchain: Public, Private, and Consortium
Chapter 3: Blockchain in Cybersecurity
Decentralisation as a Security Feature
Immutability and Data Integrity
Transparency and Trust in Blockchain Systems
Chapter 4: Blockchain Applications in Cybersecurity
Use Cases in Various Industries
Blockchain in Identity Management and Authentication
Secure Transactions and Smart Contracts
Chapter 5: Vulnerabilities and Risks in Blockchain
Analysis of Known Blockchain Vulnerabilities
Potential Attack Vectors and Their Implications
Risk Mitigation Strategies and Best Practices
Chapter 6: Future Trends and Challenges
Emerging Trends in Blockchain and Cybersecurity
Scalability, Interoperability, and Regulatory Challenges
Future Research Directions
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Summary of Key Findings
Contributions to the Field of Blockchain Cybersecurity
Recommendations for Future Research and Practice
Appendices
Technical Details of Blockchain Protocols
Case Studies and Practical Examples
Bibliography
Comprehensive List of Academic References and Key Sources
This thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a detailed analysis of blockchain's potential and limitations in the realm of cybersecurity, offering valuable insights for academics, industry practitioners, and policy makers.
I started my career testing security in the military and defence industries. Then, I moved into managing cyber risks in the finance world. After ten years in these fields, I returned to academics, earning my PhD, Master's, and Bachelor's degrees.
My postdoctoral work took me to several universities: Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, MIT, and back to the University of Oxford
The Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies: Defining the Economic and Social Values of Blockchain Technologies, assessing the Opportunities, and defining the Financial and Cybersecurity Risks of the Metaverse.
Ethics and Responsible AI Deployment
Abstract: As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent, protecting personal privacy is a critical ethical issue that must be addressed. This article explores the need for ethical AI systems that safeguard individual privacy while complying with ethical standards. By taking a multidisciplinary approach, the research examines innovative algorithmic techniques such as differential privacy, homomorphic encryption, federated learning, international regulatory frameworks, and ethical guidelines. The study concludes that these algorithms effectively enhance privacy protection while balancing the utility of AI with the need to protect personal data. The article emphasises the importance of a comprehensive approach that combines technological innovation with ethical and regulatory strategies to harness the power of AI in a way that respects and protects individual privacy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly impact employment, social equity, and economic systems in ways that require careful ethical analysis and aggressive legislative measures to mitigate negative consequences. This means that the implications of AI in different industries, such as healthcare, finance, and transportation, must be carefully considered.
Due to the global nature of AI technology, global collaboration must be fostered to establish standards and regulatory frameworks that transcend national boundaries. This includes the establishment of ethical guidelines that AI researchers and developers worldwide should follow.
To address emergent ethical concerns with AI, future research must focus on several recommendations. Firstly, ethical considerations must be integrated into the design phase of AI systems and not treated as an afterthought. This is known as "Ethics by Design" and involves incorporating ethical standards during the development phase of AI systems to ensure that the technology aligns with ethical principles.
Secondly, interdisciplinary research that combines AI, ethics, law, social science, and other relevant domains should be promoted to produce well-rounded solutions to ethical dilemmas. This requires the participation of experts from different fields to identify and address ethical issues.
Thirdly, regulatory frameworks must be dynamic and adaptive to keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI technologies. This means that regulatory frameworks must be flexible enough to accommodate changes in AI technology while ensuring ethical standards are maintained.
Fourthly, empirical research should be conducted to understand the real-world implications of AI systems on individuals and society, which can then inform ethical principles and policies. This means that empirical data must be collected to understand how AI affects people in different contexts.
Finally, risk assessment procedures should be improved to better analyse the ethical hazards associated with AI applications.
Artificial Intelligence: Survey of Cybersecurity Capabilities, Ethical Concer...Petar Radanliev
The document discusses various topics related to artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, including:
1. It provides an overview of different types of AI attacks such as automated phishing, adversarial attacks, and using AI for cyberattacks.
2. It describes specific adversarial attack methods like Fast Gradient Sign Method, Jacobian-based Saliency Map Attack, Deepfool Attack, and Carlini & Wagner Attack that can generate adversarial examples to deceive AI systems.
3. It discusses challenges around balancing AI privacy/ethics regulations with security risks, and compares the approaches taken by different countries like the UK and New Zealand.
Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Cryptography: A comprehensive analysis of...Petar Radanliev
This document provides a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between artificial intelligence and quantum cryptography. It discusses how AI and quantum cryptography have revolutionized their respective fields, with AI making advances in areas like healthcare and finance through data processing and pattern recognition, and quantum cryptography providing unprecedented security based on physical laws. The document examines topics like cryptographic algorithms, cybersecurity, quantum key distribution protocols, and how AI and quantum techniques can enhance security for AI systems. It also covers regulatory standards, technological challenges, opportunities for more secure encryption, and applications in industries like healthcare.
Red Teaming Generative AI and Quantum CryptographyPetar Radanliev
In the contemporary digital age, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) convergence is reshaping the cyber landscape, introducing both unprecedented opportunities and potential vulnerabilities.
This research, conducted over five years, delves into the cybersecurity implications of this convergence, with a particular focus on AI/Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and quantum cryptographic protocols, notably the BB84 method and specific NIST-approved algorithms. Utilising Python and C++ as primary computational tools, the study employs a "red teaming" approach, simulating potential cyber-attacks to assess the robustness of quantum security measures. Preliminary research over 12 months laid the groundwork, which this study seeks to expand upon, aiming to translate theoretical insights into actionable, real-world cybersecurity solutions. Located at the University of Oxford's technology precinct, the research benefits from state-of-the-art infrastructure and a rich collaborative environment. The study's overarching goal is to ensure that as the digital world transitions to quantum-enhanced operations, it remains resilient against AI-driven cyber threats. The research aims to foster a safer, quantum-ready digital future through iterative testing, feedback integration, and continuous improvement. The findings are intended for broad dissemination, ensuring that the knowledge benefits academia and the global community, emphasising the responsible and secure harnessing of quantum technology.
1. Introduction: Quantum Technology, AI, and the Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape
In the contemporary technological epoch, the rapid evolution of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping our digital realm, expanding the cyber risk horizon. As we stand on the cusp of a quantum revolution, the cyber-attack surface undergoes a transformation, heralding a future rife with potential cyber threats.
2. Theoretical Underpinning
This research endeavours to construct a robust cybersecurity framework, ensuring AI's harmonious and secure integration with the Quantum Internet. Central to our exploration is evaluating AI/Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and their interaction with quintessential quantum security protocols, notably the BB84 method and select NIST-endorsed algorithms. Leveraging the computational prowess of Python and C++, we aim to critically assess the resilience of these quantum security paradigms by simulating AI-driven cyber-attacks.
3. Research Objectives
Envision a quantum-enhanced internet, operating at unparalleled speeds, yet fortified against AI-mediated cyber threats. This vision encapsulates our primary objective: to ensure that the digital advancements of the future, powered by AI, remain benevolent and secure. Over a five-year trajectory, our mission is to harness AI's potential in a manner that is beneficial and safeguarded against malevolent exploits.
Red Teaming AI and Quantum
In the contemporary digital age, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) convergence is reshaping the cyber landscape, introducing both unprecedented opportunities and potential vulnerabilities.
This research, conducted over five years, delves into the cybersecurity implications of this convergence, with a particular focus on AI/Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and quantum cryptographic protocols, notably the BB84 method and specific NIST-approved algorithms. Utilising Python and C++ as primary computational tools, the study employs a "red teaming" approach, simulating potential cyber-attacks to assess the robustness of quantum security measures. Preliminary research over 12 months laid the groundwork, which this study seeks to expand upon, aiming to translate theoretical insights into actionable, real-world cybersecurity solutions. Located at the University of Oxford's technology precinct, the research benefits from state-of-the-art infrastructure and a rich collaborative environment. The study's overarching goal is to ensure that as the digital world transitions to quantum-enhanced operations, it remains resilient against AI-driven cyber threats. The research aims to foster a safer, quantum-ready digital future through iterative testing, feedback integration, and continuous improvement. The findings are intended for broad dissemination, ensuring that the knowledge benefits academia and the global community, emphasising the responsible and secure harnessing of quantum technology.
-- Introduction: Quantum Technology, AI, and the Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape
In the contemporary technological epoch, the rapid evolution of Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping our digital realm, expanding the cyber risk horizon. As we stand on the cusp of a quantum revolution, the cyber-attack surface transforms, heralding a future rife with potential cyber threats.
-- Theoretical Underpinning
This research endeavours to construct a robust cybersecurity framework, ensuring AI's harmonious and secure integration with the Quantum Internet. Central to our exploration is evaluating AI/Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and their interaction with quintessential quantum security protocols, notably the BB84 method and select NIST-endorsed algorithms. Leveraging the computational prowess of Python and C++, we aim to critically assess the resilience of these quantum security paradigms by simulating AI-driven cyber-attacks.
-- Research Objectives
Envision a quantum-enhanced internet, operating at unparalleled speeds yet fortified against AI-mediated cyber threats. This vision encapsulates our primary objective: to ensure that the digital advancements of the future, powered by AI, remain benevolent and secure. Over a five-year trajectory, our mission is to harness AI's potential in a manner that is beneficial and safeguarded against malevolent exploits.
Red Teaming Generative AI/NLP, the BB84 quantum cryptography protocol and the...Petar Radanliev
In the contemporary digital age, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) convergence is reshaping the cyber landscape, introducing both unprecedented opportunities and potential vulnerabilities.
This research, conducted over five years, delves into the cybersecurity implications of this convergence, with a particular focus on AI/Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and quantum cryptographic protocols, notably the BB84 method and specific NIST-approved algorithms. Utilising Python and C++ as primary computational tools, the study employs a "red teaming" approach, simulating potential cyber-attacks to assess the robustness of quantum security measures. Preliminary research over 12 months laid the groundwork, which this study seeks to expand upon, aiming to translate theoretical insights into actionable, real-world cybersecurity solutions. Located at the University of Oxford's technology precinct, the research benefits from state-of-the-art infrastructure and a rich collaborative environment. The study's overarching goal is to ensure that as the digital world transitions to quantum-enhanced operations, it remains resilient against AI-driven cyber threats. The research aims to foster a safer, quantum-ready digital future through iterative testing, feedback integration, and continuous improvement. The findings are intended for broad dissemination, ensuring that the knowledge benefits academia and the global community, emphasising the responsible and secure harnessing of quantum technology.
Cyber Diplomacy: Defining the Opportunities for Cybersecurity and Risks from Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Blockchains, and Quantum Computing
-- One of the main benefits of cyber intelligence sharing is the access to shared threat intelligence
Sharing threat intelligence on time allows for a faster and more effective reaction to cyber incidents, limiting the potential impact and minimising damage
Cyber threat intelligence sharing encourages a collaborative approach to cybersecurity, boosting collective defence efforts among organisations and nations
Sharing threat intelligence allows organisations to learn from each other's experiences, resulting in skill growth and enhanced knowledge in cybersecurity
Sharing cyber threat intelligence supports public-private cooperation, combining the skills and resources of both sectors to effectively tackle cyber threats
-- Cyber threat intelligence frequently originates in a variety of formats and patterns, making it challenging to consolidate and analyse data across several organisations efficiently.
-- CISCP is a United States government effort that promotes information sharing between federal agencies and private-sector organisations in order to improve cybersecurity
One ongoing academic effort is the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre at the University of Oxford
GCSCC is a cybersecurity capacity-building centre, advocating an increase in the global scale, pace, quality, and impact of cybersecurity capacity-building activities.
-- Overcoming geopolitical tensions in cyber discussions is a difficult and delicate endeavour, but it is critical for developing international collaboration and effectively combating cyber threats
-- Diplomatic efforts should be directed towards identifying common ground and areas of mutual interest in cybersecurity
-- Creating avenues for regular communication and discussion can help nations create trust and understanding
-- Cyber diplomacy needs to be focused on encouraging joint research initiatives, cyber threat information exchange, and collaborative efforts to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities to build bridges and foster collaboration
Nations can collaborate to develop rules that improve cybersecurity while discouraging malevolent behaviour.
-- Several future developments are anticipated to affect the landscape of cyber diplomacy as the field of cybersecurity evolves
These developments will have a substantial impact on international cooperation, policy, and responses to growing cyber threats
One of the anticipated future trends is the emergence of international cyber norms
The creation of internationally recognised cyber norms will gain traction
Nations will work more closely together to develop common principles and standards guiding responsible state behaviour in cyberspace
Nations will need to address concerns such as AI ethics, the possible threats of autonomous cyber systems, and the development of rules for the appropriate use of AI in cyber operations.
Dance Movement Therapy in the Metaverse: A Fusion of Virtual Rhythms and Real Healing
In the vast expanse of the digital universe, where pixels and avatars reign supreme, there lies an unexpected sanctuary of healing: dance. The metaverse, a realm of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), is not just a playground for gamers and tech enthusiasts. It's emerging as a therapeutic space where the age-old art of dance is being reimagined. As our physical and digital worlds intertwine, dance in the metaverse is not only a testament to the evolution of art but also a beacon of hope for those grappling with mental health challenges. This immersive dance movement therapy, blending the boundaries of the real and virtual, offers not just an exhilarating physical exercise but also a transformative journey for the mind. Dive with us into this rhythmic odyssey, where every move is a step towards wellness.
Dance Movement Therapy in the Metaverse: A New Frontier for Mental HealthPetar Radanliev
This document discusses using dance movement therapy in virtual reality as a potential new treatment for mental health issues. It describes previous research collecting data on participants' movements and physiological responses during dance therapy sessions using wearable sensors. Machine learning models were used to analyze the data and identify patterns associated with different emotions. The findings suggest virtual reality environments could effectively deliver non-pharmacological interventions. This represents an opportunity to transform mental health practices with more engaging, personalized, and feedback-based therapeutic experiences.
Software Bill of Materials and the Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange Petar Radanliev
The UK and the U.S. are in a special relationship that requires compliance with cybersecurity regulations and cyber solid diplomacy. The Executive Order 14028 which imposes a compulsory requirement for Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), has exposed the need for deeper collaboration between the UK and the U.S. cybersecurity agencies.
We need a comprehensive cyber policy that prioritises cybersecurity as a top national priority for the UK. The UK and the U.S. have individually developed their forward-looking cybersecurity strategy to protect their critical infrastructure, businesses, and citizens from evolving cyber risks. The UK has fallen behind in following the U.S. requirements for Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and cyber vulnerabilities. This exposes a gap in the UK and the U.S. cyber diplomacy and requires a new strategy that builds on existing collaborative efforts and shared expertise in countering cyber threats.
To bring the UK back on track with compliance with standards, legislations, and regulations in the U.S. and to strengthen the UK and the U.S. collective defence capabilities, the new strategy must prioritise improving information sharing, intelligence collaboration and collaborative cybersecurity exercises. This is particularly relevant and important in light of the difficulties SBOMs present in assuring software supply chain security.
This necessitates active participation in multilateral forums that advance cyber policy and advance global norms for cyberspace while also encouraging responsible state behaviour and addressing vulnerabilities in a coordinated fashion. The UK and the U.S. need to set the standard for promoting cyber resilience by creating a secure digital future not only for the UK and the U.S. but through coordinated efforts. The new strategy must also provide opportunities for engagement with the larger international community. The first step in doing this is to address the complexities of managing SBOMs and cyber vulnerabilities with the guiding principles of transparency, cooperation, and international stability in cyberspace.
When the level of cooperation and collaboration has been re-established, the problem of managing the vast volume of new vulnerabilities will be imposed on UK cybersecurity professionals. This study is designed to identify the solutions that would reduce the burden on U.S. cybersecurity professionals today, and the workloads on UK cybersecurity professionals in the future.
The solutions investigated in this study are based on using Generative Pre-Trained Transformers, Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and other Machine Learning algorithms in Software Vulnerability Management. The objective of the study is to identify how such tools can be used for automations in the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and the Vulnerability-Exploitability eXchange (VEX).
The Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies: Defining the Economic and Social Value...Petar Radanliev
This paper contextualises the common queries of "why is crypto crashing?" and "why is crypto down?", the research transcends beyond the frequent market fluctuations to unravel how cryptocurrencies fundamentally work and the step-by-step process on how to create a cryptocurrency.
Reference top the full article:
Radanliev, P., De Roure, D., Novitzky, P., Sluganovic, I., (2023): Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2023.2241882
STREETONOMICS: Exploring the Uncharted Territories of Informal Markets throug...sameer shah
Delve into the world of STREETONOMICS, where a team of 7 enthusiasts embarks on a journey to understand unorganized markets. By engaging with a coffee street vendor and crafting questionnaires, this project uncovers valuable insights into consumer behavior and market dynamics in informal settings."
[4:55 p.m.] Bryan Oates
OJPs are becoming a critical resource for policy-makers and researchers who study the labour market. LMIC continues to work with Vicinity Jobs’ data on OJPs, which can be explored in our Canadian Job Trends Dashboard. Valuable insights have been gained through our analysis of OJP data, including LMIC research lead
Suzanne Spiteri’s recent report on improving the quality and accessibility of job postings to reduce employment barriers for neurodivergent people.
Decoding job postings: Improving accessibility for neurodivergent job seekers
Improving the quality and accessibility of job postings is one way to reduce employment barriers for neurodivergent people.
2. Elemental Economics - Mineral demand.pdfNeal Brewster
After this second you should be able to: Explain the main determinants of demand for any mineral product, and their relative importance; recognise and explain how demand for any product is likely to change with economic activity; recognise and explain the roles of technology and relative prices in influencing demand; be able to explain the differences between the rates of growth of demand for different products.
Discover the Future of Dogecoin with Our Comprehensive Guidance36 Crypto
Learn in-depth about Dogecoin's trajectory and stay informed with 36crypto's essential and up-to-date information about the crypto space.
Our presentation delves into Dogecoin's potential future, exploring whether it's destined to skyrocket to the moon or face a downward spiral. In addition, it highlights invaluable insights. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your crypto understanding!
https://36crypto.com/the-future-of-dogecoin-how-high-can-this-cryptocurrency-reach/
Abhay Bhutada, the Managing Director of Poonawalla Fincorp Limited, is an accomplished leader with over 15 years of experience in commercial and retail lending. A Qualified Chartered Accountant, he has been pivotal in leveraging technology to enhance financial services. Starting his career at Bank of India, he later founded TAB Capital Limited and co-founded Poonawalla Finance Private Limited, emphasizing digital lending. Under his leadership, Poonawalla Fincorp achieved a 'AAA' credit rating, integrating acquisitions and emphasizing corporate governance. Actively involved in industry forums and CSR initiatives, Abhay has been recognized with awards like "Young Entrepreneur of India 2017" and "40 under 40 Most Influential Leader for 2020-21." Personally, he values mindfulness, enjoys gardening, yoga, and sees every day as an opportunity for growth and improvement.
How Does CRISIL Evaluate Lenders in India for Credit RatingsShaheen Kumar
CRISIL evaluates lenders in India by analyzing financial performance, loan portfolio quality, risk management practices, capital adequacy, market position, and adherence to regulatory requirements. This comprehensive assessment ensures a thorough evaluation of creditworthiness and financial strength. Each criterion is meticulously examined to provide credible and reliable ratings.
Economic Risk Factor Update: June 2024 [SlideShare]Commonwealth
May’s reports showed signs of continued economic growth, said Sam Millette, director, fixed income, in his latest Economic Risk Factor Update.
For more market updates, subscribe to The Independent Market Observer at https://blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer.
5 Tips for Creating Standard Financial ReportsEasyReports
Well-crafted financial reports serve as vital tools for decision-making and transparency within an organization. By following the undermentioned tips, you can create standardized financial reports that effectively communicate your company's financial health and performance to stakeholders.
1. Elemental Economics - Introduction to mining.pdfNeal Brewster
After this first you should: Understand the nature of mining; have an awareness of the industry’s boundaries, corporate structure and size; appreciation the complex motivations and objectives of the industries’ various participants; know how mineral reserves are defined and estimated, and how they evolve over time.
Understanding how timely GST payments influence a lender's decision to approve loans, this topic explores the correlation between GST compliance and creditworthiness. It highlights how consistent GST payments can enhance a business's financial credibility, potentially leading to higher chances of loan approval.
The Universal Account Number (UAN) by EPFO centralizes multiple PF accounts, simplifying management for Indian employees. It streamlines PF transfers, withdrawals, and KYC updates, providing transparency and reducing employer dependency. Despite challenges like digital literacy and internet access, UAN is vital for financial empowerment and efficient provident fund management in today's digital age.
In a tight labour market, job-seekers gain bargaining power and leverage it into greater job quality—at least, that’s the conventional wisdom.
Michael, LMIC Economist, presented findings that reveal a weakened relationship between labour market tightness and job quality indicators following the pandemic. Labour market tightness coincided with growth in real wages for only a portion of workers: those in low-wage jobs requiring little education. Several factors—including labour market composition, worker and employer behaviour, and labour market practices—have contributed to the absence of worker benefits. These will be investigated further in future work.
Fabular Frames and the Four Ratio ProblemMajid Iqbal
Digital, interactive art showing the struggle of a society in providing for its present population while also saving planetary resources for future generations. Spread across several frames, the art is actually the rendering of real and speculative data. The stereographic projections change shape in response to prompts and provocations. Visitors interact with the model through speculative statements about how to increase savings across communities, regions, ecosystems and environments. Their fabulations combined with random noise, i.e. factors beyond control, have a dramatic effect on the societal transition. Things get better. Things get worse. The aim is to give visitors a new grasp and feel of the ongoing struggles in democracies around the world.
Stunning art in the small multiples format brings out the spatiotemporal nature of societal transitions, against backdrop issues such as energy, housing, waste, farmland and forest. In each frame we see hopeful and frightful interplays between spending and saving. Problems emerge when one of the two parts of the existential anaglyph rapidly shrinks like Arctic ice, as factors cross thresholds. Ecological wealth and intergenerational equity areFour at stake. Not enough spending could mean economic stress, social unrest and political conflict. Not enough saving and there will be climate breakdown and ‘bankruptcy’. So where does speculative design start and the gambling and betting end? Behind each fabular frame is a four ratio problem. Each ratio reflects the level of sacrifice and self-restraint a society is willing to accept, against promises of prosperity and freedom. Some values seem to stabilise a frame while others cause collapse. Get the ratios right and we can have it all. Get them wrong and things get more desperate.
OJP data from firms like Vicinity Jobs have emerged as a complement to traditional sources of labour demand data, such as the Job Vacancy and Wages Survey (JVWS). Ibrahim Abuallail, PhD Candidate, University of Ottawa, presented research relating to bias in OJPs and a proposed approach to effectively adjust OJP data to complement existing official data (such as from the JVWS) and improve the measurement of labour demand.
Solution Manual For Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition 2024, by Libby...Donc Test
Solution Manual For Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition 2024, by Libby, Hodge, Verified Chapters 1 - 13, Complete Newest Version Solution Manual For Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition by Libby, Hodge, Verified Chapters 1 - 13, Complete Newest Version Solution Manual For Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Chapters Download Stuvia Solution Manual For Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Ebook Download Stuvia Solution Manual For Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Solution Manual For Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Download Stuvia Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Chapters Download Stuvia Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Ebook Download Stuvia Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Financial Accounting 8th Canadian Edition Pdf Download Stuvia
Solution Manual For Financial Accounting, 8th Canadian Edition 2024, by Libby...
Review and comparison of US, EU, and UK regulations on cyber risk/security of the current Blockchain Technologies - viewpoint from 2023
1. 1
The Metaverse: Economic and Social
Values and Risks of new Cryptocurrencies
and Blockchain Technologies
Dr Petar Radanliev
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, United Kingdom:
petar.radanliev@eng.ox.ac.uk
Abstract: The aim of the article is to present a snapshot in time, of the current state
in cryptocurrencies, the values and risks associated to blockchains. With emergence
of over 20,000 crypto projects, the first objective of this article is to present the stage
as it is in 2023, with historical overview since Satoshi presented the first paper on
decentralised blockchains, until today. Second objective of the article is to review the
values and risks associated to cryptocurrencies, and to clarify the differences
between cryptocurrencies from blockchain technologies. The research questions that
drive this article are related determining if the blockchain technology an innovation or
its already obsolete technology? Are there any significant risks from
cryptocurrencies? And are the potential values to society and economy worth
pursuing? Would developed or developing countries benefit more from these
technologies? And which blockchain projects will survive in the long run? In other
words, where is the money and is there money or just hype. The review discusses
the high probability that some crypto projects will fail, and given the vast number of
cryptos, the article acknowledges that many of these projects are nothing more than
ponzies. These are discussed and acknowledged, then the focus is shifted to the
real-world use cases of blockchain projects.
Keywords: Blockchain Technologies, Cryptocurrencies, Risk, Value.
1. Introduction
Cryptocurrencies are digital assets used as virtual currencies, based on
cryptography for security and privacy, and often decentralised. The main
characteristic of a cryptocurrency (crypto) is that they cannot be controlled by
governments, or institutions, but this is debatable, because if one government (e.g.,
USA) or one institution (e.g., Black Rock) decides to take controlling stake in a
crypto, this characteristic can be deceitful. The most popular crypto is Bitcoin, but
there are many other cryptos. Crypto can be used to purchase goods or services,
and can be traded on many online platforms, but none of these platforms is full
regulated. This opens an opportunity for countries like the UK, that are looking to find
their place in the international stage, especially after the recent setbacks from Covid
and Brexit. One argument for pursuing this solution is ‘that the main indicators to
improve financial development should enhance the process of bank lending and
equity market development’ [3] Second argument is that smart contracts and
metaheuristic can help with securing the quality-of-service and even help with the
‘cost-efficient scheduling of medical-data processing’ [4], which seems of crucial
2. 2
importance for the medical systems in the UK – after the Covid shock to the NHS
[5]–[7].
1.1. Brief History of Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies (crypto) are digital assets, or more precisely a set of digital
currencies that emerged with the release of Bitcoin in 20091
. As of January 2021,
there are over 4,000 in circulation, some cryptos with very little trading volume (or
not at all). Cryptocurrencies are traded as digital ‘tokens’ or ‘coins’ that exist on a
distributed and decentralised ledger. Bitcoin leads on market capitalisation, but other
cryptos are trying to break in the market by providing different and improved services
to Bitcoin. Some of the other cryptos - also known as ‘altcoins’ i.e., all
cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin – are used to create a decentralised financial
system e.g., Ethereum2
, with the ability to handle more transactions e.g., Dogecoin3
,
or just use different consensus algorithms e.g., Cardano4
. Cryptocurrencies remain
highly volatile, and without a central control a single statement by Elon Musk has
been sufficient to trigger a spike in interest in search trends (as seen in Figure 1),
and to attract a significant interest in news media.
Figure 1: Comparison of search trends on some of the most popular cryptos (data from 2020 – before the last
major bull run in crypto)
Although the search trends can spike about specific cryptos i.e., Bitcoin and
Dogecoin in Figure 1, a dynamic equicorrelation [8] shows a contagious correlation
(a mutual relationship or connection) effect between cryptocurrencies (i.e., when
Bitcoin crashes, altcoins follow), and the same effect is also related between Bitcoin
1
https://bitcoin.org/en/
2
https://ethereum.org/en/
3
https://dogecoin.com/
4
https://cardano.org/
3. 3
and NASDAQ. This disincentivises diversification into multiple cryptocurrencies, but
a more robust analysis with a value-at-risk and expected shortfall need to be
computed to confirm this. Looking at the spikes in search trends after the
announcement from Elon Musk on Bitcoin purchase and comparing them to the price
cap of Bitcoin and Dogecoin, it almost resembles a certain behaviour in crypto
markets. The user behaviour in some crypto (e.g., Ethereum) appears more stable,
while the behaviour of users in Bitcoin appears more speculative, with fluctuations
based on market trends, followed by larger sell out when market is down [9]. This is
not to say that influential people cannot manipulate the stock market, but the point
here is that stock market investors are protected by regulations, which don’t yet exist
in crypto markets.
In Figure 2 we can clearly see that ‘interest over time’ has changed for Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrencies in general – including Altcoins. While the interest in Google Trends
for Bitcoin has reached its peak in the 2018 bull run, the interest in cryptocurrencies
as a search trend, has increased (to a new 100%) in the 2021 bull run.
Bitcoin: Interest over time – 1st
of January 2004 until 7th
of March 2023
Cryptocurrencies: Interest over time – 1st
of January 2004 until 7th
of March 2023
Figure 2: Interest over time: Bitcoin vs Cryptocurrencies (including Altcoins)
Crypto users can be categorised according to their actions and resources e.g.,
fortune hunter, idealist [10], but the bigger question is, can we categorise
cryptocurrencies into taxonomies, and forecast the future success or failure of
individual Altcoin categories? Another important topic discussed in this article is
related to cryptocurrencies, the idea of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs),
and the Friedrich von Hayekʼs theory of private money, which some experts argue it
could lead to national currencies being replaced by ‘the currency of the digital
platform’ [11]. Another point on centralisation is that even cryptocurrencies that are
4. 4
meant to be very decentralised, such as Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins such as
UDSC, can be (in reality) very centralised, and potentially controllable.
1.2. Research questions and structure
The research aims, objectives, and questions motivating this article include Aim: To
present the current and future values and risks associated to blockchain projects.
Research questions:
1. Is the blockchain technology a driving force for innovation for the future
versions of the internet and Web3 or is it the technology already obsolete?
2. What are the risks from cryptocurrencies?
3. What are the values from cryptocurrencies?
4. Which blockchain projects will survive in the long run?
5. Which blockchain projects can help further development in already developed
countries?
6. Which blockchain projects can help developing countries?
7. Can cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects be regulated? And are national
regulations or international regulations the correct solution?
The article follows a traditional (standard) structure, starting with chapter one (1)
Introduction, chapter two (2) Methodology, then (3) the research engages with a
Case study review of secondary data sources, and compliments the case study with
a new chapter (4) that comprises a survey review. The article ends with a chapter (5)
discussion, and (6) Conclusion.
2. Methodology
This article applies the case study method, in combination with survey review, and
literature review. Since the initial search on the Web of Science and Scopus didn’t
result with a significant number of records, the search was expanded into a wider
review of Google Scholar, IEEE, and other libraries. Although in the initial stages the
focus was on new technologies, after the initial search, the review expanded into
literature on ethics, trading, gambling, decentralised finance, and the Metaverse.
The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is already used in Blockchain 3.0 as open-source
distributed ledger (e.g., IOTA, NEO, EOS) and has presented many unique
alternatives for storing transactions with a potential for higher scalability (by using
Tangle) over Blockchain 1.0 based distributed ledgers (such as Bitcoin). However,
the interest in some of the early crypto projects seems to be dying down. As we can
see in Figure 3 the research interest in some of the most promising projects from the
pre-2018 bull run, seem to has almost completely died out – comparing to interest in
cryptocurrencies in general.
5. 5
Figure 3: Trends in interest for early (pre-2018) crypto projects vs interest in cryptocurrencies in general.
One solution that seem to be under consideration is to rename existing projects
(e.g., NEO is renamed to N3 – with a promise of a better Blockchain)5
, and IOTA is
keeping its name, but evolving into a new blockchain called Crysalis6
. Although the
idea of IoT based crypto is undeniably valuable, further research is required to
determine how IoT technologies would resolve the main problem of Blockchain 1.0,
namely the (i) speed of transaction, and the (ii) security risk from quantum
computers. For the first part of the objective, the IOTA project can process around
500-800 transactions per second. There are much faster blockchains, such as
Solana that can process 50,000 transactions per second.
3. Case Study review
The first version of Blockchain (Bitcoin) combined cryptography with distributed
computing, both of which are decades old technologies. Blockchain 1.0 is a
database maintained by combining a network of computers that collaborate and
share data, creating a new class of information technology (Distributed Secure
Database).
3.1. Blockchain solutions
IoT for healthcare
The increased adoption of IoT in health services seems inevitable, because IoT
offers increased efficiency at reduced amount of time spent, which seems exactly
what the NHS needs. To reduce costs and provide the support required, the NHS
must automate some of the basic data collection and monitoring, which would free
skilled staff to focus on patient safety and patient service. One of the main crypto
projects that could benefit NHS is the ‘VeChain’ project, which resolves many of the
existing supply chain issues. The ‘VeChain’ project is already running and
operational, but in the future, it would be interesting to have even more automated,
machine controlled supply chains, and for that, we have a very different set of
Blockchain solutions – based on IoT systems.
5
https://neo.org/
6
https://chrysalis.iota.org/status
6. 6
Decentralised finance – DeFi
Decentralised finance is based on automated protocols for providing financial
services. The DeFi solutions have many advantages over traditional finance, some
include faster and improved transparency, interoperability, immutability, operations
across borders. However, these strengths are also the main weaknesses. In other
sections of this review, we discuss that processing transactions across borders at
speed is not a difficult task, but the challenges are in the money laundry compliance
process. The speed of DeFi is often at the cost of non-compliance, and although
some day, this will be resolved, at present, it is still a major challenge for large scale
adoption – on a national level, as in El Salvador. Some of the big DeFi protocols in
2023 include Aave, Compound, Curve Finance, Synthetix, PancakeSwap, Kyber
Network, Uniswap, and many other protocols. Although new protocols are gaining
grown, Uniswap remains the most popular decentralised exchange. The collapse of
FTX and other centralised exchanges, has opened a new market potential for
decentralised exchanges, but many questions remain on how decentralised some of
the decentralised exchanges are.
Centralized exchanges
Centralized exchanges have been hit hard in 2022 and without centralised
regulations, it seems like centralized exchanges will continue to make the same
mistakes. Although centralized exchanges that survived the storm (e.g., Binance,
Coinbase, Kraken, KuCoin, among others) claim to be compliant, this compliance is
not overseen, except in some cases in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Some of
the major exchanges that are regulated (although not to the same level as stick
exchanges and banks), in Aust and NZ are also ATO and AML compliant, KYC.
Coinbase in the US is also regulated to a similar level. In a different article, we will
review how effective is this compliance, but in this article, we focus on the level of
compliance that is required for crypto assets to be considered as truly compliant.
Because partial compliance can be confusing, and by classifying such risky assets
as compliant, opens the possibility for fund managers to combine these risky assets
in a relatively safe financial products (e.g., pension funds) and that is one potential
scenario for a future version of the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Layer 1s and 2s, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverses
In a decentralised terminology, a Blockchain (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum) is referred to
as a Layer 1, and protocols that can be used in conjunction with a Blockchain are
known as Layer 2 (e.g., Arbitrum, Optimism). Most Metaverses are Layer 2 protocols
on existing Blockchains, for example, Decentraland (MANA), ApeCoin (APE), Axie
Infinity (AXS), the Sandbox (SAND), Enjin Coin (ENJ), Gala (GALA), Render
(RNDR), and Metahero (HERO) are all powered by the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.
Theta (THETA) started as an ERC-20 token but converted to native THETA. Uses
two tokens THETA for governance and TFUEL for utility. Stacks (STX) is one of a
very few layer-1 blockchains in the Metaverse ecosystem. Non-Fungible Tokens
(NFTs) are assets that represent a unique piece of art, digital content, or media.
NFTs can be used for trading and storing value in the Metaverses, but majority of the
NFTs have proven to be less valuable that some investor hoped.
Crypto Bridges and Oracles
Blockchain bridges enable the movement of assets from one Layer 1 to another
Layer 1, or from a Layer 1 to Layer 2, and the reverse. Some of the most popular
7. 7
bridges in 2023 include Hop Exchange, Orbiter, Rango Exchange, cBridge,
xPollinate, AllBridge, and many other names. Worth mentioning that many of the
major hacks that resulted with a significant loss of Crypto in 2022, were based on
cyber-attacks on Crypto bridges. While Bridges resolve the issues of interoperability
across chains, Oracles (such as Chainlink) enable cross-chain communication and
enable smart contracts to execute on different Blockchains.
Crypto Wallets
Cryptocurrency digital wallets can be classified in three categories, first is safe
storage hard wallets where crypto is stored on a personal device (e.g., Ledger,
Trezor), second category is hot wallets (such as Metamask, TrustWallet), and
exchange wallets (e.g., Coinbase Wallet). Given the recent collapses of centralised
exchanges, it is hard to see why people still keep Crypto in exchange wallets, and it
could be that users simply prefer someone to run the day-to-day management of
their savings and finances. If that is taken as a postulate, then the regulations of
such centralised exchanges become of a paramount importance.
3.2. Lessons to be learned from the errors in FTX and Terra Luna
FTX was a centralised cryptocurrency exchange, providing services such as crypto
derivatives and leverage trading, but the main use for centralised exchanges is to
enable customers to buy and exchange different cryptocurrencies. The main
problems that resulted with the collapse of FTX also apply to all other centralised
cryptocurrency exchanges that are currently in operation. Cryptocurrency exchange
are not regulated, which leads to individuals taking risks without the approval of the
asset owners. Which is an oversimplified description of why centralised
cryptocurrency exchange should not be allowed to operate without regulations.
Individual savers are not always keen on keeping their assets on a USB drive or
writing the private keys on a piece of paper, which if lost, would result with the loss of
their savings. Hence, many small crypto savers use centralised cryptocurrency
exchanges (such as FTX) to store their crypto savings and earn interest – similarly to
the traditional banking system. Despite all the warning signs, individual savers are
still locking their crypto savings in unregulated centralised exchanges.
This presents three options to the UK government and all other governments in the
world.
1. First is to create standards and regulations for cryptocurrencies, because as
of today (08 Jan 2023), we have 22,228 different cryptos (i.e., crypto projects)
and 534 crypto exchanges, with a market cap of $824,468,428,103, and 24h
trade volume of $16,374,071,351[15], and none of the trades are regulated in
the UK, nor in most of the other countries in the world.
2. Second is to ban all use of cryptocurrencies, including the ownership and
trading, but this is unlikely to be effective, because most crypto projects are
run from outside of the UK, and some (e.g., Bitcoin) are decentralised. Hence,
even if a global taskforce could be created to track and trace cryptocurrency
projects and exchanges, it would be ineffective against decentralised crypto,
and it will only serve to push the trade and ownership into the dark economy.
In addition, it is unlikely that the legal mechanisms can cope with persecuting
all cryptocurrency projects and exchanges, because as we can see from the
case of the XRP legal proceedings, just one case can take years to resolve.
The US Government has proven that it can be effective in banning crypto
8. 8
projects, in August 2022, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the virtual currency
mixer Tornado Cash [16]. The Tornado Cash DAO was shut down and its
lead developer Aleksey Pertsev was arrested, but what this translates to is
that the mixer's code itself is banned for use, and it does not mean that the
code has been disabled and cannot be used. To simplify this further, it means
that the Tornado Cash U.S. crypto customers are not allowed to use the
mixer, at least not without a permission from the U.S. Treasury. The mixer is
blacklisted in the US because of its use in money laundering. However, the
Tornado Cash app will continue to operate on the Ethereum blockchain exists,
the key point is that it is impossible to shut down such technology without
shutting down the entire Blockchain. Given that some Blockchains are
decentralised, this will prove difficult, and even, if possible, there are many
new Blockchains emerging all the time. Hence, sanctioning and banning is
unlikely to serve as a valid too for completely closing all operations.
3. Third option is to create fully centralised, Government run Blockchains, upon
which open crypto projects and exchanges can be built. In this scenario,
Governments would be able to control the type of projects and impose
regulations and standards upon the developers and the user community. In
such fully centralised Blockchains, the government could allow the
development of centralised and decentralised crypto exchanges, and fund or
encourage the development of CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) and
regulated Stablecoins (cryptocurrency with a pegged value to another
currency, commodity, or financial instrument). By enabling the development of
a fully regulated Stablecoin, the UK Government would prevent one of the
main risks for individual crypto savers, which is the collapse of another
Stablecoin – which is what happened to the UST Algorithmic Stablecoin in
2022. Many of the current stablecoins are highly speculative, and at present
most stablecoins are not audited or regulated – at least not in any meaningful
way. Although Tether (USDT) has announced that it is preparing to be audited
by a large accounting firm to prove the transparency of Tether, at present
USDT market reserves are not audited, and as of today, the market cap of
Tether is $66,268,895,618., with around $11,106,992,770 of the
cryptocurrency stablecoins being traded in the last 24 hours alone. Tether
(USDT) is just one of many stablecoins on the many crypto exchanges that
exist today. In the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, apart from USDT,
we also have the USDC (market cap of $43,922,152,193), and BUSD (market
cap of $16,377,185,225), while on the 11th place we have DAI (market cap of
$5,790,436,026), on the 41st place we have USDP (market cap of
$876,254,775), on 43rd
place TUSD (market cap of $846,271,617), on the
52nd
place is USDD (market cap of $707,743,989) and so on – data from 8th
of
January 2023 [15]. From the above listed stablecoins, USDC has reserves
regularly attested, but not audited, in fact, none of the stablecoins are audited.
This creates a systemic risk for all cryptocurrencies and regulating the
stablecoins will not only prevent future loss of savings for individual users and
savers (hodlers), but it would increase the confidence in the market, and if
combined with a regulated crypto exchange, it would provide security and
quick exit for investors during times of volatility. Final comment on CBDCs, we
must point out that the view emerging from this article is not sympathetic with
the values to society and economy from CBDCs. Although CBDCs would
resolve many issues related to fluctuations in price of all cryptocurrencies, the
9. 9
stablecoin solution could be a preferred version of a Blockchain based
currency, more specifically, decentralised stablecoins. However, the collapse
of UST – LUNA has exposed vulnerabilities in some of the decentralised
algorithmic stablecoins. We need new solutions that would address some of
the vulnerabilities that got exposed in 2022.
4. The main lesson that we must learn from FTX is that without taking regulatory
action, the cases of corporate malfunction and malfeasance will continue to
dominate the cryptocurrency ecosystems. Even if governments around the
world decide to embrace the concept of complete monetary decentralisation
(which seems highly unlikely), there are elements of the crypto markets than
still need to be regulated, just to ensure that self-governance is not replaced
again with malfeasance. The collapse of FTX (which was considered as one
of the safest exchanges because of the public display of approval from
various high-profile politicians), has proven that corporate malfeasance exists
in cryptocurrencies on a much greater level than we are aware. To put this
into a perspective, if users start withdrawing large volumes from any of the
above listed stablecoins, it seems questionable if they will survive. That is not
to say that the concept of stablecoins should be abandoned, or that the
currency should be pegged to the gold and not to the USD. Stablecoins
provide crucial service in the crypto markets, and USD is the most traded
currency. The concept seems sound, but the regulations, standards and
accountancy audits are missing.
These three scenarios could be seen as the opportunities for the UK Government to
intervene and take advantage of the situation to establish the UK as the leading
country in the world, that is providing a highly demanded service (which is also highly
profitable), but also highly regulated, standardised, and audited according to
international standards. Would this expose the UK economy to unnecessary risk?
That depends on how this process is undertaken. If the UK develops a new
Blockchain that provides the services that are used by companies to build crypto
projects, then the risk to the UK is minimal, because even if the crypto markets
collapse and the value of Bitcoin drops to its all-time lows from year 2009, the
Blockchain would still charge transaction fees until the market cap goes down to
zero, at which point, there won’t be any transactions, and there won’t be any cost,
because there won’t be any need for maintaining the new Blockchain. Similar
arguments can be made about the development of a UK crypto exchange,
regardless of the level of centralisation, the code for Uniswap and many other
exchanges is open and can be copied to create a new exchange without building a
new code. In fact, that is exactly what SushiSwap did, and it gained a significant
market cap and trading volume almost instantly.
4. Survey of Crypto use cases
The use case for crypto projects depends largely on the specifics of the project
features and characteristics. Some of the most popular use cases come with
questionable motives. For example, the idea that bitcoin can be considered as digital
gold, or as a store of value, and that bitcoin can be used to preserve wealth and
hedge against inflation, this use case is very debatable. There are many use cases
for crypto, and below I list some realistic use cases, but the idea that a digital asset
with no other purpose or a use case can replace gold, is not very convincing. It
seems more likely that Bitcoin will need to be wrapped and transferred to a different
10. 10
chain, where cost of transactions is much lower, and be used as a payment system,
similar to SWIFT. That could be a real-world use case, and we already have the
Algorand Blockchain, which is capable of handling wrapped Bitcoins, and the cost of
transactions is very low, while security is high. Algorand could even enhance the
security of Bitcoin. There will be many other Blockchains that can do the same
function. Hence, the bitcoin community needs to start innovating, because back in
2009, Satoshi presented the most innovative and secure technology, but surely, he
didn’t expect this to remain the same forever.
Some of the real-world use cases include:
1. Borderless payments without any centralised entities acting as an
intermediary,
2. Decentralised finance, for lending and borrowing, accessible to anyone and
everyone that has internet connection and knows how to use the specific
blockchain – crypto project,
3. Security and privacy of products (and services) as they move through different
supply chains,
4. Authenticity verification for products and services,
5. Ensuring payments are processed fairly in supply chains- with the use of
smart contracts,
6. Buying and owning digital assets, such as gaming and collectibles that can be
owned as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
7. Crypto transactions can be designed to help with privacy and anonymity,
creating added value to users that prefer to keep their finances private.
8. Crypto can be used for crowdfunding, where new funds can be raised by
issuing initial coin offerings (ICO) or token generation events (TGEs).
9. Crypto can be used by creatives to monetise their work, for example, digital
content creators can accept payments for premium content, and this can open
a safer and cheaper environment for a variety of artists, from dancers, tutors,
painters, to fitness instructors, digital consultants and education providers.
10.Charitable donations, crypto can be used as a fast and secure method for
transferring wealth to people in need.
Worth mentioning that new use cases will continue to emerge with the increased
adoption of the decentralised blockchain technology. One way to compare the
current state of crypto, is to think of web one, vs web two, and the emergence of web
three. Web one was just a collection of data and information, that was made
available for free online. Web one was called the ‘information highway’, and despite
its amazing potential, it was soon replaced by the web two, which is the current
version of the interactive internet, where we can click likes, and talk to people on the
other side of the planet. But as we can see today, there are some major concerns in
regards to the web two version, and many social platforms have been criticised for
exploitation of users privacy. This will inevitably lead to a new version of the web,
which is predicted to be based on the Blockchain technology. Hence, the blockchain
technology, has already found its main use case - the adoption of blockchains in the
web3.
We could consider the Bitcoin emergence in 2009, to the first web browser – AOL.
Although AOL was the most popular browser when it first emerged, it was soon
replaced by Hotmail. We could compare Hotmail to Ethereum, and this is the current
state of the art in 2023. Since Ethereum is dominating the crypto world, with the new
11. 11
and emerging layer 2 projects, such as Optimism and Arbitrum, and the upgraded
blockchain, from proof of work to proof of stake, we can easily argue that Ethereum
is all the rage in 2023. The real question is, would Ethereum be as popular in 5-10
years’ time, or would the project be taken over by another crypto. One thing that
comes to mind is that at its final days, Hotmail was experimenting with quite a few
features that were very similar to the competitors (e.g., Hotmail live), and the users
still decided to leave Hotmail and move to other projects. The most puzzling is that
the current version of WhatsApp is very similar to the old MSN chat. The design is
similar, the functions are similar, and WhatsApp is still very popular among the older
generations, while MSN lost many of the users, and the project was abandoned.
Although some WhatsApp users would argue that the platform is based on the
mobile signal, that is false, the WhatsApp platform uses the personal mobile number
as a username, not as a method for communications. Without internet connection,
WhatsApp won’t work, hence, one could argue that the MSN was much safer
application, because you could create a new and random username, instead of using
your personal mobile number. This example is just to build the argument that when
we have multiple platforms, providing similar services, it is very unpredictable which
platform will prevail in the long run. Unless crypto projects are uniquely positioned to
provide a specific service to users, their long-term viability is entirely dependent on
the preferences of the user community. If Ethereum becomes the MSN, then who is
WhatsApp? The answer is not a single platform, because NEAR, SOL, and at least
few doused other projects can do almost everything that Ethereum does. The real
question is, which project will be the next Google, or even the new ChatGPT, and
would Bitcoin pull another revival with the Lightning network, because when
transmitted using the Lightning network, there is no real difference between layer 1s
and 2s. Bitcoin has also been increasing the level of renewable energy use, and
maybe it’s just a nostalgia of an old Satoshi fan, but if Bitcoin can improve speed,
energy use, and become more user friendly for every day shopping, maybe the new
Blockchain innovations will come from Bitcoin.
The Buterin's trilemma
This review article would not be complete without discussing the Buterin's trilemma
and how that fundamentally captures the trade-offs between security,
decentralisation, speed, and the attendant risks. Some blockchains (e.g., Sol) clearly
go for speed, but are more centralised; others are less centralised, but often more
secure. One study suggested a solution called ‘The Blockchain Quadrilemma’, but
also recognised that for basic Blockchain operations ‘Algorand can often be the right
choice’, but Ethereum is recommended for ‘more sophisticated computations’ [17].
Another research study recommended ‘a dichotomy of algorithms between leader-
based and voting-based consensus algorithms’ based on ‘tradeoffs … for a given
distributed system’ [18] It is worth mentioning that some experts recommend a
‘incentive-based role in the governance of DeFi as opposed to an enforcement-
oriented role’, because we need to build new tools that enable new ‘policy options in
a transnational environment hostile to formal state intervention’ [19].
5. Discussion
Crypto is still a subject to many risks, for investors and for users. One of the main
risks for investors is that the value is extremely volatile and fluctuates significantly in
short periods of time. This makes crypto price and value extremely difficult to predict,
and can lead to significant losses when the value drops significantly. Since crypto is
12. 12
also a speculative asset, investors cannot be certain that the value of their
investment will ever recover, or go to zero.
Another risk is that crypto is not regulated by anyone, not by a government, nor by
any financial institution. This is the clearest indicator that there wont be any
protection or oversight from fraud, mismanagement or financial malfeasance. In
other words, crypto investors need to be aware that if something goes wrong, they
will have very little recourse.
Apart from these risks, one commonly discussed risk is the safety and security of the
blockchain technology. The common topic in media is that the underlaying
blockchain technology is not as secure as it was though to be. The rationale for this
assumption is the fact that in the past, we had some very high profile hacks that
managed to result with the theft of large amounts of crypto from exchanges and
wallets. Although the latest is correct, the first is not. Bitcoin and other secured
blockchains have never been hacked, the hacks happen on crypto exchanges, on
digital wallets that do not apply appropriate security, and most of the theft has been
on crypto bridges, pools, and other instruments that are not really related to the
blockchain technology itself. To explain this in other words, the Blockchain is as
secure as it has been described in the first paper written by Satoshi, but the new
projects are bypassing the security requirements, often because there are no
cybersecurity standards, and the hacks are increasing, but this does not mean that
the blockchain technology is not secure, it means that we need cybersecurity
standards for projects that use blockchain technology.
5.1. The good
Traditional finance has also been slow in developing new faster and more secure
solutions. The SWIFT network is very slow comparing to some of the crypto
solutions, and the idea of tokenised USD does seem appealing to many users, most
specifically to traders. Cryptocurrencies can also solve much of the banking
problems in developing countries. The ability to make payments and transfer tokens
that are pegged with the value of USD, could provide solutions to much of the
developed world that is still lacking the basic banking services. Since existing
payment methods like Visa or Mastercard charge service fees, it is reasonable to
expect that some small fee would be considered acceptable to users. However,
there is no evidence of crypto being adopted as a method of payment in developing
countries. Although some countries like El Salvador have adopted Bitcoin, its use for
everyday payment has not been adopted. Another point to make here is related to
the value of Bitcoin (BTC), and the value of private money and wallets. Although
decentralised cryptocurrencies don’t hedge against short term inflation, Bitcoin has
massively outperformed gold over a decade in the face of monetary easing/printing.
5.2. The bad
Bitcoin emerged from the financial chaos in 2008, and it was presented as a solution
to the centralised banking system and the high-risk practices of a few greedy
financial firms that only care about profits. The long-term economic utility is also
questionable. Why would one coin that is created out of code be valued in thousands
of pounds, and another coin that is also created out of code be worth zero. For
crypto to be seen as a long-term value, it must provide economic utility, and at
present, crypto is not providing such utility. Another problem is that in technological
terms, crypto is old technology, the first block was created in 2009, and we have
13. 13
seen a rapid technological change since then. Most of the mobile phones from 2009
are now considered old and almost obsolete. We are still waiting for some
extraordinary use case for crypto, but since it hasn’t really materialised until now, the
question is when it will, and would it ever happen.
5.3. The ugly
At present, the crypto market is not connected to the traditional markets, and it is
relatively small. If the crypto market gets connected to the traditional finance, the
spill-over effect needs to be considered. The main concern is that, if the crypto
market is regulated in a way that it would get supercharged, and its allowed to create
the connections between regulated finance, and the crypto system, then crypto
problems can become much bigger problems. This would mean that people that
never invested in crypto, are affected by fluctuations in price, and crypto market
risks, in the same way that investors were affected by the mortgage-backed
securities in 2008. Hence, the focus in regulations should be on minimising the
connections between the crypto market and the regulated financial system.
6. Conclusion
The question that emerges from this review paper is, if we fast forward 10 years,
would all the transactions that we perform in our society be in fiat currencies, and the
answer is that most probably they won’t. With the emergence of Web3, assets,
currencies and marketplaces will become interconnected, and some of the
cryptocurrencies will form part of these new digital assets, but would that be Bitcoin,
or some of the other 22,250 cryptos that are in circulation today, that is difficult to
predict.
What also becomes clear is that regulation would eliminate many of the the cases of
corporate malfeasance. Regulations will most likely also remove many of the current
use cases for crypto. Much of the current hype around crypto is around the lack of
regulations, and when regulations are applied, the promise of getting rich from crypto
would certainly start to weaken. With regulations, crypto projects will have to start
making checks (KYC) on who their customers are, and this argument for regulations
killing the crypto is especially strong for cryptocurrencies that are created with no
real use case, and based purely on the promise of making a great deal of money for
early investors. Once regulations are created, these cryptos will be out of the picture.
Most of the crypto projects are almost certainly not compliant with the derivatives or
either security regulators. Crypto has been operating in a very grey area, where
different crypto project are considered as commodities, and because of that, crypto
exchanges do not need to register with the federal government and be subject to
regulation. This debate has been ongoing for far too long, the issue of whether
crypto is a commodity or crypto is a security is not really the main point of concern.
The main concern is not the naming, but whether crypto is a subject to regulation,
and from this perspective, it makes sense to call all crypto assets securities, which
will mean that all crypto is subjected to strong oversight. The issue is that, if that
happens, most crypto projects won’t be able to comply, and that will hurt not only the
crypto industry, but also the crypto investors. Given that regulations are designed to
protect investors, it is uncertain if such strong approach would serve the purpose it
intended to, or would it lead to a significant loss for crypto investors. A more realistic
approach would be to regulate crypto exchanges, and to ensure that exchanges are
registered as investment dealers. This seems realistic and reasonable, because if
14. 14
crypto investor engages in a contract with a crypto exchange, where the exchange
would promise a very lucrative return, or some special benefits that are not very
realistic, there are small crypto investors that might fail for such advertisements. This
makes crypto exchanges investment deadlier, and they need to be regulated.
Regulators need to engage in how these exchanges keep their assets, how do they
get the returns, an ensure that exchanges are not taking unnecessary risks that
expose investors to risk that they are not aware of, or do not fully understand. The
old saying in crypto is ‘not your keys, not your crypto’, and regulating the centralised
exchanges, won’t even come with any disagreement from the crypto community.
6.1. Final comments
Final comment on investing in crypto, despite the remarkable returns some investors
have benefited from, the crypto market has not matured yet, and the market –
including the technology – is still evolving. There are risks, and investing in crypto
comes with serious risks, and investors should approach crypto with caution. In
addition, we still cannot use Bitcoin or nay other Crypto to buy coffee in Costa or
Starbucks, we cannot buy food in Tesco, and transactions come at a cost, while
using fiat, doesn’t cost. Until we can use crypto as a fiat currency, in every aspect of
the use cases, we won't really be able to claim that retail and commerce adoption is
increasing, even if the price of crypto goes up (or down), the use case doesn’t
change much, and this triggers concerns. On the other hand, the claim that Bitcoin is
used for crime and money laundry, has been contradicted by blockchain analysis
company Chainalysis, which reported that only a very small percentage (0.15% total
of $14bl) of known cryptocurrency transactions conducted in 2021 were involved in
illicit activities [23].
Declarations:
Availability of data and materials: all data and materials are included in the article.
Code availability: N/A – no code was developed.
Competing interests: No conflict nor competing interest.
Funding: This work has been supported by the PETRAS National Centre of
Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity, which has been funded by the UK
EPSRC [under grant number EP/S035362/1] and by the Cisco Research Centre
[grant number CG1525381].
Authors contributions: One author.
Acknowledgements: Eternal gratitude to the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Project.
Short biographical note:
15. 15
Petar Radanliev is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Oxford.
He obtained his Ph.D. at University of Wales in 2014 and continued with
Postdoctoral research at Imperial College London, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. His current
research focusses on Blockchain Technologies, Cryptocurrencies, the Metaverse,
Cybersecurity, Cyber Risk, Privacy, Ethics, and the Internet of Things. For his
research work, Petar has been awarded the Fulbright Fellowship and the Prince of
Wales Innovation Scholarship.
7. Abbreviations
Bitcoin – the first decentralised blockchain
Terra Luna – collapsed crypto project
FTX – collapsed crypto exchange
Solana (SOL) – crypto project that got affected by the FTX collapse
Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Algorand, NEAR – crypto projects that
remained popular with investors in the 2021 bull run
IOTA, NEO, EOS – crypto projects that were popular in the previous bull runs, and
are still present in the crypto market in 2023
NEFD - new and emerging forms of data
CBDCs - Central Bank Digital Currencies
Tornado Cash DAO – crypto mixer that has been prohibited for use by the USA
UST Algorithmic Stablecoin – collapsed stablecoin
USDT, USDC, DAI, BUSD, USDP, USDD, TUSD - Stablecoins still in existence in
2023 (as of 25th
of January 2023)
NHS – National health Service
Uniswap / SushiSwap – decentralised exchanges
NFTs - non-fungible tokens
ICO - initial coin offerings
TGEs - token generation events
16. 16
ChatGPT – AI based chat designed to replace the Google search engine
M-Pesa - SIM card payment from a mobile phone
We Chat Pay - a QR Code payment
KYC – know your customer
8. Bibliography
[1] C. Dierksmeier and P. Seele, “Cryptocurrencies and Business Ethics,” Journal
of Business Ethics, vol. 152, no. 1, pp. 1–14, Sep. 2018, doi: 10.1007/S10551-
016-3298-0/TABLES/1.
[2] S. Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system,” Decentralized
Business Review, p. 21260, 2008.
[3] A. Mikhaylov, H. Dinçer, and S. Yüksel, “Analysis of financial development and
open innovation oriented fintech potential for emerging economies using an
integrated decision-making approach of MF-X-DMA and golden cut bipolar q-
ROFSs,” Financial Innovation, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–34, Dec. 2023, doi:
10.1186/S40854-022-00399-6/TABLES/26.
[4] A. A. Khan et al., “QoS-Ledger: Smart Contracts and Metaheuristic for Secure
Quality-of-Service and Cost-Efficient Scheduling of Medical-Data Processing,”
Electronics 2021, Vol. 10, Page 3083, vol. 10, no. 24, p. 3083, Dec. 2021, doi:
10.3390/ELECTRONICS10243083.
[5] M. C. Chang and D. Park, “How Can Blockchain Help People in the Event of
Pandemics Such as the COVID-19?,” Journal of Medical Systems, vol. 44, no.
5. Springer, May 01, 2020. doi: 10.1007/s10916-020-01577-8.
[6] B. Pranggono and A. Arabo, “COVID‐19 pandemic cybersecurity issues,”
Internet Technology Letters, vol. 4, no. 2, p. e247, Mar. 2021, doi:
10.1002/itl2.247.
[7] D. S. W. Ting, L. Carin, V. Dzau, and T. Y. Wong, “Digital technology and
COVID-19,” Nature Medicine, Nature Research, pp. 1–3, Mar. 27, 2020. doi:
10.1038/s41591-020-0824-5.
[8] E. Bouri, X. V. Vo, and T. Saeed, “Return equicorrelation in the cryptocurrency
market: Analysis and determinants,” Financ Res Lett, vol. 38, p. 101497, Jan.
2021, doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101497.
[9] A. T. Aspembitova, L. Feng, and L. Y. Chew, “Behavioral structure of users in
cryptocurrency market,” PLoS One, vol. 16, no. 1, p. e0242600, Jan. 2021, doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0242600.
[10] C. F. Breidbach and S. Tana, “Betting on Bitcoin: How social collectives shape
cryptocurrency markets,” J Bus Res, vol. 122, pp. 311–320, Jan. 2021, doi:
10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.017.
[11] A. Y. Mikhaylov, “Development of Friedrich von Hayekʼs theory of private
money and economic implications for digital currencies,” Terra Economicus,
vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 53–62, 2021, doi: 10.18522/2073-6606-2021-19-1-53-62.
[12] The Federal Reserve, “Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC),” 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.federalreserve.gov/central-bank-digital-currency.htm
17. 17
[13] M. in C. R. (MiCA), “Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
of the Council on Markets in Crypto-assets, and amending Directive (EU)
2019/1937 (MiCA),” 2022.
[14] HMT, “UK sets out plans to regulate crypto and protect consumers - GOV.UK,”
HM Treasury - Gov.UK, Feb. 01, 2023.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sets-out-plans-to-regulate-crypto-
and-protect-consumers (accessed Mar. 06, 2023).
[15] CoinMarketCap, “Cryptocurrency Prices, Charts And Market Capitalizations |
CoinMarketCap.” https://coinmarketcap.com/ (accessed Jan. 08, 2023).
[16] OFAC, “U.S. Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado
Cash ,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Aug. 08, 2022.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916 (accessed Jan. 08,
2023).
[17] F. Mogavero, I. Visconti, A. Vitaletti, and M. Zecchini, “The Blockchain
Quadrilemma: When Also Computational Effectiveness Matters,” Proc IEEE
Symp Comput Commun, vol. 2021-September, 2021, doi:
10.1109/ISCC53001.2021.9631511.
[18] A. Altarawneh, T. Herschberg, S. Medury, F. Kandah, and A. Skjellum,
“Buterin’s Scalability Trilemma viewed through a State-change-based
Classification for Common Consensus Algorithms,” 2020 10th Annual
Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference, CCWC 2020, pp.
727–736, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.1109/CCWC47524.2020.9031204.
[19] A. Wang, “Rethinking the Rule and Role of Law in Decentralized Finance,”
Proceedings - 2022 IEEE 24th Conference on Business Informatics, CBI 2022,
vol. 2, pp. 118–125, 2022, doi: 10.1109/CBI54897.2022.10057.
[20] H. J. Kim, J. S. Hong, H. C. Hwang, S. M. Kim, and D. H. Han, “Comparison of
Psychological Status and Investment Style Between Bitcoin Investors and
Share Investors,” Front Psychol, vol. 11, p. 3230, Nov. 2020, doi:
10.3389/FPSYG.2020.502295/BIBTEX.
[21] B. Johnson et al., “Cryptocurrency trading and its associations with gambling
and mental health: A scoping review,” Addictive Behaviors, vol. 136, p.
107504, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2022.107504.
[22] P. Delfabbro, D. L. King, and J. Williams, “The psychology of cryptocurrency
trading: Risk and protective factors,” J Behav Addict, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 201,
Jun. 2021, doi: 10.1556/2006.2021.00037.
[23] M. Sun and D. Smagalla, “Cryptocurrency-Based Crime Hit a Record $14
Billion in 2021 - WSJ,” The Wall Street Journal, 2022. Accessed: Mar. 08,
2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cryptocurrency-based-
crime-hit-a-record-14-billion-in-2021-11641500073