Anonymity in Bitcoin? – The Users’ Perspective

This article analyzes how users perceive the degree of anonymity provided by the Bitcoin network, to what extent they are concerned about anonymity when using Bitcoin, whether they are knowledgeable of and concerned about specific de-anonymization attacks, and if they are aware of and adopt privacy-preserving countermeasures. A user survey with 125 active Bitcoin users reveals that 70% associate a medium or high level of anonymity with the Bitcoin network and rate their concerns as either low or medium. But almost every 5th user has already considered abandoning Bitcoin because of being concerned about anonymity. Though one third are aware of the risk of de-anonymizing the Blockchain but are not concerned, another almost 50% indeed feel concerned. Our findings have implications for users and developers, suggesting that actions should be undertaken to increase privacy awareness and the level of anonymity provided by the Blockchain and the Bitcoin network

Digital Collectibles: Exploring Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Through Twitter Messages

The growing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has created a new digital collectibles asset class and market. NFTs are unique digital tokens built on blockchain technology that can represent anything from art, property rights, certificates of authentication to sports collectibles. The use of blockchain provides the framework for digital ownership and brings the notion of scarcity to the digital NFT asset class. With the emerging NFT market and growing consumer base little work has investigated the factors behind NFT interest and participation. Using a dataset of 26,444 tweets on NBA Top Shot, one of the largest and most popular NFT platforms for digital sport collectibles, we use exploratory data and content analysis to generate insights from NFT Twitter messages. Our results suggest that both hedonic and utilitarian factors are driving NFT tweets and should be considered by NFT platforms to encourage participation. Our results show that consumer messages on NFTs are based on the ability to demonstrate ownership, compete against other collectors, provide personal enjoyment and for the opportunity to receive financial returns. This research is one of the first to examine the factors exploring NFT Twitter messages and our results provide early insights for practitioners and academics interested in exploring NFT digital collectibles

From Hype to Reality: A Taxonomy of Blockchain Applications

Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger that challenges existing business models and theories by shifting the trust from institutions towards algorithms. However, the number of successfully developed blockchain-based systems remains low. This points towards a research gap between blockchain applications and technical blockchain characteristics. We answer the research question: What application areas fit blockchains with what technical characteristics? We develop a taxonomy, which comprises six blockchain application areas that are classified across eight technical dimensions. We demonstrate the utility of the taxonomy on ninety-nine blockchain-based systems. We contribute to the scientific literature by delimiting blockchain application areas, identifying new technical dimensions, and linking application and technical knowledge on blockchain to guide development of blockchain-based systems. For practitioners, we present an overview of current blockchain-based systems

Meta-View of Blockchain Technology Tensions in Organizational Implementation and Use

Blockchain inherits tensions that depend on its infrastructure design as well as distinctive features of, among others, smart contracts and storage mechanisms. Studies propose coping strategies for companies that deal with blockchain-related tensions, but so far suggestions are characterized by context- and case-specificity. This paper proposes a meta-view on tensions arising from the implementation and usage of blockchain in organizational contexts. A structured literature review is conducted to condense existing insights from the literature to a meta-view on blockchain-related tension. A framework provides insights into different types of tensions. The framework has two aims: (1) providing a foundation to jointly build insights and IS theorization on blockchain tensions without being case- and context-sensitive. (2), it provides food for thought for companies that want to implement or use blockchain, which serves as first step toward developing recommendations that guide companies through identifying and managing tensions arising from blockchain implementation and usage

Considerações sobre Anonimato, Pseudoanonimato e Criptomoedas

O presente artigo avalia a temática do anonimato e do pseudoanonimato para as criptomoedas. A pergunta de pesquisa avalia se existe, no ordenamento jurídico nacional, algum elemento restritivo para a transação de criptomoedas com o intuito de anonimato. Sob o prisma jurídico, a Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais e as normativas da do Banco Central e da Receita Federal integram o quadro de avaliação. Sob o prisma tecnológico, o modo de funcionamento e a relação com anonimato ou pseudoanonimato do Bitcoin, do Monero, do Zcash e do Dash compõem a análise. A conclusão é a de que, até o momento, a transação de criptomoedas verdadeiramente anônimas não encontra vedações expressas na legislação nacional

Blockchain Research in Information Systems: Current Trends and an Inclusive Future Research Agenda

The potential of blockchain has been extensively discussed in practitioner literature, yet rigorous empirical and theory-driven information systems (IS) research on blockchain remains scarce. This special issue addresses the need for innovative research that offers a fresh look at the opportunities and challenges of blockchain. This editorial integrates and goes beyond the papers included in this special issue by providing a framework for blockchain research in IS that emphasizes two important issues. First, we direct the attention of IS research toward the blockchain protocol level, which is characterized by recursive interactions between human agents and the blockchain protocol. Second, we highlight the need for IS research to consider how the protocol level constrains and affords blockchain applications, and how these constraints and other concerns at the application level lead to changes at the protocol level. Rooted in a socio-material view of IS, we offer a multi-paradigmatic IS research agenda that underscores the need for behavioral (individual, group, and organizational), design science, and IS economics research on blockchain. Our research agenda emphasizes issues of blockchain governance, human and material agency, blockchain affordances and constraints, as well as the consequences of its use

A Blockchain-Based Approach Towards Overcoming Financial Fraud in Public Sector Services

In financial markets it is common for companies and individuals to invest into foreign companies. To avoid the double taxation of investors on dividend payment - both in the country where the profit is generated as well as the country of residence - most governments have entered into bilateral double taxation treaties, whereby investors can claim a tax refund in the country where the profit is generated. Due to easily forgeable documents and insufficient international exchange of information between tax authorities, investors illegitimately apply for these tax returns causing an estimated damage of 1.8 billion USD, for example, in Denmark alone. This paper assesses the potential of a blockchain database to provide a feasible solution for overcoming this problem against the backdrop of recent advances in the public sector and the unique set of blockchain capacities. Towards this end, we develop and evaluate a blockchain-based prototype system aimed at eliminating this type of tax fraud and increasing transparency regarding the flow of dividends. While the prototype is based on the specific context of the Danish tax authority, we discuss how it can be generalized for tracking international and interorganizational transactions

Data protection on blockchain in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation

https://www.ester.ee/record=b5241039~S